#019

This Week

Nothing special happened this week, aside from my girlfriend’s birthday, which was very special. As I write it is late on Sunday night, and I have just spent several hours finishing an average piece of art, with an early rise looming over my head. I did receive a notification which informed me two new readers joined our ranks, but I what I didn’t receive was the necessary information to actually get them the newsletter. (So if you are one of those two people, my greatest apologies. I will attempt to remedy that problem as soon as able. In the meantime, try resubmitting your application. New posts every Monday, in case you don’t want to bother). Basically, a normal week.

The Art

This week’s Inktober52 prompt was “pyramid” and so I took that and ran…straight into a marsh. I knew what I wanted to happen but from the sketching phase until the last dribbles of color I had trouble translating that picture into real life. I attempted to video the process, but with my inexperience I lost the actual inking process, so that flopped.
I don’t want this to sound whiny—it’s rather late, and time for yours truly to be off to bed. This piece is evidence of the virtues of sticking with it and taking a meh piece of art and continuing to the end. What was an okay idea has turned into a pretty good picture. If you ever are attempting to draw something, (and perhaps doing other things as well), even if your art is not arting and your creative juices have grown stagnant, keep at it until the end, and you may end up with something worthwhile. (I say may, because sometimes it’s just better to toss in the towel).
Anyways, the art. I was inspired by a memory of Cosimo Galluzzi, a favorite artist whom I have referenced here before. The picture of a floating pyramid-headed woman stuck in the drain trap of my brain, and so I went with that. As I worked, I was reminded of an earlier piece, the Madhi of Space, a being within the wizard world, which is what I have just decided to call the world of that ethereal surreality (several previous posts describe it—go look if interested). For the color, I wanted something psychedelic in nature. I had a tough time with deciding how to color her clothing and skin, until I landed on a rainbow hue to the skin and white clothing. The head magic really sent me for a whirl, because I first tried to color individual strands of the stuff, then attempted a gradient like the skin, then decided to merge the two. All in all, good learning experience.

Notebooks

This week I found a new sketchbook which I am excited to dig into. However, before I do, I need to finish the other half-dozen or so lying about my room, half-filled. One such sketchbook, with black cover and good paper, is of particular concern. Much loved, but my preferences for the type of paper in which I draw has evolved since I purchased it, and there it lies under my desk waiting to be finished. I have considered offering up my old sketchbooks for sale sometime in the future when I’m rich and famous, but that is a few bridges down the road.

Salutations in Reverse.

We have come once more to the end of a long week. My great thanks and appreciation for those who signed up for the newsletter, I hope you are not put off by this small glitch in the matrix. Go and tell a friend, a spouse, a cousin, (maybe all the same person, but hopeful not that last one) about this wannabe legend of a blog. Farewell, and may the balmy breeze of February see you on your merry way.