Sketchy Thoughts | August 26, 2026

September 2, 2026

Substack: https://monumentsinruin.substack.com

Sketchy Thoughts | August 26, 2026
Documenting the week of August 19-25

This week is focused on slow shifting. Much like the seasons, this process lumbers along. Offering a new perspective with each new page or process. Though Mother Nature is shifting to her stage of slumber, brighter colors and beautiful landscapes begin to reveal themselves. Perhaps this is our season of passing into a moderate form of hibernation. A preparation for what is on the horizon.

Daily Art | August 19-25

Something about this page felt like it needed an orb or a talisman calling upon the ancients. Is this symbol transmitting frequencies to alien lifeforms? To be determined…

OK, maybe it’s not calling out to the ancients. Maybe it’s just a sign on a brick wall. Something similar to your local Elks Lodge, or something that distinguishes a place where the elderly convene to tell old stories of their youthful days. This is also known as “The Pub” in some circles.

The more I thought about the way this was going, I wanted to incorporate some kind of building or street view. Something that offers the emotion of being left behind. Standing structure in a world that has moved on without it. That was the general thought, anyway.

There could be a lot more focus on cracked brick or something lost in time. The direction slightly evolved to a place where this is not actually falling apart. It was more focused on finding a new perspective for the way I was feeling about the work and where the work is taking me. Sometimes those wires do not cross in the ways we expect.

I like the way this turned out. Looking back at it now I could have easily spent another day or two on adding cracks to the brick or different shadows and shades for more depth. Perhaps even taking it back to the decayed stage. Though I moved on, it feels like that act was the emotional connection to the work all along. The end result feeling a bit unfinished and forgotten.

Not sure what was going on with this piece. It was a little chaotic. Simple scratching around on the digital screen. It felt a little uncomfortable. Now I find myself shifting back-and-forth from pen to digital. Trying to make that more of a priority in my weekly work routine.

Having stepped away from it for so long, I didn’t like having to readjust. For now, my intention is to utilize both at some point throughout the weekly work process.

I can’t remember the exact storyline of the dream this was pulled from the previous night. There was some kind of atomic chaos. Everything around was in turmoil and no one knew where to go for safety. As I woke up and tried to rerun whatever the plot was, the only thing that really remained was this sense of something dramatic and nuclear being at the root of it all.

The final piece is pretty exciting! The bright colors with the obvious chaos trigger in the forefront feels interesting and oddly pleasing to look at.

This is another piece that was a little improv. Trying to find my way at the end of the evening. Things seem to be a little bit more experimental on the digital surface. One thing I’ve noticed, where with pen and ink every scratch is intentional and stays on the page, forcing me to work through it, with the digital surface I will delete large segments of the work and totally start over. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it’s definitely different in the digital versus analog mediums.

SketchDaily Challenges | August 19-25

**August 21st - Free Draw Friday / Decided we may need an alien invasion**

**August 23rd - Something soft and/or fuzzy**

Other | August 22

Timed art challenge! This was a moment of sitting and waiting for an order to be prepared to go. Why not open the sketchbook and start scratching around and see what happens. Revisiting it now and really like the drooping and solemn ghost style that was created here.