Two Silly Birds

Aug. 21, 2012
"Two young cormorants"

Just a little thing from my sketchbook the other day.
I believe one bird is having a little chat with a fish (which I didn't draw) under the water. He's just extending an invitation… for lunch perhaps. But he's a young bird, maybe he is only interested in the social aspects of a shared meal. The fish, an obedient and conservative creature by nature, is sure to ask his parents first. Stay tuned!

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Birds are People Too

Does God Doodle?

An actual page of my doodles.
These were done with colored pencils.

In the past few years  I've developed a wonderfully wicked habit of actually imagining that I'm most fully alive when I have a pencil or some other drawing/painting tool in my hand and a sheet of paper in front of me. Blasphemy!

It helps if that paper has words printed on it. Words that have very little to do with the doodles I make on the paper. It also helps if someone, or several people are talking to the group of which I happen to be a part of at the time. I hear what they are saying and keep track of things and get excited if I think I have something useful to contribute. But basically, I am doodling.

I go to church and I sit in meetings. These are great times to doodle a while. I always carry a few pencils or at least a ball point pen in my pocket. However, Summer's go a little flat because there are fewer meetings and church services. I look forward to the Fall because I'll see familiar faces again …and I'll get to doodle more often.

Here are a few doodles from last Sunday.

Solo +1

« Pensive Cormorant »
15 Oct. 2011
gouache, crayon-resist, ink

I wonder what he's thinking about? And that black shape looming behind him. Is it some grim thing advancing or just an unhappy place being left behind. He looks strong. He doesn't look beaten. I think he'll be okay. His wings can carry him anywhere he wants to go. Ah, if only he knew where! Maybe toward that light source on stage right.
He needs a friend doesn't he? If he is a character, he needs a companion to add to his story. As I've presented him in this single drawing, he has few options. What if he were like this Bear?

« Bear & Butterfly »
19 March 2011
colored pencil, gouache

Besides being a "sweeter" moment, this picture presents a few options for our characters: maybe the butterfly is giving the bear ideas about what it is like to be able to fly. Or maybe the bear realizes that they are opposite types of creature. He is long-lived, ponderous and white and she is evasive, rainbow-hued and fragile. This dynamic (there could be many others) begins to get the gears turning.
The Narrativity Elves™ can begin their work. Let's go guys! Stop gold-bricking!

Doodlebirds

These done during church on Sept. 11th, 2011

Herons and Cormorants and Birds, Oh My!

I doodled these birds last night while watching the Red Sox play Texas. Go Sox!

reminds me of Hitchcock's "The Birds"…

But these guys are harmless

They are just drawings! Do not be afraid.

But they are easily annoyed!

Naturally, I was thinking of the cormorants I see at the lake

Easily annoyed… AND vain!

And all too human!

Seascape with Cormorant

Solitary Cormorant Contemplating the Overcast Sky

I like the way this painting turned out. It's done in a variety of media. The bird was made from some hand-colored paper collaged after the lonely rock seascape was done and waiting for a few weeks, unfinished. Here are some details: