Norfolk Drawing Group # 81

This night was a host to a male model. Generally the group as a whole doesn't like male models because they become to general. The basic male body type is the same as very boxy in comparison to females bodies. However this evening this model was a little better than the rest. i wish i could've came with enough time to create some more meaning sketches that i could be proud of. But maybe next time around.

What's new for me in '11

Everyone has something cool or interesting that they claim they'll do but don't. My New Year's Resolution is more catered to what i want to work on.

1. Dedicate/rededicate myself to being an artist. I play so much with the concept of "i'm an artist" This year i plan not only to have a show but to also draw for 1 hour everyday. That's very hard for me to do and attempt to believe that i can focus on that but that's my goal. if i don't take myself seriously as an artistic who else will.
2. Become more available for my friends. I'm a hermit individual by nature. i love being alone and i have no problems at all telling people: tonight doesn't work for me. By doing so i've pushed some of those who are closest to me away. There are sometimes people understand while other's people just think i'm being selfish. I never set out to hurt anyone on purpose. That isn't my goal, however my goal is to reset myself emotionally. Of all things this will probably being one of the most challenging.
3. stop being timid. I've spent most of my life being afraid of the what if scenario. I cower and panic when i should be running forward with confidence. So it stops here and now. i've told myself for so long that i have nothing else to loss because i loss everything, so why am i not living that way?

Happiness is Playing Outside (pic & sketch)

It's been a very broken record for me that December is not my favorite month. Everyone is either gathering gifts for Christmas, excited for Christmas or just counting down the day until this all is over. I was a little more of that latter. Work hasn't been the idea happy place it should be this time of the year. The company decided to add extra hours onto an even longer work day and push promotion after promotion to keep the store full of customers. I'm not questioning the marketing strategy just the idea that it burns people out. So even in reflection now i was burnt out even a week after Thanksgiving. As i took a 2ND look at this sketch i thought about the concept of all my friends and family that actually didn't have to work with John Q Public this holidays. The people that actually got a chance to enjoy their vacations/breaks from life. I'm very envious and hopefully soon i'll be able to join them.

The things i like about her, she doesn't (pic & sketch)

I was fiddling around on Facebook and i found a friends comment interesting. She said "she wished she could blink herself skinny." Normally that idea wouldn't bother me at all, because we all have flaws that only we see. Either our bodies are to hairy, calves are to skinny, hair to short/long, or other thoughts that are even worst. I wanted to make a comment that would shake or slap reality into her. She is a curvaceous women but i doubt she realizes that plenty of guys like her body just the way it is. Flaws in your body are only flaws if you allow them to be instead they should be your strengths.

Joeanna (pic & sketch)

I follow various art blogs for creative impersation and ideas. Joeanna is one of those blogs that i enjoy looking at because she's artistically free. When i say free i mean she has not just 1 style of drawing or creating but multiple ones. I find it amusing to read her blog, look at her photos and watch her videos. She helps remind me that i need to become more open as a artist.

so in my vow to draw/paint for 1 hour everyday this year i created this.

Norfolk Drawing Group # 80; Rebirth

it's a new year and i promised myself that i would focus more of being a serious artist this year. Being in a grumpy slump of a mood i've been avoid drawing with the group. Granted they could've brought me out of my funk but something always seemed to be going on. Either i had guest coming in town, i was closing that night or i was sick. Those thoughts compiled with the idea of work doesn't make the best formula for drawing.

With a little guidance and the harping echoes of friends telling me "i better go to drawing" i made my way out this past Tues. i actually had a fair amount of time to construct a drawing on painting night.

Norfolk drawing Group # 79

I've been lazy posting my drawing from the sketch group. However i liked the 1st sketch better than the 2nd one. Myave i should go back and tweak it a little

Kobe (pic, sketch and thoughts)

I try so hard to embody Kobe Bryant's mentality at work. In more so now that everything seems to be falling apart or going wrong around me. It's hard to keep a smile on my face when my name is uttered almost every 5 seconds. Maybe it's a sign of things to come, that perhaps i'm not made or cut out for retail?!

