Please Stop Me

I used some strange materials to create this image.  I started with a crumpled up piece of hp photo paper that was bound for the garbage.  I then did the sketch with a uniball pen, and splattered on some orange-red ink and—strangely enough—vanilla extract.

This small picture is available for sale in my store.

See more of my mixed media portraits.

Seven Stars

This was an experiment in two ways:

1. I tested out using the style of color segregation I tend to reserve specifically for pen and markers--this time with paint.
2. I gessoed a the back of my giant sketch pad as a painting surface; it was the right size to fit into an improvised frame I made. The frame was made from a torn pre-stretched canvas. I ripped off the damaged canvas, removed the staples, and am using the underlying structure as a plain wooden frame.

See more of my paintings here.

Not Enough

It's too much to be nothing, but not enough to be something.
That's where I live:  the in-between, where nobody wants go.

I can hear the sound of my breathing echoing off the walls.

This was made with colored chalk.

See other drawings based on bone structures.

Socket: an oil pastel drawing

I needed to buy a new white oil pastel to create this drawing.  I find it interesting that a single white pastel ranges in price from 25 cents to $4 at the store I went to.

I've come to realize that anything can be an art supply, really. Sand, old coffee, melted candles, glue, engine paint, plywood . . .

So I bought the 25 cent one.

Big surprise.

See other oil pastel drawings.

Guilt

This is an oil pastel drawing which I created in a coffee shop in downtown Bellingham.  I then scratched crosshatch patterns using a scratchboard tool.

See more of my colorful art pieces or drawings that involve blood.

Why I Finish Drawings I Hate

I am not patient.
Or at least, not as patient as I'd like to be.
I have this unspoken rule [about to be spoken] that obligates me to not start a new drawing until I've finished the last one.  It's less a rule than a compulsion.  So even if I hate the drawing, or I lose the exact marker I need, etc., it must be finished before I can start something new.
Sometimes it sucks.
This "rule" probably has a lot to do with my obscene prolificity.

I'm never doing a large scale colored pencil picture again (that's probably a lie).

This is I think the 17th image in my Philippians series.  

See other drawings in my Philippians series.

In the Flesh

In the Flesh

 Paper and glue on wood

8" x 10" 

See more cut paper art, or check out other pieces in the Philippians series.

Shrooms Don't Make You Creative

I enjoyed an evening spent at the Bellingham Flea Market displaying my art a while back.

In the single-room building, there were a variety of odd things to enjoy:

• belly-dancers balancing swords on their heads
• customized painted scraps of broken tile
• stylish clothing made out of recycled sweaters
• bluegrass musicians wearing fake mustaches
• free wine and cookies . . .

. . . and that's only the beginning.

I got plenty of feedback on my art, met some great people, and even got a visit from some awesome friends.

Among the complements on my work was this one:

"Your art is great. It reminds me of being on shrooms."

It wasn't that creative; he was looking at this art piece.

"The Mushroom that Wished It Was a Tree"
Acrylic on wood

See more of my acrylic paintings here.

Crooked City

when
can we leave this
this tangle
this evil tangle
this dirty corner?
from muddy eyes
we look
out.

this crooked city:
it eats us and
now we
can't get out.

---

Look at more of my Philippians series, or check out more art with extreme colors.