Daniel Hawkins

Hello! This is my daily blog about design, fine art, and life in general. My posts tend to range anywhere from inspirational quotes by famous artists to non-sequitors from day-to-day activities. At present, I live in the Pacific Northwest where I work as an independent contractor specializing in design and illustration. If you want to learn more about me and my education, I encourage you to check out my online portfolio at www.dhawkdesign.com.

[hawkinsd]

Dog Says No to Not Voting

The day of reckoning is nearly upon us. Election day is swiftly approaching here in the US, and we’ll soon collectively determine who will be the face of our nation for at least the next four years… But many of us, myself included, are not very satisfied with the choices. Whichever side you lean toward, I’m sure we can all agree that this year’s candidates have some major flaws. Depending on your preferences, you may think one candidate is more flawed than the other, or maybe you’re thinking of writing in “Mickey Mouse” this year.

Whatever you decide to do, at least make sure your voice heard. And remember: Dog says no to “not voting”.

  Dog Says No to Not Voting was originally published on DhawkDesign

[hawkinsd]

This #drawing isn't related to the project I was working on when I shared the doodle of the frightened dog, but it was inspired by one of the comments left on that post. #catsaysyes #dogsaysno #autodesksketchbookpro - Have a good weekend, everyone!

[hawkinsd]

#drawing #bear #forest Decided to finish up this simple sketch I had started last week. #wacomcintiqcompanionhybrid

[hawkinsd]

I was working on a storyboard drawing for a project I'm working on right now. I'd rather keep the storyboard under wraps for now, but here's a drawing of a dog that was featured in a scene. What do you think he's afraid of? #drawing #process #dogs

[hawkinsd]

For some reason, I started doodling this memory from high school. My chemistry teacher had a reputation amongst the student body for being strict, very smart, and just a tad intimidating. He seemed to always have a permanent scowl on his face. Indeed, he ran a tight ship. Tomfoolery was not tolerated in the classroom - yet, behind his serious countenance, I could sense a subdued, goofy sense of humor. It partially manifested itself in the wacky, cartoon-laden ties he would wear everyday. And, on the last day of class, I clearly remember him demonstrating a highly combustible chemical reaction in a trash - safely, of course - just for the heck of it. One of my favorite memories from those days, for sure! #sheldonhighschool #copicmarkers #drawing #boom

[hawkinsd]

It may be a couple of days late, but it's never too late to be thankful for the superhero mothers in your life! #mothersday2016 #drawing

[hawkinsd]

Day 4 of the #5daydraw challenge from Von Glitschka at #lyndadotcom - #drawing with found objects. For this, the idea was to use a random trinket as an element in a drawing. The two objects I found were an old VGA adapter and a lime green binder clip. The shape of the adapter looks like the torso of a robotic suit, and the binder clip sort of looks like a miniature purse... So I came up with this odd little scene. One more day to go!

[hawkinsd]

... and the other #drawing in much better lighting. #5daydraw There you go. No more posts from me today! :P

[hawkinsd]

Day 3 of the #5daydraw challenge by Von Glitschka on #lyndadotcom - #drawing a mythical creature. These animal combinations were determined at random by rolling dice for three categories. I got "Lion-Bear-Snake" first, and I couldn't help but do one at least one more...

[hawkinsd]

Day 2 of the #5daydraw challenge from Von Glitschka at #lyndadotcom - #drawing on rocks! There aren't very many large, smooth rocks just lying around near my apartment, as it turns out, but I did manage to scrounge up a handful of smaller stones. Ultimately, since I only have one paint pen (white) and the rocks were fairly small, I decided to go for simplicity. The rocks looked like head shapes to me, so... there you go! I left them outside in hopes other tenants will see them. :)

[hawkinsd]

@wacom Welcome to Portland, one of my favorite creativity/tech companies! Your products are an integral part of my workflow. #drawn on a #cintiqcompanionhybrid

[hawkinsd]

I'e been wanting to get back to traditional pen and paper for a while now, especially now that I've accumulated a handful of #copicmarkers - so, as a way to get myself motivated, I've decided to take on another drawing challenge from Von Glitchka at Lynda.com. Here's my day one drawing for the #5daydraw challenge: distorted human proportions. #drawing

[hawkinsd]

I typically try to avoid posting things about politics, but I found myself wanting to practice caricatures recently - and what better subjects than the four 2016 primary frontrunners? Regardless of the issues and who you are for or against this election season, I'm sure we can all appreciate the absurdities and or/quirks of this year's campaigns and the strong personalities driving them. #2016primaries #drawing #caricatures Remember, fellow #Oregonians, that our primaries are on May 17. If you aren't yet registered with a political party and want to vote for one of the four candidates pictured here, you have until April 26th to register online. And, of course, remember to vote! Okay, PSA over.

[hawkinsd]

Now that I have some time to do some drawings for fun - at least for a little bit - here's something a little more polished than usual. It's a finished version of a sketch I did months ago. It's fun to go back through old sketchbooks to find some ideas that were never fully realized at the time. #autodesksketchbook #drawing #dogsaysno

[hawkinsd]

That feeling you get when you finally finish a really big project. Excited to share it with people later this year. #cartooning

[hawkinsd]

I went to see the movie "Risen" this afternoon with my sister in an empty theater. I don't recommend movies often - especially faith-based ones, as they have a tendency to be heavy-handed, preachy, patronizing, and cheesy. This can be irritating and uncomfortable for a lot of people (myself included). This film, however, tells a well-worn story from a fresh perspective and is exceptionally well-written. I suspect the mediocre reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores have more to do with the fact that this is a "religious" movie - which is a shame, really because this story is entertaining, focused, superbly acted, and significantly less cringe-inducing than most other "Christian" films out there. It's content just to tell a good story rather than hammering in a moral lesson. Show, don't tell. Good on you, movie! I highly recommend it, as long as you don't mind indulging a bit of Jesus. :) #risenmovie #pencilsketch #moviereview

[hawkinsd]

It's been a long while since I've posted on Instagram. Life has been super busy over the last several months. So, this week, I'm dogsitting again, and here I found myself doodling in a book of drawing prompts - a gift from my mom - while watching ET on Netflix (great movie. Lots of nostalgia). All in all, it was a good evening! Great creative exercise! I should try to take breaks like this more regularly. Hope you all are having a blessed 2016 so far! #drawing #dogsitting #healthyworkhabits