Art by PAZ

Visual storyteller.

[artbypaz]

Back By Popular Demand.

As I go about my creative journey I've been lucky enough to have certain drawing series follow me through the various stages of my career and mostly it's because I enjoy the subject matter or because I find myself growing a new perspective each time I return to that subject matter. But sometimes I also find myself returning to drawing series or subjects because people love them. That's kinda the story with my charcoal birds.

They started off as a simple set of 3 bird silhouettes on 5 x 7 paper that I drew with charcoal. They ended up being some of my earliest sales with me being inspired to not only draw more birds each time but also to bump up the sizes eventually going on the explore different toned papers.

This latest batch of Charcoal Birds are the biggest I've done so far. Each drawing was hand drawn by myself using photo references I took myself on my morning walks. I wanted each drawing to feel individual yet I wanted them all to somehow feel united.

I decided to break the birds into 3 groups using toned papers. I would do:

x3 Drawings using Strathmore's Grey Toned Paper. x3 Drawings using Strathmore's Tan Toned Paper. x3 Drawings using a Beige Toned Paper from Canson Papers.

I've grown fond of using Strathmore's Toned Mixed Media Papers for my Charcoal Birds. Both tones contrast very nicely with the charcoal. both papers are soft, and smooth to the touch which allows me to manipulate the charcoal nicely and allows me to build textures easily. That is where my first two groups are born. But I felt they were missing something. Each bird felt like they had more to say and they did. Each one has such personality their stories jumping out at me. Each one more hilarious than the last.

I find birds to be some of the more humorous creators in our world, but I also wanted this batch to feel more fun, more approachable to contrast the charcoal and silhouettes. Maybe striking a nice little balance for myself.

First group done was The Tan Toned group:

The first drawing completed in this batch was this drawing. This drawing not only established the tone, look and feel of this new batch of charcoal birds. This was based off a sketch I did of a bird on the fence of my backyard early one morning.

The way the bird faced away from me, not caring about me as if that say it had something bigger to announce to the world as it sang out. The moment felt big and epic to this tiny creature. I asked myself: "What is a tongue in cheek way to communicate this bird's big epic moment?" and thus the title and more importantly the tone of the remaining piece's titles was established:

'Wendell Announces His Candidacy.'

Silly, absurd, and not to be taken seriously. The three things I live for. But there was one more big decision I believe really helped finish off this piece and the set. I painted the Matte Board with Black 3.0 from Culture Hustle. The blackest black paint in the world. The deep black surrounding the drawing really allows Wendell's moment to pop as if floating in the endlessness of life.

The second addition to the Tan Grouping was inspired by a photo of a bird I took on my morning walk. The Bird would make a noise but then pause for a moment before sqawking again the whole thing had a rhythm to it. When I approaching a scene of two characters talking or a character on the phone I try to find the rhythm of a conversation. The back and forth between the two even if we might not hear what's being said on one end we should still feel the rhythm of the conversation happening. This bird's squawking had that rhythm.

I'm not sure what he was talking about but it sounded important so thus the title of this bird's important conversation was born:

'Ulysses on the Phone with Kevin Hart.'

A fun snap shot into Ulysses' life as he navigates Hollywood and the comedy scene. I expect great things from him.

Rounding out The Tan Group is a drawing based off a bird I saw on a chair in the food court of an outdoor mall. I was attending a festival at AMC Theaters where they showed every Best Picture Nomination for The Academy Awards. It was awesome. Anyway, I met this fine gentleman here and snapped his photo.

The drawing itself needed a title. I wanted something a little more open ended for this. I wanted the slight uncomfortableness that comers with certain political conversations yet however uncomfortable they must be spoken because those are the conversations worth having.

It was this mindset that the title was born:

'Jeffery Discussing Geopolitics'.

I wasn't able to stay long enough to hear his opinions but I am happy to announce that Jeffery has found a loving home.

Already smiling and giggling to myself as I finished off the Tan Group. I couldn't be happier.

I wanted to continue the series with another Strathmore paper I've grown fond of The Gray Toned Paper:

The first of the Grey Group was inspired by this rebel here that I met sitting on top of a DO NOT LOITER sign. What was badass. His message was simple he is an anarchist who won't be bound by our laws. I had to respect it. He didn't sing or speak much. He just let his silent protest speak for itself.

