Plastic Gourds

 I didn't actually learn to draw until I was 17. I had always done cartooning except I never learned how to draw.  I didn't have art while I was in Middle School, which means by the time I got to High School, my art was still in the

Pre Adolescent stage. I didn't know how to draw in three dimensions.  I remember when I went to National Portfolio day my junior year, I was told by the admissions counselor from The University of the Arts to read a book called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.  The book helped me within a month to learn to draw using shapes and better developed my hand eye coordination. I recommend that book for anyone who is interested in learning how to draw.

I haven't been drawing as often because of chronic pain from my injuries. For now, I'm back to drawing plastic vegetables. I could draw my cat, although I have to catch him while he is sleeping. There are lots of books out there to learn how to draw and it's not limited to the the Betty Edwards book. There are also many books about cartooning such as Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair. 

Books and then some...

The Adventures of GESSO SQUAD Book series now has four books. It took about a year to finish this one. Took longer than usual because there were new characters to draw and backgrounds to paint. While I was illustrating the a chapter in book four ( this was in December 2023 ) my cat, Stella died. There were some cat images in this book, making it a challenge to illustrate because I would get sad thinking about her. 

I was also dealing with chronic pain issues from my injuries and unruly medical device. 

There were times when I didn't want to draw and didn't have the bandwidth to concentrate.

When I feel like this, I try and give myself one hour to work on whatever project I am doing at the time. This usually works most of the time because after the hour is over, I either stop or keep drawing. 

I self publish my books, which means I am a starving artist. I am not famous, I use website templates and I have a large body of work. 

I do work with non profit organizations and volunteer when I am able to.

Even though it takes a long time to create this books, when they are finished it makes me happy...

Drawing Outside

 

Time to explore cartooning random objects that can be found outside. Rainbows and spaceships can be drawn in various shapes and colors.  Cool colors like purple, blue and green can be used. Additionally warmer colors like reds, oranges and yellows. 

Drawing Rainbows

Drawing Spaceships 

 Coming soon - Drawing houses, part III.

Drawing a house part II

 I created a video tutorial of one of the many ways you can draw a house and add color. Any shapes can be used to create your drawing. See examples examples below. 

There is also a video of how to complete this: Drawing a House Part II.

 

1.      Start with drawing a straight line.

2. Draw another line to form a square

3. Add a triangle to form the roof

4. Draw another square to form the bottom of the house.

5. You can add a square to make a window in any shape you would like.

6.

7.    Add a second window to the front of the house above the door.

8. Add a door to the front of the house.

9. Add zig zag lines or other shapes on the roof. You can start to add a chimeny using small squares or other shapes.

10. Add color to your house using any medium you would like. I.e. crayons, colored pencils, markers.

8

GESSO SQUAD Adventures Book Three is now complete. I had started working on it last year. Since my injuries in 2014, it takes a little longer...

I have even more time now to return to drawing random object....

house part 1

Houses can be different shapes and sizes. This is just one of the many ways to draw a simple house.

1. Start with a line.

2. Begin to form base of house. This can be any size or shape square or rectangle.

 

3. Complete and close square.

4. Add a triangle on top. This can be any size or shape.

5. Add door to the front. Any shape will do.

6. Add door knob.

7. Windows are can be created the same way as the house using a rectangle shape or any shape. Add a chinnea to the top. Smoke or not can be created using squiggle loop lines.

8. Add more details to the windows and house is complete.  

drawing rainbows

 

1. Rainbows can be drawn several different ways. This is just one of the many kinds out there. Start with  curve.

2. Then, draw another line with loop.

3. Close cloud and add a curved line at the top.

4.  At the end of the line add half a circle.

5. Add curvy line like with the first cloud.

6. Close the 2nd cloud and add another line to create the first rainbow.

7. Continue to add another line for the rainbow beneath the first one.

8. Keep adding as many lines for the rainbow as you wish. Then, color using any colors you would like for the lines and clouds.

