Some Thoughts

  I've been thinking about writing this for a while. As my dad used to say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." I've been more motivated lately than I've been in a long time. I'm not sure if it's because I was diagnosed with diabetes, or if it's because I got treated for diabetes, or if it's because I feel better because I'm eating better and exercising. I wanted to do a good topic for my fans on here, but nothing has really jumped out at me.So, here's some random thoughts and observations. And, of course, there'll be art at the end.

• I bought a nice pencil with the intention of getting back in to pencil drawing. It's a Caran d'Ache. It cost me six dollars and it's the first really nice pencil I've used. It's worth every penny I spent on it. I did just realize it was "d'Ache" at the end. For the past thirty plus years I've thought it was "d'Arch". 
• I'm putting all my daily paintings in order and doing a book. All of my year plus paintings in order so you can see how I evolved over those thirteen months. I'm shocked and saddened at how hard it was to do this, due in large part to my lack of organization. I'm about 130 paintings in and I've had to download seven that weren't in my file, which means they weren't in my DeviantART online portfolio. Also found one that wasn't accounted for, but I managed to get it in without too much effort. This is more work than I had hoped it would be.
• My wife convinced me to do the #100HeadChallenge. 100 heads drawn in ten days. I figured it would be a good chance to use my fancy new pencil. It has, however turned out to be more stressful than I thought. I'm ahead of schedule, but I find it hard to find ten (or more) heads that inspire me every day. 
• I have my studio almost all set up, but now realize there are things I'd like to tweak. May or may not happen.
• My wife bought me an easel for my birthday last December. A very thoughtful present and has helped my mood immensely. I wanna paint, I just slide my chair over four feet and grab a brush.
• I used to always say I could paint faces every day for the rest of my life and not get bored. I think I'm proving that to be true.

• I used to hear about gel pens and it would make me think of teenage girls drawing in their secret diaries, however I bought a white one to use to put white over my black ink drawings. I wish I had found out about that nonsense years ago. 

I'm sure I had more to say, but I didn't write any notes for this. So, there may be a Part 2. Anyway, here's art:

Here's a page from my book. Maybe it will help me make some sales:

So, AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG
In case you wanna make a donation to the cause: link

Once Again I'm Knocked Back

   So, I haven't posted regularly, again. I decided for the new year I'd motivate myself to do better in all things art related. Even though I wasn't feeling well I was forcing myself to do my Daily Hand Challenge. One ink drawn hand a day.

I did good. Ninety days straight. From the first page of the sketch book 'til the last. I wanted to get better at drawing hands, which was a weakness of mine. I will admit I am better than I was three months ago.
   My real weakness, as of late, has been the business end of the art world. I wanted to post some of my daily paintings, because I have a lot of them to sell. My workhorse computer was giving me problems, so I thought I'd install a less processor intensive Linux distro ( the software that runs the computer, like Windows, only it doesn't give me a headache). I tried getting it stripped down and lean, but it just gave up the ghost. I'm looking for a used laptop to replace it. On a very limited budget. In the mean time I'm trying to get my music computer to do double duty. Stressful, but at least I'm here. I need to start with the painting posts soon.
   The main setback though, has been my recent diagnosis of diabetes. My blood sugar was off the charts. Literally. When I was admitted to the ER their meter wouldn't even read my sugar level. I spent two days in Intensive Care, stressing my poor wife out. When I finally made it back home I was so weak I could barely do anything. I'm building my strength back up, slowly. Slower than I'd like. I didn't realize at the time how badly my body was being beaten. Fortunately I have no kidney damage, and I'm losing weight with an eye toward getting of the insulin shots. I haven't been to work in a month, which certainly hasn't helped things. I'm keeping a good attitude and doing all the things the doctors have been telling me to do. I'm feeling better now than I have in a while. I'm painting more. Not just because I'm supposed to. Because I want to. Now, if only I had that much motivation to post my art.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG               

In case you wanna make a donation to the cause: link

If Anyone Is Interested

   So, I'd like to find someone (or a couple of someones) to sell my art for me. I've got literally hundreds of paintings that I need to sell. If you're interested contact me and we can work out the details. It would be on a percentage basis, but I'll do my best to make it worth your while. Here's some examples of what I've got, in case you've never seen my work:

This could be a nice little side hustle. I can paint enough to support four or five people. Just saying.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG                        Here's my GoFundMe if you wanna help the cause.

