I can't even remember how to post here.

Bunny Bison - 1 of ?? in my forthcoming Bunagerie series.

Arthur's Seat

Having miraculously brought our Southern California sun with us to Edinburgh in October, we took full advantage. A warm sunny climb of Arthur's seat was just the thing. Some time to admire the view, taking care not to be tumbled off the rocks by the stiff breeze.

Then off to Duddingston
to satisfy our appetite with a pint, a Sunday roast, and a haggis.

Gravy Robbers

Okay, this shirt is only funny if you're a fan of Tim & Eric Awesome show on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. I am a fan, and this shirt funny. And I made it. And I got it printed at cafepress. And I cannot WAIT to wear it.

Improvement

Hey, I consider squeezing 3 entirely different perspectives into a single drawing a freaking achievement!

Okay, maybe not. I got a little lost in the details and failed to work on the drawing as a whole. I didn't take a step back until I was nearly done to notice the utter train wreck (pun) that is the perspective.

That said, if you'd seen my previous attempts to draw this from long ago, the title of "Improvement" would seem far less incongruous. Night and day. I may revisit this one once more and see if I can't straighten out my vanishing points.

Change I can believe in

This turned into a well timed coincidence. I drew this end of January, not realizing that in less than two weeks' time was the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and much of it involves, either directly or tangentially, the brilliant work of Charles Darwin. So when, as part of a short-lived "draw every day" challenge between a friend and myself, the theme "A New Outlook" came up, this is where I went. I've never really drawn a portrait before.

Shout Out

I just need to post a big thank you to the site Great Wall. A while ago I had a custom giclee print made to hang at home. First of all, the price was right, the service was excellent, and the quality of the print was amazing.

That would have been more than enough to recommend them. But they've gone above and beyond. Several months ago, while we were dealing with the water damage in our condo, the hanging hardware on that print failed. It fell off the wall and incurred some minor damage. It was a small scrape and a dent to the bottom edge of the frame. It was really unfortunate. But the damage was slight, hardly noticeable even knowing it was there. So I figured I'd rehang it. So I emailed Great Wall asking for advice on an alternate hanging solution.

I did not expect the response. They apologized for the mounting hardware failure and said that if I just took a photo of the damage they'd send me a replacement print! How awesome is that? They even had no issue with the fact that it then took me 3 months to actually get around to taking the photo of the damage(we went out of town right after I got the response and it had totally slipped my mind).

So if you're looking to get prints of anything, or happen to need a huge wall mural from somewhere that's going to treat you right, Great Wall is a great place to start.

Progress

Verifiable "Aha!" moment here. The details of this drawing are starting to come together. I went through several iterations of that column before my drawing instructor gave me a tip that tied it all together.

I'm less enamored with how the additions seen here turned out. It's on the right track but not really capturing what I want. My instructor has tried to steer me in another direction, but I haven't liked that either. I might have to revisit those though because I'm getting too lost in the details.

Bonus points if anyone can identify the house I'm drawing.

Architexture

I've started working on a drawing from one of my favorite photographs. This is one small detail and I'm pretty happy with the results so far. It's just a draft, but it's coming along well.

I've learned a lot doing this drawing and have surprised myself. I selected it as a stretch goal, figuring I'd pick an element or two to work on and not really turn it into a finished piece. Now I'm certain that I'll be able to create something I'm happy with.

Click on the doors to see the state of the rest of the draft and then try to guess what I spent my last drawing lesson focusing on.

Actually, that's not really true. While I did learn the wood texture technique I'm trying here, I actually spent the bulk of the lesson on my first attempt at the drawing as a whole. Again, surprised at how well it went.

Biogrty Lives

I'm at a loss. I should be celebrating the hope filled victory for the best presidential candidate this country has seen in decades. Instead I have to come to grips wit the fact that hatred and lies have motivated half of the citizens of California to vote to strip fellow human beings of their dignity.

No on 8 - Equal Rights

Apropos of nothing other than the fact that the election is less than a week away and constantly on my mind, I can't help but say something. It's unfathomable to me that Prop 8 stands a reasonable chance of passing in California. More infuriating are the lies and fear mongering that are being used to support it. If it were simply being supported by people who believe same sex marriage should not be recognized, that would be one thing (though I'd still have my disagreement with them). But it's being supported by people who believe it will somehow lessen their own marriage. Or lead to gay marriage classes in schools. Or force their church to allow gay sex orgies on the pulpit. Or whatever other nonsense their lie-spewing church leaders have fed them.

Freedom is freedom. Other people's relationships have nothing to do with my own. My marriage to my wife is no more diluted by two men marrying than it is by the countless loveless traditional marriages that end in divorce. It is unseemly that there is even the possibility of writing discrimination into our state constitution.

I can't wait until this election is over, it's not good for my blood pressure.