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NaNoWriMo 2021 Winner
Tonight, we will drink mead from the skulls of our enemies. We will roast their entrails upon our fires. Warriors, we were victorious in our battle. So, eat and drink your fill. Stumble to bed, nestle...
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The Christmas Tree
Home Sweet Home Christmas Village Christmas Tree Snowman Topper Oreo and Jane Simba Napping One of the things I have always wanted was a great big Christmas tree in my own home. Over the years, as an...
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The Bath
The wide, six-foot-two man dipped a toe into the whirlpool tub to check the water temp. It was a bit tepid, at least for his desires in the moment. He bumped the knob over, turning up the heat. At 37,...
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When You Cannot Afford Art, Make Your Own
Hanging paintings on the wall of your home was once seen as a status symbol. Nowadays, everyone can just about afford to get some print or another, but truly impressive art can still be prohibitive...
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The Fall of Reach and Three Years of Reading
Three years ago, I made a promise to myself. I would read something every day. At the time, it was just a loosely-defined goal. I could not remember if I had a stopping point in mind, such as “do this...
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Oil Painting #2
Ummm…Justin, are you not supposed to be working on a novel manuscript? I might be procrastinating somewhat, using up my creative energy to try an artform that I have always wanted to learn since...
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Acrylic Painting #1
I have been itching to try another painting since I finished my last. Each attempt teaches me something new about how paint works on the canvas. My first two oil paintings were inspired by Bob Ross...
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Acrylic Painting #2: Yellow Tree
This painting began with a blue paint tube that exploded from the wrong end. It almost felt like it was destined to fail from those first moments of cleaning blobs of paint, but I persevered. I was in...
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Acrylic Painting #3: Pink Forest
This was a painting for my mom. I felt bad that my sisters were getting some of my newer stuff after she had claimed my first and ugliest work. So, I wanted to create her something with my current...
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Acrylic Painting #4: Snow Train
I wanted to step away from the abstract a bit with this work over the weekend and shoot for something more realistic. Needless to say, I have a lot to learn. I fought with this painting for around six...
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Acrylic Painting #5: Sunset Lake
After completing all the work I had planned to offload on family for cheap holiday gifts, my grandmother — “Granny” as we call her — asked why she was not on the recipient list for a painting....
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Acrylic Painting #6: Country Sunset
This was my first time really trying to paint clouds. I’ve done a few abstractions of clouds but not individual ones. I thought it would be easy — and it was once I learned the technique. However, I...
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2021: A Year of Art
Another year. Another 365 rotations of this insignificant rock revolving around a glowing ball of nuclear fusion. It is merely one of billions in the Milky Way, a blip on the cosmic scale amongst its...
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2022 Goals
As I like to do every January 1, I am posting my goals for the new year. Over the past few years, I have had some hits and misses. However, I have always felt like I made good on my promise to pursue...
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Fluid Painting #1: Colorful Feather
Yesterday, I decided to dive back into more abstract work with my first “acrylic pour.” This is a type of fluid art where the artist does not have 100% control. It uses acrylic paints mixed with a...
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Manga Girl #1
It seems that my journey into learning to paint has rekindled my love of drawing once again. Throughout my childhood and teen years, I loved to doodle and draw. However, into adulthood, I allowed my...
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Manga Girl #2
Day #2 of practicing drawing. Once again, I followed another tutorial on drawing a female manga character. The biggest things I need to work on is making more sweeping lines for hair and getting far,...
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Scenery Sketch #1
I didn’t have a lot of time to work on drawing today because my sister and niece are staying over. Still, I took a few minutes to quickly sketch out a small landscape scene. It’s not great work, but I...
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City: Two-Point Perspective
The past three night’s drawing sessions have been dedicated to learning two-point perspective. Of course, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to take a tutorial on drawing a city. Not a simple living...
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Now This Is Art
Ninth grade. Geez, that was years ago. More specifically, it was the spring of 1998. I was a 13-year-old kid (almost 14) who had entered his first school-wide art competition. It was the culmination of...
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