This is a 9″x12″ drawing of a human face created with oil pastels and watercolor. I originally saw a similar face in a dream, but the expression was agitated. Most dreams fade after waking up, but this one didn’t. I couldn’t get the image out of my mind because the face was so vivid, detailed, and there were lingering emotions attached to the piercing stare. So I decided to draw the face and personify what I saw. The process led to some interesting insights about myself.

As I drew I was able to attribute the irritability in the face to events in my life. The more I began to explore my feelings, the further my anxiety dissipated. Simultaneously, the expression on the face lightened as I smeared and smudged the pastel and watercolor around the paper. The entire experience was an interesting exercise in self awareness, and pulling subconscious thoughts to the conscious mind with refreshing results.

People spend roughly a third of their lives sleeping, with a daily transition between the two states of being. In what ways do you relate your dream life to your waking life?

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21st century advances in technology have opened new windows to the world around us that have enabled artists to dive deeper into the heart of matter than ever before. Whether it’s through the use of microscopes to see cells and molecules, or telescopes to see distant planets and galaxies, or in this case, through the use of advanced drilling techniques to reach precious stones, gems, minerals, and core-sample cross sections of Earth, artists are there to explore. And bio artist Sydney Strahan has emerged with fascinating works of art that reflect the nuances and intimate spaces of the layered world that sustains us. Her art is at the same time capable because of this moment of technological advance, yet transcends the millenia of time from whence its inspiration and the art itself was born.

Sydney has created amazingly vibrant paintings from core-sample cross sections of microscopically thin layers of Earth. By working with expert Geologists, a variety of interesting rocks and stones offered a visual point of departure for her art work.

From her artist biography:

Sydney Strahan is a graduate of Texas Christian University with a double major in Painting and Printmaking, as well as a life-long explorer of the arts in creativity, movement, and spirituality.

Coinciding with a current movement in art known as Bio-Art; art inspired by biological mechanisms, Sydney’s work specifically relates to the exploration of life sciences that examine a human connection to living systems.

Additionally, view her beautiful Gemstone Paintings Gallery for more examples of lush art that is reminiscent of worlds within worlds, once hidden deep within the Earth and now available for all too see.

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Halloween is an interesting tradition. Fun and morbidity all rolled into one celebration!

I recently painted some quick decorations for a birthday party, consisting of imaginative vegetable and fruit characters and vibrant fish. They were received very well for their loose, cartoonish and stylized nature. So when some close friends said they would be throwing a Halloween costume party and needed some decorations, I knew I could help.

I decided to pick up some cheap paints, a butcher block of paper, and spent an hour painting some fun and scary Halloween decorations. The guidelines for the Halloween party decorations were to stick with a blue and green theme with spatters of red. I was also given permission to push the paintings a little further into the horrific realm.

Presented below are the scary Halloween paintings and decorations. Each is roughly 18″x24″, and can be easily taped to a wall or ceiling, or wherever you want to decorate for a party. They consist of, in order, a Pumpkin, Severed Head, Demon Dog, Demon Skull, Spider, Demon Bat, Severed Hand, and Snake.

For more scary drawings visit Macabre Series 1 – Blood, Skulls, and Paranoia or the Monster in My Closet.

Pumpkin

Severed Head

Demon Dog

Demon Skull

Spider

Demon Bat

Severed Hand

Snake

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This is a painting of a cow amidst a green field and a fiery red background. The canvas is approximately 16″x20″ and the entire artwork was painted with Acrylic paints. The billowing and vibrant background contrasts interestingly with the energetic cow and grassy field in the foreground. Splashes of yellow paint add the impression of flowers and help pull the yellow areas of the background into the foreground. This particular breed of cow is known as a Holstein cow, which is commonly raised for dairy production. Mooooo!

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This is a drawing of a horse with other horses galloping. The 3″x5″ drawing was sketched with markers, pens, and paint pens. Multiple layers of deep red, orange, and yellow colors were used to build up the background. Black pen was used to draw the horses galloping, and water was used to blend the ink and add shadows and subtle blurring. The horizontal background line work combined with a quick and loose foreground sketching style help create a sense of speed and movement.

Visit the Animal Art Gallery for more drawings of animals.

