Mark Johnson Art Blog Wonder & Whimsy

Night Toad

I had this strong mental image of the silhouette of a large toad on a toadstool as seen from below. How would that affect the lives, the patterns, the stories of those who lived in it’s shadow? I’ve started the tentative beginnings of a children’s fable, but in the meantime a completely different aspect presented itself to me visually. So I drew it out. Here are different stages of the drawing.

A pencil drawing of a woman holding an umbrella.

Wait Sketches Won’t Wait

I have a fair number of Wait Sketches that are the result of parenting and husbanding and doing the car thing. Activities that put me in various places for a while with empty hands and an urge to use my time to some effect.

Centre

The universe resides in what is referred to as deep time. Billions of years layer the foundation of our understanding of our world and of ourselves. The depth of our history, all the way from the elements we are made of on up to the faculties we have evolved, combine to understand and interpret that world. This is what fuels the synthesis which is the essential structure of understanding ourselves and the world we live in.

A drawing of a person 's arm and leg

Character in a sketch

. . . wanted to see doodles with character that you might be able to tell a story about. I thought that was a fun idea, and decided to post some of my doodles here as well. Some may have more character than others. Some are Wait Doodles, which are a bit different than my Wait Sketches. It is all in fun.

A painting of two trees in the middle of a field.

Sky Dancer painting WIP

I thought I’d blog this painting’s progress because I haven’t done a painting for a while (those Tree Dancers keep leaping onto the page) and thought I’d try a different process than one I’d been using recently.