These are 2 drawings of lion cubs. The first lion cub was drawn with markers, oil pastels, and paint pens. The line work in the first drawing started out fairly loose, but tightened up as I tried to correct proportion, value, and position mistakes. I left the second lion cub drawing abstract and cartoonish, and also used markers, oil pastels, and paint pens. The drawings are 9″ x 12″.

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This is a minimalistic drawing of an old man face with a red pen. A brush and water was used to add subtle shadows around the eyes, nose, and mouth. The commentary is similarly sparse… lost in thought like the old man’s gaze.

“Out of the Blue” is a 4″x6″ abstract sketch of a house and sunset, drawn with marker, crayon, paint pen, and colored pencil. My attention was focused on the colors more than anything else. I wanted to see what effect a few disjointed gradients and juxtapositions of specific colors would have on each other and the overall artwork. Bright and sunny, with bold red, green, blue, and yellow. Similar frantic style, but a new direction.

Metaphorically speaking, sometimes it’s helpful to draw or paint with one arm tied behind my back. “Adriaaaan!” Slowing down with thoughtful color choices increased my awareness, and it’s refreshing to mix things up in a creative rut.

This is an abstract portrait painting of an Art Goddess. The artwork is 9″x12″ and was created with pens, watercolor, paint pens, and markers. Multiple layers of medium were energetically and organically built up to create an abstract female face, with broad strokes of watercolor and detailed pen lines used to push and pull the space. The essence of creativity is playfully depicted as an Art Goddess, with the face as an almost universally recognizable lead in to the visual art.

As I’ve grown into art, I realized that I have developed a deliberate way of expressing myself visually. Perhaps the same way that some have a deeper understanding of other tools for expression and communication, like math, language, or music. I feel a deep appreciation for those other creative processes, even though I don’t understand the intricacies of them, I know there are areas of overlap and mutual insight. So I added a few subtle reminders of other tools that enrich and nurture visual art.

I also wondered, if more people were taught to convey emotions or concepts via color and shape more consistently, what new ways of thinking about the world would we discover? What unknown creativity awaits behind the Goddess’ eyes? And what flashes behind yours?

These are two 9″x12″ abstract portraits of artist Frank Calloway, drawn and painted with pen, ink, markers, colored pencils, and watercolors. Dina Kerik’s Deepwater Journal alerted me to the story of Frank and the reference image for the artworks.

I was inspired by his passion for drawing, which started when he was 86 years old. Frank Calloway turned 112 years old on July 2, 2008, and art continues to be a part his life. I also like the youthful quality of his drawings, and the consistency hints at a very mature, organized, and creatively patterned style.

High quality giclée prints of each portrait are available at ImageKind.

Theses are abstract drawings of skulls, sketched with markers, watercolors, paint pens, and artist tape. The acid free tape was layered over the eyes of the more abstracted green swirly drawing. A bandaged or mummified appearance hasn’t translated as thoroughly to the digital reproduction. The skull drawings use basic shapes of color, subtle lines of structure, and semi-opaque washes of watercolor sketched quickly and energetically. A white paint pen is also used to add interesting hot spots of washed out color and blur lines that intensify the subtle illusion of movement.