Tag Archives: drawing Prismacolor markers

Put It on the Fridge

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Happy Mother’s Day! I got to talk with my mom bright and early yesterday. She’s in her 70’s but still has all of her brothers and sister and her mom. Clearly longevity is a family trait.

We were talking and she revealed that she keeps up with my art and loves seeing the stuff that I create. I was surprised by this, but in hindsight I should not have been.

She was my first fan.

When I was a toddler, she gave me my first paints. When I was in kindergarten, she used to put my pictures on the fridge. And when my teachers would complain about me drawing on homework, she bought me typing paper, which was a big deal for me. I had paper just to draw!

So yeah…my mom was always encouraging me. She was stern sometimes, keeping me on the right path, lol. But I never felt that my mom didn’t love me. And I had no idea that she follows ANY of this.

So thank you for allowing me to be me and teaching me the value in believing in yourself. I’ll never forget and always love you ❤️.

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Woof

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I had a dream about my Siberian Husky, Blizzard. We were going for a walk, except it started with driving with him in the passenger seat of my Amigo, top down as a puppy.

We ended up walking around my hometown. He was a full grown dog at that point in my dream. We were looking for my son. I woke up before we made it to my moms house.

When you have dreams like that, they carry a sense of dread. My Blizzard is gone; but I still feel him and that memory always comes with a slight sliver of pain and sadness. I miss him a lot.

So I decided to draw to help me grieve a little. It’s weird to me because I’ve seen the equivalent of a small village dead at once. I’ve seen severe human suffering.

But it’s always the small, personal wounds to my payche that stay. I feel like I should forget at some point.

But I probably won’t.

I hope I don’t.

Blur

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FINALLY got another set of non-photo pencils. Thanks Blicks, you guys are a life saver.

It’s been an interesting week. I’ve been so busy! And I’ve been asked to do a piece based on another amazing female bodybuilder (what else).

I have to admit, I wish prismacolor had more lighter shades of brown that were warm. It’s as if the idea of them being skin tones never occurred to them, hahaha.

Still, they have light peach and peach, so I make do. Maybe next time I’ll show myself making a pallet. I usually throw those away; I’ll try to do better. In the meantime, I hope you stay healthy and have a great week on your personal island.

Twilight

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I’m going blind

I have glaucoma. It’s pretty far along. They were supposed to operate but I can’t afford it and now my right eye is almost completely gone. My left is down to 86%. And I’m freaking all the way out.

I’m not sure if they can save my eye. I hope so. But I’m really scared right now. I’ve drawn all my life. I don’t have any memories of not doing it. My job is photographer/video editor/ artists.

What happens when I lose my sight? Forever?

I don’t live with anyone. There’s no family nearby. And I suffer from the kind of mental issues that are mocking my continued efforts to not give in to despair. Suddenly that suicide thing that I’ve been holding at bay feels like a mercy killing.

As an artist, if you’d ask me what I feared more than anything, it would have been losing my sight, with losing my hands a close second.

I’m not close to anyone. I’ve been dealing with this by myself for months. The surgery can only save what’s left, maybe. And because it’s the optic nerve that’s dying…well, maybe it’s already done.

I gotta have the surgery. I need to. But my window is closing and soon it won’t matter. I’ll be in the dark. And I’ll never come back.

Doggo

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This is Hank. He’s a one year old Husky and his owner thinks that he’s the bestest doggo. How much?

She paid me to draw him.

I didn’t have a lot of time; about two hours and then we’d be leaving work for the day.

That nose. I am singularly proud of it. I didn’t do any samples or practice that texture. I just went for it.

It takes quite a few years of experience to do. To intuit color, values, scale. And there’s varying degrees of this ability; that’s why I believe in the concept of talent.

I gave up the piece to the young lady. She was really happy with it, but wanted to wait to take it, since it was raining out. No problem.

#inktober starts tomorrow.

Are you ready? I am!

Fatal

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This is me practicing on new paper. It was going to be Wonder Woman and honestly, I knew I wouldn’t finish it. But…

I still managed to piss someone off by doing it. Had a lady loudly announce that there were children in the Starbucks and that I should be ashamed.”Sure” I told her, “sorry your kids have such a loud ghetto mother with low self esteem”.

