Envy

"Make her with her face covered by a mask of fair seeming; show her as wounded in the eye by a palm branch and by an olive-branch, and wounded in the ear by laurel and myrtle, to signify that victory and truth are odious to her[...] Make her heart gnawed by a swelling serpent."
- Leonardo da Vinci on the personification of Envy

Da Vinci had like ten more attributes to her but the mask, branches, and serpent are the ones I recall easiest. Envy is my first muse because genuine jealousy was really what made me want to get better at art. It's hard to be surrounded by artists in both textbooks and studios and not think, "I want that. I want to do that. I am willing to dedicate years of my life to be able to do that." So I picked up a pencil and started.

One Percent

"Just hold the image in your head and-!"

There's a story I really like about a goodhearted young man who is often mistaken for a rich and cultured heir, but he and his family are actually very poor. They often eat plain rice for meals, but to cope with it in a fun way, they imagine what food they would like to eat really hard then take a bite.

I like to think I do the same thing with art. Every adventure I've had, every book I've read, every piece of music that has ever moved me. I keep them close to my heart, right beside all the artists I admire.

So when it's time to draw, I recall all those things, hold them tightly, and then-!


If I can even put out 1% of the feeling stored away, it'll be worth it. So I keep drawing.

A day in the life of Ethan

The day he died, specifically.

Man, I just realized I've never really drawn Ethan happy. Now I feel bad. I'll have to work on that.

Midnight Soup

I've been sick lately so you get a foot:

This is when I'd usually wax philosophical, but due to a mixture of cold remedies and general laziness, the only thought that pops up is,

"Why the hell didn't I sharpen my pencils?"

It looks like someone stepped in some spaghetti. How this situation might've occurred, I don't know. I try not to question it.

Lesson learned: sharpen your pencils or you'll end up with drawings that confuse the hell out of you years later.

Charcoal

This drawing is two years old. It's been two years since I first picked up a stick of charcoal. Accidentally rubbed it on my nose. Gotten it under my nails.

Things may have been different if I hadn't... but regret was never an issue.

I met many wonderful, influential people along the way. Read graffiti on a Pompeian fresco. Stood on a mountain on the other side of the world. Rode an elephant. Learned when to press on. When to stop. Smiled.

I am very grateful.