Recently, I pulled out some bookkeeping paper I found at a thrift store and decided to put it to good use for some drawings. It’s a nice break from my usual sketchbook rotation.
Smudged ink is the bane of every illustrator’s existence! Every artist knows this. But other than waiting for the your ink to TOTALLY dry before you start adding colour, what can you do? YouTuber and illustrator Draw Ninja KC, though, came up with a hot idea.
In past posts, I wrote about how my influences are coming out in my sketchbooks. I’ve been working on turning some of those drawings into paintings. Painting doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s one off those areas of my art practice where taking a real art class might come in handy, but I honestly prefer to learn as I go. So, what am I learning?
In a previous post, I mentioned how I was drawing inspiration from medieval European religious art. Some tropes, like robes and golden halos are easy spot. But, I am also exploring the way in which medieval art collapses narrative space and time into a single image. It’s honestly, one of my favourite parts of era’s art.
A recent drawing from my sketchbook. A couple months ago, I realised I had forged what I’m calling a “new relationship with colour”. This new bond coincided with the melding of a couple fun influences, too.
I have a musical project brewing called Oh!Noverdrive!. It started out as a sort of mental escape while I was recovering from some workplace burnout. But like all things I start, it grew and spread in interesting directions.
I splurged on some new Procreate brushes after Christmas. Among the sets I picked up, were some inspired by Alexander Calder and Georgia O’Keeffe.
A collection of digital murals on digital walls. I pulled these from my Procreate archives. I get a lot of enjoyment out of playing with free stock photos. I also love murals and street art. I’ve never done a real live mural. Maybe it’s not totally in my skillset, but it’s on my bucket list. So, maybe one day!
I’ve been working on a new electronic music and multimedia project: OH!NOverdrive! I think you’ll enjoy it when it’s ready. In the meantime, it has me thinking of how I started creating it and how it gave me time to think (or not think) when I clearly needed to.
Back in May, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. After two years of a high stress job (including a year of a now very familiar pandemic), I got fed up with all the burnout and the churn of endless self-care regimens. I walked away.
Today is as good as any day to start. Probably better than most, as the universe seems hellbent on prodding me into this.
