Long John

This week, I’m taking a bit of a mulligan on creative endeavors because the day job has been incredibly busy, taxing, and stressful.

To combat that, I turned to another sketch idea that happened during my birthday weekend at the beginning of September.

As with the last birthday weekend sketch depicting our dog, Rusty, barking his brains out at an unaffected seagull, this scene was also something witnessed that made me laugh. Usually beaches are playgrounds for dogs, racing to catch the crashing waves and accost the oblivious seagulls. Behind them walks the owners, catching a blissful moment when they don’t have to entertain their dog––instead, they can just slowly walk along the shore, dodging incoming tides and shaking the sand from their shoes.

Imagine my surprise when I basically saw the wholly opposite relationship when we ambled down to a local beach during our getaway, where the gentleman was clearly more excited to be at the beach while his little dog, sending not-so-subtle hints, was ready to get back to a couch and reality tv.

With the previous birthday weekend sketch, I captured a moment from the relaxing getaway in a style that I could only approach digitally, using the iPad Pro and the art app, Procreate. Since I was returning to the well, so to speak, I figured I’d give that pseudo-painterly style another go, and I’m glad I did.

I consider it less a digital painting and more of a digital conté crayon sketch, either way, it’s another example of breaking the mold of pencils––>inks––>colors and kind of going straight from sketch to colors. It flexes a different muscle and, I’ll admit, what it lacks in polish it makes up for in fun and experience.