I know I said last week that I would post some more about the painting on Friday but Friday has totally passed me by. I suck at deadlines, self-imposed and outsider imposed. Not a good look. Anyway life and frustrations got in the way of me finishing this sketch. I'm not ecstatic with it but since it isn't the final, I decided I should stop fussing over it. So that I did. It's fine with me as long as it shows of the concept I was going for. The image quality of this sketch is subpar because my scanner totally sucks today so I snapped a pic of it with my because it would have been waaaayyyy too much of a hassle to use my SLR. Call me Lazy J this week. Whatever, I have the right to be lazy every once in awhile.

But anyway, here goes the second third of Music is my Drug.


Once I started drawing this, I had one direction in mind and I totally ended up going a different way. My usual way that is. I was trying to do something different by giving this more of a cartoony feel, but I suck at that and my stuff always ends up on the more realistic side. Oh well.

Music is my Drug

So..I haven't died or anything. I've just been busy. It's been a minute since I missed an entire month of posting. I been slackin on my pimpin. But oh well, t'is the past and I can't change it. But since it's been so long, I decided to preview a painting that I've been working on this past month. It's called Music is my Drug. This is only a tiny snippet. It's still in the sketchbook planning phase so the color scheme may change.

I know it's not much so I'll reveal the rest on Friday. Hopefully. Cross your fingers "X"

Until next time, peace out.

Oh and btw, those words won't be just floating out in the air like that. But you'll see when I reveal the entire concept.

The Beach

The water calls as the waves crash. The sand shimmers at the water's edge where the water leaves evidence of where it's been but never where it's going. The line of its path is ever changing. With each ebb and flow, the water shapes the sand , smoothing mounds here, carving edges there. The water flows wherever it wants to go, changing the sand in the process. You can never step on the same beach twice because the face of the beach is never the same. It may appear the same on the surface but it's always changing underneath; water and sand in a dynamic relationship. Never the same beach.

Yet, it's always the same. It's always comforting, whether the tide is out or the waves are threatening. It's always changing, erasing what was there a second ago to make something new, whether it be a footstep or sand castle. It's always forgetting, washing away the past to make way for the future. The sand is always shimmering at the water's edge, whether it be in the sunlight or the moonlight.

Can you hear the water calling?

Ferry Me Across

One sunny weekend I took a trip on the ferry across the Delaware River to Camden, New Jersey with Jirbaud and my nephew. It was a fun, short trip but an opportunity for some candid shots nonetheless. Here are a few:

With the City as my Backdrop

I realize I've been missing my Friday posts. No excuses, that's not cool because I'm only hurting as I'm doing this to build my portfolio. My life has changed a little so I haven't had as much time to dedicate to working on it, especially drawing. I'm in the process of rearranging things and figuring it out so hopefully I can get back into a regular rotation soon. One heads up though, I have been working on a more extensive piece that can't be finished in a weeks time unless I dedicated a 40 hour work week to it, but hopefully it'll be done soon.

Anyway, last week, I promised some more shots from the Ben Franklin bridge. I guess you can call this a mini photoshoot with poet Jirbaud in between my snapping pics of the city elements. Here goes...




This last one we both felt really captured his personality. If you know Jirbaud, you know his shoes.

Nature

I want to go to a national park and take in the scenery, like Yosemite or Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon. That would be awesome. I can't help but think of all the great pictures I could take.

On the Open Road

Earlier this week, I went on a road trip. It was supposed to be 9.5 hours there and 9.5 hours back. No big deal right, easy peasy; I've driven that long in a straight shot before so I wasn't really worried. However, other people were because I was driving alone, no one to be my co-pilot and keep me up or takeover when I got tired. I was confident I could make it with no problems and considered this as a very good introduction to how it will be when I get my RV and move from place to place easily and at will.

I normally don't like driving, but this trip I realized that I actually do like to drive. I just don't like to drive in the city with the crazies and the traffic. You're so disconnected from your environment and the scenery around you, that's why I prefer to use a bike in the city. Driving on the highway is a totally different experience; it's like riding a bike in the city. There's much more freedom on the open road, no need to worry about traffic lights or cars cutting across at cut streets. You can just enjoy the view that surrounds the highway and let it accompany you while you drive. What's so great about driving long distances is that you get to watch the sky change as the hours pass or as the weather changes from location to location. It's really quite spectacular if you think about it. From this trip I have decided that I love the open road and an RV is perfect for me.

I like the way the sunrays pass through the trees and make patterns of shadow and light on the road. And the way when there's a bend in the road there's an element of mystery as to what's coming up next.

The bridge ahead of me and everything around me disappeared in the fog. It was serene, like driving to a cloud, so peaceful.

I like to catch glimpses of a beachy shore when entering and exiting a bridge. It just makes my day better.

P.S. Not the best pics because they were taken with my tele while driving.