Mostly I Do Art...

"The Un-Jolly Elf" Ballpoint Pen on Arches Cold-Pressed Paper So, I haven't posted in a while, but to be honest, there wasn't really anything I felt like posting about. I mean, yeah, it's the holiday season and all, but I'm afraid I'm one of those strange people who doesn't get a lot of joy out of it. Now before you go being all judgmental, I'm not materialistic or selfish. In fact, you can ask anyone who knows me, and they'll all tell you that I'm about the most un-selfish person they know. And no, I don't have unrealistic expectations or unreasonable goals, and I'm not one of those so-called bleeding hearts. So why, then, does the season of giving always give me the blues? In a word, people . I may not be unreasonable, unrealistic, shallow, greedy, or demanding, but I can't stop other people from behaving that way. It's funny how an event that's supposed to foster kindness and good will tends to bring out t

"Calico Koi"   Prismacolor pencil and PITT graphite on Strathmore 400 series 80 lb. grayscale paper. I often have people ask me, "How do you do that? Where do you get your ideas?" In response, I decided to show some of the initial process that goes into creating a finished work like the one above. There's a local Chinese buffet that features a beautiful indoor koi pond in the lobby. The koi here are somewhat shy but if you're patient you can watch them slowly, gracefully circle the pond beneath an arched bridge. The lighting here is too poor for good quality photos, but I wanted an image of these majestic animals for my bathroom wall. The trouble was, I had never drawn a koi fish before. To the internet! My intial designs were made on newsprint with PITT charcoal pencil. The first image here was nice, but a bit too stylized for what I wanted. To me, it looked more like a Chinese kite than a real fish. The pose seemed stiff, like the fish wa

After spending a brief amount of time on G+, the Sketchbook weekly feature has returned to its proper home, our blog. When I first moved the feature over to G+, it was an attempt to separate my personal art from that of the studio. I never realized how much traffic the sketchbook feature brought to the blog, and in return, to Studio 71. So, without any further nonsense, the Sketchbook... Inking Cultural Expression: Tattoo Design Experiments "Thug Life" "Skull and Roses" #sketching #drawing #sketchbook #penandink #tattooart #skull #roses #rosary #thuglife

The flood waters of Hurricane Harvey have not yet receded from Texas, and the storm is poised to make landfall again in Louisiana. Of course, this is normal behavior for a hurricane, but the damage it caused in Texas was far worse than anyone expected. I can't help but ask the obvious question - Why? According to many sources, Harvey may not have been caused  by #climatechange, but it was certainly fed by it. Higher sea levels due to melting arctic pack ice caused storm surges to swell far above normal, and higher than normal temperatures on land created the potential for higher humidity and extra rainfall. Those higher temperatures also had an effect on the Gulf of Mexico, where most hurricanes begin. A hurricane that forms over warmer water will be more intense than one that forms over colder water. Climbing temperatures also affect weather patterns, causing storm fronts to move much more slowly than normal. A stalled front and weaker jet stream meant that Hurricane Harvey l

It's almost September, and it's back to the good old sketchbook. I'm trying to get in some practice on my portrait expressions, so I've been playing around with anime, trying to convey difficult expressions like anticipation, inquisitiveness, and paranoia. Here we have a young girl who seems to be hanging on your every word. One might imagine she had just asked some life-altering question and is anxiously awaiting your reply.  She almost seems to be pleading, wanting something from you. #sketching #pencildrawing #portraitdrawing

I was talking about illustrating what the real effects of #climatechange would look like. In my last blog entry (see it here ), I created a digital painting that showed widespread flooding caused by melting arctic ice. This image shows the opposite - a drought. While future flooding may be difficult to imagine, the effects of drought and unchecked water use can be seen right now in California, where once deep reservoirs like Lake Folsom and Lake Oroville stand empty. Scientists predict that a similar fate awaits Lake Mead, the reservoir behind the famous Hoover Dam. Water levels at the dam are at the lowest they've ever been, and while recent rains bring some relief, it isn't enough. At the current rate, Lake Mead will be empty by 2021. Hoover Dam, Upstream Face, 2050 You probably recognize the familiar Hoover Dam and its castle-like intake towers, but something seems odd here, doesn't it? The intake towers aren't even in the water, and they seem to be sitti