Death's Door (Again)

  I'm trying to get back in the swing of things. If you follow my ramblings you know that I haven't felt well for a while. It's been a struggle to get motivated to get anything done. So, my wife talks me in to going to see the doctor. I actually felt so bad that I agreed right off the bat. Normally you've gotta drag me kicking and screaming. So, turns out the doctor sends me immediately to the ER, where I'm admitted as soon as I get there. My blood sugar was so high their instruments couldn't read it. Diabetes. Yikes! I was in the hospital for two days, hooked up to all sorts of IVs and poked and prodded my the medical professionals. And the shots. Oh, the shots. I felt like I was fifty percent insulin by the time they let me go home. But, I am home. My sugar is getting closer to normal. I'm not supposed to be doing anything strenuous. (I had trouble even walking for a few days.) I spent some time sorting and organizing the studio. I missed four days on my daily art. I had no idea it had been so long. I thought it was one day. I'm out of work, so I have time to sleep, recover, and paint. Because I want to paint, not because I'm supposed to. The first few efforts fizzled out, but that's okay. I'm still moving. I still have my GoFundMe if you want to add a few bucks. I had a speck of an idea yesterday. Faces and lines and geometry. No idea if it will work out, but I'm working a sketchbook pretty hard to see if it solidifies. So, that's my story. I didn't change any names, 'cause no one is innocent. Now, here's some art:

  
AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

Crawling, But At Least Going Forward

   Okay, I'm here again. I've had some trouble getting motivated as of late. Especially when it comes to getting artwork sold. I've been doing challenges and such and it keeps me creating on a daily basis. My wife bought me an easel for my birthday in December, and I've found a taboret ( a small table for holding art supplies while an artist creates.) so I've been working on a big sized painting. It hasn't been flowing out like I would hope it would, but I'm working on it.
   I've also been to the doctor, who prescribed new medicine for me. It's helping with my digestive issues, but it gives me horrible cotton mouth, which in turn causes me to drink a lot of liquid. Fortunately a lot of the liquid is water, which in turn is helping me to lose weigh. That's a good thing, but all this peeing is starting to get to me. I suppose i should find a happy medium soon. And I should be happy that I've dropped about twenty five pounds so far. Without and dietary changes. I'm also feeling kinda light headed at times, I have a hard time motivating, my vision seems kinda blurry, and I'm tired a lot of the time. Could also be the weather I suppose. I guess I'll fight through.
    My latest project has been a Hand Challenge. I've been drawing a hand every day, in ink. Hands have notoriously given me trouble, so I'm gonna improve. Just like I did with faces. I do feel like I'm making progress. I haven't missed a day yet, which is a good thing. However I have no idea how many days in a row I've done, which is not so good. Here's some hands:

  I still do some small acrylics on a semi-daily basis:

 So, I'm still creating, but I'm having trouble making progress on the business end of things. I do have a GoFundMe right now in hopes of raising money for some of the dozen or so projects I've been wanting to start. I was hoping to do better. Any little bit helps, even if it's only a dollar. Everything is appreciated. I hope for this to get me going all the way through summer. Anyway, that's where I'm at.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

P.S. I've had to reboot my computer twice today. Mo problems

This Just In

  Well, November is coming to an end and with December comes the end of the year. December also brings the one year anniversary of my move back to Cape Girardeau. I still don't have all our stuff moved up here from Paducah. I've been taking a trip back once a week for the past month or so to get everything moved. It's been a stressful stretch, but I do have most of my books here and better than half of my art supplies. My studio is coming together. Finally. My supply shelves are up. My book shelves are up. I just don't have the ability to get the bigger stuff. Like my easels. My poor easels. Weather permitting I'm gonna take another trip tomorrow.

              There's Some Hope For My Sanity.

 

    I've finished my year long (2)daily painting(s) challenge. I finished Inktober. I still do a daily painting, unless I REALLY don't want to, but I've staked out another challenge. I'm doing #handchallenge. I'm drawing a hand (or hands, depending on the source material) every day. I have started a new sketchbook for this. I believe it is sixty pages, so I got about two months of daily hands to cover. Hands have always been a weak spot for me and I want to change that. You can check them out at my online portfolio, here click

           Now, Here's Something You'll Really Like 

 

"Muddy" from Inktober

"Tranquil" from Inktober

"Handpicked" from HandChallenge

 "Circle Back Around" from my Daily Paintings

"Last Minute Tricks" from my Daily Paintings

   I'm staying busy. Not as productive as I'd like, but I'm getting better. I've got projects that I've started that I'd been putting off. I could use some help, but I'll make it on my own if I need to. I always have. Thanks for stopping by.

AKO ANG HARI

     DOUG

Here I Am Again

   I'm working some new projects. Some have me more excited than others, but that can change as time goes on. My daughter conned me into doing the Inktober Challenge:

Some of the prompts are interesting, some aren't so much:

"Spell"? Come on! I think there's gonna be some more iffy (at best) prompts before the month is over. I started, so I'm gonna finish.
    I'm also looking to do a book of all my daily paintings from my "Year Of Daily Paintings" challenge that I gave myself. It's something I think will be very interesting, if only to see how I improved. Unfortunately, I have no real idea what order they go in. By "they" I mean the 369 watercolor paintings and 368 acrylic paintings I did. I can look on my social media profiles to see what order they were in, but holy cow that's gonna be a lot of work. Unless someone out there has a better idea. I was thinking that the metadata in the pictures may help get them in order, but sometimes thinking gets me in trouble.
    I'm also puzzling over how to get the rest of our stuff from our old house to our new house. I'm up for suggestions here too. Hopefully it'll work out soon. Anyway, that's pretty much where I'm at now. So, here's some new art:

    AKO ANG HARI
         DOUG