Featured Post

Important note about post dates and the archive

September 30, 2023

Five-minute September studies

I haven't done any digital photo studies in a while, much less my beloved five-minute grayscale studies. What better time than now? I took a different approach this time. Treating it like a sketchbook page. Just start drawing and see where it goes. I started off at 5 minutes per sketch before moving on to the next picture. But after that I took a few extra minutes to fine-tune the details. 

These are all based on photos from early fall of 2010. Ahh, what a time!

September 29, 2023

Maui waterfall completed

(Art instructor voice) In the previous update we saw the waterfall with a fairly basic color palette. Textures give an otherwise flat color plane more definition. The first layer of color is meant to define the main hues and values. 

But subtractive shading is where the fun really begins!! The waterfall is very red and purple, but with the right colors that can be toned down for a more natural look. By no means am I going for a realistic depiction. But I do want it to be believable!

I love how this came out and I am excited to do more. I love art, man.

<< First post

< Previous update

= Final post (You are here! Yay)

Bee-teor shower

September 26, 2023

Quilt painting (with a view)

Making sporadic progress on my quilt painting. The best part is improvising along the way in case I want to change direction. I'm settled in now, so I can resume my artistic adventures. 


Last night was good. My cats hung out with me while I painted and listened to podcasts. It was a cozy evening.

> Next update TBD

September 22, 2023

Devil's trumpet

This isn't really my best work but I do love the colors. The underpainting was done in shades of neon yellow and orange. Ultramarine blue for the backdrop. I used cooler colors to paint on top: titanium and zinc white, mixed with hints Persian rose, titanium buff, and king's blue. For the backdrop I painted over it with emerald green.

The main reason this didn't come out to my liking is because I didn't consult my reference as much as I should have. But it's all just practice. Instead of going back to make changes I would rather just start over completely.

10.3.23 update: Click here to see my second attempt! 

Waterfall WIP

A progress update on my Maui waterfall. This is not my most recent update as I've made significant progress since then. But I will save the final update for later! 

The goal was to keep the palette as limited as possible. Introducing new colors into the mix comes later. I'm having a lot of fun with this.

< Previous update

> Next update

September 17, 2023

Pink hydrangea

During my summer vacation I encountered some big fat lovely hydrangeas. Later I drew this in my sketchbook over the summer and colored it on my ipad. Took a while just because I only take out the ipad when there's absolutely nothing to do. But I quite like how she turned out. I have a Procreate timelapse that I'll post later. 

The dust is starting to settle over here and I'm ready for some new art adventures!