In spite of everything #Trump has done to discredit #climatescience denial of the consequences of our rampant consumption does not make them go away. Flooding, droughts, and monster storms are just some of the signs that the planet is poised to reject us. Climate scientists have done their best to convince us that unless we do something soon, our way of life is in peril. But when we talk about #climatechange, it's easy to get bogged down in charts and numbers without really understanding what those statistics actually mean. A lack of understanding breeds a lack of interest, and as a result, a lack of #action. The problem then becomes, how can we put #climate information into a form that the average consumer can understand? What expression of this data can we use to motivate the common citizen to be concerned about climate statistics? To me, the answer to this question was obvious. Nothing motivates the masses to #actonclimate than being faced with a physical representation of

After witnessing the outrageous acts of scalping going on where these eclipse glasses are concerned, I thought I would demonstrate just how easy and inexpensive it is to make your own "pinhole projector" to watch the eclipse safely. In fact, it's so simple and easy that your kids can make one. Here's how. What you will need: A box, like a cereal, pancake mix, or flour box. Scissors Tape Foil A piece of white paper A pen or pencil Using the pen or pencil, trace the bottom of the box onto the piece of white paper and cut it out. Place tape on the back of the paper rectangle and tape onto the inside of the box bottom as shown above. Using the scissors, cut off the two short flaps from the top of the box, then trim the center flaps to leave the tab that holds it closed, as shown. Using the tape (masking tape works great, but scorch tape or duct tape will do), tape the tab closed so that the top of the box looks like the picture. If your projec

Lucerna, the Princess of Cups At last, we see the solidification of potential. Lucerna has appeared from the gloom bearing the sacred waters of life. The water glistens with candlelights, representations of our fragile existence. Their soft, calming glow illuminates her face, but she stands unaware. She is blindfolded to signify her universal acceptance of all who are drawn to her. Lucerna is a light unto the darkness, a symbol of hope and compassion to those lost in the shadows. But those who seek her should be advised - Lucerna's path to redemption is not without peril. While her blindfold grants her the ability to be impartial in her compassion and empathy, it blinds her to the harshness of reality. Lucerna's head is wreathed in night-blooming flowers, their delicate spirals hinting at secret mysteries revealed, their shaped mimicked by fern fronds and pine cones. Curved ebony horns emerge from Lucerna's head, aligning her with the Sacred Hind. Like the Deer Woma

Initial Concept drawing for  Lucerna , done in graphite on 8.5X11 cold press paper. The final work   will be a dark fantasy piece depicting a female anthropomorphic figure similar to this. The figure is the spirit Lucerna, whose name in Latin means literally "lamp". She is similar to the angel Lucerne, who appeared to 8th century Benedictine Monks with fire streaming from his fingertips and showed them where to build their first chapel. My adaptation of Lucerna appears as if carried on the moonlight. She holds before her a bowl of candles floating on water from the sacred spring of life. She brings a light unto the darkness , but the light is not for her. She has no need of it anyway. Her eyes are closed so as not to judge by appearance those who are lost and drawn to her light. She is like the Princess of Cups ; a manifestation of potential, a new emotional start, a sense of being comfortable with the self. She is empathic, understanding, and accepting of all who ap

Happy 2017, friends. Got another tractor for you here, a second Allis-Chalmers. This one is an "A" series, I think, from some time in the late 1940's. She's a bit worse for wear, and looks to have been left where she gave out. Her front wheels are flat and sit half-buried, and her back end seems to lean to the left. What brought her down is a mystery, but it's apparent she's hoed her last row, as the saying goes. This is another one of the tractors that belonged to my grandfather, although his was in a bit better shape than this. I always wondered as a kid about that spindly front wheel. It seemed to me to always be on the verge of bending or breaking off. And how did it turn? I used to spend so much time thinking about it I'd get hollered at for not paying attention. You can't be wandering around daydreaming around a machine like this, grandma would say. It was easy to get hurt, cause grandpa couldn't always see you. I remember the time my