I started this with the Doodle Addicts Pre/post quarantine diptych drawing challenge in mind, but I didn't make the deadline (I started it on the day of the deadline, so it was a little ambitious!). The first half of the drawing represents before the corona virus and the second half is after the virus and kind of living with it. No pencil, just straight into the drawing with ink. It's rough, but I like how it turned out and there are some fun characters.
The Seasons. Acrylic Gouache on Wood Skateboard Deck. 7.75” x 32”
Almost finished! I’ll be donating this hand-painted skateboard deck to support the Kansas City Artists Coalition’s 37th Annual Benefit Art Auction taking place on February 29, 2020.
This is an extension of my steam of consciousness sketchbook practice. Having fun!
Digital is great -- for composition and color. But for line art? I don't think I can ever give up the fountain pen. This was drawn with a Sailor King of Pen (M) and Sailor 1911L (EF) fountain pens using Pilot Black ink. Yes, sacrilege. Pilot ink in a Sailor. But I have some Kiwa Guro arriving soon!
There’s a lot of waiting in life.
Waiting in lobbies.
Waiting on answers.
Waiting for braces to tighten, kids to grow, hearts to heal, or prayers to be answered.
I sat at the orthodontist, watching dollars tighten on tiny wires, and made this sketch. A tree. A house. A street. Color helped the moment breathe.
I remember once hearing a chess master say, “There is no waiting in chess.”
It confused me—wasn’t there always a turn to wait for?
But he explained: “There’s no waiting. Only planning. Plotting. Analyzing. You’re always thinking.”
I once repeated that to a FIDE master. He got mad.
Maybe because waiting and patience aren’t the same thing.
We can be still and deeply active inside.
We can pause without being passive.
And then there’s Lindsey’s voice in the back of my head:
“That sounds like a first-world problem.”
“Speak life.”
“Be thankful. Rejoice always.”
And she’s right.
So here’s to filling waiting time with something creative.
Something kind.
Something that turns a delay into a doorway.
Taking some inspiration from some things me and my girlfriend talked about regarding old highs in one’s past and asking yourself if revisiting them later on in life is worth it… the usual stuff I guess.
