Bay Arabian- 30 minute pen sketch

"Bay Arabian"
gel pen
small leather sketchbook

I'm trying to pull myself out of this winter funk and begin publishing a new blog post 3x a week.  Today I came across a stock photo of this exuberant Arabian.  Despite my sleepiness (c'mon, it's in the lower fifties and sunny!  So much better than the negative temperatures we suffered in February!), I managed to dredge up enough motivation to do a quick sketch.  I worked with quick, gestural strokes of the pen.  There is a certain beauty to sketching that I haven't quite managed to translate to more formal work.  This particular piece showcases that beauty in its expressiveness and use of suggestion.  The viewer is allowed to speculate more about the horse instead of being given a  representation which leaves little to the imagination.  Perhaps the loose lines and wild energy appeal to me so much because it represents the churning thoughts of my subconscious, which are often masked by my practical and precise outer personality.

Landscape drawing and small acrylic painting of a fox

"Landscaping"
gel pen
small leather sketchbook

It was pointed out to me that I tend to focus on details or single subjects in my work, followed by the suggestion that I try to branch out and experiment with landscapes.  I have done a couple of small landscapes here and there, and while there are many possibilities within the scope of landscape painting, it just isn't something I have really gotten into.  Many landscape paintings are large, grand affairs.  This sketch was somewhat tedious for me.  Leaves were agonizingly difficult to represent to my liking, so I settled for suggestions of leaves.  I remember several years ago when I had recently gotten my driver's license, I took my paints and even an easel out to do a little plein air, but once I had arrived at my destination, I realized I hadn't brought a single scrap of paper. 

As a viewer of art, I find myself attracted to more impressionist landscapes in the style of Monet  than those devoted to capture every detail.  Tight, realistic brushwork is impressive, but it doesn't stir me the same way loose strokes and a sense of effervescent light do.  Maybe I'll hit the road with brushes and paints again, and this time I'll remember to bring a canvas or two.

"Vulpes Sienna"
acrylic paint
4"x5"

Yet another snowy day gave me some time to break out the acrylic paint again.   I've been considering re-reading His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and I've always wished for a daemon of my own.  Sometimes I like to wonder what my spirit animal could be, even going so far as to take some of those silly online quizzes out of boredom.  The answer points strongly to wolf or bear, so I originally was going to do a spirit-wolf painting.  Then I made the face of the canid too pointy.  Oh well, I had been reading about foxes lately, so I pursued the vulpine subject matter.  This was just for fun, and I wanted it to be a simplistic representation of the animal.  I've seen foxes hunting in the winter snow.  They leap straight into the air, back arched, tail looped, and come pouncing down forelegs first.  This behavior is what inspired this fox's pose.

Acrylic painting- "Ancestor"

"Ancestor"
acrylic paint
4"x5"; 3/1/15

My high school was unique in that it offered a lot of art classes, which included ceramics, video, drawing, and painting.  In fact, it was during my senior year of high school that I took painting for my homeroom class, and it was the peace and focus which I felt during this class that guided me to choose visual arts for my college education.  Some brushes, canvas, and acrylic paint (BASIC brand) was provided.  The rest was up to us.

I broke out my acrylic paints to do a very small painting, and I had a blast.  With a relaxing playlist featuring such artists as Nightmares on Wax and Air, I was able to become fully absorbed in the creative process.  I began by layering blue and white paint in an atmospheric blend for my background.  Then I took a fine brush and, without any reference, freehand painted the outline of the horse figure.  Then I added the pattern in blue.  When I finished with that, the horse looked a little flat and just "blah" to me, so I went over the lines with white highlights.  This added some great highlights and needed visual interest.

I'm looking forward to doing some more painting.  My technical skills, like everything else, need refining, but it's very easy for me to embrace my creativity when wielding brush and paint.  It's always smart to learn from your mistakes, but when painting, it can be a lot of fun to learn from imperfection.