3x4”, oil on paper
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October vibes. Sometimes I put my gouache away for a while and then I pull it out again and then I go Oh, yeah, gouache is delightful.
In an attempt to fill my sketchbook, I've just been drawing... stuff. Using, much as I hate to admit it, a pencil sketch to start. Which of course is working out great. Anyway here's a T-Rex.
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I've only been back a couple of weeks but I feel like I could use a vacation. This was a "paint first, ink second" page and I really enjoy the final look, though I'm not sure I could pull it off as effectively with a more complicated subject. The big shapes in this were easy enough to paint freehand but anything more complex and I would probably need a pencil sketch first — and I hate having to do a pencil sketch first.
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Some quick poolside sketches of the plant life around. It’s my first time really making use of the red pen and I’m so pleased!
Feels good to get the sketchbook out again. Also feels good to hang out by the pool drinking margaritas!
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The days before a vacation when you're starting to pack, trying to eat everything in the fridge, and the airline is sending you emails about preparing for your flight... delightful. Getting ready to go away is like anxiety, but the fun kind.
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Sometime this morning, one of the cherry shrimp in my aquarium molted and left behind their too-small exoskeleton. I think this is the first successful molt in this tank, though I’ll soon be adding some crushed coral to try and raise the water hardness to make molting easier in the future for them. In the meantime, this just looks gross, especially once the snails found it and crawled inside to eat the thing.
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I started saving pictures and videos of sunsets earlier this year with a very clear image in my head of a page where I could scroll through all of them at once. And so, I present: https://bartlett.pro/sunsets
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I’ve been enjoying the process of creating this little watery ecosystem in a glass box. Even though so far it’s mostly just an empty tank, it’ll be ready for a fish in a few weeks when I’m ready to get one.