Doodles

Doodle #99, Kittens-an Overview

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If you haven’t guessed by now the prompt for today is the word, kittens. It seems like I just can’t get away from drawing cats and kittens. Prompt or no prompt cats are my favorite subject to render in pen, pencil or any number of creative media. Well truly there is not much advice I can give you about raising cats. If memory serves me correctly from all the cats I had growing up and the ones my son had before he moved out cats  kind of raise you.

Cats can be finicky or loving, standoffish or friendly, it all depends on what mood they are in at the moment. One thing I do love about cats is they are self cleaning, well except for the litter box once in a while. Try to get your teenagers to clean up after themselves and see how it goes. I have four children, two were clean freaks, the other two not so much. I am still finding stuff stashed in different places in my house even though my one child moved out four years ago. Thrift stores have become my frequent destinations.

Still when it comes to cleanliness I will take messy children who don’t get into trouble in and out of school any day. My children had their ups and downs but they have all turned out well having good jobs and for three of them families of their own. It is all a parent can hope for to have successful children.

Doodle #98 Getting the Bird to Pose

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My doodle “Getting the Bird to Pose,” was inspired by the word prompt, hummingbird. I have only seen hummingbirds a few times in my lifetime. Each year my wife puts out one of those hummingbird feeders in order to try and draw the birds out. So far she has had limited success.  Hummingbirds are interesting little creatures They flit and flutter around with seeming tirelessness from flower to flower sucking out the nectar.

How hard it must be to get one of these little birds to pose for a picture. Which reminds me of those early days as a parent when you try to get the perfect picture of your children. Nothing ever seems to go right. One child is looking one way, another will not smile and still another is crying. Still my wife perseveres in order to get that one magical moment when all the children look perfect for the photographer. It seldom worked but each year we went through the same ritual.  Just one of the joys of parenting I miss, not.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to have pictures of my kids and grandchildren readily available for others to see. I however like the unplanned spontaneous moments when the children are being children. The best family moments to capture on your camera, smart phone, or whatever are those that come when you’re not planning for them, when your family is being a family at play. Remember just like you’ll never get a bird to pose for picture you’ll never get the true essence of family life unless you are prepared and ready to capture the spontaneous.

Doodle #97, Life Among the Leaves

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It is spring once again. The world is sprouting with new life. Flowers are popping out of the ground and trees are getting their new leaves. Spring has always been my favorite time of year because the earth once again filled with pageantry and color. As an artist color is one of my favorite things to put in my paintings. Color can bring forth a whole range of emotions. Reds and yellows are warm colors and invoke feelings of happiness but they can also be irritating to the eyes. Blues and darker colors are more relaxing and invoke feelings of melancholy and are more relaxing colors.

A lot of the paintings I do tend to be filled with warm colors. It is not really intentional. It is just where my artist’s brain gravitates. One of things I am trying to learn in doing this doodle challenge is how to get out of my color comfort zone and experiment with different color variations or maybe no color at all. I have learned different colored markings in pen and pencil can create a satisfying effect

Another thing I learned is just like the,”Little Boy in the Tree,” my illustration for today, unless you learn to be adventurous and experiment with things as an artist you will never grow as an artist or for that matter life will never be as interesting as it might be if you climb out of your comfort zone

Doodle #96, The Early Bird Gets the Worm

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When I heard today’s prompt word, worm, right away I thought of the old adage, “The Early Bird Gets the Worm.” The gist of the adage is the idea if you wait long enough what you desire may not be there. Over the course of my life time this adage has meant different things. When I was young it meant I worked ahead in school in order to insure I was ready to go out and play after school.

As I grew older the saying took on many different meanings but the one I forgot was preparing for later in life. The early bird starts to put away for retirement as soon as possible. They do not wait for the time when the worm (money) is needed to get them through. The early bird is left with a nest egg. The late bird, well they not only don’t get the worm they may not have enough left in their nest to get them through. My advice, be the early bird. Start saving now.

Playing in Puddles, Doodle #95

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Remember all the times as a kid when we played in puddles. The rain pouring down around us as we splashed and splashed about until we were soaked. Puddles were my inspiration for my doodle, “Boy In the Puddle,” Looking back I still don’t understand the fascination with kicking and splashing in the water but it was fun at the time. Today, I am not a playing in the water kind of person, that is my wife. My wife loves the beach. Me, however I love the thrifts shops at the beach and the gathering of family.

Puddles in rain storms no longer hold the fascination for me as they did when I was a child. Like the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:11 as we get older we, ” put the ways of childhood behind.” Which is a little sad because in order to feel young mentally we need to hold onto part of our childhood

I look back on those times dancing in the puddles with fondness. Thinking back to those days makes me realize it was not really the puddles which were fun it was spending time with my friends. The joy came from time well spent. The same is true today. Friends and fellowship with them is still needed in life to make it more enjoyable. A life spent alone is an empty life. We were designed to spend time with each other. Proverbs 27:17 states, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man (or woman) sharpens another.” So spend some time this week with family and friends doing something fun and childlike you’ll all be better off. Till the next doodle.

