Caged

caged
Caged

July 24, 1998. The air is thick and heavy, the kind of claustrophobic air that makes your face hot and sweat just by breathing. The estate still by the quiet of the warm summer night, with the exception of the occasional roll of thunder outside the magestic windows draped in clamorous moonlight and dampened darkness. Midnight descends and all inside the Spencer mansion move slowly but not without haste, for their ravenous hunger is matched only by their insatiable lust for her insides. Her flesh reeks of the living, of fear, of perspiration; driving all shadows in the darkness to her blindly like moths to a lamp light. Who knows what Jill has spoken into the darkness, her walls closing in about her. I cannot get out, for these halls are a maze and its’ doors are a puzzle. I cannot get out. But if only I continue, I shall find more than just the answers… but my salvation as well.

The Claus

the-claus
The Claus

This is my favorite piece to date. Completed and dated on December 21, 2016 The Claus weighs in at 24″ tall by 18″ wide. I used a range of graphite scaling from B-8B, spanning a total of 48 hours actual drawing time.

A non traditional approach to depicting Santa Claus, I imagined him waning through the snow at night. Lantern in hand and lonesome, Claus is left with an expression of heightened senses upon his face.

Merry Christmas to all.

This piece has been purchased.

Oh Christmas Tree

The time it takes me to write this will take longer than the time it took to create this piece of artwork. But you should read it anyway, because the info you need to know about this piece is inside the following paragraphs.

I love Christmas, and it’s not so much the day of itself. There’s so much going on, everyone is buzzing around and energetic. Cities, small towns, down to people’s homes come to life with lights and cheerfulness. There’s a month long anticipation leading up to Christmas Day, which starts right after a great Thanksgiving day feast.

To me the joy of Christmas comes from taking the time to think enough about someone you love, and put effort into gifting them something. And it’s always special, because it’s personal when you took so much time out of your own life and made sacrifices to think about that person. But the true happiness of Christmas is being with that loved one.

As for finding extra time to do the things we want to do for ourselves during the holiday season, well… I’m sure we can all get a good laugh out of that one.

Like many artists, I work a regular full time job to support myself. Taking on extra commissions during this time of year gets a bit scary when you consider the time crunch.

So I’ve been playing around with this app on my iPhone called Sketches Pro. I was relaxing with a glass of wine at the bar before I started sketching on Wednesday night, and this is what I came up with. Took about thirty minutes to complete, with goofing around and chatting thrown into the mix as well.

I was sitting beside someone who loves Christmas as much as I do, and when I opened the app to a blank screen to draw… the piece I appropriately named Oh Christmas Tree came together in no time.

I used a water color option to make this. I don’t typically enjoy abstract art, but I’ll make an exception this time. Anyway, just something fun. I know I posted a day early, typically I post on Sundays but I will be working and need to get some other pieces aligned for the upcoming week.

Hattie Tom

hattie-tom
Hattie Tom

As we approach Thanksgiving I have decided to focus my attention on Native Americans.

The subject here is Hattie Tom, a sixteen year old Mescalero Apache photographed in 1899 by Frank A. Rinehart.

This is my first portrait of a person, and my first sketch of a face. The dimensions are 11 x 14, drawn in 3B-6B lead.

Senna

senna
Senna

Senna was the first piece I was commissioned to draw, as well as the first pet portrait I attempted. I was originally contracted to sketch Senna by my friend Abby. Although Senna is not her dog, the German Sheppard belongs to her boyfriend. The portrait was gifted to him as a birthday present.

This piece took roughly 10 hours to produce. I used an array of H as well as B leads to complete the portrait.

I enjoyed drawing Senna. The fur took quite a bit of time to detail, but I was pleased with the end result.

Zoey

zoey
Zoey

The piece Zoey is a birthday gift commissioned by a coworker. The 11 x 14 sketch took eight hours to produce.

I took my time with the trees and bushes. The background is composed of two layers of shading to create texture and depth.

Happy birthday Taryn, I hope your birthday week has been good to you! And I hope you like your portrait of Zoey as well.

This piece has been purchased.