Saturday Morning Yoga

 Amanda's been making a practice of doing some Yoga on Saturday mornings - and she's actually kept up with it for the last few weeks! 

The nice thing about it is, she sometimes sits still during it! 

Listening to Podcasts

I’m a little late to the game, but holy shit do I ever love the Holy Shit I Have ADHD podcast. So much of Robbie and Jordan’s stories have just been too heartbreakingly familiar and relatable. 

For a little context, I should say I am not what you would call a “regular podcast listener”. I’ve tried a few other podcasts, but never gotten past one or two episodes. 

By comparison, I stumbled across Holy Shit I Have ADHD a week ago and I am over 14 hour-long episodes in. 

So don’t bother me for the next month, I need to get caught up on ALL THE PODCASTS!? 

You can find their podcast here:

https://anchor.fm/holyshitihaveadhd

Critters on Bikes - Tyrannosaurus on a Fat Bike

 Wasn't going to let DINOVEMBER slide on by without drawing ONE dinosaur on a bicycle...

Tyrannosaurus on a Fat Bike - 35cmx28cm (14"x11") - ink on paper

Critters on Bikes - Tim the Turtle Races Cyclocross

 True story - I used to race cyclocross... 

Well... 

It wasn't so much "race" as it was "show up at races and ride around the course being passed by everyone"... 

but, y'know, it was a thing I did... 

Tim the Turtle Races Cylclocross

Critters on Bikes - Kath Redux

 Kath liked the original (done in my sketchbook) so much, she asked if I could do another for her. So I did. 

Kath the Cat Hauls Her Kitties Around in a Babboe City Cargo Bike!

35.5x28cm (14x11) - Ink on Paper

Sketching - Finnegan Watching Art History Lecture

Considering the INSANE amount of drawing I did through October, I feel like I've totally slacked off... dropped the ball... just... haven't been drawing so much...

I HAD planned to continue the two drawing challenges I was working on in October right through this month (and maybe part of December) to fill both the sketchbooks I was working in.  

But that just hasn't happened. 

And I'm feeling like a bit of a lazy slug for it... 

I did do a little doodle last week, though... 

This is a quick sketch of Finnegan I did while he was watching one of his Art History lectures. 

I took the equivalent survey of Art History almost 30 years ago!? Because he watches the lectures at home, I've sat in on a few. This one that Finnegan is taking is SO GOOD. Art History has come a long way. I mean, from the get go - my prof had, with a great deal of certainty, explained the Venus of Willendorf was a fertility symbol... and I remember sitting in class thinking "how do they KNOW that, FOR SURE!?" In this class, the prof flat out said, "WE DON'T KNOW what the WOMAN of Willendorf was for!" and that just set the tone for the entire class. 

The funny things is, I'm pretty sure the prof is a guy I remember seeing around everywhere, all the time, but never actually met. Like, I'm certain I saw him at EVERY show I ever saw at Louis or Amigos. And back in 1993, there was, like, four or five of us that were riding bikes to campus in the winter. When I showed up on campus I could look around and say "oh, there's Neil's bike... and there's Mike's bike... and there's THAT OTHER GUY's bike..." and I'm pretty sure this prof IS that other guy... 

Oh and friends of mine used to play D&D with him...  

Small world, huh...? 

40(+) Days of 40K - Chaplain

 

Chaplain of the Tangermarines Space Marine Chapter. 

40(+) days of 40K - Khorne Berserker

 

Khorne Berserker of the World Eaters Chaos Space Marine Legion. 

40(+) Days of 40K - Primaris Eliminator

Going back and filling in some of the prompts I missed. Day 29 was "Primaris", so I decided to do a Primaris Eliminator.

Primaris Eliminator of the Tangermarines Space Marine Chapter. 

Virtual Studio - Thursday Portrait Challenges

About a year ago, I joined Twitter again... I decided I would only follow artists and game nerds and turn off all retweets, and just not follow or engage with anyone political. It's been a much better experience. 

