Decisions made based on subject matter.

 Everyday I sit down to my computer or look at the wall behind me and I see the most adorable image:

This is actually the last Christmas card I created. Renard passed away this past January. My life is empty for his loss but filled for the joy he brought me.  Recently I have been creating painting of Tomte with Inktense and pastels but the truth is the best that I create are done using what pastel on black paper so from now on I'm painting/drawing all Tomte/Gnomes with this medium. The, the Tomte, like it best. They told me. Not in words but visually. I can see the joy and humor in their faces when they are rendered at night in night scenes dressed in shades of gray. So....birds will be rendered in Inktense and Neocolor II, with ink or without,  and graphite. Dogs will be rendered in graphite and white pastel and Pan Pastels. Humans will be rendered in graphite. I don't know why I hadn't realized it sooner. No, I'm not fallen off my rocking horse. Certain subjects just call for certain media, at least for me. That just solves so many issues for me. 

Certain media allow me to capture the joy of the subject. All media have, for me, a different energy. 

Here are a couple of Inktense Tomte Paintings I've recently completed.

 

Ink and Inktense painting

 Okay. Once again I am shifting direction. As my hands heal I see new options. I'm still in love with graphite and as long as I can I will continue but I tried glazing with watercolor pencils again and wasn't in love with it. So I went to Derwent Inktense and Ink. Back to loving it. I just made a 1 hour 44 minute YouTube video and don't worry. You can skip ahead. During the video I share a variety of methods I use with the pencils and blocks as well as sharing my medium. 

Here's the image and click on it to see the video.

I think he's adorable. I'm going for humorous and lighthearted here. I'm not quite clear of the next project but there will be at least one bird in. 

Thanks for taking a peek.

My coloring book is available on amazon.

My coloring books: Birds, a grayscale coloring book for adults, is now available for purchase on Amazon.com. Click on the image of the cover to go to the order page. 

My coloring book has been submitted for publication.

 

I spent a few hours making adjustments to my "final" manuscript of images and after it uploaded I found an error. Oh well. If it's a big deal to me I'll resubmit. It takes up to 72 hours for the book to be accepted and that should be 10/15/24 but I could be wrong. If they find issues, I'll correct them. If not the book is available on Amazon.com for $8.99.

Interestingly enough, when I finished coloring my samples for the book, I found I had lost my taste for glazing and coloring; but, not for drawing. Please, if you are a grammarian, do not redline this post. I know I am playing fast and loose with punctuation and grammar. But it sounds right to me in my brain. 

Right now, I'm choosing the image for my next drawing and I figure I'll make another grayscale coloring book; working title "Out of Africa". I have a few drawings, maybe 3, already complete. I'm trying to figure out the paper size but since I'm taking photos it doesn't matter. So I'm starting with my 11 x 14 Strathmore drawing paper.  I have lots of paper in many sizes. I really don't lneed any more art supplies for the next 12 months. Really. Unless one of my pencils wears down and that could happen. But everything is open stock so really it will be buying a pencil or two. Really.

The thing about a project like this is that a spiral bound pad, which this is, makes sense because it keeps all of the work together. I'm trying to be better organized and when I open a pad to draw I find an image to tear out and put in a portfolio. Speaking of which, I need to put my 30 drawings into a project portfolio so that I know where to find them.

I'll post the link when the book is on the shelf at Amazon.