We were blessed with a new granddaughter a few weeks ago.
Here is a page from a small sketch book I had with me on a recent visit.
Not great for sure, there is always the struggle with proportions of children and babys.
Here I am trying to work out the structures with quick ink sketches.
Hopefully things will get better, this is new and fresh subject matter for me so there will undoubtedly be more…
In my artistic journey, and life journey, especially as we welcomed a new grand-daughter into this crazy world, I often find myself thinking about character. The character of ourselves and the people we have around us particularly as we are formed from a child to an adult.
Art has become for me a process of refining vision, skill, and expression—a lot like the work of refining who we are. More than anything, it feels worthwhile to shape ourselves into the best version we can be by the time we’re done here. It’s a daily struggle, full of missteps, but few things seem more worth the effort—especially as we get older and feel the weight of time.
The elements of bad character are easy enough to spot: dishonesty, selfishness, blaming others, arrogance, laziness, inconsistency, resentment. In their place, we aim for integrity, humility, accountability, empathy, discipline, respect, resilience, gratitude, selflessness, and consistency.
Being a male of the species, I look at these qualities through the lens of manhood and what manliness should mean. I try not to be too hard on myself at the end of each day for the ways I fall short. But our job, I think, is to show up every day, put in the work, and surround ourselves with people who try to embody these principles—especially those in leadership positions.
Some other recent pages from sketchbooks:
