a harbour, a flock of seagulls

This is the first, of soon to be 15 drawings inspired by a wonderful book for children: "The story of a Seagull and the Cat who taught her to fly" by Luis Sepúlveda.

I have one pretty nasty habit: I tend to tear up most of my drawings if I don't let anyone see them right after I finish them. I guess if I put them away for a couple of days, when I go back to them all I see are flaws and mistakes.
Of course, I'm not saying that I hope some day to make a  perfect drawing, because that drawing wold be perfectly boring!

for me, with love

A few months ago I found an old framed embroidery in an open market, and I bought it for practically nothing (I think it was about 2€) but it was completely faded and eaten by moths. I wish I could say I’m some expert in bringing amazing art back to life, and that this embroidery was some super valuable piece … but I’m not, and I’m sure that the embroidery was made by some amateur who wasn’t even very dedicated, because it wasn’t too neat, or too complicated …
My motive for buying it was far less noble:

I wanted the frame!!!

I loved everything about it… except the colour. I wish I had taken photos. It was brown, painted black on the back, and when I started washing it, I discovered that the black paint was just an impermanent water based pigment (I’m glad I didn’t put that on my delicate white wallpapers), and the brown front wasn’t dark brown, but vibrant burgundy red, but I didn’t like that any better than the brown.
Once the frame was washed and well dried, I painted it white (of course), sprayed it with transparent acrylic matting emulsion, fell in love with it, completely… and then… I didn’t know what to do with it…

I put it on the wall as it was. Empty. I never made a drawing small enough to fit in it, so last night, after months of procrastination, I decided to give it a go.

It felt weird!

#1 to keep - dandelions

I never drew anything having a clear idea in my mind that I was doing it for myself, to be put on my wall, where I live, to be looked at, and not given away, or put in a filer, or hidden between covers of a sketchbook… Argh!
I got nervous!
And then blocked…

I don’t know about you, but I am my own very worst critic, and a very demanding client!
In order to actually move, and do something, I cut 10 sheets of paper that would fit, then I told myself:

OK, you don’t have to marry one drawing, make it a one-a-day slideshow, and chuck the ones that start to irritate you, it’s OK, I/you won’t take it personally. (that's sane me talking to panicking me)

That is how my own “to keep” #1 emerged from struggles of self-doubting and a desire to create, with insomnia as my faithful backup support, as always.

#1 to keep - dandelions ... in the frame

change of perspective

I tried to do draw, but it didn't go well. I tried to focus, and do one thing, but these days the twirl of feelings and thoughts keeps throwing me into a maze of undefined ... everything... so I drew everything... one on top of the other... a layer of a cold winter's day upon a layer of sunshine, upon a layer of friendship, upon a layer of sadness, upon a layer of warmth, upon a layer of gratitude... and I wish it could end, but it never does.

illustration friday: layer

portrait of an artist

I'm not terribly good at this, but! ... I'll say one thing in my defense: it's not easy to draw someone you know a bit about, but don't really know at all.
Well, Miguel, I really hope you won't be offended by this petty attempt to portrait you. 

soft spot

This week's IF topic is sweater, and when I see that word ... sweater ... all I can think of is some warm and cuddly and cozy feeling.
I hope this doesn't trigger some "animals in sweaters" frenzy but I've already started sketching my cat in a sweater, and my dog in a sweater and them together in one sweater...

as long as you're having fun

Well, OK ... I did it ... I did that drawing, finally! But the " clown" won anyway, because I was late.

I'm looking at this silly picture and trying to persuade myself that I hadn't become a cynic.

Here, some ridiculously stupid looking smiling hearts, just to prove I can do that too.

Clown versus Human (impatience) valentine fight

I had an idea. I was pretty excited about it; so I started sketching, aaaaand ... it turned out to be quite difficult and demanding (I was NOT happy with the sketches) ... soooo ... my problem-solving brain cells (that I'm generally proud of) started producing an involuntary thought (that I wasn't proud of at all): chuck it! ... pretend it was never there! think of something ... easier ... easier is always better... I had to get up and do something to stop myself... and this is my fight! I will create a proper drawing based on these sketches ... next year ... no! not next year ... tomorrow!

joggling with hearts because it feels nice when they drop in her hands
they are soft, and warm, and fit perfectly

Mr Horse is all about elegance

This is my first ever Monday Artday illustration. I'm still working on the previous challenge (strange food), but when I saw this "I dare you" topic:

Horse With Hands Riding A Bike
A horse is difficult to draw.
Hands are difficult to draw.
Bicycles are difficult to draw.
So to draw all three is just cussing mind blowing.

so they say, ha! (say I, in my "bring it on" voice)

I simply had had had to draw it.
And I did.
And here he is ... in his full glory :)
And he looks great on my desk!
And I'm obviously too much into animals on bikes. There was an elephant, now it's this gentleman, so I guess it's time for a squirl? or a camel? or a bear ... or maybe I should draw a forest bike race! 

reverse

Sam woke up that morning, and things felt a bit strange. It was the day after his birthday, and he did expect things to change now that he's turned 6.
Sam jumped out of his cat's bed, put his shoes on .... his hands, and had a little walk on the chandelier. He knew his parents wouldn't approve that behaviour. His careless tapping around was was always criticized as completely inappropriate and utterly out of order, so he threw his shoes out the closed window, and flew right after them, before the glass had a chance to remembers that it should break.

OK OK, I get it!

sketch 1

Of course, these attacks always catch me off guard, and no matter what I was doing, I have to stop, and play with Their Royal Highnesses: Mr Simon the almighty Cat, and Lady Maja.

Usually, I do a sketch, like this first one, and the next one is on the paper where I'll finish the drawing, where I draw with my pencil, and erase, and draw and erase and so on until I'm happy with it, or until the paper decides it had had enough, and becomes unusable.

sketch 2

This time I tried producing one extra, a bit more elaborate sketch to give myself a chance to make some adjustments, and so I did ... obviously ... but it still feels like a waste of time.

I guess the moment an idea materialises even roughly on paper, it stops being fresh, and I lose interest.