Day 1 - Bug-a-Day Challenge

For 2016 I've decided to take a page out of Noah Scalin's book and create something everyday for a year. I want to challenge myself to draw or create an insect everyday to help sharpen my skills as an artist and as a bug nerd. Most will be drawings, probably ACEOs (I tell myself now), but I won't restrict myself to just drawings. Also, I think I can count some of my other projects as having fulfilled the bug-a-day obligation I'm placing on myself (e.g. the mantispid book I'm working on), it should count! I'll post them here to help hold myself accountable, but realize posting everyday, even though I intend to complete projects everyday, is probably unrealistic. I'll post as often as I can. Just setting my ground rules and loopholes now, in the beginning :)

I rang in the New Year feeling ill again, but managed this pencil sketch yesterday:

It's a lacewing larva with an aphid.

Such good little creatures.

I have plans for this drawing, cheesy plans. It will show up in my shop soon.

*****

Speaking of the ground rules, I meant to post this yesterday...

so here's to procrastination in the new year!

Hurrah!

[January 1, 2016]

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Day 82 (Day 5 CS) - Collection

"What do you collect? Work with a collection of your own or borrow one." Pure Admiration It's funny, I only recently acknowledged to myself that yes, I do collect something: literature and art books from Heian-era Japan (794-1185), and here is a prompt for that. I just acquired the Choju Giga art book seen in the background (hooray!) which inspired me to recycle two projects from October 2015's CreativeSprint and use them in a different context. The mantispid was made on CS 2015 Day 1 and the painting is a miniature print-out of a mock Choju Giga drawing I did on CS 2015 Day 8 . The easel and paintbrush are made of kraft cardstock. [April 6, 2016]

Day 8 - Master Works

Day 8 Recreate or interpret a work of art you admire. This is based on a famous panel of the Choju Giga scroll (Animal Caricatures or Scrolls of Frolicking Animals) which was created sometime in the late 12th century in Japan. Similar to the original's ink on paper, mine was rendered in India ink and red acrylic ink on Bristol paper. I've replaced the rabbit with a click beetle trying to right itself, and the frogs were replaced with mantids (feeling ill today and my hand started cramping after I drew the beetle. The mantids aren't as well done as I would like. I may redo this sometime because I think it came out cute otherwise). The top "seal" in red says sumimasen , which is Japanese for excuse me! and the lower one is my name in Japanese. This was fun to make, but sketching with a brush is a lot harder than it looks, and no erasing! The Choju Giga artist was truly a master, I very much admire the brush work in the original. Here is the o...

A Quick Survey of my Backyard

Between the twin trunks of this large oak is the most perfect spot to sit, enjoy nature, and clear my mind Really, it's my LL's backyard and I am lucky to have access to such a place. The property is bordered by a river, so it is pretty much all wetland - you can see the high water line on the trees in the above photo (let your eyes wander out of focus a bit). The water is very high right now after a soggy cold front stalled right over central Florida earlier this week. The area in the photo above (which was taken last weekend) is now under about two feet of water. The water is flowing - it is part of the river. The following photos are all from the "yard" taken within the last week or so including some of its inhabitants. Short boardwalk/bridge (after a storm) Cypress knees and duckweed Greenfly orchid ( Epidendrum magnoliae ) is a native epiphytic orchid and the only one to also occur north of Florida. Everything I've read (includi...

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