Gangsta Abby (pic & sketch)

This one is starts off a good joke. Abby is one of my good friends from the Drawing Group and as of lately we all have been giving each other the comedic roast. Sadly to say Devon gets most of the roasting but this Tuesday night after drawing it was Abby's turn. For some reason i can't quite recall at the moment but Abby thought she was cool or urban enough to attempt to do the hand gestures/gang sign for west side. She attempted to morph her fingers into the W but she failed and came up a little less than convincing. Tony and i both joked that we should do a drawing about this. I actually wanted to have this done in time to show the kids at an elementary school art exhibit but i was a little to late.

Norfolk Drawing Group 100: 99 drawings better than before

It's hard to believe that i've been going to 100 drawing sessions. Quietly as i kept that a mystery over the past 5 years it seems like a personal accomplishment. I've become a better artist. I won't admit it loudly but i can see growth in my work. I can also see that i've experimented and struggled in hopes of becoming a truly well rounded artist. I got out of work a little later than i would've liked to but this is one of 3 sketches that i did this night. For some reason it's not posted the others the way i want them to. Maybe i'll try again later

Why would you pick my picture

Why would you pick my picture?of all the people though?: was just one in a series of questions that i was asked. The truth isn't always as glamorous as we would like it to be. But i'll try my best to sum it all up. The logical reason would be that i chose her in that image because i liked the pose. Especially since i follow her posts that i would ask permission to use her image for a drawing/sketch.

The underlining reason why i drew her picture is a little deeper. I'm a firm believer in "everything happens for a reason." I get grief from my friends when i try to explain it's a greater power. Everyone has their own versions of what greater power it could be or if there's one at all. Still i believe things happen as they should. It's granted that i don't know her on a personal level outside of what she posts. Just maybe i draw her picture because she had been having a bad day, week or month? Maybe i drew Ashley to let her know even if she didn't think that she is cute, pretty or special someone else did? Maybe i just wanted to share my artwork with a stranger in hopes that she would do the same for someone else? Or maybe i just think to much?

Norfolk Drawing Group #99

This is one of those night when i got off of work and knew i needed to draw. I needed to do something to relieve some stress and attempt to do something creative. So I actually made it out early and got myself a got spot just one problem. There was no model, the model ended up getting into an accident and almost totally her car. It's always a good thing when you have a good stand in model like Abby. She did a very good job. I wish my sketches were a little better to reflect it.

Eloise (pic & sketch)

Eloise, is one of the girl's post that i fellow on Tumblr. I was drawing to the way that her hair swoops down directly over her face in this self photo. Oddly enough i wanted the image of her to fade in and out with the toned paper. Overall i used 4 color pencils to create this one. i didn't want to go to literal with this drawing, perhaps on my next one i will?!

Devon as "Panda Man"

this is one of those inside jokes that we had in the group. I wish i could explain it and even if i did would it be funny enough to make you laugh. I'm not sure so i'll save us both the effort.

Kimberly ( pic & sketch)

This is more of a tribute to one of my good friends that i use to work with. I have met plenty of good people at during my tour of work at Old Navy. I can't believe it's coming up on 10 years this September. Kimberly is one of those good friends that i encountered during my fun times opening up Old Navy's in Va/Nc. We shared drinks, laughs and always seemed to have a great time. That's something that i can never forget and i will be always enriched for.

Ultimately i liked the idea of the pose that she has. She is a women of strong faith and with that comes a journey of being challenged daily. Like all battles it's one that she wins and everyone can win as well. This was just a glimpse into one of those moments.

Black Girl Lost Series (pic & sketch)

It was one of those things where all the stars seemed to be aligned and come one point. This is one of my emotionally deeper post that i've done in a while. I was listening to the radio last week and the topic of the day was: Do you think the media plays a part in why light skin and dark skin African Americans feel about each other? Some calls pointed out yes while other callers pointed out that in most music videos and lyrics that every other race is identified but our own. I took stock of my own artwork for a moment. I have drawn few black females. There could be numerous reasons why, maybe the pose wasn't right or the body type wasn't right either or maybe it's something deeper? Just to add fuel to the fire a little i have been watching Malcolm X on tv this week. One of the movie channels has pulled this movie out it's film vault and been cycling through it repeatedly. His militant attitude and idea mindset spoke to that side that knew a change had to be made artistically.

Oddly enough before all this i had been thinking about a song by rapper NaS by the same title Black Girl Lost. In the song he talks about the African Americans women lost of self worth due to chasing material goals. Finally i liked the expressiveness of her facial features. It was clear to see that its an amateur photo with soul and grit into it that i was drawn to.

norfolk drawing group #98

My last sketch session spoke of the decline of good art work from me. this is a testment to just that. It was painting night and i haven't painting for a while outside of the painting that i done around the house i'm staying at. Therefor that translates to no painting for fun. Challenging myself i thought i would bring my paints out this evening. I should've practice first because it was all crap. The most disappointing part is that she was a beautiful model, therefor i missed a golden opportunity to create some good pieces.

the painting on the canvas paper started off well until i realized that i shrunk her head. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice shrunk her head.

finally i gave up and went back to using my color pencils and it still didn't reach it's full potential.

norfolk drawing group #97

It was another crappy night for me. Or should i say the decline of my recent high on completing good sketches. Overall i wasn't happy