Not that I'm apolitical... it's... a long story... involving algorithms and mental health and the polarity and divisiveness of politics on the internet today... I just see no point in it on Twitter, because no one, EVER, read a tweet or a meme and said "huh, you know what, I never thought of it that way... I'm going to change my whole worldview..."

I digress... 

Very soon after rejoining, I discovered Virtual Studion (@studioteabreak - on twitter). They post a number of challenges each week; Mythical Mash-up Mondays, Shape Challenges on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a Portrait Challenge on Thursdays. I've participate in most of them at one point or another, but mostly the Thursday Portrait Challenges. 

Each Thursday they post a portrait and invite anyone make their own version, interpreting it in any way or style and share it on twitter. It has been really fun seeing all the different interpretations and styles and media used for these. 

I did a number of them... then got busy with other things and stopped... and am trying to get back to doing them again. 

Here are a few I've done...

This is the most recent - from TODAY - from the Portrait of a Hamal from Moush, painted by Simon Agopyan (1857 - 1921)

This was last week's - from the portrait of Theodora van Duvenvoorde, originally painted in oils on canvas in 1620 by Michiel van Mierevelt - all of my reproductions have been done in ink and/or watercolour in a watercolour sketchbook. 

The rest are going back to August or earlier... 

Old Woman, painted in oils on canvas by Ludovico Carracci in 1590 

I THINK this is the first thursday Portrait Challenge I participated in, back in March! It is based on the self-portrait, painted by Kohno Michisei in 1917 

14 April 2022 - Here is one where I had a little bit more fun with the interpretation... the painted posted was Portrait of a Young Woman with Puck the Dog, originally painted around 1879 by Thérèse Schwartze. When I first looked at it, THIS image of Lucy and Snoopy from Peanuts just popped into my head and I kind of knew I HAD to do it... 

12 May 2022 - From Two Sisters, orignally painted by Cornelis de Vos of Antwerp sometime between 1610−1615 

19 May 2022 - from "Portrait of a Man" (probably politician Robert de Masmines), originally painted in oils on panel by Robert Campin in the 1430s

31 May 2022 - After 'The Umbrella', originally painted in oils on canvas in 1883 by Marie Bashkirtseff

1 June 2022 - from the portrait of Emperor Maximilian I, originally painted by Bernhard Strigel sometime after 1508 

2 June 2022 - from the portrait of Ivan Morozov, originally painted by Valentin Serov in 1910

11 June 2022 - from the Portrait of a Lady in Red, painted in oils on panel by Jacopo Pontormo sometime between 1532–1535 

17 June 2022 - from the self portrait by María Izquierdo, painted in 1946 

23 June 2022 - From the portrait of Saint Rose of Lima, originally painted in oils on canvas by Carlo Dolci, sometime between 1586-1617

30 June 2022 - After ‘A Sudanese Man’, originally painted in oils on panel around 1886 by Rudolf Swoboda

7 July 2022 - From the portrait of Clara Serena Rubens, painted around 1616 in oils on panel by her father, Peter Paul Rubens

14 July 2022 - From the portrait of Margret Halseber of Basel, originally painted in oils on panel by William Key around 1808

22 July 2022 - From Mitsuuji with Mountain Roses, by Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni Ⅲ), mid-to-late 1830s 

29 July 2022 - From the Portrait of Eugenia Primavesi, originally painted in oil on canvas in 1913 by Gustav Klimt

Wow... there were a LOT of these!? Not sure why I never got around to sharing them, here, on the blog before now. I'll try to post them more regularly... 

To see more of the stuff I post on Twitter you can find me here:

twitter.com/timinsaskatoon

40(+) Days of 40K - Servo Skull

 Back to these, for the moment. 

I didn't do any "challenge drawings" the last two days. Kind of took a break. Back at it now, though. 

Servo-Skull

A Servo-Skull is a cybernatic floating drone made of electronics, machinery, anti-gravity field generators... and the skull and brain of a deceased citizen of the Imperium - so they may continue their duty to the Emperor even after their body has passed. 