'Edward at a Loitering Protest.'

But not all birds have political careers. One cloudy morning I captured a photo of a bird. It kept singing the same notes over and over. The exact same tone, exact same arrangement. For me if I ever need to memorize something I just gotta speak it to myself over and over again until it drives me mad but then I never forget it.

She was clearly trying to memorize something important. As I stared up at the bird I found myself asking: "What's so important that a bird need to memorize something?" Well... a one woman show of course.

'Gail Rehearsing for Her One Woman Show.'

Finishing off The Grey Group was a bird that really perplexed me. As the sun rose it just looked out in silence. No song, no noise just silent reflection as if it were pondering something.

"What Would a Bird Ponder?"

Well... in my mind... probably what we all do:

'Bella Meditating on What Drink to Get White Girl Wasted On.'

Finally The Beige Group:

The Final Group I used a Beige Toned Paper from Canson Paper. For all the reasons I love Strathmore's toned papers I love this Canson Paper. The paper has a very deep texture that gives each of these drawings it's own very unique textures. I think it complimented the charcoal beautifully.

This Humming Bird was expressing such beautiful liberation I figured it was celebrating something truly freeing and beautiful. Noticing she was alone and yet such a commanding force I knew what she had to be celebrating:

'Kelly Finally Celebrating Her Divorce.'

This sweet bird. So shy and quiet tucked away in the branches. Across from her another beautiful bird. She stared silently, breathing heavily. The story told itself for me:

'Meredith Gathering the Strength to Ask Out Her Crush.'

Finally, to take it all home was this lovely bird. This bird felt tired and sluggish, like it had been through a long journey much like how I felt. A sensation I feel we all know all to well. The title wrote itself:

'Donna When She was Hungover After Coachella.'

Each drawing cost me $147.00 worth of material to create. So I decided to charge $247.00 per drawing.

All of these brand new Charcoal Bird Drawings are on display and for sale inside of Torque Coffee!! Be sure to grab yourself one of the many delicious coffees, teas or pastries they have available and check out my drawings!!

If you're interested in PURCHASING any of these Charcoal Bird Drawings please DM me via:

Instagram: @art_by_PAZ

Also be sure to follow:

Torque Coffee Instagram: @torquecoffees

Strathmore Artist Papers Instagram: @strathmoreart

Canson Paper Instagram: @cansonpaper

Thank you all for reading and for your continued support. More to come soon.

-Paz

[artbypaz]

Reflection: Coffee. By Paz (Entry #1)

This past weekend I put on a one day pop up Solo Art Show based around Coffee at Torque Coffee a local coffee shop in San Diego. I kept a sketchbook which I used coffee as the primary medium. I took my time with this concept and tried to give each entry in the sketchbook it's own unique feel. I want to really explore the creative range of coffee beyond flavor. Here's where we're at so far:

I knew I needed a unique sketchbook for this unique project. Pentalic is a brand of sketchbook I've been purchasing almost since the beginning of me learning to draw. I always enjoyed their uniquely sized sketchbooks as well as the quality of their paper. I've yet to encounter a medium their paper can't handle. They are not sponsoring me or anything I'm simply saying I dig them. So, I saw this a good opportunity to try out their 6 x 12 mixed media 'Nature Sketch' sketchbook. The funky size inspired me to look beyond the drink to see coffee as more of an art tool and probably more importantly as a new way to express myself creatively. My theory being that it's important to keep learning and trying new forms of art in this stage of my journey. I knew the paper could handle the coffee because I've used this paper for much crazier mediums.

If I had to describe coffee as an artistic or creative medium I'd say it's closer to watercolor more than anything else or ink as a close second when it becomes more like sludge. The very first thing I noticed with those early sketches was not only how beautiful coffee's color range was but also how wide! Seeing such a vast color range inspired me to search more into images I thought could be interesting. I didn't want to just paint people drinking coffee. I wanted to see what the color could do on it's own. I'm lucky enough to own a set of very fancy Japanese ink brushes that a family friend, Mara, brought back for me from when she lived in Japan. These brushes handle ink and watercolor like a dream and offer the best control compared to other ink brushes I've used so I figured they could also handle the coffee. I brewed some coffee to keep in my ink jar and decided to go for something more familiar to myself.

