There are many times when I do not know what to draw or paint but I have the urge to make something. These drawings were made when I had a train ride. Sometimes it’s easiest just to do something simple.
In the past week or two I’ve been writing a lot. It’s sort of funny since I’ve always thought of myself as more visual than verbal. However, as a result of all the ideas coming out of my head I’ve needed to burn off some energy. Exercise is good for this but also painting or drawing. Since I’ve had no ideas for drawing recently I went to my fall back, drawing squares. Below you will see the hundreds of squares that I drew and colored in. If you like to look at pretty colors this should be right up your alley.
It’s the Small Things That Matter
In the end, it’s the small things that matter
They accumulate like sand on a big beach
Each grain, seemingly inconsequential on its own
but so important for the shape of the full form
You could make a ripple in the ocean with a grain of sand
It’s just like you could change the course of your life with a thought
They both are unseen with the naked eye
But if trained, you can see how one small change can lead in a whole new direction
It’s the small things that matter
Because in the end without the small things there is nothing big to look forward to
God
God is a foreign concept to me
Yet so close
I pray and I thank the concept
What is the concept?
What is God?
A man? A benevolent force? A creature from the New Testament if you’re christian
Someone or something responsible for everything
So not truly benevolent unless you believe that everything bad is a force called Satan
I don’t know
God is a foreign concept to me
I have not seen or touched it
I have not heard or tasted it
All I have felt is hope in my heart and bones
So I pray
I pray to stoke the fires of my joy, my like force, my optimism
I pray to something I don’t understand
And I wonder if I need to
I stare into my coffee in the morning
Black, then creamy brown
Milky, like a baby’s skin
And all I see is nothing
Not the day before me or the night behind me, but nothing
I sip and taste the slight bitterness and acidity
It heats my chest
It spreads
that warm nothing
A lazy morning feeling
languid and slow
I take a longer drink and then let the liquid settle
Enjoying the peace and quiet
A song comes on breaking the silence but not ending my quiet feeling
It makes me think of people I love and home
I feel safe
Another sip of coffee
My dog rubs against my leg
I thaw
I move
I wake up
I finish my coffee and start the day
I started a new sketch book recently and decided that I needed to get back in the swing of drawing more often. So I’ve been going places that I can sit and draw. I started with one of my favorite coffee shops in Silver Spring, Zed’s Cafe. However I felt a bit conspicuous since it’s a small place. So I went to Union Station where there are more people and I could blend in more.
I did several sketches in Union Station and showed them to a friend of mine to see what she thought. Her response was “Why are you doing it with pens?”. She thought it would be better to do it with pencil so I could erase. Maybe I will use a more forgiving medium in the future but I like pen. If I work in pen I have to get everything down fast and overlap things and there’s a record of all my marks. I find that useful for generating confidence and having a good time with sketching.
Hey! Just got back from a great trip to Santa Fe. I saw the currents new media main exhibit, meow wolf, a band that I really like and was not expecting to see, and tried a number of coffee shops and bars with my friend Ben. Santa Fe was definitely worth the trip. I’ve only included a few images from my sketch book here, a photo of the concert my friend and I were at, and then some photos of installations from Meow Wolf. I’ve got to say that airports are great places to draw in. Enjoy!
