Sketchy Thoughts | September 9, 2026

September 16, 2026

A toxic warning sign became a beautiful showcase, new brushes pulled light out of the shadows, and a vet trip turned into a family affair. Plus "I'm Fine", "If Something Is Watching" and more.

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Sketchy Thoughts | September 9, 2026
Documenting the week of September 2-8

Lots of action to discuss this week! Turning toxic vibes into vibrant nature, a family trip to the vet, new brushes to help find light in shadows, cutting deadlines close and our daily work path that continues to keep our energy flowing in the right direction.

Daily Art | September 2-8

Picking up where we left off last week! I enjoyed the beginning of this work so much. It was like a warm blanket to me. Decided to extend it further into the piece. My imagination had some type of sign that might represent environmental injustice. Data centers, waste deposit or something of the sort. At this point it was undetermined.

Continuing on building the more beautiful parts of this before we take a turn toward the darker aspects. Adding the wooden sign posts felt particularly pleasing.

This young lady, looking precious as ever, had a vet appointment this week. That turns this into a family affair!

Although I tried to snap a combo picture with both in the vehicle, it was nearly impossible. I did collect a couple of separate archival photographs at the stop sign, though! Should we start a pet calendar?

Back to our signage. Something about old buildings and cityscapes has been resonating with me lately. Instead of going towards a toxic warning sign, it felt better to incorporate a water tower and some type of building. This added a bit of depth to the open background.

A few more lines on the building and additional perspective touch ups. Adding the brickwork to the building settles me in for a long slow burn. Some of this can get crazy, but that’s part of the process. Learning and pushing ourselves to improve is the goal. It helps in trying to find patience by not searching for the end. Let it happen and unfold as it naturally happens. The end is another blank page waiting, so what’s the rush?

Going back over some elements and parts begin to darken up. It seems to really make this pop. Glad that I went with the water tower and building instead of some toxic or environmentally corrosive option.

Added a little bit of the Kirby crackle to the backdrop. Bringing that trick back out of the bag was equally pleasing. Really happy with the look of this, and the fact that the sign is unfinished. The lack of information leaves it open to interpretation. That is always a solid end result, in my opinion. Let the viewer place a part of themselves into the work, when possible.

this was one of those moments that felt strange to start. The reason why is because I wanted to try some different brushes. This machine has a ton of different options and I tend to stick with a single thing. Trying to expand my horizons and learn more about this by seeing what brushes do what and how I can use them in a traditional or improvised way

This was a good example of testing new brushes. I’m certain this was supposed to be used for a different action, but in my process, it felt good to create. This burst of light from all of the pieces featured. Will continue to dig through and test out some new brushes, but until then this is the stopping point for now.

LearnToDrawTogether Sunday Challenge | August 30 & Sept 6

August 30th - “I’m Fine.” Draw What That Really Means

Got this one in just before the deadline!

I’m sure we’ve all said it. What does it really mean though? I guess each experience occurring in each day calls for a different emotion. For this week’s challenge, this is what came to my mind. I also used some different brushes in this work to create that awkward haze. Something that I feel like also explains the challenge here.

September 6 - “If Something Is Watching...” Draw What You Think Is There

Really enjoyed working with these dark colors. If someone is always watching, I would hope that it’s a little more positive than this.

As I started sketching the outline it began to look as though they had sinister intentions. In that regard, this is more along the lines of anger and intimidation bringing out darkness from the shadows. It’s a slight twist on what this week’s theme is actually asking for, but I had fun with it and the end result.