Has it really been a year?

So it's actually been just over a year since I started studying how to use an Asian brush and ink. Amazing. I feel like I have only just begun, and truthfully, I hear it takes a good ten years or so to become a master.

So what have I learned? I have learned to hold the brush an dmake a line. I can make washes and circles and many different kinds of marks. In short, I have been picking up the basics and find that I still have a long, long ways to go.

Recently, I have begun to have the feeling that what I am really trying to do is learn to dance with the brush. Which gives me a very inexplicable sort of pride. I never learned to dance with my feet, you see, and all girls should learn some for of dancing. Don't you think?

Mothra, my Mothra

For reasons I don't really understand myself,

I really love this piece. The camellia may be partially imaginary,

the moth may be pure fiction,

but it just has something of a presence.

Sometimes art is just that way.

Figure Studies (Cont.)

My only question: How do I get blogger to make these pictures bigger?

Plum crazy (yeah, I know, I'm sorry.)

Well, you'd think I'd get tired of plum blossomes at some point, but they are rather fun to paint.

I think this one needs some color. But what color? Should I do a wash of something brownish on the trunk or just do a few strokes of color here and there fore accent? Maybe I should go crasy and use little dabs of rainbow colors. Ach, I'l have to think on it. And any advice is welcome, so if you've got an opinion, state it here.

I definitely don't want to detract from the energetice brushstrokes I've already got in place.

The closest I am likely to get to a beach this year:

This is a big panoramic drawing I am working on right now for a lovely lady down in Florida that I met through Etsy. This is the largest architectural drawing I've ever done. It's 29" wide and quite a challenge to fill with a tiny pencil point and no projector. But it's nearly done... and the closest I got to a beach all summer (not strange for this landlocked body.)

Figuratively

So after slogging my way through all manner of traditional subjects, I have finally made my way back to the human figure. This time with a sumi brush. I feel like I'm back in my first drawing class.

Still, it's not like there's no progress. I include a pic of this baby sketch because it reminds me of that freakish dancing baby vid that started circulating the net in the late 90's. That memory still makes me cringe.

So color *does* make a difference

I wasn't sure how well this would turn out, but I recently added color to this painting which was previously just in shades of grey (right). The addition of color has made a huge difference. I now ready the flowers as white instead of grey, and I think I'd like to frame it and hang this somewhere I can see it daily.