April Showers Bring May Flowers, Doodle #93

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Today’s prompt was the word, umbrella, which brought to mind an umbrella because of all the April showers. April is traditionally a wet month which waters the ground in order to help the beautiful flowers of May to grow.

In life we also have shower. Those times when life’s problems rain down on us so much we seem overwhelmed by what we are going through. Unfortunately in life we have no umbrella we can open to keep those rainy times away. We have to weather the storm until it passes on by and the sunny sky once more shines through the clouds. I make no apologies for mentioning the fact I am a believer and follower of Jesus. It is one of the reasons I started this blog.

My faith and my trust in Jesus is one reason I can sit here and type these words. In school I had many times of stormy weather, bullying they call it today, which left me with a shell of self esteem. It was not until I turned my life over to Jesus that I was able to have some semblance of a life where I could be me and not be ashamed. I do not tell you this because I am looking for sympathy but because I have been through many storms in my life and have persevered.  Even now putting my art work out there for all to see was not something I would have done a few years ago. I hope you like my drawing, “Boy With an Umbrella.”

Fast is the New Slow, Doodle #91

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Today’s prompt was the word, “fast” so I created a picture of some butterfly’s. While butterfly’s  are  not the fastest things around they do flit from place to place which kind of reminded me of the people I see each day. We live in a world where time is a commodity to be used as efficiently and as quickly as possible. Everybody seems to be in a hurry even some of us artists, including me. I have loved art and have been drawing in one capacity or another since I was a child drawing blue prints.  There is one aspect of my art I still have yet to grasp. Getting the details the way I want them.

The reason, I like to get my piece done and move on to another one. There are so many things I want to paint or draw I feel I must keep going, not taking the time for details. Some of the art work I have created doing using this method have worked out well, others not so much. Case in point. I love to draw faces and flowers. Each one is unique and require a little more detailed observation. I need to learn to slow down when drawing theses subjects in order to get the detail I want. Speed will come later.

Life I feel is the same way. We need to slow down in order to insure we don’t miss any f the good stuff in life. There are so many people I talk to who say, ” I wish I would have taken time to go to my kids games” or “spent time with my wife maybe we’d still be together.” There are times in life when fast can’t be the new slow but the old slow must become the norm.

Every Day Has a Future, Doodle #90

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Well it has been three months and I am still rolling along with my doodle challenge. At the start of the challenge I had high ambitions for the future by creating a piece of art every day. Once I started I decided, because of time constraints, to switch to doodle drawings. In the future I plan on going back and redoing some of the doodles into full fledged art which I will re-post. Some of the others I feel are pretty cool as they are and I will reproduce for resale.  The rest still will go into my good try but not ready for prime time file.

As an artist getting to the end of any art work is both an exhilarating as well as an oh no experience. The oh no part can come with staring at the future and the start of a new project and wondering where do I go from here. I however am one of those artists which has a number of projects going on at once. I always have a future piece waiting on an easel or drawing board.  I chalk it up to my adult ADD but it keeps me from suffering the moments where you sit around staring into space wondering what project to do in the future.

Outside of art, any new start , a job, a relationship, whatever it may be is fraught with future expectations and nervous feelings to control.  I learned years ago from a book entitled, “How to Eat an Elephant,” by Bill Hogan, which is actually a financial advice book. any big task or future expectation must be broken down into bite sized pieces. These smaller pieces allow you to get the task done without it seeming so daunting.

When I first started this challenge I panicked because I thought there was no way I could do that many drawings. Then I remember the task was made of 365 smaller tasks one done each day. I could meet the challenge. So in life don’t panic when you have to do something big just brake it down to smaller portions. I have found this also works in art. I hope you like today’s doodle, “Contemplating the Future.”

Getting from Point A to Point B, Doodle #88

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In our modern lives everything is all about transition, today’s prompt word.. It is figuring out before you take the first step how you’re going to get from Point A to Point B. Don’t get me wrong planning is good but there are times when we need to take off our logical caps and put on the caps of spontaneous creation. Art is one of those times.

When we art we need to be prepared to use transition not only in the creation of our drawings but also in when we apply color. My doodle for today is a tribute to Chuck Berry whose music was a true transition from the music of his early career. It is a simple outline drawing with some transition of color to give it a little pop.

Life is also filled with a lot of transitions.  I remember when I first went to high school as a ninth grader. I walked into this building filled with giant people. I had to transition from being the oldest class in the middle school to the new kids on the block. It wasn’t easy. There were a lot of freshman class pranks I had to endure, loves sought and and lost and ever changing friendships but I got through it and came out the other side a little wiser.

Life can be like those high school years. There are going to be times when we are going to go through transitions in our lives and if we are not careful we can be overcome by them. The key to working through transitions is remaining faithful and seeking help if necessary.