I don't drink coffee. I never liked the taste, or the way it made me feel apart from the lovely scent I don't really have much thought on coffee in general so it was easy for me to find thinks I love that aren't associated with the drink.

Birds are go to for me. I love birds. I love their beautiful and gentleness combined with unlimited freedom and brutal strength. After this early sketch I immediately became comfortable with the coffee. As I continued to sketch I found myself growing my own unique love with coffee. The beautiful smell combined with the gorgeous color really inspired me.

The following sketches are some of my favorites from the sketchbook:

The more I continued to work the more I wanted to explore mixing watercolor with the coffee but after a few pieces I made using simple instant coffee I began to wonder if the quality or type of coffee will change the color or depth of the pieces.

I was growing more and more comfortable as I studied the substance of coffee more I began to think about a hook. How do I make this truly stand out? How do I not only create beautiful art that satisfies myself but on top of that how do I create some sort of sensory experience that will help contribute to a moment people can connect themselves with my art? It slowly began to make sense to me.

I had started to do business with a local company by the name of 'Bizarre Bazaar Vending Machines' who specialize in bringing creative artistic and artisan items to the public through the use of colorfully decorative vending machines where anyone can purchase items made from local artists, artisans, and small businesses.

I was assigned to a vending machine in a coffee shop known as 'Torque Coffee' and that's really when everything began to click together for myself.

The concept hit me fast and hard: 'Checking out art made from the same coffee you are drinking'. How fun is that?

After working on a few more sketches with this concept in mind I turned my attention to 'Torque Coffee' and their wonderful owners and staff. Not only did they love the concept but on top of hosting my very own One Day Pop-Up Art Show they also offered up some of their very own 'Demi-Drop' 1/2 Caf. coffee which is a Honey Mango, Fruit Punch flavored inspired coffee. I couldn't wait to get to work.

I decided on doing a few more sketches with The Demi Drop coffee just to really get familiar with not only the color but the strength of the coffee and also with the smell, the taste and feel of the coffee so that it can influence me completely.

Any nerves I may have had when I started working with this coffee immediately went away when I started working with it. The color alone is gorgeous. Almost red in hue but still within that range of brown so it can still communicate as coffee provided a very unique look to all the pieces I sketched out in my sketchbook.

I truly love working with this coffee. Beautiful smell, beautiful color, beautiful substance. It's really that simple.

I was having a ton of fun creating the line work. I specifically the contrast between Torque Coffee's Demi Drop the soft red brown color and the deep black color of Posca's PC-1M 0.7mm Acrylic Bullet Shaped Pen. The bold color reminded me of working on comics again and provided a very clean look the pieces. I also grew fond of combining the coffee with Tombow ABT's 837 Red Ink Brush Pen. The slight bleeding from the red ink of the pen mixing with the light Demi Drop coffee provided a very unique style that has stuck around in my mind begging to be explored some more.

I was getting there. I knew what I wanted, I had concepts bouncing around in my head and with everyone at Torque Coffee giving me creative freedom to express myself I was ready to move forward to create some show worthy pieces.

Before that I had one last thing to choose: The Paper. What paper was I going to use to tie this whole concept together. I love paper. Again the range as far what types of paper are out there is almost endless. I knew I wanted something similar to the Pentalic Nature Sketch paper but I wanted that sort of brought everything together and had a little more texture. I began to look through my extensive collection of paper I have available to myself and found:

First of all, you can never go wrong with Canson and they also do not sponsor me. They're just awesome. But I also wanted to find some paper that would help highlight and compliment the coffee. In short: I wanted truly show off the beauty of the color of brown and it's creative range.

This collection of Canson papers that celebrate Earth Tones was exactly what I was looking for. A gorgeous selection of brown toned papers to show of the beauty of my brown coffee.

I was ready.

I gathered some final references and then I spent the rest of the month creating...

I'm often asked: 'How long do you normally spend on pieces?'

