The Boredom

What would happen if you achieved all of your goals? Then what?

What would you think about?

The best way to avoid this problem is to shoot higher than you could ever reach. I would imagine, anyway. But, then that comes with a whole new set of problems. Once you had everything, where would you put it?

I went a little crazy with the lines here. It makes the scene a bit busy when you get up close.

Patti

I get a lot of requests for pet portraits. I like drawing them more than I do humans. People tend to get very critical of their features when portrayed by an artist. Dogs and cats can’t voice their opinion. This little lady had missing teeth and her tongue sticks out of the side of her mouth.

Imagine drawing a human with the same problem.

When I was in college – a hundred years ago – I would frequent Gwen’s Irish Pub after class. Since I had little to no money, I would draw portraits on bar napkins for beers. Keep in mind, a hundred years ago, ten ounce beers were eighty five cents each. Mere pocket change to most people.

I had it really good back then.

One night, this big hairy biker comes up to me and asks me to draw his old lady.

“No problem”, I said. That’s what I do.

Now, I have a theory about humility and God. I am confident, he wants to see me succeed in life, but not as a pompous self-promoter. Whenever I start to get full of myself, God has a way of helping me see the errors of my ways. Usually, in real time.

When his woman turned around, I literally looked past her, thinking she was a dude. No kidding. Talk about a buzzkill.

So, I faked drawing motions for a couple of minutes so I could figure out what the hell I was going to do. There was no way I could make this woman look feminine. To make matters worse, she knew I was sketching her, so she was striking sexy poses for me.

She turned around to join the conversation at the bar and then it hit me. Her hair was long and pretty and she had an okay butt. The dudeness factor is greatly minimized. So, I drew her backside. I even drew her draped on her big hairy boyfriend. They liked it, the end.

True story

No ID, No Beer

I just had a sobering thought the other day. My oldest is at the age when I had my first beer.

I preach to my kids that drugs are drugs. Period. They can do just as much harm as good. It doesn’t matter if they are prescribed, legal when your of age, or not legal at all – they are still drugs.

Alcohol has wreaked havoc in my family, and continues to do so.

And it’s legal.

I will not ever again touch alcohol, nor will I depict it in my art.

By the way, I don’t have an issue with people who drink, just the drug itself.

 

Doubt

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

Two weeks ago, I had an episode in which I worried myself into a tizzy and I didn’t sleep a wink until the next evening. If you’re not familiar with the term “tizzy”, read the definition here.

I was worried about not worrying enough about my life and the direction it has taken.

When I start to think about all the stuff that other people worry about and how I used to worry about the same crap and how I don’t any more, it worries me that I can let it go so easily. I sometimes think that I am doing something terribly wrong and nobody else does it because they know something I don’t and I’m afraid the feeling may come back so strongly that I feel the need to get another corporate job with benefits and paid vacations and an expense account complete with expense reports and PDO request forms.

What a nightmare.

Anyhoo – I really like this sketch. I started adding color before it was finished, therefore, the features are slightly larger than in other sketches. I went nuts with the color. This is a texture fest more than anything.