The following artwork is an 11″ x 14″ drawing and painting of a fedora hat, created with colored pencils, markers, oil pastels, pens, watercolors, and paint pens on paper.

The fedora was often worn by Michael Jackson (b. 29 August 1958, – d. 25 June 2009) during stage performances and public appearances. The article of clothing became nearly synonymous with his image along with other accessories such as a single white glove, white socks with black loafers, and mirrored aviator sun glasses.

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This is a drawing and painting of a yellow rose, created for Art Challenge #8: Spring Fever at The Artist Challenge! Spring is in the air and flowers are blooming. The grass is growing again and there is a bit more chirping and buzzing to be heard outside. The yellow rose is the first bloom in my garden, so I thought I would let it speak for the season and this months free art challenge!

The rose drawing/painting is approximately 8″ x 11″, created with pens, colored pencils, paint pens, and watercolors on card stock paper.

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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.

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These are two abstract drawings of ornaments, traditionally placed on a Christmas tree. The artworks are approximately 9″x12″, drawn and painted with paint pens, markers, and oil pastel. Each drawing reflects a slight fragility and exuberance of an ornament by using wispy lines and bold colors.

Happy winter holidays to all!

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This is a video and image of a drawing of a rose. The video shows how the rose was drawn and painted with thin lines, washes of color, and expressive highlights. The drawing / painting is 12″x9″ and was created with pens, markers, paint pens, colored pencils, and watercolors. There are also segments of silver and gold paint around the flower. The rose was constructed with an initial vibrancy that represents the flower’s attribution to the emotions of love. And like love in its many undulating forms, the drawing continues to deepen and change over the course of time, sometimes darker sometimes lighter, but with a consistent undercurrent expressed with some clarity amidst the whole. (Total drawing time was about 20 minutes.)

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This is a 9″x12″ painting/drawing of a cooked turkey. The turkey was loosely sketched with ink pens and paint pens on card stock paper. Washes of watercolor were painted over the drawing to soften focus and add volume, followed by white highlights. The pervasive yellow adds a soft glow to the atmosphere, while the frantic linework and alternating shadows and highlights across the entire painting add energy to an otherwise static image.

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These are two acrylic paintings, one of an abstract Ball or Sphere, and one of an abstract Cone. Energetic and expressive swirls of color are chaotically focused on creating a recognizable image. And the darker shadows and horizon lines help to ground the objects.

Simple three dimensional shapes, like cubes, spheres, cones, and cylinders, were some of the first objects I drew when I started my art hobby as a kid. The basic shapes helped simplify the world, and I began to understand how light and dark play against each other to create depth. As a young adult, the more I learn about the nature of the physical world, I understand there is more complexity than can be perceived by senses I’m accustomed to using, like sight and touch. So the paintings are a reminder of invisible depth in unobvious places.

The Sphere (ball) painting is approximately 11″x11″ and the Cone painting is approximately 13.5″x14″. Both artworks are painted on masonite board.

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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.

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This is a pen drawing of a tree with a few leaves and branches. A faint yellow highlighter was also used to accentuate sparkles of sunlight, but they are not as apparent in the digital reproduction. The tree is a large old Silver Maple tree in its final years. Much of the base has rotted out, and the tree is being prepared to get cut down. So this drawing was created in remembrance of this mighty creature.
Thanks for the oxygen!

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This is an oil pastel drawing of a haystack, created with bright bold colors in a slightly abstract surrealist style. Energetic lines and smudging create the shape of the haystack, which also creates a vertical break in the composition. The bright background, foreground, and a bold blue line across the horizon also helps to break apart the image and reinforce a sense of depth and space within the drawing.

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