Sketchy Thoughts | July 29, 2026

August 5, 2026

Sketchy Thoughts returns! Explore daily art from July 22–28. A safari giraffe, perspective street scene, motorcycle sketch, two sketch & catch sessions, and a custom alien alphabet!

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Sketchy Thoughts | July 29, 2026
Documenting the week of July 22-28

Here we are! Back with another tantalizing art adventure. In this edition, we are going to finalize our Safari getaway, get our engines revved up and reinvent the alphabet. All this and more so get your tank gassed up and let’s roll.

Daily Art | Jul 22-28

Well, even though we are going to discuss art it looks like we’re starting off with a photography spread! I couldn’t decide which of these I liked better so we’re going to share a little photo gallery before we move forward.

Sketch and catch! What a happy pup. I liked the blur of the art and the blur of the pup in these pictures. As far as the artwork goes, though, I was really happy with the way this little “people in the park” scene turned out. It seems to have a lot of life to it and a lot of action for something so simple.

OK, we’re back on Safari! I can’t remember what the previous photo of the giraffe looked like, but I seem to recall we had no background. It was the giraffe only and my hand was on fire from all of the stippling. Now let’s celebrate the depth that comes from adding the background.

When I started working on this there was a serious debate of turning it into a space giraffe. No surprise there, right? In the end, I wanted to start with a simple tree. That turned into a whole different landscape. Sticking with the Safari theme without turning it into a space cadet paid off, emotionally.

I do not see any inking difference in this picture but there were two frames so you get two, just in case!

I recently watched a YouTube video with Andy Pizza, and he said that there is a term called “Pantsing it” which refers to starting something without knowing where you’re going and hoping for the best. Basically, “sketching or writing by the seat of your pants”. Apparently, this is the style that I utilize most because it is very rare to have a fully formed idea in mind when the scribbling starts. This is one of those pantsing situations where I decided to work on some perspective lines and see what happens next.

Starting with the sidewalk and then working on the brick wall afterwards. Stopping here without knowing what I would do next. Oh yeah, go to bed…

Back at it. In an unusual case for me, I took some time (10-15 mins) to sit and stare at what should happen in this piece. With the sidewalk already in motion and the brick wall, I knew it would work to feature some crevices and weeds to fill in that personality later. There needed to be something more. Debating the work, there was a shuffle between making a waterway versus a roadway. This could be a park side walkway, after all. In the end, my decision was made based on a motorcycle sketch in a weekly challenge a few weeks ago on the daily sketch.

Since I had fun working on that piece and it had a sense of nostalgia for my childhood environment, I decided a motorcycle was the way to go.

At this point, we’ve successfully added the motorcycle and that put everything else into place. Got to have some road lines and start filling in some darker crevices here and there. Wanting to feel that wind in the face.

Back to another round of sketch and catch! This pup sure knows how to run the show. Similar to the last sketch and catch effort, this is another group of individuals. In this scenario they are looking to the sky and accepting the fate that stands before them. Whatever that may be, is to be determined. Perhaps they are simply enjoying the day, like we are! Not everything has to be ominous.

July 27 - Sketch and Catch: Accepting the Unknown

Heading on down the highway! This turned out to be a trying and rewarding blind faith experiment. The motorcycle was well out of my comfort zone. Glad to have gone for that action element.

After completing it and being able to fill in the cracks, crevices and weeds, I really feel confident that this turned out pleasing. One thing I noticed while working on it, the facial features, specifically the eyes, of the cyclist. Less is more in this scenario and glad that I did not try to define them anymore. Happy with the end result and that is a solid lesson to acquire in times of crisis.

Time to start another page! Feeling like we may revisit some monster sketches. A new format, of course. A little bit of inspiration from the mirror, mirror on the wall, although this is not a mirror. It’s meant to be a family portrait style image. Similar to the monster yearbook series. We’ll see where it goes in the next week. For now I’m happy with where we started.

July 28 - The family portrait wall begins

LearnToDrawTogether Sunday Challenge | July 19 Design Your Own Alphabet/Font

The Sunday challenge was to create a new alphabet. It took me a few days to get into it so this one falls slightly out of weekly phase but still submitted in time for the voting.

I’ve done an alphabet in the past and really enjoyed it. In an effort to try something new from my previous attempt, I went with some weird shapes, orbs, and what my mind sees as eyeballs on the edges. Perhaps alien eyeballs?

Overall, this was a first pass straight through and submitted as the final result after a quick touch up to darken the edges. It worked out nicely, in my opinion.