Illustration in Isolation: Snow Day

Over the years I’ve been amassing quite the collection of art supplies that seldom see the light of day. So much so that they have more than filled a sizable Rubbermaid container which my wife is always trying to hide in a closet, thereby exacerbating the lack of use. Illustration is another pastime of mine that I often revisit when given enough solitude. My creative brain has to have some breathing room before I can tap into its abilities. Well for the last week, Nashville has been covered in snow and I’ve been bound to the house. I can’t remember what sparked the notion, but to cure my boredom I decided to dust off the art bin and see what trouble I could cause.

I’ve done a few quick, down and dirty pieces. They’re more for fun than anything, but I’m quite pleased with the results. While they are rough around the edges, it does make me wonder what might have happened if I really doubled down on my efforts as an artist years ago.

The first piece is a dumbed down version and my take on The Great Wave, a painting by Katsushika Hokusai. I remember first seeing this painting in poster form on the wall of my best friend’s bedroom over 25 years ago. I always loved that the wave had an animal like quality to it, with the white caps reaching out like claws toward the men in the boats below. At some point I will own a print of this painting. I’ll even settle for the department store poster version. Until then here’s my rendition. It’s missing the boats and Mt. Fuji in the background because I was focused on the wave itself and experimenting with the watercolors, a medium I’ve never used before.

The second drawing is modeled after a picture I took on a trip to Colorado a few years ago. I was driving through Loveland Pass on my way to Breckenridge and pulled over at one of the many overlooks to take the image. The sketch was done on gray toned paper with a white colored pencil and graphite. One thing I struggle with is simplifying the details when drawing at such a small scale. It’s hard to not want to add in every tiny tree.

The third drawing is a loose interpretation of the same photo using different tools. I started by just playing around with this gray, watercolor brush pen to rough in the mountains. Then I drew in the trees using a black brush pen. I really like how you can layer the gray ink and take it all the way to black.

I hope to continue carving out time to do little drawings like these. They’re really fun and I like how I can finish them in an hour or less. I’ll continue to post them as the inspiration comes. And lastly here are a few images of from our snowcation. My daughter and nieces have had a blast sledding down our neighborhood hills. Thanks for looking!