Weekly Sketch - Light or Dark?

Does the Sun Shine, or the Moon?

When I look at you,
I see the glitter of stars.
When I look at you,
I see the bright sun.
Yet when I look at you,
I see clouds of day.
Yet when I look at you,
I see the bright moon.
Oh bright darkness,
Oh dark light!
Such trouble,
Such strife!
You seem to want to cut my mind
like a knife.
That starry night.
You come in confusion and cause
A turbulent fright.
That starry night.

The poetry above is me trying to make Ekphrastic poetry, which is poetry about a painting that reveals deeper meaning of it (though I don't think I've actually drawn on a deeper meaning). The poetry is saying, basically, that the edited Starry Night is confusing, because it does not appear to be clear that it is night, or day.
In this piece, I edited Starry Night to make it brighter, and cause the colors to be more vibrant. I was originally going to make it a German Starry Night, but Corel Paint would not cooperate when I wanted to add the German coat of arms and national flower. I kept trying to paste it, but it either kept making the picture too big, or would not let me put the file on my blog (I originally saved as a Riff file to save the layers, but it would not let me open it after that).

Just Paintin'

This is a drawing I did in Corel Paint. It isn't very good - Don't be deceived. The fiber-like mane, gloopy body, faded vines, grainy ground, and painted sky are mainly due to different brush types. I used the "Fiber brush" for the mane, the "Gloop brush" for the body, and many others for other effects. This piece features a lion. I wanted to make it be in a jungle, surrounded by leaves, but I ended up causing the background to be flat and simple - an all too common mistake of mine. The same green, flat grass and blue sky seem to be the typical background for my drawings. Anyway, this was just me playing around in Corel paint to get to know how it works.

Weekly Sketch - My Favorite Books

This weekly sketch is dedicated to my favorite books. I did not create any of these pictures, but I cut them from other pictures and edited them in an attempt to make them fit in. Most of these pictures are also official illustrations or book covers, while some are not. In the top right, there is an owl from St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls holding Soren, who is an owlet. These owls are from the book series Owls of Ga' Hoole by Katheryn Lasky, one of my absolute favorites. Next to the owl on the top left, you can vaguely see an eye. This eye belongs to the "Receiver of Memory" from a book known as The Giver, by Lois Lowry. At the botton left, you can see a mockingbird. This represents the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the center, you can see a book by Mark Twain. This is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In front of it, you can see an orange cat named Firepaw from the Warriors series, by Erin Hunter. In front of him, there is another, smaller cat named Socks, from Socks by Beverly Cleary. I have read this same book around five times. To the far right, you can see a dog named Scruffy, wearing a rope chain. This dog is from a book called Scruffy, by Jack Stoneley. And finally, the background is supposed to be a pile of burning books, from the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. These books are some of, but not all of, my favorite books.

Weekly sketch - "Stabh Arkai - That greedy, selfish soul"

This is a weekly sketch of Stabh Arkai. I drew this on a sheet of notebook paper, then edited it in an app called Sketchbook Express. I was inspired to create this because I wished to do something unexpected. On my weekly sketch of Focus, the cybernetic dragon who is burning books, to the left there is a monitor that shows a quote from Stabh Arkai stating the definition of "E-day". The name "Stabh Arkai" is a random name I came up with just to make someone say what E-day was. Now, I have decided to draw him here. Stabh Arkai is a major influence in the society's decision to burn books and lean on technology. While Stabh is not the ruler, he is so rich that he owns almost all stock in every company, and is powerful because of it. He is very selfish and greedy. It is due to him that so many creatures are now half robotic (Since they are forced to do this... It shows that Stabh Arkai causes despair and pain for others in his greed... like many people today... who need a Saviour to save them from their greed and all other sin, for they cannot escape without Jesus), and why no one wants books anymore. His company is one of the largest, and it is his fault technology has destroyed the kingdom as much as it has done, for he has brainwashed many people to rely solely on technology so he can make much more money (as if he needs it). Here he has a blow torch and mask and is creating a cybernetic plate.

Revision of an Old Cereal Box

This is an old Cocoa Puffs cereal box I traced over using Illustrator pen tools, to make it look new. I found this relatively difficult at times, for the pen tool did not seem to want to cooperate. This was mainly on the letters, and odd shapes. I ended up using line tools on the letters, though even those presented some issues. When I would try to add the middle line in "A"s, or the middle line for "E"s, the line would cause part of the letter to disappear. To solve this, I made the lines separate, then moved them to their proper location. I would like to add that, although the letters were difficult to make, my main problem was the colors and the stroke of the pen tool. When I would select a color for the stroke, then one for the main fill, the stroke became transparent. To solve this, I had to try flipping the colors of the stroke and main part, re-select, flip, etc. I did this for almost everything requiring an outline, and I had great difficulty.

