Every so often, I’ll make a sketch that makes me feel like I might know what the hell I’m doing. These are the sketches that keep me coming back for more. Maybe not the most anatomically correct drawings ever, but there is something about these two quick sketches (the one above was a little over 5 minutes, and the one below was about 10 minutes) that rings true to me.

8x10, Oil on Canvas Panel This bird is not really this fat. It’s a drawing failure on my part. I screwed up the block-in, and didn’t stop to fix it. The lesson here is that you can’t paint your way around a drawing mistake.

5x7, Oil on Panel I am already tired of the cold. This image made me feel like I could survive the winter.

I found another source of reference images: Reddit Gets Drawn is a community where people post pictures of themselves for artists to practice on. Most of the pictures are just bad selfies, but there are a few that have some potential. I thought this girl’s pose was interesting, and the dog was kind of comical.

8x10, Oil on Panel. A storm was coming, and I had to hurry.

8x10, Oil on Panel.

8x10, Oil on Canvas Panel. The more I paint, the more I realize how far I have to go.

5x7, Oil on Panel. I have a new appreciation for flower painters. It isn’t as easy as you might think.

5x7, Oil on Canvas Panel. I have this idea that at some point I’d like to paint all the houses on my block. But I don’t think I want to be known around the neighborhood as “the house painter”.

5x7, Oil on Canvas Panel.