One of the big wins of the past couple years is that I picked up a pencil again and started drawing. Thank you pandemic!
First were the horses (surprising no one)
I used my iPad Air to trace pictures of horses that I had taken, with the aim of inspiring myself with happy, powerful thoughts. It felt like a way to be with horses in spirit if not in person. I liked using my own photography so as to avoid any copyright issues and also feel the memories and sense of skill and involvement from the times when I took the photos. It gave me a lot of joy and after a while I started to put them on my work website.
You can see my recent art and illustrations here.
Then came shoes and self-portraits
Lately I’ve branched out into stock photos and online images as the basis of the drawings. I’m expanding to other subjects too (cc Gary… now I can say I draw something other than horses :)) I aspired to explore my own style as a specific trace-and-fill type of illustrator. This is a common style online right now because it’s easy to do. But I bring an extra something-something with hand-filled and shaded drawings. Sometimes I add complex backgrounds and more abstract lines.
This week I’m drawing dancing shoes in hopes of dancing soon 🙂 and I looked up photos of my face smiling at the camera, as a way to help instill more smiles in my life.
Next… more horses? a shop?
I’ve thought about creating an online shop. I would love y’all’s feedback. Would you buy items with my drawings on them? What items? Which drawings? This would be a print-on-demand shop where people order and the product is sent by a third party, no physical effort from me.
I’m also thinking about where I can go locally to hang out with horses and get more original photos in specific poses. I prefer using my own photography so much.
Maybe I can also try making videos where you see my hand drawing, and a voiceover where I talk about the horses and horse facts. Would this be interesting? It would be to me. Can’t speak for the world. So if you have a thought please let me know.
The art & illustrations
Tell me which one you like (:
Glad to see your creative visual work here! There are several that I like, but especially, your self-portrait. I have forgotten if I recommended, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards to you. I used the book in the past and there is a video version, as well. Something to consider as you explore visual art creation in the future?
Thank you! I’m getting tons of positive feedback on the self portrait. Tried to echo the style but it hasn’t come easily yet. Maybe I’ll look into the book. I’m sticking to audiobooks lately. Maybe that or the video would work.