Art

Art-related content

Language Transfer: Learn Languages Efficiently

If you’re looking to learn a language, I highly recommend you check out Language Transfer.

Having used Language Transfer personally I loved it so much I decided to make some promotional artwork for them (read more of my experience below). If you’ve benefited from Language Transfer and want to tell others about it, feel free to share, print, download, or otherwise use the following high-resolution artwork to spread the word about Language Transfer.

Artwork

Learning Spanish

I have long wanted to learn other languages and I finally took action to learn some Spanish. As I searched for learning resources I discovered an exceptional course in this video, Language Transfer; it is a platform of free, high-quality audio courses that take you by the hand and teach you to think in and speak new languages.

I have finished the Complete Spanish course and can highly recommend it to anyone serious about learning to speak Spanish. Currently the languages taught are French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, and, of course, Spanish; there’s also a course about Music.

Listening is a separate skill for which I can recommend 123 Teach Me (for learning Spanish); they have many audio resources with full transcripts with which to practice your listening comprehension.

Mihalis the founder of Language Transfer is currently working to teach others to use The Thinking Method he employs for his language courses to teach other subjects intuitively.

I am not affiliated with or sponsored by Language Transfer. This art was created on a volunteer basis.

Promptathon Day 2: Fishlev

Drawabox’s 2022 Winter Promptathon! This is the 2nd of 7 days of drawing prompts.

The prompt for day 2 is The Great Space Bakeoff. You can see the full prompt on the prompt page. Below is my creation for this day’s prompt.

Fishlev

Show Host: We now present the dish Fishlev by contestant number 502,202,310. 310, do you have anything to share with the audience about these floating fish?
310: Well, I guess all I have to say is . . . get it while it’s caught 😉

Fishlev by Nathan Parkinson, Ink & Digital, Feb 2023

Promptathon Day 1: Here, Kitty Kitty

It was rather delayed, but I’m still excited to draw along with Drawabox’s 2022 Winter Promptathon! This is the 1st of 7 days of drawing prompts.

The prompt for day 1 is Hidden Amongst Us. You can see the full prompt on the prompt page. Below is my creation for this day’s prompt.

Here, Kitty Kitty

Ah! Christmas again. Snow graces the roof tops, decorations cheer the living room, and the yule fire singes the president brat – I mean the resident cat.

Here, Kitty Kitty by Nathan Parkinson, Ink & Crayon, Feb 2023

2022 Sketchbook Highlights

2022 was a great year of exploring and learning. I present a buffet of visual interest (mostly) from the pages of my sketchbooks. Bon appétit!

“You don’t know what cannot be done.” – Gregg Toland

Self-portrait, Graphite, November 2022

Drawabox Exercises

Assorted Pieces

A Few More

Creature Exploration, Crayon, August 2022
Queen of Joy and Sorrow, Graphite, February 2022
Exploratory Self-portrait, Ink, August 2022
Thanks for stopping by!

Followed by a Leaf Is Published!

My labour of love, Followed by a Leaf, is finally published and in book form; it is the first title released by Parkinson Publishing. The book is ideal for children ages 4-9, but ages 1-12 may also enjoy the colourful pictures and playful story.

Availability

The book is currently selling for $11 CAD and is only available locally within a small part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Ontario, Canada, for now (shipping is not available due to the high cost). Availability is quite limited; so if you’re interested, please let me know ASAP and we can work out the details. I will handle orders on a first-come-first-serve basis; once they’re gone I may begin taking orders for another print run, but I don’t know how soon that might be.

Since printing in August I have been fulfilling pre-orders, but now that those are finalized I have opened up orders to the rest of world . . . or at least to those in my small corner.

I’ll try to update the following section of the blog post to reflect the ongoing status of my inventory:

Status: In Stock

Details

The binding is saddle-stitch (triple-stapled); the book is 8×7 inches (landscape) and has high-quality, full-page colour images. There are 28 pages total (not including the cover).

Photos

The Singing Whale

While visiting your loving, elderly grandparent, they give you an item very dear to them: a small, beautifully-crafted whistle on a chain which they received as a child from a mysterious, but kind, lady in their village. When wet, the whistle calls the nearest whales. In their more-active days as a marine wildlife expert, your grandparent used this whistle to call and tame the beasts of the sea; now they bestow this treasure into your hands for safe-keeping and prudent use.

The Singing Whale by Nathan Parkinson, Brushpen & Prismacolor, April 2022

Standing on the shore of the ocean you gaze at the whistle. When dry, the whistle sounds only of rushing air; when wet, but on land, the whistle sounds of rushing water; but when the whistle is wet and you’re in the water, the whistle sings an ancient and beautiful melody, though seemingly blowing a single tone.

Drawing Prompt: Taming the Sea

I’ve participated in a couple drawing promptathons myself now and have had a great time. Drawing prompts are a great opportunity to grow in your creativity and productivity. Now, I present my own drawing prompt for anyone interested.

Design a whale/water-based whistle that one could use to tame some creature(s) of the sea. The focus here would be on the appearance of the whistle. You can also base your whistle on an oceanic element other than a whale.

I’d love to see what you come up with; so please do leave a comment with a link to your artwork if you’d like to share it.