I don't usually think of art in that way. Every piece grows at it's own pace. Some come to my mind, and are out in the world within mere hours of their creation off to tell their own story. Others take longer to grow, they need more layers, more care, more subtext. There is no right or wrong way there is simply process. Some are ready to go, some need to spend time at home and some may never leave your side. You gotta' love them all... even the ugly ones.

I grew more and more proud with each piece. I fell in love time and time again. I am proud of my art and this journey I am just beginning. I know I've started something I'm going to want to continue to explore and build on.

The response was overwhelming for everyone with 4 sales being made the day of my Pop Up show. I was blown away. For those that missed it never fear for this is merely the beginning and I plan on continuing to explore this concept and story in many ways.

Thank you for reading!!

I hope you have enjoyed this first entry. I will be continuing to add entries as I continue to make breakthroughs with this concept and new creative style.

For more of my art you can follow me on:

Instagram: @art_by_PAZ

Facebook: Facebook.com/artbypaz

Threads: @artbypaz

Bluesky: @artbypaz.bsky.social

Thank you to everyone who read my little article, thank you everyone who came to the Pop Up Show, thank you to everyone who contributed to any of my art in anyway, and thank you anyone who has purchased any art from me it is with all your combined kindness that I am able to continue to grow into the visual storyteller I would like to one day become.

I'll leave you with this short video featuring all the pieces I created for the Coffee. By PAZ One Day Solo Pop Up Show and a list of thank yous and credits.

-PAZ 4/2/2025

Thank you to:

Figure Study Models in Sketchbook: Angelica Kvasnitsya, Carla Guetta Cohen, Jessica Werheim, Loriane Rizzo, Luna Bonilla Duque, Eva Adams, Kerrie Fewings Meikle, Hana Pedrazzi, Kaitlyn Hutchins and Danielle Slemons.

Materials: Torque Coffee, Pentalic, Canson, Posca, Mara Capella, Tombow, NesCafe, Staedlter and Artists & Crafstman Supply.

Torque Coffee Owners & Staff.

[artbypaz]

'Unplugged': A Sci-Fi Short Film

'Unplugged' is a Sci-Fi short film I co-wrote with my long time creative partner and collaborator Jeremie Porcin. This story was born out of frustration. A very specific frustration that was felt during The COVID Pandemic but carried on a lot farther for us, and in fact it still carries on today. Jeremie lives in France and I live in United States which makes our collaborations possible thanks you technology but still very frustrating. Working with someone in a completely different time zone and trying to sync up and create something is incredibly difficult. But what was born out of this frustration did result in an incredible solo directorial debut for Jeremie Porcin.

Filmed in France by Jeremie using all practical effects gives this quiet Sci-Fi short film such a unique feel and vibe that only Jeremie can capture. I'm so honored to be a small part of this project. The theme of technology and have to converse through screens with a strong urge to communicate with someone face to face is something I think all people can now say they have a sort of grasp and connection with.

Please help support indie filmmaking by watching 'Unplugged' in the link down below.

Enjoy the film, if you like it please give it a thumbs up, and please share it with someone you think will enjoy it.

[artbypaz]

Art Deep Dive #2: 'Left with Nothing, Somehow She Still Survives'

Left With Nothing, She Still Survives

When I was 29 I was in the middle of my art studio sprinting to get as many pieces done for a charity art show as I could. I was putting on the show to help support the people in Ukraine including a close friend and fellow filmmaker I knew. I wanted to work in a wide range of art for the show to appeal to more people. One of the styles I wanted to work in was nude figure drawing. I think nude figure drawings are a very effective and pretty universal way to communicate emotions and states of mind without using words, as well as being the most effective way to tell a story with images. They are also a fascinating collaboration between two artists: the artist drawing and the artist modeling. Between these two you are expressing a few things: the first being a level of comfort and intimacy between two humans attempting to create something beautiful using only their bodies, the second an emotion, concept, or story as being expressed through the natural human state, and third you are displaying the beauty of the human body in any state of being. Now the next thing I had to do was figure out how to find the beauty in one of the horrific and truly disgusting acts in human history. Easy, right?

