New Self-portrait
One can cover much ground in four years. Choose a direction and get going.
“The grass isn’t greener on the other side; it’s greener where you water it.” – Sam Ovens
New
Old
Art
Art-related content
Daniel 1: Israel’s Idolatry
This is the first of five illustrations for the book of Daniel chapter 1 from the Bible.
See the complete collection: Faith in Captivity.
God’s people turned from Him and worshipped idols made from wood and stone, iron and bronze, silver and gold. They worshipped things created instead of the Creator.
Greg “Craola” Simkins’ Artistic Process
The quality of Greg Simkins’ work makes me want to be more diligent (i.e. get focused on making more art and waste less time browsing reference or doing lower-priority things).
“Innovation is saying ‘No’ to 1,000 things.” – Steve Jobs
I aspire to create as freely as Greg does. Watching him paint in video form is awe-inspiring. I found the following conversation on YouTube of him with a couple other artists; he goes into some exciting detail about his creative process.
I especially enjoyed the second half of the first hour of this video.
I’d love to show some of his pieces here, but he asks people not to reproduce his work without permission; so while I wait to hear back from him, go check out his website and YouTube channel for more golden art and advice.
Edit: I got permission to feature some of Craola’s art! Thank you to Greg’s team.
Edit: Jan 27, 2025
Tim Mcburnie’s Strategy For Learning To Draw
Learning to draw is an endless journey. I’m always looking to improve my approach and mindset regarding how to learn and produce most efficiently. Tim Mcburnie’s advice on the subject resonated with me. I love the quality of his art.
What I took away
- Your need for the art fundamentals depends on what art you want to make. Many current pros just drew a lot without focusing on fundamentals.
- Follow an applied fundamentals approach: decide what art you want to make and spend most of your time making it while building your foundational knowledge and skills to support that.
- Apply foundational concepts ASAP! Doing endless studies and exercises just helps you get good at exercises. What’s most important is to understand how to integrate/apply the knowledge gained from an exercise or study into your workflow, how you can actually use it to help make art.
- Exercises are largely an academic approach; once you understand the techniques/ideas, you can skip doing exercises and apply them directly to your work.
Did I mention I love the quality of his art? 😉
Please do check out his website and YouTube channel.
Stranger Planet
Nathan Pyle’s Stranger Planet series of books is simple, clever, delightful, and hilarious.
Pyle’s humour rarely ceases to deliver a laugh. To see more visit this page and Nathan Pyle’s website.
As a Thief
Wicked people may seem to prosper without consequence, but God cannot be unjust. Every thief will be rewarded as a thief.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Paul, Galatians 6:7
We are all guilty before God, but He made a way of deliverance. Will you receive His forgiveness?
Language Transfer: Learn Languages Efficiently
If you’re looking to learn a language, I highly recommend you check out Language Transfer. The learning material is fantastic, but unfortunately, I cannot endorse its creator on a personal or philosophical level.
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. Visit the following link to see the many methods and resources I have been using for Learning Spanish.
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 4: Ascending the Tower
Drawabox’s 2022 Winter Promptathon! This is the 4th of 7 days of drawing prompts.
The prompt for day 4 is The Goblin Snow Games, but I didn’t let the goblins play. You can see the full prompt on the prompt page. Below is my creation for this day’s prompt.
Ascending the Tower
Promptathon Day 3: The Pest Buster
Drawabox’s 2022 Winter Promptathon! This is the 3nd of 7 days of drawing prompts.
The prompt for day 3 is Hamelin at War. You can see the full prompt on the prompt page. Below is my creation for this day’s prompt.
The Pest Buster
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 😉
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.
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
Drawabox Exercises
Assorted Pieces
A Few More
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: Out of 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.
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.
Promptathon Day 7: Carl’s Cryo Cream
Drawabox’s 2022 Summer Promptathon has come and gone! This is the 7th of 7 days of drawing prompts.
The prompt for day 7 is Fantasy Ice Cream Cart. You can see the full prompt on the prompt page. Below is my submission for this day’s prompt.
Carl’s Cryo Cream
As you leave the ring toss pavilion feeling regretful, you are cheered by the call of a wandering vendor: “Get your ice-cold cryo cream! Carl does it best!” The refrain is repeated often as a tinny-sounding music box sings playful tunes among the crowds.
For Drawabox’s 2022 Summer Promptathon — Day 7: Fantasy Ice Cream Cart
Promptathon Day 6: Friendly Fire
Drawabox’s 2022 Summer Promptathon is here! This is the 6th of 7 days of drawing prompts.
The prompt for day 6 is Family Life. You can see the full prompt on the prompt page. Below is my submission for this day’s prompt.
Friendly Fire
Tony: Let’s turn up the heat on this stirfry! Yeah!
Extinguisher Bot: Nope . . .
