Llama Fashions

This past weekend I got to spend time with my brother and his family as my niece Caroline, participated in a 4H competition involving Llamas. It was a blast!!, and gave me the opportunity to view and sketch an animal that I never would have considered drawing.

The Llama is a camelid.....which is to say a member of the camel family, which includes camels (no brainer there), alpacas, and dromedaries. The llama is the South American version of the camel as it were. They were used as pack animals by the Incas, you can click on the link and read more about them if you want to.

The Llamas all had fabulous cuts or coiffures as a fashion statement as well as a way to dispence heat. These cuts also made for more fun in drawing since I could come up with my own names for the cuts and differentiate the animals by other means than just colour.

MAN OR BEAST

An illustration based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstien. This is the first of more to follow. I hope you enjoy this image and are like me looking forwards to the next one. Thanks for stopping by and if you are interested in purchasing this drawing please contact me for information on it. This is 14 X 17 pencil on bristol.

All the best to ya'll Tracy

Tracy@tflynnartgallery.com

BOREDOM

Just a qucik thought on one of the best things about being an artist.

I often hear the words " I'm bored", "there's nothing to do", and many similar phrases, and I say to myself...."how can you be bored" but then again I realize not everyone draws or sketches to pass time away as I do.

The images posted here are from two of my little Moleskin Notebooks, the 2 in back are from a 5 X 81/4, for those days when size isn't an issue, and the one in front is my pocket pal a 31/2 X 51/2 for ease of carry and concealment.

I always have something on me or near me to draw with, so for the most part am never bored. It is really an amazing thing the gift of drawing, you will always have something to do. I personally feel that everyone HAS the ability to draw, what comes out might not be a DaVinci or a masterpiece, but it is something that has its own merrits no matter the ability level. I think the thing that keeps others from doing it as a way of passing time is the want to. I always want to draw.....especially during those times when I shouldn't or seemingly have nothing to do. It relaxes me and I enjoy it.

In a world where most people need the aid of electricity to make them happy or keep them from being bored, I feel most grateful to have the ability and the desire to draw or sketch. To make use of my time enjoying the simple things like drawing a lamp post while waiting on a train, drawing the scene of my car window and reflection of the mirror, or trying to capture my daughters face as she competes in a speach meet, and yes making up a frog prince just for the fun of it ( and for her).

So maybe next time you are feeling a little bored or seem to have nothing to do, find some paper and a pencil and sit down and doodle. It doesn't take much, is quite easy and passes the time. Just do it and see what happens.

KULL

KULL
THE ORIGINAL MAN FROM ATLANTIS

Ok....so in the post GOING WITH THE FLOW I said it was going to be sepia toned.......I didn't like it so I went with the black ink, which is sort of following the post of going with the flow.

TRADITIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Although I am a traditional artist, i.e. I do not work digitally, I do at times use the technology available to me to make my life easier and to achieve my goals at times. In saying , here is an example of what I mean.

The images you see in this post are scans of the actual size of a piece I started the other day, and was not happy with the face I had draw. So instead of reworking it a bunch of times on the actual image and ruining the surface of the paper, I scanned the head in actual size. Then I just made a couple of sheets with the multiple head "blanks" on it so that I can work it out that way thus preserving the original piece.

A little extra work, but if you think about the time doing this verses the time of re-drawing a whole image.......well worth the effort.

One other thing done in this is after scanning the image, I flipped it around so that it is a mirror image to the original, that way when I go to transfer the image via tracing paper, all I have to do is go over the lines twice instead of 3 times.

GOING WITH THE FLOW

After waking this morning and as I was enjoying my morning pot of coffee, I sat down at the drawing table and got out a sheet of parchment paper, as I was wanting to do an ink on parchment......actually a sepia toned ink.... just for something different and just the fact that I hadn't done one in long time.

The image on the above is the rough I did for this idea, and yes it is indeed rough. I actually drew it out on a scrap of bristol I keep on the table to wipe excess ink on when I am inking a piece.

After getting the concept down, I pulled out the parchment and as that it is a touchy surface, I got out my old friend the tracing paper and started to roughly sketch out the the piece. Now the more I drew, the more fun I had and the more I enjoyed the process, and ended up with something not quite a rough outline for the inking and something not quite a finished piece either. Yet as I was enjoying this freedom of just drawing and seeing what was coming out, I just sort of went with the flow of the day and the piece.

Now after about an hour or so I have a really nice "rough" and if I wanted a finished piece, but I think this is as far as I want to go on this one for now. I do still have intentions of doing that ink with this, but as I have a more detailed rough now, I will hopefully have an even better ink.

The face and right hand are a bit awkward, but I will be addressing that in the final image.

The ability to recognize when a piece is taking on something more than you intended is a good thing to have......like knowing what to leave in or take out, as well as when to stop. The time to be able to go with the flow is a wonderful thing and getting the chance to go with one is a good thing. In this one I reached a stopping point and said ok.

Will I take this farther, yes, but not on the tracing paper. I will post the ink when it is done, but for now........I am just going with the flow.

Tarzan, The Phantom, Devil and the Griff

Just a recently finished commission. This was a fun piece to do, I loved the concept of having the Phatom and Tarzan meeting a dinosaur, and having just rececently finished re-reading Tarzan the Terrible, putting the Griff ( a Tricerotops like dino ) in the piece seemed natural. It also combined 2 of my favourite elements to draw........Tarzan and Dinosaur(s), so it was a plus.