At the time I had an art studio at Art on 30th Gallery in San Diego. It was an excellent learning experience and a very easy re-welcoming into the world after such a long time in complete isolation. The gallery offered a Nude Figure Drawing Group that I was lucky enough to be a part of. Knowing this was coming up, I decided to dip into reading articles, watching videos, and talking to a friend living in Ukraine. I can never say this process was fun to experience, but as an artist, I think I still had to find something within the situation that would alter my perspective. Within the alteration of perspective, I can at least find a respect for anything that alters my perspective in any way, good or bad.

Perspective (noun):  A way of thinking about and understanding something (such as a particular issue or life in general).

Perspective has always been an important tool for me when it comes to storytelling. I love being able to get into a character’s heart, soul, and mind because somewhere in between lies their perspective of life, and within that is the answer to who they are. 

After all the research and inspiration recon I had so many questions, so many horrifying images in my mind both real and imagined as a result of the real images (overactive imaginations go both ways). I had to meditate on the subject. I tried to put myself in the shoes of a human trapped in a war zone; as a human only armed with first-world problems and experiences these thoughts began to truly scare me. I pushed past the fear, forcing myself to explore deeper than surface-level fear. I began to drift into the realm of the humans that somehow survived these invasions and whose lives are now dictated by the very thing that has taken so much from them. I began to think about other tragedies throughout history. I began to think about those very few but often very strong humans who managed to survive such monumental atrocities. My thoughts became a little more clear until I reached the question: “When a human is stripped to nothing, how are they able to continue surviving?”

Sleepless nights feeling guilt and wondering if I was doing enough - helping enough - or if I was simply watching naked people struggle. I took these thoughts into the next Figure Drawing Group session.

Our nude figure model Michele Gregoire was perfect for what I wanted to communicate. She was very petite and thin. I could see her ribs and her stomach appeared sunken in. She had a gentle, calm beauty about her. She had a vase with her as a modeling item. Something about this pose struck me. This was it, this was the story I’ve been looking for. The character was there in front of me in this pose, in the expression on her face, in the smaller details of her body allowing her figure to tell this character’s journey. It was truly an honor to work with Michele and she is an amazing model who is not afraid to make bold, beautiful, poses that are perfect for storytelling. I reached for a sort of orange-toned paper. I wanted to give the paper a bit of texture before I drew the figure so I rubbed charcoal all over my hands and simply ran my hands all over the page leaving beautiful, soft streaks of dust and shadows. From there, with graphite, I drew out the pose. I had planned on using charcoal or even oil pastel but the more I continued to sketch and draw the figure out I enjoyed the graphite look. I continued to work with heavier graphite adding shadows and highlights until I was happy. By the time I was finished, I knew the piece didn’t need color or charcoal. It was complete.

After letting the piece rest I went back to it the next day. The title simply floated to me: ‘Left with Nothing, She Still Survives’. I cut a 12 x 24 x 1-inch wood panel where I mounted the drawing to it for display. For me, the title carries the representation of the strength of a human’s will to live. It wasn’t easy trying to find beauty within tragedy but with enough digging and searching inspiration can be found even in the most horrifying of events. This piece, although melancholic, I do believe is beautiful.

For more art check out my Instagram: @art_by_PAZ or my Facebook Page: facebook.com/artbypaz where I post my latest pieces, announcements for any other upcoming shows, and tease new artwork I’m currently working on.

‘Left with Nothing, She Still Survives’ is currently on display and for sale at SoCal Tattoo on Main Street for their ‘Black and White’ Group Exhibition until January 21st, 2024. It is open to public, along with the rest of the exhibit, for viewing and purchase during the shop's operational hours. For sale information or further information on this drawing please DM me directly.

Thank you for reading my second ‘Art Deep Dive’. I’m planning to continue this series so follow to stay updated and comment any questions you have about the process down below. Thank you again to editor Emily for making me sound coherent and not crazy.

-PAZ

[artbypaz]

Art Deep Dive #1: ‘Rooted’

Art Deep Dive #1: ‘Rooted’

When I was 29 I created this mixed medium piece I’ve titled ‘Rooted’. I love trees. They’re fascinating, kind, and inspiring. I took a trip out to Oakhurst where I met an oak tree, go figure. I was inspired by not only the size of the tree but also its beautiful leaves highlighting a gorgeous variety of greens that moved gently in the wind as the tree stood proudly on its own. I named the tree Bob Oakenkirk for my own amusement. After talking to the tree for a moment the only thing left was to paint.

