The first painting is done is soft pastels on card stock. The second painting is oil pastel also on card stock. Both paintings are small 6×9 paintings.
painting
#570 and 571 of 1001, Two Cats
Two views of my favorite pet, a cat. Both are small 6×9 paintings suitable for wall art or wall decor. Both are abstracts. The first done in soft pastels, the second a mixture of soft pastels and pen.
#481 Looking at the Moon- Redo
Many months ago I created the art piece above, but back then it was only a line drawing with a little color. I decided to turn it into an acrylic painting. Whit I mostly like the end result I intend to go back and redo certain aspects of the painting. In life we are always going to have redos. Don’t fear them. Just learn from them and move on.
#464 Abstract Blue Flower
The forth in a series of abstract flower paintings was, like the rest, rendered on an 8×10 flat canvas panel. The backgrounds for these paintings was done with a scraping technique. I like the way the randomness of what is left after you add then scrape away layers of paint. It is like what God does in our life. He adds different layers to our life then scrapes away the parts which hinder our growth in the Christian life. Then what is left is a work of art.
3 Reasons Why Art is My Therapy
In my 60 plus years on this earth I have discovered one truth, well besides the fact God is alive and well, life is a rollercoaster. One day your climbing the hill and every thing looks good from the top but once you reach the pinnacle and the car your riding in clicks and heads down the steep hill things can change quickly. It is on these days I lean on God but I also get out my drawing pad and some for on pairing medium and commence to creating. While I don’t consider my art to be anything special there are three reasons art is my therapy.
1. Creating is calming. Sitting down at a table in your hand and a drawing pad or picture to color is calming. There is something about sitting there that make you feel peaceful. Maybe it is because of my second reason.
2. Art is time filling. When you art tome seems to fly by. Some call this the left brain/right brain switch. I call it the joy of creating. From the moment you .ay down the first line of a drawing to the moment you see the finished painting it is time well spent. Which leads to the third reason I like art as a therapy.
3. The finished drawing brings joy to the heart. When you look down at what you have created it brings such a peace and joy to your heart that at times I wonder if this what God thought when He created everything then stood back and said “This is good.” Art is a process and while the start of any pieces of art is exciting to me, the end is where I get the most satisfaction.
These are the three reasons art is good therapy for me and could be for you. I am not an art therapist but if you want to email me I would be glad to talk to you about how you can get started.
Daily Drawing #174, Examine Your Nature
The title my drawing, “Examine Your Nature,” has a dual meaning. The first part is my call for everyone reading this is to take the time to get out and take a walk. God created a beautiful world around us that we need to take the time to see. I love nature (today’s prompt) well except when I have to mow and weed nature. Still landscapes and flowers are two of my favorite things to sketch and paint. After all as Dante Alghieri states, “Nature is the art of God.”
The second meaning is about examining your own nature. The Bible tells us in that we need to always examine ourselves because, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32. It is only when we step aside and look at what is truly inside, our internal nature can we see the areas that we need to ask God to help us clean up and make right.
Daily Drawing #173, Twilight Comes But Once A Painting
Twilight the word and not the movie was the prompt for today. The title of the picture is, “Little Girl Watching The Moon.” The painting was created using a light wash of watercolor on a canvas. The little girl and the cat are outlined in pen. I love art because sometimes when you’re just playing around art comes out of it. I am not going to talk about the twilight of an evening per-say but the twilight of creating art. A painting of me comes in stages.
The dawn of the painting is the stage where you lay out your painting. Then as the painting progresses you move to the noon time stage. This is where you have some color washes in and the painting starts to take shape. As you move past the dinner hour you get to the twilight of the painting. This is where you step back and decide for yourself if the painting is done. It is in this twilight stage where I have many times stopped and declared a painting or drawing to my liking. This simple painting is one of those twilight times. I hope you like it.
Daily Drawing #160, The Details Are In The Background
The drawing word prompt for today is, “background.” The title of my drawing is, “Black Cat in the Snow.” We live in a superficial society where everything is taken at face value. If we see what is right in front of our face and like what we see then it is okay in our book. There is an old adage that says, “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover. Literal translation, the details are not always obvious and are sometimes hidden in the background somewhere.
Throughout my lifetime, mystery novels have always been one of my favorite reads. Out of all the detectives in those novels my favorite detective has always been Sherlock Holmes. He is the master of observation. There is no detail he does not see those which are obvious and those found in the background. We need to be like Sherlock Holmes, no not detectives but people who look to the background and learn all the facts before we make a decision. The says in Proverbs 18:17, “The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him.” Learn to examine everything in life and you will make wise decisions leading to less hassles in life.
The Ugly Artist 