Anna Faris (pics & sketch)

So i kind of have a couple of comedic crushes. Anna Faris is one of those crushes since i saw her in Scary Movies a little over 10 years ago. In almost every movie i've seen her in she plays the clueless and mentally lost girl but being somehow i found that attractive.

Study of Jeff

Jeff is one of my most spiritual friends that i've met since working at Old Navy. he takes extremely good self photos so it was only naturally that i borrow one and practice with conte.

priceless commission

The Holidays season is winding down and i feel better knowing that i was able to hang on so long. It's been a very busy, stressful time of the year to the point that i don't want wish to go anywhere at all. My apartment has no tree or decorations just piles of crap and drawings all over the place.

Still sometimes stories are put in your heart and mind that help ease whatever troubles you may have. In my apartment complex i normally stop and chat with a lady that lives a couple of doors down on my way to my car. She had asked me a couple of times if i could draw something for her. More recently she stopped me and asked me to draw a picture of her nephew and sister. I guess during the holidays she hit a rough patch and took the picture of her deceased sister to bed with her to feel a little bit of comfort. That same day as i walking to my car,was the moment that she would request that exact picture. She wanted it as a Christmas gift for her nephew because it had been ages since he had seen this picture. Overally the drawing wasn't to complex plus I needed the practice. Granted just a couple of weeks earlier i spoke with a lady that wanted a caricature done but i guess she went with someone else. So at least i had some work in my hands for the holidays season to break up the stress.

A little less than a week and i had the picture completed, even with my friend Cara staying with me from out of town. I honestly owe a small thanks to a field mouse that somehow got into my apartment and kept me up with his scratching most of the night but that's another story. Last Thursday before heading out in the snow to work , i gave her the picture. She kept saying how much she loved it and wondered how much it would charge her. Somewhere in the middle of all the conversation something within me said "nothing." The drawings or sketch is free. Very rarely will you ever hear artist say that because it's like asking a mechanic to do work on your car for free. It's a professional job and it should be viewed as that way but i felt there's something you can't put a price tag on. The drawing meant more to her than any dollar value. Somethings in life simply are priceless. I didn't post this in my blog as a way of patting myself on the back. I posted it because sometimes doing good deeds make the world a better place.

practice

Coffee shop practice.

Trials and Tribulations of Randy Moss

I can feel what the professional football player Randy Moss feelings. No, i haven't caught a game winning catch or played in a Superbowl but we both have depression. I know the hurt and need to be alone that he often feelings. More times than i can count on one hand i felt the same way he did in the interview. Granted it's not healthy to feel this way but until i center myself it's true.

Phillip and the Band (pic & sketch)

Sometimes life takes you the oddest of places. Not to long ago it made sure i took me to a Phillip Roebuck show. I'm the last person to be seen at an art show opening and not because i don't support the arts. It's more roots in the ideas that i belittle myself on the idea , why can't i get my act together to have my own show? I sit in a salty mood and wonder are the people around me that are having shows better than me? I truth of the matter is no they aren't because we each have their own unique voice to be expressive with.
It was late and i was wondering what time i should make my exit and not shut down the event but i saw a guy put a kick drum on his back and held a banjo which grabbed my attention. Others around me boasted about his performance being incredible and something worth seeing. So i didn't leave, i stayed and it was well worth it.

a sample of his music

http://www.reverbnation.com/page_object/page_object_bio/artist_65495

Kanye West Interuption moment....

This past week seems to be overloading with Kanye West. His latest album came out last week and the PR people have him mostly EVERYWHERE. I saw this Saturday Night Live performance was left momentarily in awe but the visual direction. I was going to post here but found myself watching his mini-movie instead. Granted i may not agree with all of his view point but i can't deny that he's a creative genius. This video best exemplifies that.

Shades of Green (pic & sketch)

I've been dragging my tired self on my days off to Panera. I've just felt drained but not really sure why. I guess my mind is running overdrive to much at work. This is one of the tumblr pictures that i found and drew. Perhaps there are many more on the way.

