There is a Hole in the Sky where My Soul Soars (May 30, 2013)
This past weekend I visited The Clearview Inn up north, a bar restaurant that I designed the steer mascot for. As I was waiting for a friend to show up, I drew in my little Moleskin sketchbook. I use this sketchbook to record ideas and notes for future artwork. This particular sketch was better rendered than most of my sketches in this sketchbook, so I decided to post it here below. The title and idea was inspired by looking up into the sky that day and seeing a clearing way up high in the clouds.
You can see the Clearview steer mascot by going to PORTFOLIOS>2D-ART>LOGOS and clicking through the images there.
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Skull Anthill (May 22, 2013)
As I was hiking through the Miami Whitewater trails I came upon this anthill in the shape of a skull. I immediately thought, “could these be killer ants – like the killer bees that have been Africanized?” Needless to say, I quickly took the photo and did not hang around to find out. I didn’t even stay long enough to actually see any of the ants come out or go in.
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Cloudscapes (May 14, 2013)
I love cloudscapes. When I see them I just imagine myself being inside them walking around on those fluffy ridges and peeking around the corners of the cloud banks. So when I saw this wonderful cloudscape as I was biking outdoors – I had to stop and snap a few photos which I posted below.
As I was uploading the photos of the cloudscapes it made me think about the wonderful cloudscape artwork by my old friend Rod Bouc. Here is a link to his cloud drawings in charcoal:
http://www.rodbouc.com/23033/index.htm
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The Final Doodle Sketch for Awhile (May 6, 2013)
Hmmm… this obsession is starting to wane. I like this sketching method but have not figured out what to do with these sketches. Should I scan them and then work digitally on top of them, or put them all together and frame them, or work on a new one on a big piece of paper? I just haven’t figured out where to go next so this will probably be my last Doodle Sketch post for awhile.
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Yet Another Doodle Sketch (April 26, 2013)
As I have previously said, this obsession with this method of working is taking over. Below is the latest iteration and I have already started another one.
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New Doodle Sketch (April 17, 2013)
Below is my latest sketch in my new brown paper sketchbook. I am finding that I am very attracted to this way of working. I lay down a bunch of quick random marks without even looking at the paper, then I look at the paper and start pulling out various shapes that catch my eye. I then start rendering those shapes into a volume by establishing a light source. This method is becoming an obsession and I think it may turn into a new way of working for me. At the very least, it is quite entertaining to me now and I will probably create a bunch of these in the near future.
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The Tall Faerie (April 11, 2013)
This is a sketch that I created for a friend of mine from Junior High School. She recently confessed to me that she would like a sketch and that she liked faeries. So, I went ahead and drew this sketch for her. I have found that I really like sketching on a medium value paper. The medium value paper allows me to actually place my highlights more purposely rather than just relying on the white of the paper. I have also found that I can do more searching of my form with a line that is also medium value so that when I finally commit to a line – I can really punch it up with a very dark value or very light value.
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Fallen Angels (April 2, 2013)
If you look in my portfolios under Photography and then open up Album 2, you will see a bunch of photographs I took in a series I call “Fallen Angels”.
I typically visit a lot of thrift stores, I like the thrill of discovering unusual used items that you just wouldn’t find anywhere else in town. I once found a small purse made of the skull of a monkey. Now, that is something you could not find if you wanted to – it is something you wouldn’t even know existed until you saw it – that is the thrill of thrift stores.
So in my thrift store travels, I see a lot of discarded religious items and statues. Often times, these religious items are broken and look sad or are juxtaposed to such odd kitsch idols that it seems kind of sacrilegious or surreal. So I decided to photograph these objects. Album 2 is a collection of those photographs. So the photo below will be my next addition to that collection. It succinctly speaks to the title of the collection, “Fallen Angels”. It was an entire shopping cart full of plastic angels. Never had I seen so many angels in one big pile up.
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Felt Steak (March 19, 2013)
I recently finished my recent felt sculpture. I call it “Felt Steak”. It is all just wool that is needle felted. The needle felting process is just compressing wool by jabbing it many times with a barbed needle. The color is dyed wool called ‘roving’.
It is hard to try to mix colors and apply them but I enjoy the challenge.
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Cardinal Convention (March 11, 2013)
I caught several photographs of a lot of cardinals in the same tree and same area. I call this a ‘Cardinal Convention’. These are not Photoshopped in – they were actually that many cardinals in one place. They seemed to all gather about the bird feeder and then they each took turns flying down to feed.
Ironically, the Papal Conclave is happening right now as well. Could it be that all the cardinals from all over the world are meeting to elect the new pope???
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