Bearded

So much for keeping it weekly. I have literally grown a long beard in the amount of time it has taken for me to get back to this.
That's pretty sad (also pretty funny), but the beard is cool. If you're someone I went to high school with or had as a teacher at that time: I told you it was going to happen.

It shows off my Irish.  

The idea for growing a beard came from multiple sources, but you'll have to stay tuned to learn more about the main inspiration.

I haven't been entirely useless in my time away, which you've seen if you've been following the work I've been posting to Instagram (@d.sohoza). My posting on there isn't even as consistent as I'd like, so really there's a lot more work that you haven't seen.
I swear, in my heart, I'm trying to work up to making an improvement in my consistency. It bothers me, it really does. It's also hard to stay focused when you lose hope a lot, which is another thing I have to work on. There's that quote about being a bunch of flaws stitched together with good intentions that comes to mind...

Anyway, here's a quick look at some of the things I've been working on…
(At this stage they're all works in progress besides the two matted pieces.)

A History of Graphic Design class project, making eight different manuscript pages in eight different styles from various time periods. 

I'm no stranger to watercolors, but it has been a long while since I've used them, so my preconceived idea of how fast I could finish these far exceeded reality.

A two-piece, unnamed miniseries based on a related grouping of five objects. My decided theme was arson. The first piece is a still life made up of cross-contour lines and a bit of stippling. The second piece had to incorporate at least some of the objects from the first in an imaginative way.

This design that I made in Photoshop (I still need to teach myself Illustrator) is one of three. Each of them using the same magazine ad as reference, but portrayed in different design styles. This one is in the Vienna Secession style.

The Rose Cones series. One still life from one perspective drawn in three different mediums in three different styles: pencil contours, values in red and black ink, and gestures in charcoal and conté. Realistically drawing a pine cone exactly how you see it is more challenging than I would have guessed.  

A drawing class assignment to construct an abstract image using only triangles, squares, and rectangles. We had to use changes in value to define the shapes' edges.

If you know me, you know I'm not a big fan of abstract, so it had to resemble something. I'm calling it Approaching Destiny.

Childhood, conté 18x24"

Water & Fire, 16½ x 22½"

I had two still life pieces entered into the LAND's 2016 art contest and conference, Pathways. I didn't win anything and wasn't able to go, but it was a cool opportunity for my art anyway.

Realistically drawing a still life of gourds using cross-contour lines. I also decided to step up my fold game for this one.  

Another cross-contour drawing, but this time, of an animal. This is a viscacha, a relative of the chinchilla. It will be the first piece I get back to work on after the manuscript pages are completed.

…as well as some others that we can talk about later.

And now that you're filled in, we'll get back to your regularly scheduled program.
I hope you'll be back to read and see more.