"Ungainly Grace"

 Ballpoint pen

 4" X 6"

 Above is a sketch I did a while back from a National Geographic article and have always wanted to share it. 

I'm a sucker for good writing and loved the article written by Mel White. It inspired me to do this little sketch 

and made me look at this unique creature in a different way. Hope it does the same for you. :) 

                                                              

 "The pelican inspires laughter and wonder, and, maybe even more, a kind of affectionate empathy: After all, who among us hasn't at times felt awkward and unlovely, and yet imagined that - given room to stretch our wings - we just might be beautiful."~Mel White

         

You can read Mel's article here.

The Soul of a Tree

"There is no such thing as a great talent without great willpower."
~Honore de Balzac

I'm back after neglecting my blog for a while. Below is a little drawing of a tree that I always notice outside my window. It looks like such a character and I enjoy seeing its changes every season. Yesterday I noticed he looked extra grumpy as the snow piled up on top.

The Soul of a Tree
Colored Pencil on Toned Paper
2011


The phenomenon of seeing faces or shapes like this has been explained as
Apophenia, which "is the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data."
If you'd like to see some wonderful examples visit this blog post by James Gurney.