the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind...

I consider myself a poet first and a musician second.

I live like a poet and i'll die like a poet.

- Bob Dylan

You either hate Bob Dylan,

or you love him.

There is no in between. 

i love him.

love his music,

love his poetry,

love his ability to reach so many hearts

with a song.

I don't really think much about the colors i choose.

Whatever feels right at the time.

In this case, 4 crayola crayons - plus black at the end.

For the dark shadows and thinner lines around the eyes,
I use wooden colored pencils.

you can see the difference in the eyes especially...

Maybe i made him look a little younger...

or more angry. :-)

The most important thing when doing something like this,

is to keep the hand loose,

to try to have fun,

to not be afraid to have extra lines,

and extra squiggles.

You can always apply color over them later.

Plus, the squiggles makes it more interesting, 

don't you think?

If i'm gonna do a bob dylan portrait 

that looks EXACTLY like the photo,

i may as well just have the photo.

It's not important to be precise and exact.

It's important to feel good when you're drawing.

It's important to trust yourself.

It's important to let your hand dance across the page

and color lightly in some places and darker in others

and feel the freedom of just scribbling colors

one over the other.

And if portraits aren't your thing, that's ok!

You can scribble an abstract, or a still life,

or a landscape...

it's all still beautiful,

and there's just such freedom in scribbling.

(and in music)

xox

always toward the light

hey people!

i had so much fun doing this collage earlier today.

Sometimes i think art is an escape from reality,
and other times, i think of it as moving towards
something bigger than me
rather than away from reality.

I guess it means different things to different people

but don't you love it when things just come together

and it all feels right?

god knows it doesn't always feel right.

but today was a good day.

i even decided she would wear cowboy boots with tiny spurs.

You can't see them much, but they're there.

it's all in the details... (giggle)

and then a few little words.

I read somewhere that all living beings

gravitate toward the light...

Well - except mushrooms i guess...

and the grumpy old guy downtown. :-)

Just a quick note to all of you...

I've had to limit commenting on blogs lately,

only because i was spending more time on-line

than actually creating something.

Making art.

This damn social media can quickly eat up 

a lot of hours in the day

and I don't want to become a zombie

in order to be social

with the whole fucking world.

Besides - i don't want to be social with everyone.

Only with those of you who are here with me. :-)

So i just wanted you all to know that even if

i comment a little less on your posts lately,

i'm still reading them.

I'm still laughing

and sighing

and admiring

and oooo-ing and aaaaah-ing

So keep creating and posting, ok?

xox

Linking this to Illustration Friday! 

A portrait of Richard Desjardins

This is Richard Desjardins,

another Canadian singer songwriter (from Quebec)

that I love.

I thought i'd attempt to do a very loose portrait of him

with my giant box of Crayola wax crayons.

I used a large poster sheet i had hanging around the house,

(2 feet x 3 feet)

I think his face is so interesting.

Or maybe I just have a thing for musicians?

;-)

Obviously a very loose drawing...

I ended up adding a bit of oil pastels to it

when the wax crayons just weren't dark enough.

Doesn't look much like him

but it's at least a portrait.

and it was so much fun to do.

I love the squiggly lines everywhere...

Happy Friday everyone!

Try to do at least one thing that brings

a smile to your face today.

Maybe go out and buy a box of Crayolas

and play. 

xoxo