new favorites!

suede 35

above and below (pages 35 and 36) are 2 of my new favorites. i'm liking using straight lines with imperfect and unbalanced forms, it feels strong...and who doesn't adore pomegranates? truly one of the prettiest and most delicious fruits in existence...

this mandala is my fave because i went askew and used colors asymmetrically. i think it makes the whole thing move just a little, it has an energy. it's off in a few places, but that's because it's human...lol...have i said i love mandalas? ♥

 

suede 36

 

my second sale! :D

my second sale - to a new collector! thank you, rowan, for buying my drawings! this lady is a lover of things on the darker side, and i am so glad to have shared some of my most organic pages with her. it has actually inspired me to go a bit deeper and to maybe draw some less pretty things....i am so afraid to show that side of me, so i mostly stay colorful and positive in my work. i have tried to begin drawings with more a more sinister feel, but would rather do that aside from my journal, so no one can see it.....

*warning: art therapy speech coming on*
on the upside of that, i can't remember how to visually represent my dark side. it's been years since i've drawn raw emotion. my art as therapy has become mainly a means to control what lines come out, a way to channel my scattered thought processes. when i used to draw raw, i didn't like what i made. it was childish and some of it was just disturbing. now i LIKE what i draw, and feel good after i put my journal down, so i will stay with that for now....and maybe explore the dark stuff on some scrap paper :) 
funny, as many years as i have been doing my own therapy through art, i am still learning how to use it to my best advantage....

sci-fi ♥

suede 29 and 31

so, i have an obsession with Doctor Who and all things science fiction....especially vintage sci-fi movies with aliens, martians, space, rockets and other worlds....

i was recently turned on to War of the Worlds by H.G.Wells and it's become my favorite book. i no longer have the patience required to read, so my friend and i listened to the audio version together, which was so well read i couldn't draw while i listened. i have been introduced to a whole new world! i plan to listen to a lot more as i draw, it fills my head with new things and challenges me to sort input and output. thank you, steve. ;)

drawing 31, below,  reminds me of Journey to the Center of the Earth. :)

new journal pages....

suede 26

nature has such a nurturing feel, organic lines that surround each other....

                                                                      

                  suede 27

to find patterns that don't really repeat is my biggest challenge doing this kind of drawing. once again, organic order....everything living has organic order, from amoebas to galaxies. like matryoshkas.....nesting one inside the next....

suede 28 and 25

exposed

my good days are more a matter of how few of my hours are spent in sadness or obsessive thought patterns. i feel very content in my corner of the couch, with my markers and ice water....TV on with some documentary or reality show that i'm currently addicted to....

sometimes content means only that nothing is irritating me (like voices that sound extra loud or a noise outside, maybe an idling car).

this drawing is a favorite of mine. i have been working on combining and layering strict patterns with organic lines. after i looked at it, i realized it's a self-portrait in a way. it's me in a happy, centered mood, as i draw my pebbles (peace from nature). underneath are a few layers of less controlled pattern and underneath that are exposed raw nerves. a fragile balance, to say the least.

suede page 17

reality

suede 23

mandalas have a sort of rule: 

you start in the middle and go around, adding, and making it grow - that satifies and centers me. it gives me the freedom to make the same details over and over and around, leaving me to just come up with colors and a way to finish it off. it's like following the lines of a street. i stick to the edge, working one layer at a time. it gives me a way to channel my obsessive need to control. i like to make off-center mandalas like this, to allow a peak at the surrounding atmospheres....

suede 22 and 20

paisleys give me very small areas to fill. boundaries are all important in my drawings: outlines and limits. i believe this need is a fight against my brain trying to control me. i turn on it and try to show i'm stronger. :)

suede 18

i have loved sugar skulls since the first time i saw them, and think that drawing them has even made me fear death a little less. (well, that and my newfound freedom from religion, which partially came about as a rebirth of my love and adoration for science). funny thing, though, i thought i would be more grounded in reality...turns out my mind doesn't play well with reality....