Doodles

Daily Art  #134, A Bouquet for Mother’s Day

| Whitt’s End Art

I have decided on this day honoring mothers to up my game in this doodle challenge and switch back to my original concept of doing a daily art challenge. While some of pieces of art will not be totally finished pieces and some may be no more than doodles. I feel they are representations of art done in my weird and unique style. My mom would have wanted me to do my best and while I love to doodle I strive to be an artist. So in honor of mom I am going to do my best. Please read my message to mothers below the picture.‘

Today is Mother’s Day.  In honor of my mother and my mother in law who both passed on a few years ago I would like to give a shout out to all the mothers reading this. I hope you enjoy your day. My drawing today is entitled, “A Bouquet for All Mothers.”

My mother while she was alive was the world to a little boy and a grown man. As a young lad my mother and father separated. My mother took the reins of the household and supported me until I met my wife and moved out. We didn’t have much but what she did give me I knew was out of love. So all you mothers out there who are giving it their all…here’s to you…here’s to you.

Doodle #132, A Cup of Warmth to Start the Day

| Whitt’s End Art


I am a coffee drinker. Give me a cup of joe with some cream and stevia and I am a happy man. However I have partaken in a macchiato or capuccino now and then like the one in my drawing, “A Cup of Warmth.” For us coffee drinkers a daily cup is not only a caffeine fix but a cup of warmth to start the day.

While coffee may be my warmth each day I also try to make myself a little bit of warmth to others. I work in an inner city school. Each day I come in contact with students, many of whom have lives you wouldn’t believe if I could tell you. Some of the students respond to the warmth others not so much.

I however, choose not let myself take anything personally they may say. It is not because I am anyone special or am immune to biting words. I have just chosen to be a cup of comfort to each person I meet. In school I was bullied because of who I was and how I looked and dressed. I said myself then and there I was not going live my life being someone who differently because of who they are are. When I game my life to Christ it only enhanced my unconditional love for others. So be a cup of comfort to others,

Doodle #130, Takin’ Your Life for a Stroll

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It is a simple law of physics which states, “a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless something acts on it to stop it.” My wife and I love to go for strolls. At times we walk through our local neighborhood. If it is cold outside we will walk at our local mall. One of our favorite places to walk is out in Amish Country around some of the local landmarks and villages which is the inspiration for today’s doodle, “Strolling among the Shops.”

Life is also a stroll once set in motion will not stop until in reaches the end. There is also no slowing down life, no matter how hard we try. Billions of dollars each year are spent trying to regain a youthful look or lifestyle. My question is why? Since we have no control over time why not regal in fact we are aging?  We could the wisdom and knowledge we have gained over the years to help those who are younger to try and understand how to live their lives more fully. This is what Solomon did for his son and others in the Book of Proverbs.

Wisdom after all is best used when it is shared. So take your life on a stroll and use your past experiences to write a blog, volunteer in your local community or do what I do and create some art and add a few words to each drawing.

Doodle #129, The Open Doorways

| Whitt’s End Art

In the course of a year long drawing challenge there are times when your mind and your pen get a little blank. This is one of those times. The challenge was to draw a couple of perfectly aligned doorways in your home. My home is not that perfectly aligned so I used another person’s home. I hope you understand. The piece is entitled simply, “Doorways.” I could also give you some speech on how life is like these doorways. Sometimes it feel perfectly aligned but there are times when one door is closed and you can’t for the life of you understand what is going on ahead.

I am thankful many times some of those doors are closed because I do not want to see what is ahead of me. When I was a child my doorways seemed perfectly aligned. Go to school, come home, do homework, go out and play, eat dinner, go to bed, next day rinse and repeat. As an adult the doorways are seldom aligned and I find myself many times praying I could have but a glimpse to what lies ahead behind closed doorway number 2. Still we must push on another day, another drawing. I leave these words of wisdom from Ecclesiastes 3:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

 

Doodle #128, Under an Orange Sunset

| Whitt’s End Art

I have lived in the Philly area for many, many years. While there is a lot of places I still love to visit within the city limits, I still don’t like the hustle and bustle of city life. I am a country boy at heart. Not to far out in the country but far enough the traffic is not bad. One thing about the city I like is the city skyline from different observation points. I especially like the view during sunset when the sky has an orange glow.  My doodle, “A Philly Sunset,” is a loose rendering of such a sunset.

When I was a new driver, at seventeen years of age, driving around Philadelphia was something I enjoyed. The city had many more places than the suburbs to frequent, like record stores, concert venues, shopping and much more. If I didn’t want to drive I could hop on the EL or subway and get to places I wanted. I spent many hours of my young life in Philadelphia. Thirty Four years ago I moved away from Philly. I now live about an hour away in the suburbs. I get down to Philly from time to time. It is where my son lives now so my wife and I visit one in a while

The weird thing is, like many things from my youth, Philly has lost it’s youthful luster. I guess it is because may of the places I frequented in my youth are not there anymore. Many of the people I knew are no longer there anymore. The city has changed so much over the years. I guess the old saying is true, “You can never truly go home again.” As a follower of Jesus Christ I am glad the Bible in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” It is good to know that no matter how much I change, the world around me changes, Jesus never changes.

Doodle #127, Don’t be a Wimpy (Sponge)

| Whitt’s End Art

Sponge is one of those words that has more than one meaning. it is a sea creature as pictured in my rendering, it is used for household cleaning as well as in a surgical procedure, but it is also a person who borrows stuff without the intent of giving the borrowed item back.

When I first saw sponges was today’s drawing prompt I thought of Wimpy from Popeye the Sailor Man. He is the guy who is famous for the line “I’ll pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” Wimpy was always begging for the burger with no intent of ever paying Popeye back.  When I was a kid I knew a lot WImpy like peers. Most of what they borrowed was free rides, “Take me to Philly and I will pay you for gas on Friday when I get paid.” The problem payday Friday never came.

Adulthood has brought it’s share of Wimpys to my life. My problem is I have to learn to say no to people instead of giving to people. The Bible is clear on this subject  Proverb’s 12:24, “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.” I have learned that by giving in to the Wimpys of life I am really doing them a disservice. If a person is always given what they ask for they will never learn to work for what they really need. Don’t get me wrong it is good to help someone out when they ask but if they make a habit of it, take stock of the situation and make sure they are not being a Wimpy.

If you don’t know who Wimpy is click here.

Doodle #126, Blackbird Bye Bye

| Whitt’s End Art

Today’s challenge was to draw, of course, a bird. Here is my offering, “Blackbird Bye Bye.” Birds are not one of my favorite things to sketch or draw. The reason is I never think I do them justice by my finished renderings. Sure they look like birds but never like the birds I set out to draw. I guess life also turns out the same way. When we are little we set out to draw our life one way. When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher in the worst way. Instead, after high school, life added some lines of me going to work to earn some money. I intended to go back to school. Instead some more lines were added to my life drawing, me meeting someone and getting married.

My life drawing was still not complete. Some more lines were added and I ended up living somewhere I had never intended.  There I added some more lines to my life drawing. I gave my life over to Jesus Christ, finished my college education, with a degree I didn’t intend to have, and moved on from one layoff to another. A few years later and many more lines later I work at a school, no not as a teacher, but a teacher’s assistant. My life still hopefully has many more lines to go till it is a finished work and I am called home. Yet I reflect on the drawing and do not see the picture I intended to render but am secure in knowing no matter how I see my life, God sees it the way He intended to draw it in the first place.