Endangered Species

I'm exploring the idea of making a triptych of posters featuring three endangered species. Here are some of the drawings I did to familiarize myself with the animals. 

Trees

1960's Living Room

I had a lot of fun playing with the light and color in this illustration, especially when it came to playing the line work off the fill colors.

I wanted the props and decor to very clearly denote the time period, in all its quirkiness, while also giving some insight into the lives and story of the room's regular inhabitants.

Rambler

Tree

The Old Birch and the Young Maple

 I found these two trees at the Washington Park Arboretum. The birch was old, worn, scarred, gnarled, and awesome, complete with big black bird. The young Japanese maple was supple, light, airy and delicate. Whoever thinks trees don't have personalities isn't really looking.

Perspective Drawings

Pen & Ink Costume Portrait

One of my cosplayer friends was gracious enough to pose for me. 

Some Fun

Look, I'm a walrus!

Fear & Sadness

Fear 17" x 9 1/2"

These from-life self-portraits were meant to depict the specific emotions of fear and tragedy. Fear went fairly well, but I just couldn't get a handle on tragedy. My drawing only expressed sadness. 

Later it dawned on me: I had failed to sufficiently define and understand my terms. Tragedy is a concept that can only apply to circumstances or situations. An event within a narrative can be tragic, or the whole narrative can be tragic. One can have an emotional reaction (like sadness or catharsis) to tragic event, or feel emotions (like self-pity, despair, or anger) about falling victim to tragic circumstances, but tragedy itself is not an emotion. It is a characteristic of a narrative. Without a story, there can be no tragedy.

So without a narrative, my drawing was doomed to fall short of "tragedy" and became "sadness" instead. So there it is. Enjoy.

Sadness 17" x 11"

Ian's Feet

Anatomy of the Hand

Stylized Self-Portrait

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy this tasty mixed-media cheesecake.

Old Main

This is a top-floor room in Old Main, a building on the Macalester College Campus in St. Paul, MN.

Corkscrew

Winged Lion Plant Stand

I found this white lion plant stand at an antique shop and thought it would make a good subject for a value drawing. He's more interesting than geometric primitives, that's for sure.