“I’m not ghetto, I’m white!” Then the pieces clicked for her and she walked away angrily. Oh well…

I think people have such a terrible response to bikini art or human body art. Full disclosure; I’m not a fan of some of it either. I just assume that it wasn’t meant for me and keep it moving.

It’s as simple as that.

The good news is I got to break in my new scales of paper in relative peace and quiet. The occasional curious person.

Inktober is next month. A picture a day! Should be fun.

Tears in Rain

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A lot of people remember Rutger Hauer as his seminal creation, Roy Batty. Not me. I had no interest in the saxophone tuned, smoke filled crime drama. Nope.

My first Rutger film was Blind Fury.

That movie was a weird, fun filled adventure. It made me laugh. Seeing him walking off in the end made me want to see further adventures.

Next was Split Second.

I’ll be honest; I didn’t see all of it. The Mrs and I were really busy making out (newlyweds). But I do remember believing his character was him. He was a sort of action hero, but a more emotionally honest one

I saw Hitcher while stationed overseas in Germany. It was running in a small theatre in Munchen(Munich) And me, being an idiot went in to see it.

It was in German. But I still got the point.

So finally, FINALLY I decided to give Blade Runner a try. There were a lot of versions, but Netflix only had one. I was divorced, cynical and bitter. Perfect timing, right?

I loved it. It didn’t try to explain the world we were seeing too much. I could almost grasp a lot of it. But I enjoyed two people in it the most.

Rachel. And Roy.

I’m not sure what that says about my mindset then. I guess I had lost a lot of my self identity at that point.

I wasn’t a soldier, husband or even allowed to be a dad. I was holding on to a job and had tried to take my own life. I’d been encouraged to. By my wife.

…

So the entirety of his very eloquent self eulogy deeply affected me. Here was a man who had lost everything and was about to lose the only thing he had left. And all he wanted was one more day.

So I decided to try it. Just be here one more day. That was nine years ago.

So yeah…Mr Hauer saved me while I metaphorically was dangling by the fingertips. So I drew him twice. He died in the same year Roy Batty did in the movie.

Symmetry.

Surprise!

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I have to admit; people can still surprise me. Here I am, sitting at my desk and I was drawing a blank. So I decided to change locales and took a lunch at Starbucks.

I decided to draw a car, but from the inside. I used to own a 66 mustang, which seemed like the perfect vehicle; simple and purpose built.

Of course, people started to crowd around. I’m used to it at this point and most are willing to let you work in peace and simply watch.

Most.

This one guy was VERY persistent. To be honest, he was getting on my nerves! But I stayed calm. I was in a public space after all. My desk was starting to seem like an oasis at this point.

The car that lead to the image I drew #rita

So…I explained. Turns out, he owns a 66 mustang. And you know what? He bought the drawing on the spot. I was a little surprised. But I learned a lesson. From now on, I’ll think “customer interaction” BEFORE I think “interruption”.

Void

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Well, it’s that time of year when people approach me to draw really buff women. I don’t mind ❤️

Believe it or not, the whole thing is something that flowed from a lifelong love of weightlifting for me. I have absolutely no problem with a woman trying to be as strong as she wants.

Of course my first show as a spectator made me want to draw these superhuman physiques. And the ladies were more amiable and less guarded than the guys when asked. So I naturally started there.

Having someone willing to pose for dramatic effect was a turning point for me. I’d never had an opportunity to do still life drawing; so I relished having access to people so willing. I guess you can say that I gained a new artistic appreciation for bodybuilders.

I try not to over sexualize the people I draw. That component is there of course, but it’s not the point.

If you’re trying to get the same effect in your work, you have to understand that the people you’re drawing ARE PEOPLE. I do the same thing with cosplay. I find it brings out the best in them.

Sometimes it’s good to just draw an emotion. It keeps things simple, but gives a clean look. I actually like those best.

So that’s that! Now you have an answer for my drawings of women being mostly muscular.

Oddly enough, no one wants an off-season image of themselves, lol.

There are a few exceptions. And honestly, if you’re one, let me know, because I’d love to do more pictures like this one.