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.

Israel’s Idolatry by Nathan Parkinson, Digital, Aug 2023

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.

Piper Pass by Greg Simkins

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.

As a Thief

As a Thief by Nathan Parkinson, Graphite & Digital, May 2023

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 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: 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.

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.

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.

Carl’s Cryo Cream by Nathan Parkinson, Ballpoint, June 2022

For Drawabox’s 2022 Summer PromptathonDay 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 . . .

Friendly Fire by Nathan Parkinson, Prismacolor, June 2022

For Drawabox’s 2022 Summer PromptathonDay 6: Family Life

Promptathon Day 5: Fleeing Iron Mouse

Drawabox’s 2022 Summer Promptathon is here! This is the 5th of 7 days of drawing prompts.

The prompt for day 5 is Lost in the Multiverse. You can see the full prompt on the prompt page. Below is my submission for this day’s prompt.

Fleeing Iron Mouse

[exploding vases / utter chaos]
Run, Tom! Run! Iron Mouse is hot on your tail!

Fleeing Iron Mouse by Nathan Parkinson, Ink, June 2022

For Drawabox’s 2022 Summer PromptathonDay 5: Lost in the Multiverse

Promptathon Day 1: Faucet Falcon

Drawabox’s 2022 Summer Promptathon is here! This is the 1st of 7 days of drawing prompts.

The prompt for day 1 is Bathroom Spacecraft. You can see the full prompt on the prompt page. Below is my submission for this day’s prompt.

Faucet Falcon

Captain Weldon: Prepare for intergalactic departure!
First Mate: The energy faucet is at full power, Sir.
Captain Weldon: To the stars . . .

Faucet Falcon by Nathan Parkinson, Brushpen & Prismacolor, June 2022

For Drawabox’s 2022 Summer PromptathonDay 1: Bathroom Spacecraft