Water Lady

I don't know if she is an elf or a nymph or human. She just is. It's based off a drawing in Guide to Tolkien's World: A Bestiary by David Day. I think it was a sketch of Goldberry, I am not sure. Anyway, I did my own variation of it.

When the Going Gets Tough...

....The Tough copy pictures out of children's books about pet baby dragons. At least, that is what this combatant virtuoso of the female persuasion did. It is from the book, Me and My Dragon by David Biedrzychi. Just go look on amazon or something and look at the cover- you'll see why I found it irresistible when I ran across it at the library.

I apologize for the poor image quality. My scanner is dead, and I could not find ideal lighting for my silly camera. I went on a quest inside and out- outside was TOO BRIGHT, and inside this old house there is no good lighting ANYWHERE at the moment. This was the best I could do. I copied another picture of the dragon reading Knight Boy: Dragon Tamer in bed with a worried look, with Mouse looking over his shoulder. But that one I could NOT rescue- even with my iphoto editing, which I am rather good at.

Yes it has been tough lately. But, "beautiful people do not just happen."

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. beautiful people do not just happen."
-Blessed Pope John Paul II

‎"As long as we live, we fight, and as long as we are fighting, that is a sign that we are not defeated and that the good Spirit dwells within us. And if death does not meet you as the victor, he should find you a warrior." -St. Augustine

May 9th, 2011: Illustration Friday

So I am starting something new- I am going to give a go at participating in Illustration Friday, where you doing a drawing based on the word of the week, and they post it every Friday. Now, I am not sure I will do this EVERY Friday, but it's new, and i can see it being handy on those far too frequently occurring days when I can't think of what to draw. I think it looks fun, and fun is good.

This week's word is Beginning. And so- tah dah!- I did another dragon..... I like dragons. I wanted to make the boy hobbit like, although I think his limbs turned out rather long, making him look a bit too tall for a hobbit. But I liked the way he looked, and so was too attached to erase and redo him. I had fun doing this one.

I love my dragon! And I like the boy- even if his hands are a bit big, which I just now noticed....

You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.
~C.S. Lewis

April 15th... No Drawing Yet, But A Funny Story (a.k.a an excuse)

So... I was going to go to the YMCA and Stations of the Cross, and then come home and spend a lovely evening drawing something (I want to do a drawing of a more happy persuasion...). But, yeah..... something happened: I had a headache before leaving, and so I went to the cabinet to take an advil, only, I took a sleeping pill by accident! So yeah... I BARELY jogged half a mile and had to sit the whole time during stations, and have been a zombie ever since.... Maybe I will draw SOMETHING later tonight, even if it's just a salt shaker. I will try, that is all I can promise.
      And for some reason the boys (I have two younger brothers) are walking around the kitchen communicating by saying only "coo coo".... when you're drunk on sleeping pills this does really strange things to your head.... just sayin.
     Oh! And I have been thinking that along with my own drawings, I may post artwork that I like by other artist, living and (mostly) dead. I just get so excited about stuff and want to share! I'm sure you won't mind. I hope.

An hour or two later:
Ok! I did a quick sketch! I remembered that I told a friend I would do a quick unicorn sketch for her, and so here it is. I have to confess I only spent like 10 minutes on it, but I intend to get her a more detailed drawing in the  future.

Ok... so there are flecks of some ferin' substance on this.... there must have been dust or something on my scanner.

     And here is my painting by someone else for the day. I have no idea who this is by; I found this in a magazine, but it didn't have a name or source, and I couldn't find it on google images... so I suppose we are out of luck this time. But I love it! It may be my current favorite of the Child Jesus so far. 

Absolutely lovely! I wish I knew who did it. If anyone knows, please tell me. 

     Since we are kind of on the theme of the Child Jesus, let's use a St. Therese quote for today:

"If I did not simply suffer from one moment to another, it would be impossible for me to be patient; but I look only at the present moment, forget the past, and I take good care not to forestall the future. When we yield to discouragement or despair it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future. "-St. Therese of Lisieux

March 21st, 2011: Another Crying Dragon

This is roughly based on Reepicheep and Eustace in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I always loved this scene, and the idea of a big physically strong dragon being comforted by the little mouse with a big personality. I liked the opposites- which was what I was aiming for with the size of the huge puddle of dragon tears, and the little tiny handkerchief that the mouse offers the poor dragon. How could the little clothe wipe all those tears?

