Piss in My Cheerios And I Draw

Could you pull that any tighter Mr. Abductor Sir?

I have to admit that I have been in a foul mood all day. I have tried to shake it, but I have been unsuccessful. I got some exercise, repeated "it is what it is" a hundred times and focused on as much positivity as I can. None of it has really worked. I woke up today feeling on top of the world. I had a very positive day yesterday and set some personal milestones. That success made for a great night's sleep and the beginning of a very nice day. That all changed because of an incident that I will not discuss. Suffice to say that sometimes people in a bad mood feel a need to make sure everyone feels their current pain. I am unfortunately someone who takes a bit longer to get over the shit storm.

I have avoided updating my blog because I just plain do not like negativity. I do not feel a need for it and find it makes anyone ugly. I do not want to expose myself to others in that way. I have no need or wish to piss and moan in front of others. I do want to write-up something though because I really enjoy updating more frequently! Since my day was shot by my inability to recover from being blind-sided I have decided that my blog today will focus on something that does nothing to further my career, my photography, my clips store or anything to do with my household. I do so because it makes me happy. Make me unhappy and the result is often I will do what I need to cheer myself up. The best way to keep me on track is to not piss in my Cheerios. I will just move on to that waist-of-time Cap'n Crunch.

When I am feeling down I like to draw. It is meditative and gets my beta waves going. I like to get into the zone and allow my brain to reset. There is no good or bad in drawing for me. The exercise itself is therapeutic. As such that is my focus for the rest of the night and for at least an hour each day for the rest of the week and weekend. I know if I can do that I will get back into my normal swing by the end of the weekend if not tomorrow. I guess that depends on how many people are waving their urine streams over my breakfast material :)

I have promised several people drawings that I am woefully behind on. I think it is time to correct that injustice. I owe Jewel Evans, Christina Carter and JJ Plush drawings. JJ has waited the longest, so I should get to her first. The anatomy of a drawing starts with reference when you do photo-realistic drawings. Someone once told me that is cheating. Reference material is quite frankly a staple of drawing. Have a favorite pin-up painting? I can find you the photos used as reference. The key to art when portraying realism is to work from realism. Hell even comic book artists use reference. Get over yourself naysayers.

Installment one of Piss in My Cheerios And I Draw starts with the reference photo. I took a photo of JJ Plush the first time we worked together. That was back when I still took photos and felt creative. I had not become a whore for a paycheck at the time and actually cared more about compelling images than money. Do not get me wrong. I still make every effort to produce quality material, but I have most certainly shifted from my old "show concern and learn" method to a "churn, burn and earn" method. Regardless I have always loved this photo. In coming days you will see the starting photo, how I rough up a sketch, convert that to a line art version, do basic colors and then a fully shaded final rendering. I may even add a part where the line art version is taken to a pencil sketch. We shall see :)

Until then I will give you an image of JJ that I like to start. The gal can take a serious gag. I can put on a serious gag. The result is always dynamite!