Common Raven

I saw one of these birds on a walk recently (a huge one, like a small dog) and decided then to paint this (ink)--perhaps what I thought of at the time as its mix of ominousness and majesty is appropriate for Hallowe'en.

grey-toned paper

What I like best about this drawing is the reflection of the apple on the toaster.

blossoms

I guess it's the wrong time of year for this one, but here it is anyway, some delicate branches with blossoms.

mummy portrait

Here's the finished oil from the sketch I posted earlier after a Fayum portrait.  Paintings like these were buried with the mummified remains of the subject of the painting.  Some of them are quite beautiful, and pretty sophisticated considering how old they are.

kitty

So our little kitten friend died.  We hadn't seen it around in about two days, and then I noticed it lying in our backyard yesterday--I brought it some food, but it wasn't interested.  Then a few hours later I went to check on it, and it looked a bit odd, something in its eyes was different, and I had a feeling it was in trouble.  There were flies buzzing all around it, and it was convulsively trying to get the flies off of it, and its mouth was strangely open. Then it started to stretch out its limbs very slowly, stretched out onto its back, and then it was gone.  I knew it was dead when it didn't move despite the flies in its mouth and on its eyes.  As it was happening I just could not believe that I was about to see this creature die right before my eyes.  It was one of the most intense and upsetting experiences I've ever had.  I was glad at least that it wasn't alone when it happened, and that perhaps it was meaningful that it came back when it did, and that it died when I was present.  Anyway, we tried to help it while it was alive, and we're glad it's at least not suffering anymore.  It was a sweet little cat.

Fayum

This is a pen sketch I did after one of the Fayum Portraits, those amazing ancient works of art used to adorn the mummified dead in Hellenistic Egypt around the first few centuries CE.  I plan to do a painted piece on wood soon.

omnia mors aequat

I've always been somewhat fascinated by skulls, not in any morbid way really, but the shape of them (& likely the collective associations we have) make them, and have made them, a compelling subject for still life renderings; here in charcoal with conte.

frog on water lily pad

watercolor.

sanguine conte

This is a nice pose, I think, and I like the contrast between the sharp lines which define the form, and the soft sketchy lines which suggest the rest.