Blind Contour Drawings

Finnegan's in university now and is taking a Drawing class, so, of course I'm totally interested in what he's doing!? (Also because all of his schooling, to date, has been homeschooling or online schooling, and... certain... neurodevelopmental challenges... I check in regularly to make sure he's understanding what's required of him) 

So far it's mostly been sketching in class and a portfolio of class work was submitted for midterm. The first part of the first major assignment was a Blind Contour drawing.... or at least that's what the descriptions sounded like... look at the subject... keep drawing implement moving across page as eye follows the contours of the subject... Don't worry about proportion... I feel like the written description said not to look at the work while drawing, but I can't remember now. 

He did this first part of the first assignment and I asked if I could see it... and it looked like an architectural drawing!? I said, "I think you misread that assignment, let's have a look at it again". We reread it, and I said, "that sounds like a blind contour drawing", thinking he'd understand those words, feeling CERTAIN that we'd done blind contour drawings at some point!? He had no idea what I meant and I felt like a failure as a homeschooling art dad... 

I suggested he try again... 

I suggested I could try a quick drawing to show him what I thought it meant. 

so this is what I drew. storage boxes and books in Finnegan's room.

I had a lot of fun doing this. It's been a while since I've done one. 

Maybe not THAT long, now that I think about it, I think I did some with Keiran (and maybe Amanda) back in February...? 

Then I helped him get set up with a better board to draw on in the kitchen (the previous drawing had been done on cardboard, and the texture of the cardboard was apparent)

And this is what he ended up with... which I thought was super cool... 

He took it in to class for a critique and the teachers thought it was pretty cool too! 

Feeling a little less of a failure as Art Dad. 

Critters on Bicycles - Cory the Peregrin Falcon

 

Cory the Peregrin Falcon on his old purple Concorde mountain bike. 

Oh, how I coveted that purple mountain bike. 

Now I have my own purple mountain bike (the PURPLE SURLY KARATE MONKEY!). When I look at my own, I think of that old purple Concorde. I think less about how I coveted that bike, however, and more about how I miss riding places with Cory. 

And that is 31 critters on bicycle drawings in 31 days. This is probably the most productive/successful Inktober/October-Drawing-Challenge EVER, for me. Not only did I do a critter on a bicycle each day, MOST days I did one or two ADDITIONAL drawings (mostly for the 40 Days of 40K challenge)!? It was a bit nuts. But it was kind of awesome. 

I’m not done thought. There are 60 pages in the sketchbook I’m doing these in, so, I was going to try and just keep going with a drawing in each every day until the end of November to fill up BOTH books (Critters on Bicycles AND 40+ Days of 40K)… But I think that might be a bit much. I do want to keep this momentum going, however, so I will try to do a drawing in ONE of the sketchbooks each day, which means I would finish up around the end of December. 

Of course, I also have some other things I’ve been wanting to work on… so I’ll be doing that as well… 

Maybe it will be the end of January that I finish both books…? 

It’s only just occurred to me NOW, as I’m finishing the 31st drawing, that what I COULD have done to FILL the sketchbook, in one month, was to use only one side of each page - and on the opposing page written something - about the person and/or critter and/or bike… ugh… Maybe NEXT year I’ll remember to do this! 

Critters on Bicycles - Gerald the Old Grey Squirrel

Gerald the Old Grey Squirrel rocks his Echo trials bike. 

I did another picture of Gerald bake in June... but apparently didn't post it on this blog!? You can see it here on instagram - different bike, tho. Gerald contacted me just a week or so ago with his suggestion. If he hadn't, I was going to do another one of him on his bmx anyway... Just because he's such an inspiring dude! 

 

40 Days of 40K - Noise Marines

 I've been less committed to this challenge the last few days, but I wasn't going to miss doing a NOISE MARINE!!

J'Frer of the Soroibus Tortus Noise Marine band

Another illustration based on a miniature of my own... 

Soroibus Tortus - from left to right; J'Frer, Marcus, D'Snydr, Ajax, and Fingur. They are part of a small detachment of Emperor's Choldren led by Deamon Prince Garfongdong. 