Weekly sketch

This is a picture I drew of Toothless. This was the first picture I drew on my phone, and it was not very good at first. Later, I revised it and added shading, highlights, the blue glow from his mouth (supposed to mean he is about to shoot fire), his eyes being more vibrant, the background, and some other slight revisions here and there. I was inspired by speed drawing I saw on YouTube awhile back to revise this picture and try to make it look more "realistic". Though it does not in any way look realistic, I did make it look better than it did. All in all, not a great piece, but I think it is decent.

E-day post

For this picture, I had to take three photos in order that I could show the details which were hard to see and read. This picture depicts a cybernetic dragon named Focus burning books. Why is it burning books? Because the society has decided to destroy all things natural and revert to technology. On the top right, there is a monitor showing a quote by the developer of a company called Electronic Development Inc. The quote reads, "E-day: A day assigned for students to learn their subjects via their electronic devices." The day this event occurs is on E-day. At the bottom of the picture, there is a shaded mammalian-dragon like creature. The creature is starving,  but living for technology, it does not care. It makes the remark that it spent three days studying on its electronic box (phone), and that it is its life. In the flames, there are many books burning, of them: "Don Quixote", "History? Mystery? Rowen Oak", "Fahrenheit 451", and many more. I tried to make it ironic that Fahrenheit is being burned, for in that book, the government forces all its citizens to burn books. 

The Portrait of a Person

Here is the portrait of a person I made in illustrator. I selected each different shape of color with the pen tool, then filled them each in with the main color of the shape selected.

In the midst of trouble, He is my Comforter.

In the midst of trouble, I will be delivered.
In the midst of trouble, through every endeavor,
I will be delivered.
When mountains fall,
and the brave all stall,
when the floods come crashing down,
and the plagues come to every town;
when the darkness reigns,
and I am in chains;
I will always be delivered.
For there is One Who is greater
Than all of these things;
for there is One Who loves me,
to Whom my heart sings,
and He will deliver me.
He will always deliver me.
He is a shield to those,
who He rose;
He is the Protector of all,
who trust in Him.
He will never let His children fall,
we trust in Him.
We will be safe...
we will always be safe.
This is why I Love Him,
He has saved me.
This is why I Love Him,
He has Loved me.
He Loves you,
He wants to protect you.
Go to Him.
He can save you from your sin.
Let Him heal you,
for He is true.

The poetry above summarizes why I created this piece. I created this to remind everyone that sorrow is only for a moment, for those who live for the Lord and Jesus Christ. I sometimes find myself terrified of the whole world, of everything around me, and I will remind myself that Jesus is always with me, and sorrow will not win.
This piece was done in Photoshop... I drew the background to have the shadows of three different creatures who are endangering the one in the center, which is sorrowful, even though there are reminders all around it that there is no need for sorrow, for sorrow cannot win. The creature is sad because it is scared, though it need not be, just as followers of Christ do not need to. I made the text out of the line tool to give it the feel that it was written on the wall. The creature is neon green so that it stands out, just like the "t" in "the" is made white to appear to be glowing, for it is a Cross, and is giving light, just as what the Cross symbolizes (Jesus's death and Resurrection to free us from our sin) gives Light. The word joy is also glowing to emphasize the fact that joy will come, after all of this is over... Joy will come. And these evil, painful, and terrible things that are suffered now will only be for a moment, for those who choose to Love the Lord Jesus and accept His Love, the Love He longs to give us (He Loves you). Then joy will be, and all those who give their lives to Jesus to save them from their sin (for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God) and love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength will be Loved, and we will live with greater joy than imaginable forever. We will be in Heaven with our Savior, Jesus, and our Father, God (Jesus and God are One Person, but Jesus is also God's Son. I think it is kind of like how water is one substance, but has solid, liquid, and vaporous forms, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the same God, but are different "forms") We are already Loved more than we can imagine, all people are Loved, but we must choose to be Saved through Jesus's Blood, for He died for all people, and all are able to be Saved now. We must accept our Savior wholeheartedly. Through Jesus, and Jesus only, can we have pure joy that lasts forever. Through Jesus, and Jesus only, can we Love God and Love Him. ONLY Jesus can Save us from our sins because we have no power whatsoever against our sin. In order to follow God, we have to accept Jesus so that His Blood, shed for us, can cleanse us from sin and bridge the huge gap between us and God. Jesus is the only One Who can reconcile us to God. Trusting in Jesus, and truly Loving Him is what keeps us from sinning and being far from God. I believe sin is the absence of God, that is why it is so terrible. Because God is Love, God is all things truly good. Without God, there is no comfort, peace, life, joy, hope, faith, truth, harmony, especially no Love, and no things good. God IS Love, and the only reason people go to hell is because they reject Jesus, they reject God, and since God is just, and gives us free will, He removes Himself from any who do not want Him, because they do not want Him. Therefore, that is why people go to hell. I do not believe they are sent there, but hell is the only place where God completely is not. I believe if God removes Himself from someone, because they do not want Him, that's where hell is. I believe that hell is the absolute absence of God. God does NOT want people to go there. He LOVES you! He Loves you more than you can imagine! Accept Him now, for He's here right now, and it is not too late yet. Don't wait until it is too late. Jesus Loves you NOW.