Art Post – Victorian with a Twist

When I run out of things to sketch, or don’t feel like sketching anything in particular, I resort to Victorian gentlemen in waistcoats.  It’s part of my comfort zone.  Today I thought I’d play with something a little different, and I started with a gentleman in proper attire, and then added a WW1-era gas mask.  You know, the creepy ones that make anyone who wears them look absolutely mad because they cover your whole face and hide all expression.  I did another sketch later today with the same theme, and maybe I’m on to something.  An alternate history, maybe.  Because everything changed, after the War…

What if World War 1 had happened earlier?  I’m thinking just after the Civil War, or maybe even at the very tail end.  Maybe the Civil War didn’t end, and just kept on going.  And eventually, Europe broke out in war as well.  It’s a really fascinating concept, and I may want to explore that further.  I’m not quite sure yet if I will, but the possibilities are there.

Here’s a short teaser:

Here Be Dragons.

Dragons are magic.  There’s no other way to put it.  I’ve been fascinated by the big scaly things for as long as I could remember.  I can’t recall when I first found out about them, but it was at a really young age, because I’ve been enjoying stories about dragons since I was a tiny child.  Whether your dragons are winged with four legs, or winged with only two, or even with no legs or wings at all… they’re incredible.

One of the first books I remember reading about dragons was called The Book of Dragons, by E. Nesbit.  It’s a tiny, slim little volume.  Collected inside are stories of dragons from myth and legend, with enough fire to spark any boy’s imagination.  Then, in fourth grade, at a school book fair, I picked up Bruce Coville’s Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher.  The book is about a young kid who, running from bullies one day, gets lost in a fog and finds a magic shop.  There he buys a dragon’s egg, and hatches it, and gets to watch the young dragon(whom he names Tiamat) grow up.  It’s completely magical and wonderful.  In high school, I read the Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman.  That led me to Dungeons and Dragons, and in my time around the gaming table I’ve killed a dragon or two.

The other day, inspired by my long love of the dragon, I sat down to do some inking.  I sketched a few ideas first, and when I was satisfied, I broke out the steel nibs and black ink.  I didn’t want to do this project in Micron pens.  I wanted the old-fashioned method.  A while later, I had a dragon skull sitting on paper in front of me.  I’m not quite sure it’s done yet, but it was fun to do, and I can’t wait to try further projects with the steel nibs and ink.

Here are a few pictures:

A Mixed Stew

The last few days have been busy; my wife had a four day weekend off at work, so we spent as much time together as we possibly could.  On Wednesday we picked up some farm fresh milk and pastured eggs, and on Saturday we attended the Sandy Springs Farmer’s Market.  The market runs every Saturday from 8:30 to 12:30, and is located in the parking lot of an old closed Target on Roswell Road.

It was pretty great to see everyone out and about even though the day started off rainy and overcast.  Thankfully, the temperatures were down, and walking around outside was comfortable.  This was my first farmer’s market experience, and I enjoyed seeing the variety of vegetables and products on sale here.  We picked up a bunch of the best peaches I’ve ever had, some giant zucchini, some leafy greens, and a pastured chicken that will become dinner for us tomorrow night.

The Sandy Springs Farmer’s Market website:  http://www.sandyspringsfarmersmarket.com/index.html

After reading several books on real food we’ve been trying to adjust our diets to that lifestyle – eating vegetables that are in season and organically grown, getting pastured eggs when we can, and going for grass-fed meats.  That’s meant a lot of salads over the past week , which, it turns out, isn’t that bad.  I’ve been making a great salad dressing that’s tasty and simple all rolled into one.  There isn’t even any measuring involved!

Simple and Tasty Dressing:

olive oil

white wine vinegar

spices to season

honey

mustard

Take a bowl and add a splash of the vinegar and olive oil.  I think a 1:2  vinegar to oil ratio will probably work best.  Try to go for enough liquid to coat the salad leaves, but not leave a pool of dressing when you’re done with the salad.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, etc – dill works well – and add a tablespoon each of honey and mustard(Dijon works really well).  Take a whisk and whisk your dressing until everything has been incorporated into one smooth liquid.  Add your salad leaves to the bowl and toss until the greens are coated well.  This dressing depends a lot on personal taste, so feel free to experiment with the best ratios for everything.  

On the illustration front I’ve been doing more anatomy studies – I inked a pig’s skull and a bear’s skull from the Cyclopedia Anatomicae, and both turned out well for first attempts.  I did them in my Moleskine, which I’m finding works very well for these inked sketches.