I have a road less traveled in mind. Being sensitive to the external, my attention is often focused outside my body. Now I’m diving inside to explore the source of my thoughts, actions, and affect I bring to the outside world.
It takes courage for me to watch my own thoughts. They drift in and out when not being acted upon. And it takes a lot of practice for me to be calm and sit with myself in this way. But the benefits are clear.
The calm lingers. I can think with compassion. And I’m aware of my feelings, and can see them for what they are… feelings. And this helps me make good decisions in my life.
I’m not an expert on meditation, but I’m also distinctly aware of a higher wisdom in my mind that defies what I’ve learned in a few short decades of life. It’s a Knowing of how to take care of my body, how to live, express myself, heal, and breath. It’s an awareness I suspect is always there, but rarely gets the focused attention it deserves.
But I’m thankful. Appreciative. And very excited to see where this road less traveled leads!
[I Have a Road Less Traveled in Mind was created for Art Challenge #10: A Road Less Traveled at The Artist Challenge. The drawing is approximately 8" x 11", created with watercolors, pens, colored pencils, and paint pens.]
The drawing/painting entitled Monster In My Closet was created for Art Challenge #9: Behind Closed Doors at The Artist Challenge. The artwork is approximately 11″ x 14″ and includes mediums such as watercolors, colored pencils, pens, markers, and paint pens.
Monsters in the closet, or monsters under the bed, are an interesting subject to me. I think monsters represent strong beings that are deeply hurt, insecure, and afraid, but refuse to be broken. Monsters act on fear, they isolate, and lash out in defense even when no attack is present. After all, it’s a tactic I’m sure worked before, when real danger was present.
Approaching a monster invites the biggest baddest scariest monster face one can muster. Which is commonly mixed with a heavy dose of intimidation, screaming, and flailing for good measure.
I try to see them deep down, as a being with old pain and wounds that never healed. If there is no immediate danger, I say “scream to me, monster, and tell me about how much it hurts.” And the next time I see the monster the pain isn’t as deep. Keep crying, monster. And let yourself heal. You’re safe, vulnerable, and seen for who you are, perfect in the moment.
And in time, there is a yawn, and maybe even a smile.
Each sun drawing is 11″ x 14″, and drawn on paper with a variety of pens, watercolors, paint pens, colored pencils, oil pastels, markers, and acrylic paint.
The first image of the sun represents the power and energy of the source of light and color, and life, in our world. The drawing is also abstract and impressionistic. The other two sun/star drawings focus on the tumultuous bubbling reaction within a star that produces the warm colors and heat amidst the black depths of space.
The accompanying video shows the drawing and painting process for the colorful abstract sun in a time lapse format.
This is an abstract face entitled “Portrait of Lines and Color”. The artwork is approximately 11″x13″ on card stock paper, drawn and painted with markers, pens, watercolor, and paint pens. A few wisps of silver and gold paint pens were also used to give the drawing a shimmer from different viewing angles. The shimmer does not show up in the digital reproduction.
The accompanying video shows the drawing and painting process in a time lapse format. The video recording process offers a clear reminder of how the drawing looked during various stages of creation. And I think some very interesting images appear throughout the process that lend a certain experience, age, and depth to the final portrait.
The Artist Challenge is well underway, with new artists joining every day! The project was started by artist Vikki North and I by challenging each other to create artwork based on a particular theme. This is my submission for Art Challenge #5 – Unrequited Love.
The first artwork is my submission, “Face of Unrequited Love 01″. The abstract face drawing/painting is approximately 11″x14″, drawn and painted with pens, markers, colored pencils, and watercolors on paper. The accompanying video shows the drawing and painting process in a time lapse format. The face was initially sketched with pen and markers. Washes of water and watercolor softened the portrait, followed by thick markers, and more watercolor washes, details, and highlights.
The second portrait drawing is entitled “Face of Unrequited Love 02″. This abstract face drawing/painting is approximately 9″x12″, drawn and painted with pens, markers, colored pencils, and watercolors on paper. There is an accompanying video that shows the drawing and painting process in a time lapse format. It shows a similar sketching and painting process from start to finish.
These are sketches of abstract faces in primarily black pens and watercolors. The first drawing is a pen sketch with water wash, approximately 9″x12″ on paper. The old face is an interesting foundation, utilizing the high contrast of black and white to create a striking and kinetic composition. The second drawing of a face, also 9″x12″ on paper, started in a similar style with pen and markers. Layers of black watercolor, marker, and white highlights were gesturally added to accentuate the fluid and wispy atmosphere.
This is a 9″x12″ abstract drawing of a face with a determined expression. The character’s face was drawn with pens, paint pens, oil pastels, and markers. The artwork is expressive and colorful, with contrasting warm and cool colors used to set apart the eyes, nose, mouth, and some skin surfaces from the surrounding chaos.
An accompanying video shows how I draw the abstract face in a time lapse format. The initial composition of the face was sketched with pen first, followed by layers of color and highlights.
Expression without fear is often followed by more self awareness for me. Whether it’s through music, writing, dance, visual art, talking, or some other type of introspective activity, it helps me reach a new perspective about my life. I feel like I have some clarity. The drawing below is an abstract representation of a part of the process. The artwork is drawn on two sheets of 12″x9″ card stock paper, with pens, markers, colored pencils, watercolors, and paint pens.
This is a video of how I drew a face. The face is colorful and abstract, and was drawn with pens, markers, colored pencils, and paint pens, and painted with watercolors. The image was drawn spontaneously from imagination. There is also a second drawing of a colorful face, which was created in a similar style. Both drawings are 9″x12″ on card stock paper. The video only contains a time lapse clip of the first face drawing below. (Total drawing time was about 10 minutes.)
This is a series of expressive abstract drawings and paintings of colorful faces. The artworks are 9″x12″ and use a variety of colored mediums to achieve the desired look, including Oil Pastels, Paint Pens, Watercolors, Markers, Pens, and Acrylic Paint. They are drawn from memories and intend to convey the essence of a mood or feeling evoked from people or characters. The layers, expressive lines, and abstract compositions help communicate the complexity of imagination, and represent the emotions that arise from a perceived connection to faces.
The following drawings of the sun (stars) were created in response to Art Challenge #7: Sun Art, over at 
