She is really starting to take shape now as you can see, looking good without needing the sketch to define areas. If you have noticed, I have skipped over two other works in progress, the Nautilus Shell and the Sea Urchin. I get like this at times when I am run down. Sometimes, I need a project with a little more life in it. I love aspects of the other projects but they were too bland color wise with the urchin being monochrome and the shell a simple color scheme. So I decided to begin Sarah and as you can see, I am glad I did.
Try saying that fast. Anyway, here is the progress I have made and you can see that I changed the background color. It took a few tries to find a color dark enough to set off here colors while being light enough to see the lines of the drawing for the fins.
Just remember everyone, the only thing Republicans can offer as a solution for all the gun violence in America is thoughts and prayers. So, if you find yourself in an active shooter situation, face the gunman and pray the death away. Pray it away like you would your gay neighbor. You could also see if thinking about stopping the bullet works. Let me know how that turns out.
Addendum:
In case you think I believe the Democrats are any better, their solution is to put on a good show then run away and hide. I haven’t forgotten their little sit in on the Senate floor that ended as soon as the donor, I mean the NRA, er I mean… you get the picture, got mad. This is why our country is a mess and we have soooooo many mass murders. Both sides are in the back pocket of all the big money special interests that care more about profit than your life.
The problems America face today are not the fault of Mexican’s taking our jobs, spoiled millennials, or Islamic terrorists. They are own fault. They are a result of the lies we have institutionalized and the delusions we have greedily embraced. Our pride and ego has blinded us to the fact that we have become the very enemy we fought against in WWII. Unlike our forefathers; however, we will not be deemed the greatest generation but, instead, the worst.
Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. There has not been any progress to report about the on going project because work and life in general has been kicking my fanny. I am really tired and my one foot is seriously been hurting from being on it all day. I don’t like myself when I get this run down because I start eating too much out of boredom and looking for the energy to combat sleepiness. I also get very irritable, which makes working on paintings difficult. However, I just had some days off from work and decided to begin painting Sarah Seadragon.
I jumped away from the Nautilus shell because I needed more color to spark my interest and the Urchin was too monochrome to push on with at this time. I plan to get back to them, but for now, Sarah takes center stage, appropriate since she is the lead character. I love how there are subtle suggestions of color everywhere. Her fins have touches of orange and green in them, while here body transitions from dark blue/black to yellow and back again, with hints of orange too. I also like how the darker areas feel like they are painted over the yellow, which is why I when for that as the base color. This looks even better on a dark background but then I cannot see the drawing for reference. I will switch it later.
In addition, I am hoping to spend some time developing the above Moray Eel based dragon into a paintable image. I had doodled this some time ago trying to come up with a unique idea for a dragon. I have been trying to come up with a dragon design of my own for several decades now without much success. For some reason, I seem to have a mental block when it comes to creating my own beastie. I have been a fan of Michael Whelan’s and M. Pena’s dragons for most of my life and put a lot of pressure upon myself to come up with a fantastic image. We’ll see.
I shared this amazing artist’s video with several friends on Facebook but it did not stop there. My mind exploded with ideas of ways to take my artwork and achieve the same effect, which fits well with the layer method I use in computer works. So long time followers and newbies, I have plans rattling around my melon that will hopefully bear fruit. This is a long term project that will require thought, experimentation, and passion. I will have to try it on a smaller scale then see if I can push the limits with larger sizes. So, patience and a lot of support from you guys would be much appreciated.
The more history I watch, the more and more I understand why religions associated with Western culture have failed the world, chiefly Catholism, but also Christianity as a whole because of shared origins.
I am not talking about the worship of God or Christ per se, but the organizations/institutions that have become associated as such. Much of Catholism is covered in the blood shed by followers over the centuries, crusades, inquisitions, and wars. All activities against God’s commandments and Christ’s teaching.
Add to this a belief that their religion was not strong enough to establish their own holidays or structures, which caused them to co-op pagan holidays and change the role of women in the church. They even created religious doctrine to support industries, look deeper into the history of Lent and fish Fridays.
If you step back and look at Christian history outside of the Church narrative, you will see human choices taking precedence over divine origin. Thus, child molesting priests, gambling nuns, and cover-ups are not surprising at all. What is truly surprising is the zealotry of the church membership in defending what, in any other setting, would be indefensible. One other place you see such zealotry is inside of cults. I think this is something the world needs to look at and face.
Finally, don’t fall into the belief that I am singling out only Western embraced religions. I only talk about them more because of fimilarity. My guess is that every human religion is rife with such human fingerprints and need to be viewed as such. Unfortunately, too many people find it easier to let others direct their beliefs; questioning is hard.
