No matter how many times I draw figures, I'm still filled with joy when they turn out well. The more I depict nature's creations the more I fall in love with them, plants animals and all.

It's been a while.

I took a vacation last week for the first time in several years. I didn't do much while I was away, but having all that time without having anything to worry about was a big help. My sleep schedule got somewhat fixed and I feel much less stressed than before, even though I returned to work today with the same general burdens and load as before. We'll see how long that lasts.

Tonight was the first night in a long long time where I ran out of things to do. It's kind of nice, not putting pressure on myself to make every single minute count for something. I have several things I would like to finish, but they will all get done in their proper time.

I'm tempted to turn the above sketch into a digital piece, but I really want to keep practicing with colored pencils. I've been trying to render the bottom-most sketch as a finished piece, but I still need to practice rendering plants. I find when I try to identify or formulate a process for something I wind up doing a lot worse than if I just go with it, but as a consequence it feels like each new piece is discovering the process all over again.

I am going to be selling some of my work in a marketplace in a couple of weeks, in a rather unique form. I am looking forward to it, though to be honest I don't expect anyone to buy.