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The following three landscape paintings are approximately 3″x5″ and were painted with watercolors, markers, and paint pens on paper and multiple layers of laminate. The first painting is a yellow and white sun shining over a red landscape. The second painting is a scorching red-orange sun heating a red and purple landscape. And the third painting is a blue moon hovering over blue mountains and a green landscape. Each landscape painting consists of at least 3 layers of laminate which separate the washes and crisp lines of color, and add subtle variations in depth.

Visit the Art Gallery for more Landscape Paintings.

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This is a drawing of eyes, created with a combination of mediums, such as pens, markers, paint pens, watercolor, and multiple layers of laminate. A variety of vivid colors were used to build up the eyes and the surrounding facial structure with washes of color and energetic lines. Each layer of laminate allowed for greater depth of features to be added without much blending of color and shapes, allowing for an extremely crisp and vivid final drawing. The eyes are drawn on 3″ x 5″ paper.

For more eye drawings visit the Marker Drawing of an Eye.

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The story of Dan Eldon is powerful. I know little, but feel a lot. Most of what I learned is from the Wikipedia entry on Dan Eldon’s life, and scans of his journals at the Creative Visions Foundation.

Daniel Robert Eldon (b. 18 September 1970, Hampstead, England – d. 12 July 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia) was an English photojournalist. He and three colleagues were killed by an angry mob in Mogadishu. He left behind a series of journals, which his family has exhibited on a worldwide tour.

Vikki North proposed a new art challenge a few weeks ago, which focused on the book The Journey is the Destination, by Kathy Eldon, Dan’s mother.

After viewing Dan’s work I was affected very deeply, especially after reading about his death. The fear, confusion, and sadness hit hard in contrast to his enduring altruism. The contradiction of his compassionate life and violent death flashed like the thunder of a night and day all at once.

For example, how many fourteen year old people have started a fund-raising campaign for open-heart surgery to save the life of a friend. Dan helped raise $5,000, but due to the hospital’s neglect, his friend died.

Or during college, Dan spent his summers raising $25,000 for a venture to a refugee camp in Malawi. With friends from six countries, they met in Nairobi and traveled thousands of miles in three vehicles. Then they donated one of their vehicles to the Save the Children Fund, as well as money for three wells, and blankets for a children’s hospital.

These stories are commonplace. Altruistic action seems to have dominated Dan’s life.

And on the day of his death at 22 years old, he was working as a photojournalist in a Mogadishu refugee camp ravaged by war. A mob, confused by erroneous attacks, focused their aggression on Dan and three young colleagues.

…

My response to the challenge, and Dan Eldon’s journals, is a series of sketches that I worked on over the past few weeks as I thought about his story.

At first, frustration set in. I struggled to get past angry feelings, drawing numerous dark sketches driven by fear and confusion. I couldn’t see Dan clearly. But as I sketched, forgiveness and amnesty trickled in slowly. The first two drawings below are from that period. They are approximately 11″ x 14″, drawn and painted with markers, colored pencils, paint pens, acrylic paint, watercolor, charcoal and chalk.

Eventually I stumbled across feelings of inadequacy as an artist for this challenge, and guilt about the less than altruistic aspects of my own life. Thankfully with support from friends and family, I began to focus on the Journey rather than the Destination. It was a wonderful feeling, to see clearly again. All that time, right in front of me, it was the essence of this challenge! All I could do was cry a little and laugh.

A few days later I re-approached the artwork with a portrait of Dan. I left the color and emotion behind and around him, and was inspired by his own self-portrait with a red eye. Many more sketches followed, but I’ve only posted a few. The two below are also 11″ x 14″, drawn with pen, markers, paint pen, watercolor, and gloss varnish (not visible in the digital reproductions). The two at the very bottom are 3″ x 5″ drawings, sketched with pen, markers, watercolor, and paint pens.

Now that I am running in this space, I’m reminded of a quote that Vikki sent me from one of Dan’s Journals:

“What’s the difference between exploring and being lost? The journey is the destination.”

The journey is the destination, and I’m comfortable knowing that I’m not done working with Dan’s legacy yet.

Visit Vikki’s Red Chair Gallery Blog to see her contribution to the Journey. Also, check out Martha Marshall’s Blog, she’s an amazing professional artist who is also contributing to the challenge.

And thank you Vikki, for a challenge that lived up to its name.

~Michael

P.S. I read on Wikipedia that Daniel Radcliffe, of Harry Potter fame, will be playing the role of Dan Eldon in the upcoming biopic movie entitled Journey. And with Kathy Eldon working on the project, I hope for its truth to be uplifting for many more people for years to come.

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