Big Dreams Gone, Doodle #70

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When I was a little kid one of my favorite shows was Land of the Giants.  The premise of the show was that a spaceship crash landed on this planet inhabited by giants. To the giants these miniature people were the curiosities which needed to be studies. The shows fascination for me came in the realization that I was this miniature person growing up in a world filled with giants (the adults).

The world as a child for me was a world filled with desires and dreams of becoming one of the giants so I could do the things they did and become as they were. Today looking back I wonder whatever became of that little dreamer who used to while away many hours with my friends planning out the future. Oh the dreams we had. the desires of our hearts that were meant to be fulfilled.

I can say as I sit here today many of my dreams so far have not been totally fulfilled and my desires have changed many times over the years. Once I wanted to be rich and famous now I just want to sit back with my wife and do things with her. Of course I want to become an artist who can sell some of his work.

 

A Monochromatic World, Doodle #69

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The doodle prompt for today was the word monochromatic. As an artist I normally like to work with vibrant colors and take days creating a piece of art. However working with one color and it’s varying shades was something I was looking forward to since I saw this prompt on the March list.

There is something bold about setting down a drawing using the barest of colors. In the back of my mind I rattled around the idea for today’s doodle of doing a simple shades of grey landscape but pushed it aside.  Instead I used a picture of the city I live in and created and abstract monochromatic picture in red.

The picture I created made me think that there are times when we view the world and the people around us in a very monochromatic way.  What we see is what we know and filter through the lens of our own biases.The problem is we don’t live in a monochromatic world.  We live in a very colorful every changing world.  As believers we are called to see the world around, the colors, the shapes as God sees the world as if we are looking at the people through His eyes. The best way to find out how we are to see the world is to go right to His word.

 

A Smile Goes A Long Way, Doodle #68

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When was the last time you walked up to someone and said, “Man that person is glowing.” Well maybe you never said that about someone but in my day a person was deemed glowing if they had a certain personality which attracted you to them. Part of a glowing personality was a smile.

The prompt for today is to draw something using the word glowing. I chose a child smiling because to me there is nothing more heart warming or glowing than a child’s smile.

It seemes to me when we grow older and wiser the effects of a busy world take over our lives and we forget to smile. If you want to try something fun walk down a busy sidewalk and say hello and smile at the people you meet. You will get a few people to respond but most will just ignore you. This is the reason why a few years ago I deemed in my heart to know matter how my day is going to greet other with a warm heart and a smile.

One of my favorite verses is. Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

A Line at Work, Doodle #67

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Artists look at perspective two ways. The first is using a two dimensional surface to create a three dimensional picture viewed from a particular point in space. The second way an artist uses perspective is by creating pieces of art influenced by an internal point of view (perspective).

Using these two points of perspective an artist is free to create a piece as elaborate or as simple as they would like. Perspective is also a part of life where we see a few line as in my piece “A Line at Work,” and think we know what the whole picture is about. Many times we are wrong. While my doodle is obviously a man… there is still a lot missing like color,depth and where he is working.  What you see is not the whole picture only one little piece.

Since our external view of the world is influenced by our internal perspective we must be careful not to make snap judgments about what we see based on what we think we know.. The Bible says in Proverbs 25:8, “Don’t jump to conclusions-there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.”

So the next time you see something strange don’t judge the situation strictly by what you see. Take the time to find out the truth.

Walking With Courage, Doodle #66

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Courage, The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the prompt was the lion from the Wizard of Oz. The second thing which popped into my head was Cowardly the dog from an old cartoon show. What do both these characters have in common. They both were cowardly but in the face of obstacles they stood tall and did brave acts.

Courage may come in finally standing up to a bully in school. It may come when you walk into a doctor’s office and hear those three life changing words, “You have cancer.” It may come when you face the end of your life. The main point is no matter how much you try and avoid it there are time in your life when you must stand up like a lion, be brave and walk with your head high into the battle even when you want to crawl under a rock and hide.

If you have faith in God the Bible says in Ephesians 6:10 that we can, “Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.”

I hope you like today’s doodle and my brief ramble.

A Look At Yourself, Doodle #65

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The dictionary defines reflection as

  • 1. the throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
  • 2. sending back, throwing back, casting back2. serious thought or consideration:

I chose to do a combination drawing of both. My self portrait is both a reflection as done in a mirror but it also a time for me to think back to earlier days in my life

We all tend to look back at our life and play the what if game. What if I had done this or that, but we can’t “what if” our past lives we must always deal with the “what is” part of life, working through what is happening now. There is no changing the past there is only preparing for the present and the future.

In an art life as well as the rest of life we must not worry about what we did but focus on our new creations and our new days.The Bible says “Forget the former things; Do not dwell on the past,” Isaiah 43:8.

Rope the Night Sky, Doodle #64

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There are times as an artist when you hit a creative wall. When I saw the prompt for today was night  I thought it was going to be easy to be easy to come with a good representation of the prompt.  Boy was I wrong. I went through a number of quick drafts and then tossed them aside.

After all the fuss over the prompt I finally came to one conclusion I was trying to hard to create the perfect drawing. Art is all about spontaneity. The more we try to create the perfect  brush stroke or put down the perfect pen mark the more we stifle our creativity.

While looking for something to inspire me I was redoodling  pictures on my iPad. Today’s offering is one of them. I don’t usually put theses doodle out there but it is a reminder of what we as artists do sometimes “Rope the Sky,” in order to find inspiration for our art.

Old Woman and A Guitar, Doodle #63

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The themes for today’s doodle was something musical. Like all the other es the idea for what to draw is open to inspiration. I came across a free to draw picture on Something to Draw.com of the woman pictured playing her guitar. While the piece  is not a perfect reproduction of the picture it is a reminder to us all that no matter how old you are you are never to old to learn something new.

A Man and A Violin, Doodle #62

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The prompt for today was saturation which could have led me in a lot of drawing  directions. The first thing which popped into my head was a picture featuring water. After all I live near a river and figured I could do a location doodle. To bland. I then pondered about what else saturates besides water. Somehow I ended up thinking about mu and all the concerts I ever attended. The music saturates the air with sound. The picture I drew was actually inspired by my days in junior high playing the viola.

I still love the sounds of a string instrument. One of my favorite musicians is the fiddle player from the Celtic Women. I  love the way her performance takes over the stage. Our lives need to be like that of a musician. Whatever we do in life needs to be a beautiful sounds which saturates others with joy.