Dog Walking Meets Drawings

Now that I'm working in animal rescue and as a dog walker/pet-sitter, I see animals on an even more regular basis in my life. Their faces brighten my day and I hope that these drawings will brighten yours. I've recently been commissioned to do portraits of friends' pets after they saw the below pictures.

"Nilla," 9x12" oil pastel

"Rosa," 18x24" oil pastel

facing my fears?

One of the few down sides to living alone is the unfortunate necessity to trap and/or kill bugs and spiders myself.  I've reluctantly embraced the trapping/killing part....but I seriously lack the nerve for the actual disposal phase. It's awful, I know. Especially with roaches and centipedes, I tend to leave it just sitting there for a couple days while I gauge my level of nerve every time I walk by. It's completely irrational....but I'm afraid it will come back alive and attack me once I try to get rid of it. As long as I can see the dead body....I begin to reinforce in my mind that it has still not changed positions and is okay to pick up. Eventually I muster the courage and squeal as I maneuver it into the trash and out the door.

While temporarily living in Florida to do freelance design work, the company set me up in this amazing 2 bedroom condo with a screened-in deck. The screens gave me a false sense of security, apparently.....and I was not fully prepared when I faced an enormous "palmetto bug" aka American cockroach on the deck. Did you know that they can fly? My worst fears were realized. As usual, I managed to trap it fairly quickly, though not happily. However, it left me so traumatized that I haven't brought myself to actually take it beyond that step.

Finally, I decided if it's going to just sit out there on the deck under a glass, I might as well make use of it and draw it like a specimen. I told myself it was a way to face my fears. The jury is still out on that one. It's managed to gross out 80% of my friends, however.

This was done with Pigma Micron pens on Vellum multi-purpose 9x12

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.