Where's My Eraser

this is a quick little study sketch that i did. I had an eraser somewhere but now i'm not sure where it is. This sketch started off as just being a simply red sketch study until i realized i wasn't getting any volume or detail in it therefor blue was added. With no eraser blending was my only option. Sigh!

When Life Gives You Lemons (pic & sketch)

Kristen is one of the girls that i met at Greenbrier Old Navy during my 2 week flip flop there this past spring. I always admired her bubbly nature and her smile which would explain why i knew plenty of guys fancied her. From time to time i check in on her to make sure she along with the other girls working there and behaving themselves. While on one of my photo hunting missions i ran across this goofy pic. The idea that it was more than just a typical photo and the way her face was stretched made this picture worth re-imagining. I wasn't to sure what i was doing to do with the background or it was going to be a expressive painting. I just knew i would allow the process to take a life of it's own. On a whim this is what i came up with.

A girl with her book (pic & sketch)

Tabetha is one of the former models from the local drawing group that i'm a part of. When i had an old picture tagged of me in her album not to long ago i went through her other pictures as well as came across this one. I like the manner in which she was posed without being to posed. Therefor one bored day while i was out unwinding i began to draw. It's a little detailed but the color pencil that i used only allowed me but so much.

What Drives My Art?

I find myself reflecting on my not so the brightest moments of my past to create work. The anger, the frustration and the sadness become a large ball of energy that i use. I ran across 3 songs that expression this idea best.

1. Trey Songz


2. Pharcyde


3. Outkast

Meanwhile...

Of my most recent pieces this one makes me proud. I have been dragging my feet with anything remotely related to an art show. I've made promises to myself that i would get the ball rolling, day after day until it's just a small echo of an idea.

Shortly after hearing the news that Sandra Bullock was leaving her husband. I thought of the old Blondie comic strip that i was use to read when i was younger. Blondie and Sandra had been labeled as the American sweetheart. I constantly heard that comparison after she won her Oscar earlier this year. I wanted to make a drawing that looked grainy like a comic strip. I could dig better into the psychology of the idea but i'll leave it at this for now.

Katie leah sketch, something old pic i had laying around

Roger Staubach

I sketch often so i wanted to do something for a friend. After looking to see what my fellow peer artist were doing this is what i came up with.

Norfolk Drawing Group #77 : Pre-Funk

I hadn't gone out to the group in well over a month. I had either been broke or wanting more time to rest. My friends wanted me to be more chatty but i was more focused on my artwork. I had plenty of things to work on. Overall it was an ok sketch night.

Norfolk Drawing Group #78: the Funk

I made my way out to painting night with a painful sinus headache. The traffic was so backed up i didn't want to go straigh home. Instead i draw them semi-sketch. You can kind of sense that my heart wasn't into it at all.

Bdaddy

I was asked to create a drawing for my friend Andi. I know she's a graphic artist with a graffiti training. I always find myself drawing pin ups and nude. I wanted to do something slightly outside of my norm. Therefor i came up with this overall over the place style creation. There's a little of everything in this piece (pen, marker, acrylic, and color pencils). The imagine created itself because my vision wasn't this. The origninal design had more music elements in it.

On a side note there was a moment during my trip in Texas where the title Black Daddy was tossed around. Ultimately it was shorten to B Daddy therefore scribbled along the female is that name.

Lost friends

Sometimes you think about your friends from your past. You wonder why you've both lost your way. Life is like lilly pads in a lake sometimes we drift together and other times we drift apart. I wish i hadn't lost most of my friends i've met along the way. However i still wish them all the best. This is my friend Ashley, we use to be extremely close .

Dianna Christine

i feel like i neglected this site for a while. Like i forgot how to post what i'm drawing. It's really sad.

This is a sketch of Dianna that i was working on during my flight home from Dallas. The a quick easy sketch. I hope it doesn't show that i kind of have a hair fetish.