Burro Foal

"Burrito"
pen and graphite
small leather sketchbook

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.

Caterpillar

"Caterpillar"
graphite sketch
small leather sketchbook

Leo said to me today that I should draw things other than horses.  While walking, I saw something that looked like a squished caterpillar, and decided that I would draw a caterpillar.  I'm not sure of the species, since I got the reference photo from wallpapers.com.  Because of its hypnotic pattern, it was difficult to draw.  Each segment had to be done a little at a time to avoid confusion.  I focused mainly on the contours and outlines of the body, and then the pattern.

I'm looking forward to warmer weather.  Drawing this was a nice distraction from the cold February breeze blowing outside!  Winter will soon unfold into spring.