"Evening Moon"

"Evening Moon"

2024

Found a picture on here with a nice mix of warm and cool color tones, and felt inspired to draw it.

"Massive"

2023

Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Fun-loving Humpback whale. I had the great privilege and joy of seeing these animals in the wild almost a year ago, though unfortunately there was no jumping. 

"Motaz"

2024

My first artwork of the year is dedicated to the incredible Motaz Azaiza and to all the heroic Palestinian journalists of the Gaza Strip: to those who, like him, continue to report bravely, steadfastly, the horrific situation in their homeland; to those who have made the difficult but also brave decision to leave for safety; and to the all too many who have been unjustly killed in their line of work, murdered by the Israeli State in a cowardly attempt to cover up their crimes.

An unfair burden has been put in the shoulders of these journalists, a lot of whom are shockingly young and just fresh out of university. Not only do they have to struggle to survive during a veritable genocide of their people, but they have to do so whilst reporting on it, whilst serving as spokespersons of all the suffering and grief inflicted on themselves and their kin. Multinational media conglomerates with overwhelmingly more power and resources have consistently and actively refused to treat the Palestinian people with the transparency, truth, and dignity that they deserve. So it's been up to these brave men and women to do the job that others will not do, to arm themselves with their own cameras and their social media pages and their unparalleled courage to tell their own stories and their own realities, to use languages foreign to them so that the world might better understand and sympathize with their plight. I cannot overstate what an enormous, heroic effort that must be, and I am in complete awe and admiration of them; but I also feel sorry and ashamed that these folks, many with their whole lives in front of them, have so unjustly, so cruelly, been thrust into this position. Yet through it all they have never failed to carry themselves with the passion, the dignity, the strength, and the zest for life that I've come to learn so characterizes the Palestinian people, and for that one can't help but admire them even more.

"Spring Workout"

2024

A bit beefier dude than what I normally draw.

I'm in a bit of an art block lately, so I'm glad this came out as well as it did.

Referenced from local12156 on Flickr.

"Smile"

2024

Gelada (Theropithecus gelada)

Geladas are among my favorite monkeys, but all that fur sure is a pain to draw.

"The Grey Havens"

2023

... the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

-"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", by J.R.R. Tolkien

My tribute to the Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy ends, fittingly, at the shores of the sea. The Grey Havens scene has become the epitome of bittersweet endings everywhere; it's breathtakingly sad, but also wholesome, tender, and comforting in its sadness. And it is elevated by one of the most beautiful yet underrated musical themes in the films, which is also melancholic but carrying within it a powerful sentiment of hope. And I don't know how, but Howard Shore made this tune sound like the sea, if that makes any sense.

This scene also notably contains one of my very favorite LotR quotes ever, uttered by none other than Gandalf himself: "I will not say 'do not weep', for not all tears are an evil."