Best Friends

The best friends are those who can tickle your brain, make you laugh, have a great sense of humor, are witty, just have the right dose of sarcasm and are critically honest yet remain kind.

You volley back and forth ideas and engage in intellectual fencing, agreeing, or opposing without rending or wounding each other. You are both thoughtful without being morose, and silly without being foolish. You may opine upon and critique a range of ideas or persons without engaging in calumny.

Between you, honesty is not negotiable and loyalty is standard. Trust is the tie that binds. You share that which matters the most. Caring glues you together. You laugh together, a lot. You watch out for each other, catch each other when you fall.

You may be in each other's company, yet remain taciturn. You spend time away from each other without weakening your bond. You may be near together yet allow yourselves to wander silently in your own minds, thinking, reading, meditating.  You are never bored with one another because neither of you are boring.

You are renaissance women. You create, you fix, you solve, you lead. You are present. Many people go through life looking for such friends. If you find even just one, you have more than enough. It took you a long time to get where you are. Keep each other.

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Show Your True Stripes

Run! Pigment and India ink on 9"x12" Bristol Board.

Last week, I posted the image on the left. I was a week ahead of Illustration Friday. I already posted my stripes. Talking about stripes, I love pinstripes. I also prefer pinstriped people over flannelmouths, and chintzy people.

So I was preparing a post for Stripes and drew an image of a pinstriped woman on a snowy background. However, I messed up her eyes and so she ended up with hollow eyes, as if her eyeballs were enucleated from the sockets. She looked like a zombie. I figured Halloween is over and so I ditched the image.

Last night, I finished the above drawing. I like the way my experiment turned out. I used India ink to darken the background, instead it turned into an awful mess. I squiggled over the India inked surface with micron pen and I am pleased with the final outcome of my accident. Then after I scanned the image I noticed the stripes!!! Yay!

About the image, I wanted to illustrate motion. However, as with everything else I paint or draw, I never have any concrete plans. I have a general idea and then I start drawing the faces, if I am not happy with the face, I tear the drawing.

Have you ever met someone who turns out to be so wonderful, sometimes you wonder if you are dreaming? I have a friend with whom I have communicated almost everyday for several years now. I have yet to find a reason to be bored and stop. I can't find any, in fact, I find the opposite. Not that I am looking for a reason, but I want to pinch myself sometimes to be sure I am not dreaming. The only thing which I may consider a problem is the fact that she is such a mental ninja, I have to be up my toes and running to catch up with her agile and sharp mind. I am so blessed! Thank you.

You know what I find amazing? The fact that a piece of paper and a pen with 0.20 mm line width, can illustrate texture, motion and friendship.

Okay, I just wanted to share a peek of what's on my drawing pad...

Have a wonderful week everyone! Go Texans!!!

Housekeeping

There was a time when I was not drawing nuts.
A time when I was drawing rocks and trees;
Pachyderms and humans;
Genus musa and Lady muses,
Forests and mountains;
Women falling;
Men cracking;
Corpses hanging...
Ah yes, I was prolific...
I drew over 300 over-sized and standard-sized images
covering every inch, every white space of the Bristol Board.
I had the best muses,
I still do.
I am not lamenting the fact that I am drawing acorns and leaves.
They are mind soothing exercises.
It is a sign of the times.
When before my drawings instilled me with emotions,
and fired my ire,
Now I draw to calm and soothe my nerves.
I don't have some of these drawings any longer.
They have been gifted to the people who inspired them.
Soon I will display all of them on my online gallery blog.
As I clean my home where these drawings are scattered everywhere.
In the meantime, here's a preview:

In the year 2008, I was blessed with the friendships of Arija and Bella Sinclair. They brought into my life, abundant love, inspiration and friendship.
I meet Renee, Vanessa and Linda through Bella,
Deborah and Marie through Renee,
Manon through Linda,
Then Tessa and Karin, Caroline, Anne, Annie, Shirley, Mita, Amalia, Tammie, Jan...
Andrew, Steve...I will get in trouble for leaving out some names here and I will feel terrible but my mind is so full right now... please forgive me if I am too dense to remember...
I keep meeting new friends!
My friends at work who likewise fill me with love, support and inspiration...
My family and I thank you!!!
I am so blessed.
Some of these friendships have transcended the blogs
where I find the most loyal and steadfast of friendship, love and caring
when I find myself crumbling and cracking like an egg,
like that he-man up there in one of my drawings...
Thank you!
Tsup!



...and Steve, "Tsup" is an onomatopoeia for a kiss. It's when you let a sound pass through your puckered lips.