It's purple

I finally finished GESSO SQUAD Adventures Book Two.  It took six months to get this one done. I believe since I completed two last year and one the year before that I was on book overload. It's time-consuming working on any project whether it's a book or film. Anyone who creates books or films will tell you the work involved like storyboarding, drawing, painting and many other tasks to be completed. My chronic pain issues also impacted my ability to get anything done, there were just days when I didn't feel like drawing anything. The book is kind of a purple color and is available online at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

donations

 This month, I donated drawings to my local non profit organization to be given to people. I do this every year. Fun to create this using coloring pages I finish and then I cut out the images, glue them onto a blank piece of paper. Later, I add my own drawings.

diamond art in sequence

I discovered paint by sticker a while back and recently was introduced to diamond art club. It involves placing small circle shaped dots onto a color coded sheet which eventually forms a larger picture. 

This was time consuming and somewhat messy. 

Small dots would often bounce off the applicator when pressed onto the coloring page. Sometimes they would get stuck on the applicator pen lodged inside the small metal tub. There were several times when I had to sweep up small pieces of the different colored dots from my clothing, floor and seats. 

The next time I venture into the world of sticker art at least I'm prepared for how to manage the diamond art. 

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3: 

Part 4:

in October

 So far, I've managed to publish three books since last year. The most recent one, the Chronicles of Sakura Silver  I finished last month.  Sakura first appeared a collection of short stories I published in 2013, Tales of a Phantom Toaster and Other Short Stories.

I recently made drawings which I later donated to my local United Way for their Day of Caring event.  I like to take coloring pages I finish, cut them up turn them into art (see image to the left). Coloring books for people of all ages can found in stores.

I've been using colored pencils, markers and fine point pens. I've been growing tired of using colored pencils. I  haven't used crayons in what seems like 1,000 years. I picked up a box today with 96 colors, and I'm excited to use them soon. 

a piano outside

 

 A random piano sculpture in the city of Stamford, CT. I had gone there last weekend to see a dance performance and saw several pianos in the area. This is part of an outdoor exhibit going until September 2021.  I've been drawing robot figurines lately and sometimes the occasional plastic vegetable. Lately, this has been getting repetitive. I struggle at times to find things to draw that I haven't already captured in my sketchbook. The search continues as I may start looking out the window for inspiration.  The above piano art display I recently saw in Stamford, CT reminded me of an episode from The Twilight Zone titled A piano in the house.

Let's Draw Part I

  When it's raining outside and I have chronic pain, I draw rainbows because they make me feel better. 

Step 1: Draw curvy lines to create side of cloud.

Step 2: Close lines creating first cloud.

Step 3: Begin drawing 2nd cloud. 

Step 4; Continue drawing outline for 2nd cloud.

Step 5: Close lines. Now we have two clouds.

 

Step 6: Begin drawing rainbow lines

Step 7: Close rainbow lines and
darken pencil lines with pens,
markers or colored pencil.  

Step 8: Color in rainbow and clouds
using markers, colored pencils

I didn't include all the colors of the rainbow in this drawing. Sometimes I leave them out or I include all of the colors. This usually depends on the length between clouds which usually determines the number of lines in a rainbow. I also could've add more thin lines to give the rainbow more colors. Rainbow drawings can be colored in using a variety of media even cutting colored pieces of paper and using it to fill in the colors is a good idea too. 

Drawing to travel

I've started making drawing collages I create out of coloring pages I finish and then adding my own drawings.  They're fun and a nice escape from chronic pain and pandemic news. They also make me smile and I enjoy creating them then donating them to my local United Way. 

Step One: Choose and color design from coloring book

Step Two: Cut out parts of design from page. 

Step Three: Add your own drawings. 

Step Four: Draw over pencil drawings with marker

Step Five: Color inked drawings with colored pencil, markers.

There are plenty of books, videos out there that teach people how to draw different shapes, characters and objects. Video about how to draw characters using shapes.  One of the books that helped me develop fine art skills is Drawing on the Right side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. There are also other great books about drawing from realistic to just basic shapes.