Life drawing.

I do miss Wednesday's life drawing sessions.

Holiday characters

A less wordy post. 

Morocco

Last spring I went to Morocco for a week. To say the least, the experience was something I can't really express to someone who wasn't there nor can I forget it. It summoned some kind of adventurer in me and I haven't been able to think of much other than traveling ever since. 

I don't know how to vividly explain the incredible welcome we got when we spend the night in the family owned hotel, at the very edge of a cliff. Below it a dense Oasis with the famous todra gorge right in the centre.

Or the moment I first saw the night sky in this town, which had almost no lights and was covered in blackness at night. And when we finally reached the desert, riding the most amazing creatures, sand surfing and catching desert salamanders, not only did we have the full campfire and marshmallow experience, but we got our own personal concert and indulged in the crazy trip that was the "camel dance", led by the equally insane, self proclaimed Desert Hendrix. As if this wasn't enough, since we were only there for one night there was absolutely no way we were going to stay put in our tents. 

We dragged our mattresses outside to sleep under the company of a night sky so crowded with stars, you could actually see the slow rotation of our planet as the stars disappeared into the horizon right before our eyes. It was enough to momentarily make us forget the intense cold of the nighttime desert. Despite having a patchy sleep on the day long drive and knowing the same thing awaited us on the way back to the riad, we still got up before sunrise to see the sun light up the sand. 

All this merely describing half the trip and the experiences.

And I have to add that in a group of 8 people, you would expect a lot of drama but the only thing we got was in the form of amazing stories and memories. The trip wouldn't be half what it was without such an amazing group of friends. (I hope they don't read this as it's a bit too sentimental xD...) 

I wish I knew how to do true justice to this experience with my art, but for now at least this will have to do.

Stars

It's really hard trying to get this blog to catchup with all the things I've done this year, it feels a little messy and overwhelming. But then, maybe I'm just being dramatic.

This is from a project I did about Buddhism. As a philosophy I find it endlessly interesting, and I tried to steer my work that way. But I was ultimately drawn to the magical, fantastical aspects of it. 

Most interesting to me were the formless who have no physical body only exist as a mind. I read a passage during my research in which the way they were described made me think that they may in fact be the stars. There's something interesting in the idea that the stars are a mass of consciousness, completely oblivious to the world around them and role they play in the universe, yet on a level of happiness that we cannot begin to imagine. That's probably what I will explore more in the future of this project. 

Stress busters

I decided to turn this little guy into my very first business card. The belly holds my details and his back is illustrated too. The proper photo is going to be posted soon continuing my blog posting spree. 

As the title suggests, these were done in-between projects as a means to curing my stress. I was also watching odyssey 5 which is where the reference came from for the first one. 

Emu

Oh emu, you wonderful creature! I spend months working on this project, becoming somewhat obsessed with emus. When I finally met them at the zoo they were more amazing than I could have imagined. Such quirky creatures!

Anyway, these are development drawings of the aboriginal version of how the Sun was created. Supposedly, the emus eggs are to thank for our life giver! 

(I' m probably starting to sound a little insane right about now. heh) 

Completed book coming soon. 

PetCard

A while ago my friend got a stall at our schools market and I sold a couple of these guys. They started off as simple stress crunchers, though now I'll probably take this style further somehow... I have story in  progress for the green dude, updates on him coming soon!