white horse

Look at me, finally drawing again!

This was based on a photo I took a couple years ago at the Roger Williams Botanical Center in Providence, RI. It's a lovely place to photograph, and yes, in addition to plants, they also have horses. This is a 9x12 pastel drawing on white pastel paper.

sea creatures

I've been watching a lot of documentaries about sea life lately, can you tell? I watched a show recently about deep sea life and bioluminescence, and instantly became fascinated by the beauty of these animals that glow and oscillate in a hypnotizing rainbow of color. This octopus caught my eye because of its brilliant spots, though sadly he's not bioluminescent. Oh well...

I wanted to use oil pastels on a dark background for a change. That allows me to focus more on white pastel, since it's fairly ineffective on white paper. This little guy was the perfect thing to render on a black cold-press board.

monkeying around

Two weekends ago, I went on a road trip to Washington, DC. I took a lot of close-up photography at the Smithsonian National Zoo while I was there. It especially struck me that one of the orangutans was willing to smile and pose for the camera, but with so much sadness behind his eyes. I can't imagine it's enjoyable to have crowds of people point and gawk at you every day. He's humoring people, but deep down he's unsettled and lonely. I want to hug him!!

This was based on one of the photos I took. I started this drawing on Sunday and finished it tonight. It's oil pastel on 10x24 sketch paper.

pastels

tonight i decided to use oil pastels for the first time in about 8 years. this drawing was inspired by a photo i love, of a little girl lecturing her alpaca. this was done in oil pastels with white kante crayon and graphic pencil

thank you, freud

ahh, the human mind and the tricks it loves to play. freud discussed repression in great depth. it seems fitting that my very first post was also about digging things from deep inside, completely unaware of their context. It's like composing a unique song, only to discover that the melody is one that you've heard somewhere unknowingly before.

this morning i decided to sketch again. I thought it should be something quirky....something silly, like animals doing tricks. so i googled various animals....and then various activities they could be doing....and started combining them in different ways.

I found this photo of a bear i really liked....

I decided it would be funny if he were riding a bike. after more googling, i drew him on a unicycle. I spent half the day basking in my cleverness....

six hours later while sitting in the sauna, it suddenly occurred to me that this is very similar subject matter to that of an ex-boyfriend's tattoo. funny how the things we put furthest from our mind still find a way to break through the surface.

empathy and wisdom

Last night I retrieved my artist sketch pencils from a drawer, and thought about how much time had passed since art school. That was probably the last time I had touched those pencils. Before I knew it, half a page was covered with cerebral catharsis, something pulled from deep within my psyche. I have no idea from whence it came, but with it a sense of relief and accomplishment rushed over me. As a smile sneakily crept to my face, I looked down at the pencils and thought, "see you tomorrow, my friends."

After completing this picture last night, I was instantly reminded of my childhood bed. My bed was so full of stuffed animals that no part of the mattress could be seen. Every night I jumped into the middle and completely melted into a cozy world of stuffed animals. I shared all of my happy and sad moments of youth with these toys. Many of them had been "loved" so excessively that they looked time-worn and wise beyond their years. I remember them staring back at me with an almost empathetic and sometimes melancholy understanding. Apparently this has stuck with me for a very long time.

Aw, look at little me, all nestled in there....