I drew out a loose outline of the tree on the canvas. I love trees that twist and turn with their branches knotting into themselves. I think that’s when they really have character. Acrylic made sense for the branches, but I wanted to give the wood a shine as if a golden morning light was hitting it. So, I mixed my umbers with metallic copper and a few drops of metallic gold. Then it was just adding layer after layer. I love texture, especially in paintings. I know I’m done with one of my paintings when I want to touch it and feel every bump, every brush stroke, every layer. This piece got thick fast. I wanted the tree to feel big and mighty as well as feel alive and centered. I wanted to capture Bob’s personality. For the leaves, I added subtle textures and various shades of lighter forest-inspired green colors, as a base coat. Nothing special, just splatters and strokes here and there. The real green painting was used for the hill the tree is standing on. However, I used darker greens for that section to not take away from the focus of the tree’s leaves. Finally, that small bit of sky blue. I was finished painting but the piece was far from done.

After letting the paint set overnight, came the messy part. I knew I couldn’t capture the color value of the leaves through paint alone, I needed something that felt and looked more natural. I decided to go with a Hawaiian tissue paper dying method that my art mentor, Michael Zlocki, showed me. This involves submerging pieces of white tissue paper by hand into baths of dye, along with inks and oil paints, to create different palettes of colors and patterns then setting them all out to dry. After drying, the pieces are good to be used for art or whatever else I suppose. I cut the pieces into rounder shapes before I applied them on the canvas with a UV protective varnish giving it a result that is both eye-catching and beautiful. After I created the leaves from the tissue paper, I thought the piece was finished. After a few days, the papers finally set and I loved all the textures, but the piece still felt unfinished but I wasn’t sure why. My mentor suggested adding something or someone under the tree. I decided to add a young girl reading under the tree in acrylic paint which for me tied the whole piece together.

As an artist, I have a vast respect for anything that changes or challenges my perspective in life. I think that’s why I’m often drawn to writing or creating female characters. It’s a different perspective from my own. I wanted her to be reading because to me reading is a subtle way to communicate meditation. I love meditating, I believe it’s a great way for your mind to get rest. That being said, I believe there are an endless number of ways for people to practice meditation whether they are even aware of it or not. Some of the most enlightened, balanced people I’ve ever met are completely unaware they are that way, and it’s quite beautiful. I think reading is one of the most universal forms of meditation. It translates easily, mostly anyone can do it if they allow themselves, and that’s what I wanted. I wanted this painting to be easy to take in, to have it be easy to get lost in, like a good book. This piece represents those still, quiet moments of meditation where you get so lost in what you’re doing you don’t realize how long you’ve been sitting there. You feel at peace. Simply just existing for that moment. I hope to have captured those peaceful moments.

The title, for me, has a few meanings: ‘Rooted’ as in the girl sitting under the tree reading and getting lost in the book, and how the tree is literally rooted into the ground, but also how she is connecting herself to the tree and world around her. She’s building roots in the moment that will grow with her and help define who she is. It’s also an acknowledgment that we all come from the earth and we are rooted in it because it is our home.

‘Rooted’ is currently on display and for sale at the San Diego County Library in Imperial Beach as part of the ‘Deeply Rooted’ Art Exhibition until February 29th, 2024, and is open to the public, along with the rest of the exhibit, for viewing. For sale information or further details on the piece, please DM me directly.

For more of my art, please check out my Instagram: @art_by_PAZ or my Facebook Page: Art by PAZ, where I post my latest pieces, announcements for any upcoming shows, and tease artwork I’m currently working on.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed my first ever ‘Art Deep Dive’. I’m planning on doing more, so if you enjoyed deep diving with me please follow and comment your thoughts on the piece or ask me any questions about the process.

- PAZ

[artbypaz]

Tales from The Sketchbook #2

Welcome to a my second installment of: ‘Tales from The Sketchbook’ where I’ll be taking one sketch from one of my many sketchbooks and talk about the inspiration behind the piece and maybe any ideas on how to handle the piece moving forward. If that’s something you’re interested in be sure to like this post and follow me for future tales!!

