the organ grinder and the elephant - 100 drawings in 100 days

have you figured out how much i love the circus? i admit though, that i much prefer circus acts featuring humans, rather than putting these poor animals through a lifestyle not suited to any of them. i really like drawing the animals and personifying them in ways that are a little tongue-in-cheek: the monkey is probably trying to make his great escape while no-one is watching and the elephant looks as though he's either an old man sitting around talking to his grand-kids, or a politician! i didn't give these guys any human bodies, not this time, for their poses were just priceless! call me crazy, but the elephant looks as though he's about to tell a fabulous tale...

the drawing at top is called "circus escape", and the bottom drawing is "so there we were...".

the prophet - 100 drawings in 100 days

i found this very creepy but cool image of (what was to be) frank-enstein on the web today, and it was so beautifully crisp and perfect for drawing. however, i think that frankenstein might be a little too over-the-top here in the 100's, so i changed him up a little bit, as you should. so, no bolts in the neck or zippers or any dark bells and whistles, just a man's head, closing his eyes. in a way, he looks like a monk, or a prophet in prayer.

so, this drawing is called, "the prophet".

atticus finch white - 100 paintings in 100 days

i'm thinking about trying to do 100 paintings in 100 days when i finish with the 100 drawings... i did this painting as a test to see how long it would take, and with some juggling, i think it's achievable. it will be a bit difficult, but that never bothered me!

anyway, here is my cat, atticus as a white circus cat, "atticus finch".

the rat, the king, the skulls and the duckling - 100 drawings in 100 days

this is the last of the catch-up! now i'm all up-to-date!! i think i am really developing an infinity for the pen and ink technique - it's like sculpting in a way, trying to carve out darker and darker recesses, while bringing forth the lighter, less touched areas. all the while, i just love drawing eyes! i just think eyes are the most amazing part of creatures, no matter what species!

from the top, we have the (eyeless! go figure...) "doggett street skulls", "circus duckling swimming", "sydney street rat", and "king crow and the man". now, i actually have seen a rat at my apartment in the driveway - he only comes out at night, and is pretty fast. so this is taken from a photograph of a posing rat, not a scavenging rat. the duckling, well my family used to have a few ducklings when i was a girl. my brother actually built the duckpond - well, he wanted to, but i think it was either my neighbor or my mom who did the digging; it was the neighbor who laid the concrete. and then we put in the ducks and ducklings... they were so cute!

now i don't actually have a pile of skulls in my basement, but i did rent a studio space in oklahoma city that did have a pile of skulls in the back stairwell. they were casts of real skulls, but not the actual skull. nonetheless, they were still life-like and creepy, but in a good way! the artists there were great guys - slightly on the dark side.

and then the crows - my favorite! this is taken from the studies i drew in preparation for the painting i did years ago, titled "crown of crows". this painting depicted a circle of crows around a dead crow. this was the death ceremony of the crows. fabulous!

sydney street snakes - 100 drawings in 100 days

yesterday morning, my neighbor and i were talking about my spider bite (white-tail spider - very nasty, and very painful), when he told me about the snake on my sidewalk, a carpet snake i think...

now, thank goodness it was dead, because this snake was BIG, 7 feet long, big. it was too big to have been hanging around in a city suburb, and definitely too big to have been hanging around in MY yard in this city suburb!!! it makes me wonder if it didn't belong to someone and it had escaped... anyway, it had died somehow, so i drew it. he was very beautiful, had gorgeous markings in the most lovely olives and browns with cream. i've only been so close to a snake once before, and they were pythons too, but these two were babies, and albinos at that! just lovely!

so, here we have "sydney street snake" and "mr. snake on sydney street".

wool weigh and customs house - 100 drawings in 100 days

yesterday i totally played catch-up! and i will be all caught up this afternoon, and i do have my computer back up and running, as well as my website looking all sparkly and new!! check it out http://studiodeshan.com

so, i went to my friend's house on saturday night for her housewarming party, which was a fun night. she has moved into one of the wool warehouse apartment buildings, and it is just gorgeous!!! i loved it, and it was so airy and light, but cosy. and of course i loved her bedroom, and now i have bedroom envy. but, this fabulous old scale was featured in the lobby area downstairs, and i knew it would make the cut for the 100's. so here it is, "wool weigh".

and yesterday i was tootling around on my scooter especially to find this dome and draw it! i can see it from my street and i just love it, with it's gorgeous patina green copper dome and beautiful architecture. so, i found it, took pics and drew it - "customs house".