file away

Here is a color study from a book I've been attempting to write for a year or so.
I've got so many paying jobs keeping me busy now that I'll have to shelve this project for a while.
I hope I'm able to come back to this book, I've become somewhat attached to my young heroine. She needs her story told.

no truer words

"Daddy..." began my daughter when she was about 5 years old.
"Yes?" I asked.
"It's all about me." she said.

take a moment

A Barred Owl lit on a branch just outside my studio window a few days ago. Probably the guy who's hoots I've been hearing late at night for several years now. My daughter has become wonderfully adept at imitating his call.
I feel pretty lucky to be living where I do. My house is perched on the edge of a ravine. I've seen fox, coyote, and all number of strange and beautiful birds.
I don't stop and marvel at the view from my window as much as I'd like. Too focused on my deadlines usually. The Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh suggests creating mindfullness prompts to help us return to a consciousness of ourselves. To be aware of living.
Perhaps I will try using the little 'ding' that sounds when I get an email. Whenever I get an email (and I certainly get plenty of them), I might just stop and take in the view before clicking to see what new calamity hath arrived.
Who knows, it could be that I'll get less grumpy over all my emails.

indulging in life

Another resolve for next year: Get outside more. Paint more. Paint outside!

resolution revolution

I'm beginning my list of things I want to include in my life next year. The first is working more from life. Illustration is great, and exercises your imagination, but it must have a foundation.
Figure drawing has always been something I truly love to do. The immediacy of the moment, honing your powers of observation and action. Messing about with soft, buttery charcoal and those impossibly rich blacks. Pure pleasure.