John, Aspiring Creative
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graycat17.bsky.social
John, Aspiring Creative
@graycat17.bsky.social
21 followers 34 following 32 posts
IT tech by day, aspiring artist and photographer at other times.😁

Not sure what my plans are for my art: all I know is I’m having fun with it and that’s enough for now.
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karenhao.bsky.social
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April 4, 2025 at 5:31 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
Haven’t posted in a little while, so here we go. Drew this between stops while driving my wife around on errands.

Happy MerMay! 🧜‍♀️

#mermay
#penandink
#moleskine
Image of a black and while ink drawing of a mermaid holding a trident in her right hand and a human skull in her left hand.
May 5, 2025 at 2:54 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
Another page from my (sort of) daily journal. Everything is up in the air right now so work in this book is sporadic.

I’ve learned that thumbnail sketches make a more involved drawing easier to tackle, however. I’ll keep working at it.

#dailysketch
#perspectivedrawing
#sketchjournal
Image of a sketch in a bullet journal, showing the 3 thumbnail sketches used to plan out the daily drawing for this day.
April 24, 2025 at 9:08 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
One day I’ll post something better than doodles and sketches… sigh. Juggling a job search, drawing, errands for family members who need help (one who has a high level of anxiety), and a writing course.

No rest for the wicked! We do what we must.

#ballpointpensketch
#fantasyscifi
#dailysketching
Image of ballpoint sketches, on the left there are some spaceship doodles, and on the right is a monster that combines the upper body and head of a woman with horns, an extra pair of arms with crab claws, and four insect wings sprouting from her back, while her lower body resembles a caterpillar or centipede
April 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
More warm up sketches from the Dollar Store sketchbook.

#sketching
#ballpointpen
#dailydrawing
#drawingwarmup
Image of a page from a sketchbook with four ballpoint pen drawings done in red, blue and black ink.
April 17, 2025 at 6:14 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
Friday’s doodle. I’m trying to keep up with the drawing and writing while I look for a new day job.

#scifisketch
#journalsketch
#scifi
Image of a black and white pen and ink sketch of a woman in a spacesuit in a desolate world, holding a futuristic pistol, saying, “April 11, 2025. It’s out here, somewhere…” Meanwhile, a dark shadow rises behind her while a claw and tentacles reach for her.
April 11, 2025 at 6:33 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
I haven’t posted for a few days so I thought I’d better post something.

Today’s journal doodle. Made some mistakes on this one as I’m still pretty inexperienced with perspective drawing, but I like my spaceman.

#journaldrawing
#scifisketch
#perspectivesketch
Image of a pen and ink sketch of a spaceship approaching an astronaut floating in space
April 10, 2025 at 7:45 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
Everyone I know thinks I’m crazy for getting up early to work on this stuff, but then they work miserable jobs so they can earn enough to spend thousands on fancy homes, cars and vacations. I’m amused with a few pens and some paper.

Who’s crazy, again?

#dailysketch
#fantasysketch
#sketchbook
Image of a pen and ink sketch of a male and female satyr-like characters, the male is holding a human skull.
April 4, 2025 at 2:28 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
Right, more escapees from the journal. Dragons with 4 wings seem kind of cool…

… aaaand another mermaid. I blame Hans Christian Andersen and The Little Mermaid. I tell my nieces changing yourself just to please someone else never ends well.

#sketchbook
#ballpointpen
#fantasysketching
Image of bullet journal page with ballpoint pen sketches.
April 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
One of these days I’ll break out of sketchbook mode, but when you’re cramming drawing sessions in whenever time allows, this can be challenging, and at least with a sketchbook I easily keep my drawings together.

Continuing with a theme I started on Friday.

#ballpointpen
#sketchbook
#fantasysketch
Image of a ballpoint pen sketch of an anthropomorphic tree with a human girl siting in the tree’s left “hand.”
March 31, 2025 at 12:34 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
Late night sketching kept me out of trouble for a couple of hours, indulging my inner six-year old.

I might not sleep so well after some of these crawled onto my page… lol

#ballpointpen
#fantasysketch
#monsters
Image of a pen and marker sketch depicting a sinister, humanoid tree looming over a mysterious figure Image of a sketchbook page with five sketches of fantasy monsters rendered in ink and marker.
March 29, 2025 at 7:59 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
“I’m going to draw a horror scene!”
*Starts drawing mermaid.*
“What? Okay, I’ll make her an EVIL mermaid!”
*Mermaid turns out nice.*
“Oh for… She’s fleeing from a hungry shark!”
*Friendly dolphin.*
“ARGH!”

#dailysketch
#penandink
#fantasysketch
#mermaid
Image of a black and white ink drawing of a happy mermaid and friendly dolphin
March 28, 2025 at 3:01 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
I have… 10 followers. 😁

Thank you! 10 is a small number, but I am pleased you chose to follow me.

