Insect Garden

Another lazy Saturday has found me with the options of either listening to all the innumerable talking heads spewing their rhetoric about how diabolical any political candidate currently is, or, enjoying a few hours of peace sketching and painting something that has nothing to do with any of that....consequently, I chose the later.
Inspired by the amazing work of Felicita Sala, I decided to do something a little simpler, and painting a bunch of different things and then cutting them out to add them to one composition.

Enjoy this little insect garden....done with gouache and a hint of prismacolor here and there.

Deep Sea Diver

Lately I have been pondering the word DEEPEN...and the phrase "deepen your discipleship."  This phrase is useful in various aspects of ones life, I suppose.  Nonetheless, I came across an old photo of a deep sea diver that I really liked, and decided to play around with it.
I started with a quick sketch:

Then finished up the pen and ink work:

I then antiqued it with my favorite mix of chicory brew in cooked it in the oven a bit:

Then I did a few highlights with gouache and some prismacolor, and created a little more subtle background for the finish:

The scan came out a little blurry in some spots, but I'm happy with the way the final piece turned out. It will go nicely by my aquarium.