This is a 7 x 5 inch ink sketch of a more illustrative interpretation of Death. I love ink. I think the range of color you can get from ink is so impressive and inspiring from the deepest black to the most subtle off gray. I also enjoy the sort of unpredictability ink has, you can manipulate ink to a certain extent but at some point you have to throw up your hands, shrug your shoulders and just go " I guess it looks like this now." There's something very humbling about the process and it somehow feels like the piece takes on it's own life, telling you when the drawing feels it looks good instead of waiting for you to tell the drawing it looks good. Ink is fast and is ready to run out the door before you can blink. I find myself always wanting to go back to ink because of fun and quick the process is.

I’ve always had a strange relationship with death. Growing up with severe health issues will do that to you, I think. I don’t fear death, I’m not trying to outrun it, I don’t even see death as an ending. I look at it more like getting out of one car and climbing into another. Death, like all of us, has a job to do and it’s a job not many others would like to take. For this sketch I attempted to make an “approachable” Death. I wanted Death to feel less scary or something to be feared and more of something or even someone you would want to embrace. Making Death into a fun almost cartoonish character is something I’ve always wanted to do and this is the start of the development of this character. I’m excited to continue tweaking and changing this character. In the future I’d like to make him have a little more rounder features and maybe even try to add a little more of a “cuter” or "softer" aspect to Death. I think softness is important for this series no only because it's a word most people wouldn't really associate with Death. I hope in the end this can develop into a series that maybe will challenge the audience's individual concepts of death into hopefully a more positive, soft outlook at what I consider to be such a misunderstood aspect of life.

I do hope you have enjoyed the second installment of this series! What is your favorite interpretation of Death? Please like and/or comment so I can see which sketches are peaking interest! Please follow me for more ‘Tales from the Sketchbook!!’

If you’re reading this I hope you’ve enjoyed the second installment of this series. If you want to see me continue this particular concept please comment or like it so I can see what’s doing well. Follow me for more ‘Tales from The Sketchbook’ and much more art related content I plan on posting here.

You can also check out my Instagram: @art_by_PAZ for more art and to stay up to date on any news about my art.

[artbypaz]

Tales from The Sketchbook #1

Welcome to a new series I am titling: ‘Tales from The Sketchbook’ where I’ll be taking one sketch from one of my many sketchbooks and talk about the inspiration behind the piece and maybe any ideas on how to handle the piece moving forward. If that’s something you’re interested in be sure to like this post and follow me for future tales!!

This is a 4 x 6 inch ink and watercolor sketch of a robot. I’ve been on a robot kick lately and hopefully you’ll all know why soon. But I like this little guy. Particularly I enjoy his eyes, I wanted something bright and piercing but non threatening. I kept his outline loose at least for the sketch. I inked his outline using somewhat of a hashmark style of shading that I've always loved, particularly in old peanuts comics and even the cartoon. I painting his body with watercolor and used a combination of grey but with small drops of black and red in certain sections to act as subtle shadows and highlights.

I find the image of a what would normally be a cold heartless machine holding something that represents life. So, the idea of the robot holding a sunflower wasn’t much of a stretch but for me I think this can grow to a piece that can represent the balance of nature and modern society. I think this little bot can make a cool environmental based series. I’d like to further explore this theme as well as maybe attempt to give the bot a little more personality to the robot. The robot itself I would love to communicate a sort of torment between loving life and acknowledging the damage you cause to nature from merely existing. I think it’s a difficult headspace to be in but the exhaust coming out of his back suggests he must be powered and therefor him existing and being able to experience the beauty of the world means he is killing it. The robot itself beginning to show signs of age by developing early rust suggesting that his form of technology is showing signs of being dated as its limitations become more apparent it finds itself taking time to appreciate nature and the world around it.

Anyway, if you’re reading this I hope you’ve enjoyed the first installment of this series. If you want to see me continue this particular concept please comment or like it so I can see what’s doing well. Follow me for more ‘Tales from The Sketchbook’ and much more art related content I plan on posting here.

You can also check out my Instagram: @art_by_PAZ for more art and to stay up to date on any news about my art.