The American Girls

I'm telling you, I am really starting to love this walnut ink! I'm trying to stay away from just outlining the figures or whatever, by creating mass with washes and all that. Again, I'm merely practicing drawing figures and people in general from pictures and photographs from magazines, so that I can draw the life back into it. It has been pretty good exercises so far. And a good sign that I have been seeing a lot lately is that thanks to this blog that I have created, I have been itching to draw every day, and have been trying to keep my word as well.

Ohh Firefly, Ohh Firefly

Fireflies are a few of the only bugs that I mostly adore. They also have a very symbolic meaning, the beginning of summer. I saw one today and it just absolutely made my day. I'm looking forward to seeing more, but I don't believe in keeping them in jars with holes on the top. Fireflies are bugs and are meant to roam free.
With this thought in mind, I decided to draw a sketch of a girl on a typical beach day. Oh how I would love to go to a beach around here in New York City, but just the sight of one just brings me shudders throughout my whole body. Not to mention public pools, ugh! Maybe when I'm out in Long Island or somewhere MUCH more cleaner, I won't mind jumping into the water.

Say Cheese!!!

For starters, its gloomy out in New York, and to me that means laziness for me. Too bad I have to go work tonight, but hey I have to keep drawing. For that, I kept it simple today. I simply drew from a Walmart ad, and instead of posing for a picture, I felt that this was a more natural pose. I want to keep practicing facial expressions. At first, I used a pencil to sketch out the face, and then I used a china marker to add in the shading and tones.

The Great Norman Mailer

I was going through my old pile of Rolling Stone Magazines today, and I came upon the interesting article of Norman Mailer. According to Camille Paglia, the writer of the article, he was a novelist, a new journalism pioneer, a public intellectual and a pugilist. I'm into these types of people now, especially if they tried to make a difference in our non-understanding society. To this day he is still remembered as a great writer. That's a good reason to draw him, right?

I'm back!

The road trip was long, as it was meant to be. Our destination was Montreal, and we had to cross all of New York State to get there. It was a rather sad trip, because one of my relatives had died, so i really couldn't get that much drawing at all. I merely did two drawings, and I felt sad for that as well. I wanted to give my family support and care, because that's what you do, right?

One of my aunts had caught a liking for my sketchbook, and so I showed her my work. She then told me a personal experience that had happened to her at the funeral service. My aunt said that she had seen the Virgin Mary, with a greenish veil, which was only a profile, but her face was covered. She had wanted me to draw that appearance for her, because she wanted that image to stay with her.
After various sketches, we came to the finalized one (above). I'm happy to say that she liked it. With this experience, I caught a little insight as to what the Illustration world is going to bring for me. Sometimes, you have to go through various sketches and ask again and again, but the result is worth it. I'm happy that I went with my family to Montreal to share the love and to begin again.

P.S. I haven't drawn for today yet, so there is more to come!

Originate Your Own Sound

Besides art, music also serves me as an inspiration, especially when it comes to jazz music. I admire musicians who want to make a difference in their music, and have their audience members read between the lines, you know? Of course, it depends on your taste of music, but to me their aren't many musicians who do that anymore.
However, without knowing what type of music Leigh Lezark from The Misshapes creates, I wanted to draw her, because I'm also in love with leather jackets; and the one she is wearing from GAP is a bit up there in the price range. I could only dream, right? The sketch is self-exaplanatory, just pencil on paper, but I really emphasized on the darks in her jacket.
On the other hand, I will definitely look into her music, and see if it serves me as an inspiration.