Sketchy Thoughts | July 22, 2026

July 29, 2026

Cityscape edges, space tortoises, and the giraffe that set my hand on fire. This week's sketchbook covers July 15–21 in full. Pulling inspiration from a 1961 cartoon, committing to stippling through the pain, and a Saturday morning cartoons household tradition.

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Sketchy Thoughts | July 22, 2026
Documenting the week of July 15-21

A part of me struggles with documenting this stuff. Another part struggles with sharing it. I have never considered myself a photographer. Nor have I found myself comfortable with the promotional aspects in our social media world. The term author has never found its way into my lexicon, though I have completed written works.

Communicating is not a brick wall but is certainly something reserved in my world.

Typing this is also a reminder that I do not claim to be an artist. My preferred self reference is simply as a creative. My mind dwells in the swirling sounds of music, the hypnotic rhythms of visual art and the written word as an expression of something translated internally.

This would be a great place for a catching introduction hook but I can’t seem to make it happen. In place of the bells and whistles that might pique your interest, I am going to refrain from the lengthy intro and simply say thank you for spending your time with me. Let’s get started!

“Communicating is not a brick wall but is certainly something reserved in my world.”

Daily Art | July 15-21

When last we spoke, I had begun working on the cityscape in the lower area of this piece. Let’s dig deeper into that.

Admittedly, there was an element of wanting to focus on something that made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Working on elements like this, that give more distance, is something I’ve been leaning towards also. At least when the option makes sense, which happens more often these days.

Adding the edges of the page with the cliffs is something I’ve kind of developed over a period of time. Something natural from my starting point that still feels good to work on and provides an element of welcomed interest to most pieces they are incorporated into. In this work it helped to bring more distance to both sides of the page.

Overall, I’m happy with this piece and it is drastically different than the place that I started, which was in a little bit of limbo, without direction and simply, “Start making some lines on the page”.

Time for sketch and catch! This pup has been bugging me about going outside all day. Glad that we were able to get out here and toss the toys around. In the meantime, we worked on some space rocks that seemed to be in motion. Depth and action! Plus, look at how happy this dog is.

Note: I ended up sharing my seat.

The perspective turned out really solid on these. It’s not what I had expected to work on in the first stages, but the motion really feels solid. Almost makes me think of a superhero comic panel.

Going back to work on the space tortoise was questionable. We could have walked away happy but decided to push for more in the background. It was decided to fill in some more of the background with space, creating a bit of a spacey void.

My original idea was to create a visual separation between the bottom city and the top. Go extremely dark in the skyline. For whatever reason I took this route and I’m happy I did. A really fun piece.

Space theme have been present for quite a while now. The turtle overlord in the previous work plus many before that.

Woke up Saturday morning, had some coffee and put on some classic cartoons. Yep! Saturday morning cartoons are still a welcomed tradition in my home.

I had not seen Nelly’s Folly in many years. It is about a singing giraffe and her adventure into the limelight. Watching it as an adult, it must have been so fun to be an artist working on this one. The storyline occasionally drops in a type of humor that may fly under the radar for most and the art and color palettes are great.

Giraffes should be fun, right?

Inspired by the cartoon, we set out on our own safari, of sorts. A quest to work on my very own giraffe. I had never considered the amount of stippling that lay ahead of me. This was the beginning of what became a lengthy and painstaking process.

Still stippling. My hand is killing me and it feels like it is never going to end. At points, I questioned myself for having started such. Could I switch to hatching? Decided to stay committed and continue onward. It’s what Nelly would have wanted.

Dots, dots and more dots. Oh my gosh, my hand is absolutely on fire! Stay committed, Stay focused. It takes forever, but the payoff is visually worth it. Stippling is such a great artistic element. Where do we go from here? I guess we’ll find out next week. For now I’m gonna leave my hand in a bucket of ice… dot… dot… dot…

Nelly’s Folly (1961) Intro and outro only.

Nelly’s Folly (1961) Full version

LearnToDrawTogether Sunday Challenge | July 12 “Illustrate Your Mind”

Like many pieces in my beginning stages, I was not fully committed to an exact direction. With somewhat of an idea, the best way for me to start is to stop hesitating and start scratching around. Knowing I wanted to work on an eclipse helped. That can get me moving toward the goal and somehow work that into the concept.

The mind emerging from shadow. Only moments away from coming into the light. A moment of separation where the creative steps outward. A foreshadowing that the sun is always lurking behind the darkness.

Note the dog page customization at the bottom!

Decided to work on some gears to help add more of a mental direction to this. The gears are always turning, but they are not always smooth. The registration can be rough, but we keep at it. The concepts work their way out in time.

So this was the general concept. It felt like it was well executed. Maybe we could use a bit more representation for being a mental element. Decided upon taking a quick selfie for reference. This became the next phase.

It was really fun to work the face into the existing elements. I like the way it explodes from the top. Although it doesn’t exactly connect with my original vision, I’m glad that it went in this direction because it feels accurate. The eyes closed and in thought. Exploding as the warped gears continues to grind.