Of course that’s when my brush pens started drying out so please excuse the streaks. 😝

#dailydrawing
#cartooning
March 27, 2025 at 2:20 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
Relaxing with markers and a water pen. The Dollar Store sketchbook can stand up to a little moisture, but I got blooms here and there.

Part of the learning process.

Ambiguously mammalian: don’t want anyone winding up, one way or another! 😆

#ballpointpen
#watercolormarkers
#fantasysketch
#mermaid
Image of a color sketch of a mermaid done with ballpoint pens, water-based markers and a water pen
March 25, 2025 at 4:35 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
Frustrated and dissatisfied with my daily drawing: cramming more art in the week may have backfired. I felt warning signs of burnout.

So tonight I did a simple exercise when I started drawing: random faces from imagination. Feel better now.

#ballpointpen
#sketchbook
#sketchfromimagination
Image of a ballpoint pen sketch of a woman’s face, olive green background Image of a sketchbook page with 12 faces on backgrounds of various colours drawn in ballpoint pen
March 22, 2025 at 7:26 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
Today’s morning sketch/doodle. I struggle with perspective drawing, and cars are a particular bugbear of mine. All those smooth lines and glossy surfaces.

So of course I try to freehand it… 🙄

#perspectivedrawing
#carsketching
#dailydrawing
#penandink
Image of a pen and ink sketch of a car from imagination, based on car ads from the 70’s and 80’s
March 20, 2025 at 1:51 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
Are marker drawings paintings? I’m not sure… I did a sketch from a reference photo this morning that I don’t have the rights to, then drew these from memory before bedtime with ballpoint pen and Tombow markers.

#wildlifesketching
#frommemorysketch
#canadagoose
#markersketch
Image of three Canada Goose marker sketches in colour
March 19, 2025 at 4:42 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
Rhode Island Red Rooster. Still pretty sketchy, but at least I’m venturing outside the sketchbook!

The card is 4”x6”, the painting itself is approximately 3.5”x3.5”.

#watercolour
#watercoloursketch
#smallpainting
#rooster
Image of a small watercolour painting of a Rhode Island Red rooster.
March 17, 2025 at 4:17 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
Odd little journal doodles that I managed to set down in the bullet journal while running errands with my wife over the weekend.

No time to draw: we gotta get to Walmart!

She let me stop for coffee a few times.

#penandink
#journaling
#fantasysketching
March 17, 2025 at 2:54 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
The morning journal doodle. I always feel rushed because I squeeze these in before starting my day as a mild-mannered office worker.

I usually have the subject announce the date and write the objective I’m working on to the side.

#artjournal
#fantasysketch
#penandink
March 14, 2025 at 1:49 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
Thought I’d try filling a pocket sketchbook with some of my favourite imaginary creatures I came up with during my scribble sessions.

#ballpointpen
#fantasysketching
#conceptsketching
Image of ballpoint pen sketch featuring a fantasy lizard creature with a quill and parchment
March 13, 2025 at 11:35 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
Spent my lunchtime making more “Scribble Critters,” this time in the bullet journal that I take to work.

I’d like to work on them a bit more but apparently I’m not paid to draw weird creatures…

#lunchtimedoodles
#conceptsketching
#creaturedesign
#fantasysketches
#fantasyart
#ballpointpen
Image of a bullet journal page with four rough creature concept sketches drawn with ballpoint pens
March 11, 2025 at 7:28 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
A page out of the “Dollar Store Sketchbook.”

Cheap like borscht, but I love the darn thing. I never feel like I’m “ruining” it.

#referencesketch #sketchfrommemory #conceptsketch
#cheapsketchbook
#ballpointsketch
Image of a sketchbook page, with various small sketches of a woman from a reference photo, various imaginary creatures and a sketch of an African elephant drawn from memory
March 10, 2025 at 11:42 PM
graycat17.bsky.social
A lot of free time is taken up running errands when I’m not trying to catch up on lost sleep! My little pack is stuffed with a tattered sketchbook and too many pens, just in case we stop for coffee and I can scrawl whatever image pops into my head.

#sketching #fantasyart #fantasysketch
Image of a sketchbook page, with a drawing of a ghostly woman rising from the flame of a burning candle
March 10, 2025 at 12:06 AM
graycat17.bsky.social
Late night scribble in a Dollar Store sketchbook - not sure why but mermaids are a favourite subject, but I’ve recently discovered the joy of drawing jellyfish, too! 😁

#ballpointpen #sketching #sketchbook #fantasyart #mermaid #noaiart
Image of a ballpoint pen sketch featuring a mermaid and an enormous jellyfish
March 8, 2025 at 7:16 AM