Critters on Bicycles - Susan the Raccoon

 

Susan the Raccoon rides her red Trek mountain bike! 

Critters on Bicycles - Mothra the Ruby Throated Hummingbirb

 

Mothra the Ruby Throated Hummingbirb rides a penny-farthing. 

Honestly, I had no idea I had so many friends that owned or wanted to ride a penny-farthing. This is only the second one I've drawn, but a few of the others that fired off a dozen suggestions (instead of, y'know, reading the instructions) almost universally included a penny-farthing among their list... 

I can't believe this month is almost over, and I've drawn a Critter on a Bicycle EVERY DAY, ALL MONTH!? And, on top of that, almost every day I ALSO drew a picture for the 40 Days of 40K Challenge!? This has definitely been the most productive october-art-challenge-month ever. 

I had planned on continuing doing one every day until I finished the sketchbook - which has 60 pages (30 sheets, two sides). That would have carried me all to nearly the end of November... but I think I'm going to power through to the end of the month and then do a few more (finishing up the suggestions I have so far) and then lay off for a bit and do some other stuff. 

I would like to finish off the sketchbook - filling it with Critters on Bicycles - maybe by the end of the year... but that might be a bit ambitious, if I'm not doing them as regularly. 

We shall see. 

40(+) Days of 40K - sort of...

 I needed to do something different, so I started on this last night. All the drawings for these challenges I've been working on have been in these little 8"x8" watercolur sketchbooks, which are fun... but I don't LOVE working that small.. and I needed to do something different. 

I prepared a handful of watercolour sheets, taping them down to boards a few weeks (months!?) back, so they'd be ready for any moment I felt the urge to use them... 

That urge struck last night while watching RuPaul's Drag Race with Amanda. 

Still 40K inspired, but not really following any of the prompts from the 40 Days of 40K Challenge. I'm not even sure what I was thinking...? Is this a ganger in the underhive? Is it a member of a Rogue Trader's crew preparing for boarding action?! I don't know. Just a dude with a bolter and a chainsword (and his faithful servo skull companion) ready for action. 

Watch the Corners - 28x35.5cm (11x14) - Ink on Paper 

40 Days of 40K - Dreadnought

 Day 27 - Dreadnought

Hey, anybody else remember when Wraithlords were just called "Eldar Dreadnoughts"...? I do.. so that's the Dreadnought you're gettin gfrom me today!

Wraithlord Melynaearian

(Again, based on one of my own minis!)

Critters on Bicycles - Michelle the Ladybug

 

Michelle the ladybug rides and draws.

40 Days of 40K - Grey Knight

 #22 - Grey Knight

Brother Patrick - Grey Knight Purgator with Psilencer.

Based on this miniature from my own small force of Grey Knights. 

40 Days of 40K - Crisis Suit

 #23 - Crisis Suit

Getting a little out of order, as I haven't quite finished #22 - Grey Knights. Perhaps later today. Tomorrow, I might jump ahead to #27 - just so the days match up with the prompt number, and just catch up with 24-26 when I can... 

T'au Crisis Suit.

I was originally going to do a Crisis Suit when the T'au prompt came up a week or so ago, but then looked ahead and realized it showed up as a prompt of its own. 

Critters on Bicycles - Kevin the Frog

 

Kevin the Frog on a Jamis mountain bike.

Kind of rushed on this one and smudged things... 

Critters on Bicycles - Katherine the Cat

 Another bicycle that was so big, it needed a two page spread! 

Katherine the Cat hauls her kitties around in a Babboe City cargo bike!

Katherine

Kitties

40 Days of 40K - Terminator

 

The prompt was just "Terminator", so I chose to do a CHAOS Terminator of the Emperor's Children chapter. 

I forgot to add a few more spikes... 

49 Days of 40K - Kroot

This would be half way... but there are 50 pages in the sketchbook I've been doing them in, so... I've added 10 more to my list. You can see the full list in the pages, here:

40 Days of 40K Challenge 

For today, though... 

Kroot! Xenos Mercenaries often found in the employ of the T'au.