Drawings and Reflections from my Sketchbook

I've been totally neglecting this Hive account. Time to get it cranking again. Here are some pages from my sketchbook that I'm quite happy with. I'll provide a little back story each. Hope you enjoy!

The left-hand page is a kind of self portrait. I was feeling grumpy that day and struggling to relieve myself of some irrational negative thought loops. My usual coping mechanisms and meditative techniques weren't really accomplishing much so I came up a new method which was draw a token of everlasting good vibes, imbued with all the positive energy I could muster in that difficult moment. So that's what that weird little bowling pin dude is, a manifestation of pure goodness. The shifty guy peeking out from the bottom of the page is me, gradually returning to a calm and loving headspace.

The mechanical character on the right began with a mindless scribble on a morning when I was feeling a strong resistance to create, despite having heaps of energy and plenty of caffeine in my system. A scribble is a very effective way of getting started and diminishing the frightening power of a blank page. The scribble became a box which I added to until it sorta looked like a head. It's all on once the image begins to reveal itself to me. From then on it's simply a matter of accentuating certain features and letting the lines branch out to fill up the page. It's amazing how quickly you can overcome a so-called creative block by just not giving a shit and doodling anyway, shading random spots and adding texture and shape until something surprising happens.

This is a rare case of me using a real life object as a reference. I was frothing out on this crisp supersonic bass rig that was set up at a psychedelic festival I went to. I decided to sit there and draw the thing. It was such a nice experience to test out my still-life drawing chops whilst some sensational rootsy dub gently massaged my eardrums and tickled my brain. I added everything else a few weeks later, listening to old groovy reggae and channeling my memories of trancefloor skank. Crisp soulful music will blow open your consciousness.

During a stay in the South West of Australia, I found a six foot long Carpet Python slithering through the bush. We don't have snakes in New Zealand so spotting that magnificent creature was so uplifting and inspiring. This drawing attempts to capture my experience of being totally hypnotised and awe-struck by by the pythons ancient commanding presence. The five eyes setup was heavily influenced by a really captivating Aboriginal painting that I saw while I was over there. I guess the tapwater was also pretty gross, so I had to get the distaste out of my system.

Started drawing this one on the train. It was too shaky to keep the lines smooth and consistent so I said fuck it and quickly smashed out this super rudimentary and silly form. Later on I returned and carefully added the details and checkered floor as well as some words that were bouncing around in my brain. This reality is divine, and the divine probably totally incomprehensible. It reveals itself to us (we are it) in the form of this life, thus our whole world is only symbolising something which actually perfectly transparent, infinite, and empty. I really love the juxtaposition of a childish kinda crappy body that's been paired with slightly more refined and skilled shading. Looks trippy.

Peace and Love! Here's a little bonus piece of spontaneous writing I did in the same sketchbook.

Thanks for checking everything out!