Be Nice....

Last night we took our family to see the Lion King Broadway show. It was fun, and visually spectacular, however, I found that there were so many people that were getting up and coming in late, going to the bathroom, etc. that I kept having my view of the stage blocked. I kept getting upset with myself because I found myself harboring bad feelings to people that were impeding my view. So, during the intermission, I began sketching this little guy to help me remember that I need to be less judgmental. I think I need to hire one of these guys to follow me around and to "toot" whenever I'm ready to pass judgment on others just because I have been inconvenienced....He'd probably run out of air with how much blowing that would be going on....

Brick Lung

At 2 in the morning today I found myself on the way to the hospital because I couldn't breathe. I've been kind of wheezing the last couple of weeks, likely due to the HUGE pollen counts in this part of the country. But it was pretty startling walking around the house early in the morning knowing that you weren't able to get enough air.
After a few breathing treatments, steroid injections and antibiotic doses, I was released and able to breathe much better. Doc's orders were to rest, put breathing treatments on my regiment for the next couple of hours, and continue the med's. Consequently, I found myself in bed, in a quiet house with a lot of time to think about what was going on inside my chest and how long it would take to get rid of this acute bronchitis.
When I was a kid, my parents purchased "Gray's Book of Anatomy", the classic compilation of pathological illustrations. I used to spend hours looking at the pen and ink drawings of hearts, lungs, legs, bones, etc. All of them were expertly drawn, and colored with two or three very faded and basic colors. The illustration below was a result of what I thought I would find in Mr. Grey's anatomy book under the "Respiratory Failure" section....

Sketching Night...

As promised in the last post, I have tried to give justice to the feelings and thoughts that I experienced while and after reading "Night" by Elie Wiesel. There really aren't words to attempt to describe it, and trying to do so might cheapen the impact that it had upon me. I suggest the book to others, so as not to forget what can be unleashed in each of us if we do not watch the demons within...

Saturday and Sunday Sketches...

I haven't done much drawing lately, so I only have two to post for the last couple of weeks.
First, my son has begun his baseball season again, so, I find myself with time to doodle at his baseball games. I was impressed with the trees around the field as compared to the lights, so I did this little sketch:

As for this last sketch, I have decided to try to start illustrating something from the various books that I am reading. I find that I read more often than I watch T.V., etc. Consequently, I have my nose in a book quite often. In seeking out ways to keep the creative juices flowing, I decided that I will try to make one illustration of at least every book that I read and enjoy.
This first illustration actually comes from a book of scripture that I have been pondering. You can read more about why I illustrated this scene on my writing blog. The approach I took was to steal the style of some of the old Japanese woodblock prints and run with it. I had fun, and even came up with a oriental-style signature to continue the motif. Enjoy:

Continuing the series....

A couple of other self-portrait sketches done from the same picture. I like the black and white one better. The color is colored pencil and watercolor mix and I didn't much care for the texture.

A study in...grunt

I have recently decided, through a few minutes of boredom and a fully charged digital camera, that I will be doing a series of self-portraits (not to mention that the price of this model is extremely reasonable.)

I call this one CONSTIPATION: