A guy, his dog and a Cessna 310 walked into a bar...

Hello blogosphere,

The last two days have been very productive, which lately (again) is unusual for me. This week's productivity resurrection was due in part to inspiration provided by a YouTube channel, Rafi Was Here Studios https://youtube.com/@Rafiwashere Rafi and his wife, Klee are artists who create YouTube videos and blog about their life as artists and their art business. I find that their ideas and thoughts about being an artist, have been very helpful and informative. So if you're also the creative type, you should definitely check out their channel.

This first drawing I created , started out as a standard Aviation Caricature, however it morphed itself into a detailed look into a moment in the life of a guy, his dog and their Cessna 310.

While creating this drawing, my bipolar excitement level went from over the top (Woo hoo! I'm drawing again!) to indifference (Yawn! Another airplane caricature...) to frustration (Grrrrr!! Stupid freaking drawing paper!!) back to excitement (Look, they're flying over a city!) to enjoyment (let's detail the crap out of that city!) and in the end, not wanting to stop the creative process. Yes, I had some issues with my drawing paper (the paper I was using didn't accept the wash very well) however, I endured the minor setback and found a solution for the India ink wash issue and came out with a finished drawing that I love! I guess the lesson that I learned is that (like life itself) if we give up and quit when things get frustrating and complicated, we may miss out on the glory that could have been… 

"The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”  

-Molière

To put it simply, my second drawing is my Ode to Shakira's derriere.

Compared to most of my other drawings, this one is relatively small (8 ½" x 5 ¾") however, it's very detailed because I used quite a lot of cross hatching (I love cross hatching!). While drawing this caricature, my plan was that when i finished, I would add color. However, when I completed the drawing, I was satisfied…without color. However....here's a few with some color added!

Talk to you soon!

-Michael