This is how we win:

I'm going to share a commissioned piece I just finished today.  This is my first time doing a large-scale oil pastel piece.  It's definitely a different way of going about things, and I think I will try it again some time.

"This is how we win"
15" x 20"

I made the mistake of buying a non-standard-sized illustration board for this project, so I had to order a custom-made frame. That gets expensive. Bad move on my part.


Arranging my art from the past few years for my show next week made me realize that I miss the old ink drawing style.  Yes, tedious, but it has an edginess I can't achieve with other media.  The result is worth it.

Mental Chaos

All we see is what we think,
and all we think is what we feel.

I used a technique I call "semiautomatic drawing" to make this one.

That basically means I set materials in front of me, and I start drawing without a plan.

"Mental Chaos" is available in my art store.

See more abstract drawings here.

The Old Watcher

This monster makes me sad.  I know I made him up myself, but he feels like a character that I learned about as I drew him.

I would tell you his story, but it's very disturbing. And maybe it would be better if you came up with a story of your own for him.

This was made with watercolors on watercolor paper and a fine-tipped sharpie. 

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.

Self Portrait

In the one art class I have taken—Figure Drawing I—I was required to create a self portrait. There were no guidelines other than that, so I decided that my self portrait didn't have to involve my face.  Then I created my own guidelines:

1. draw right hand with left hand
2. draw left hand with right hand

Strangely, I think I drew better with my non-dominant hand.

Learn more about me here, or check out an interview 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.

Destroyer

The train comes
so run
the noises zigzag across your forehead
hit it, make it stop
catch the train
closer, the noise gets

louder.

It comes, so
get away
that is impossible, you can't run
from your own
legs
they stomp your
feet onto the sharp rocks
and ow
my bones are sticking out but i'm still
running

you have a choice
hurt me, or
die

I don't care about the fog
I have laser vision, you should get some
I know there is a
beached sperm whale with four
of its teeth ripped out
right behind you
but don't worry
it's dead.

There are other things to make us
run

but I'm so tired
will anyone let me

go home?

I have other oil pastel drawings.  Find them here.