Sunday Circles

Hi-Ho! Super Speck here, leaping life in a single bound.

So, the regular sleeping and I? Not so much. Something about the lack of sun, and my inevitable sink into a depressive state....makes me crazier than normal this time of year.  All this means that I went to church today on about 90 minutes of sleep.

Turns out 'Exhausted Cathy' = 'Super loose sketching'!!!.  Yay!



She looks like some kind of new Godzilla, with the super-robotic beefy arm at the left and her mega Medusa seaweed hair on the right.

And this?  Something about a crescent moon and half-dying-Tim-Burton-marijuana-plants-that-don't -really-look-like-marijuana and ovary-eggs-nestled-in-a-cross-hatched-world-of-fibrous-vessels.  I'm trying not to think about it too hard:


While stumbling around in a half-awake stupor was greeaaaat for unlocking that scary subconscious drawing monster, my outlook was horrible and I ended up taking a 3 hour nap this afternoon.

After that:  auditions for 'Steel Magnolias'.  My 'nervous while waiting' lobe kicked in and I turned out this tight-sphinctered piece of dreck:


There has to be a balance somewhere. While I want to be all loose and free all the time, sleep must be had. Otherwise I become a public safety hazard and wreak emotional havoc upon my world. I also know that trying to do this every day gets old, wearily old. All of the sketching so far has reminded me that creating daily is not optional for me. A couple of other fun projects have crept onto my work table. When they're fully gestated, I'll share them with you.

The circle format, even with the addition of color, is starting to feel a little stale, especially when I see them lined up on the blog.  But drawing still feels right and I don't believe the format is exhausted yet.  I would like my style to take a more sophisticated turn.  Pen is not as natural for me as pencil.

Practice is in order.

Sunday found me completing three circles, two started during church.


My first scan was accidentally in grayscale, but I like it that way:



Chunkier:

And one drawn during our 'Star Wars' marathon:

Something about the flair of a Jedi's robes during a light saber fight made me want to go here.


Have you been drawing at all?  Leave a link in the comments.  I'd love to see what you're up to.

Here it is, my first post of 2011. I am officially sticking my tongue out at last year and looking toward the horizon.

New Year's Eve was a quiet evening with a few friends. There was 'Settlers of Catan', finger food, and fireworks at midnight. My friend Deanna was here. She's an artist (and high school art teacher). We broke out the Mandalas and markers:


This one's mine. It was going downhill fast but seemed to level off and end in a good place.

Deanna's

Pen and ink happens to be one of her favorite mediums, so it was no surprise that this lovely design evolved under her hand. I am inspired by the way she brought color into it. And that's the signature of a creative mind, don't you think?

My daughter's also been caught up in the spirit:

Lots of color! She's responsible for the first picture too. I'm so proud of her for throwing herself into any project that comes our way.

I took a break after this, my head being full of other details. Real life elbows it's way in line and has a way of taking precedence over personal projects and cyber-life. But here I am anyway, Super-Speck in the face of the universe, determined to keep moving forward.