I have also been working on a painting or two as well. So just because I am not posting drawings as I should does not mean I am not busy.
Oh, and I shall be out of town for nearly a week starting Friday, and I do not foresee computer access. But, I do hope to draw while I am gone, so maybe I will have a few things to post when I return.

When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you sometimes find that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out in the open and has other people looking at it. -Winnie the Poor.

Very true, silly bear. Very true.
And it does seem I am very fond of dragons does it not? They are growing on me I must admit. 

March 7th: Mermaid Nearly Killed

So I got back from an absolutely lovely girly time with my friend over the weekend. I inked in my Little Mermaid picture, and I nearly killed her. Yes, is is a rather darker sad story, but I did not intend for such gloom as this. I do like it, but it's not the completely sweet suffering little mermaid I had pictured. Heh, I think I did FAR too many ink washes, the many layers seemed to get a biiit chalky. But anyway, it's been a year or so since I did a pen and ink, and I do miss it. Hopefully I will keep with it and get back into practice with it.

Again, not what I had planned, but maybe I simply do not have the control over ink to get the result I wanted. She doesn't have the ink black hair and pale skin I wanted. She's not delicate enough. She looks slightly mischievous or threatening than she should.  Heh, I mean, I haven't done this in a year... of course I want it to be PERFECT. What else would a sane person expect? I do like  how that bit of tail fins look....
     By the way, I have just discovered Jeeves and Wooster. Life now has a whole new meaning. I say, I'm rather dashed! Whato whato whato! I say! I feel rather blitheringly tired! Tootle pip!

March 4th, 2011: Andersen's The Little Mermaid Unfinished

Yes, I have been slacking. Well, actually I have been quite busy, just not with drawing. I've discovered that deadlines for scholarships/applications are much sooner than I thought, and so I have been working like crazy on portfolios and essays. But today, even though I was not feeling very well, I did start an ink drawing. I read Andersen's The Little Mermaid, and, of course, I loved it and wanted to draw it. Yes, I am doing lots of fairy tales lately. But I am doing that on purpose, because 1), I have never read them before, and 2), I knew they would be fun to illustrate. So here she is, the Little Mermaid. The story IS NOT like the disney version, as I am sure you can imagine. She is a beautiful, sad, "quiet and thoughtful" creature, who wanted more than anything to acquire an immortal soul(mer-people do not have immortal souls or after lives) by winning the love of a human. She fails, more or less, but do read the story anyway! She is a very heroic mermaid.

I am leaving for the weekend, and so I will probably not finish this until Tuesday. But I do plan to finish this using some ink washes, and maybe a touch of color here or there. For my other plans (as if I have that many) you will just have check later!
       "Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, and being love is a supreme creative act." -Charles Dickons

"I always remember to forget those things." Winnie The Pooh

March 1st: Attaching the Foot to the Invention, and The Rose Elf

I have been reading Andersen's fairy tales lately, and this sketch is from a story called The Rose Elf, which I find tragic, disturbing, and absolutely charming and lovely. I do not want to tell you the story here because I want you to find and discover it for yourself. It is only a few pages long, but so packed with details and suggestions. I LOVE Andersen's work so far! I think that this sketch would look good redone as a pen and ink drawing.... I may just do that, after I tweak the composition a bit.

"And the queen bee hummed in the air and sang of the blossom's revenge and of the rose elf, and of how behind the smallest petal there lives one who can tell and can avenge a wrong." 

Drawing number two is from Structure of Man: Drawing the Human Figure From Your Mind. Look! I am attaching the foot to the Invention! Yes! That means we get to move onto the arms and hands soon! 

Art quote:

"I feel there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." -Vincent Van Gogh....  That right there is why I think that "art for art's sake" does not stand on it's own, more or less. "Only love creates," -St. Maximillian Kolbe.

1st Post: February 23rd, 2011

Officially, the post of the day is the header. But I needed to do a post to point that out. Also, I decided to put the past two sketches I did over the past week. The first is my attempt at copying a Waterhouse while watching Quantum of Solace. Which I thought was kinda lame.  

Note to self: trying to draw while watching an action movie you've never seen before is not the best idea in the world. Fun maybe, but the drawing rather than the tv watching suffers. 

    Another is a lesson or two from The Structure of Man: Drawing the Human Figure From Your Mind DVD set that i am using in an attempt to teach myself anatomy. I have been working on these DVD's for about 3 years now. It's about time I got past the foot don't you think?

How about an art quote for the day: "Art allows us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." -Thomas Merton