Timothy J. Pruitt's Blog, page 101
May 31, 2022
Sketch Napoleon Hill Fountain Pen
This is a quick fountain pen sketch of Napoleon Hill. It was inspired by one of my dearest friends, our Executive Pastor Jason Potter. He is one of the most brilliant men I know, and I have been blessed to learn so much from him.
May 30, 2022
Memorial Day 2022
I see them in my mind’s eye, soldiers of every era of our country’s history. Warriors some with barely any uniform at all armed with muskets, others in every color of uniform from the sections of our history. Soldiers, whether born here, or those who’s hearts brought them here.
Americans of every ethnicity and background came together because they believed in the idea of freedom. We honor all of our soldiers, both the names we know, and those unknown to us, yet never unknown to God. In every generation, there have been noble hearts who have stood to keep us free.
Americans do not celebrate merely a weekend, a barbecue, or a day off. We humbly thank God that He has blessed us with men and women that have had hearts full enough to risk their all. My words will never equal their sacrifice, I am not a soldier, but I am in debt to every soldier. Each of us lead life freely, because someone else gave theirs just as freely.
Throughout our history, brave Americans answered the threats to the republic with a quiet strength, and a steel resolve. Francis Scott Key’s words, and later the Star Spangled Banner’s lyrics truly penned it as a “perilous fight”. We must never forget, no matter our differences, challenges, or current battles, the blood of men and women allowed us to be here. On this Memorial Day, we say thank you to every soldier from the first minute of our nation to it’s current hour, we will never forget the level of your sacrifice.
May 28, 2022
National Burger Day 2022
Today is National Burger Day 2022, and hamburgers are among my favorite foods. It’s what I usually want for my birthday dinner. This is a quick little iPainting of my type of burger.
The Three Rubber Ducks – A Children’s Story
Once upon the time there were three rubber ducks, a Daddy Duck, a Momma Duck, and a Baby Duck. They were the toys of a little boy named Nick, and he loved them. He played with them every bath time. One night when Mommy scooped him out of the tub in the big blue towel, she forgot to drain the tub.
All the toys, including Nick’s new pirate ship toy were loving being able to play in the water themselves. The pirate got a funny idea, he decided to use his little plastic cannonballs in his spring cannon to fire at the ducks. “I’m going to send you flying out of the water ducks!”
“Don’t do it”, said Daddy Duck. “Don’t do it”, said Momma Duck. “Don’t do it”, said Baby Duck, but the pirate would not listen. He just missed Daddy Duck the first time, and Daddy Duck said “I tried to warn you.”
Daddy Duck started bouncing up and down and splashing water onto the pirate ship, and onto the pirate. Unlike the ship, the pirate had stickers on him. “Stop, you’ll ruin my stickers Nick put on me! I’ll stop, I’ll stop.” With that the pirate settled down.
The squirting dinosaur toy saw all this and started to laugh. Then he though, ‘I don’t have any stickers.’ He looked at Momma Duck and said, “I don’t have any stickers, I’m going to squirt you all.”
“Don’t do it”, said Daddy Duck. “Don’t do it”, said Momma Duck. “Don’t do it”, said Baby Duck, but the dinosaur would not listen. Momma Duck swerved to keep him from hitting her, though he did hit Daddy a little.
Momma Duck jumped out of the water and on to the soap dish. She sent the soap flying at the dinosaur toy, and it knocked him all the way out of the tub. “Help! Help!”, cried the dinosaur, but he didn’t have moving legs, so he couldn’t climb back in the tub.
Nick’s toy octopus who could bob up and down in the water, and move his tentacles, saw all of this. He thought, ‘I’m smarter than the pirate, and definitely smarter than the dinosaur’. He didn’t tell the ducks he was going to do something.
He dived under the water and just as he was under the three ducks, he grabbed them with his tentacles. “Ha, ha, ha, I’m smarter than the pirate, and the dinosaur, I’m going to pull you all three under, then throw you out of the tub.”
Don’t do it”, said Daddy Duck. “Don’t do it”, said Momma Duck. “Don’t do it”, said Baby Duck, but the octopus would not listen. Baby Duck said, “1, 2, 3 Go!”, and the three ducks started spinning in a circle round and round.
The force was so strong it caused the octopus to lose his grip, and sent him flying through the water. He hit the side of the tub, and knocked Nick’s bath brush off the hook, and on top of him. He was pinned under it and the pirate ship.
First the pirate started to laugh, then the dinosaur, who heard all of this outside the tub, started to laugh. Instead of getting mad, the octopus realized how silly he had been, and started to laugh too. When the ducks saw it would not hurt his feelings, they started to laugh. All of the bath toys started to laugh, until Mommy came to drain the tub.
Mommy wondered why the pirate’s sticker was wet, but dried it off. She didn’t remember the dinosaur being out of the tub, but she put him back in. Then she saw Nick’s bath brush had fallen, so she picked it up, and moved the octopus back to the bin of bath toys. She sat the three rubber ducks in the place of honor, on the shelf on the side of the tub.
Mommy grabbed the hair brush to take with her to brush Nick’s hair, and to tuck him in. The three ducks, the pirate, the dinosaur, and the octopus all settled in for the night, happy they had made Nick smile, happy they belonged to such a special little boy. They all lived happily ever after because they knew they were loved by Nick.
May 27, 2022
Art Unboxed – Painting Big And Small
I remember hearing some years ago an art instructor tell a student, one method to improve is to paint not only portraits, but large ones. While I didn’t try it immediately, it did leave an impression. What I have discovered is that drawing and painting both big and small images have been beneficial to my skills as an artist.
I enjoy sketching small pencil drawings, as well as doing quick compact watercolors. The more I do these, the more I learn. At the same time, in acrylics my preferred painting is a 16×20 size. My two most successful acrylics, a portrait of President Lincoln and an African elephant, were 16 x 20’s.
I’ve started applying this to my watercolors as well. Previously I would fill a a 9×12 watercolor sketchbook page with multiple images. Recently the last few watercolors I have been doing are themselves around 9×12 size.
They do take a little more time, but they have been both rewarding, and taught me in the process. I was amazed at the richness of the brown in a recent watercolor of a horse, more so than I ever noticed before. It’s also allowed me to experiment with some pastel application as with a big cat’s whiskers in a cheetah painting.
While I enjoy negative painting, (avoiding putting any paint on areas where the white paper forms part of the image for those not familiar with it), I don’t care to take time to work with masking fluid. Having the ability to do a slight highlight with a white pastel is a welcome addition to my toolbox.
Even in my digital art, I have seen a difference in going from a small iPad Mini to a larger iPad Pro. While you can zoom in on either, I’ve enjoyed the process even more on my iPad Pro. Though part of this also has to be attributed to the Apple Pencil, and ProCreate, the larger format is very helpful. For a long time I was an Artrage user, and while I still use it on my iPhone for field sketches, all of my iPad work is completed on ProCreate now. I will mention this post is not sponsored by either Apple or ProCreate, they are simply two of my preferred tools.
Concerning portraits, regardless of the medium, eyes are much easier for me on a larger scale. It makes me appreciate how intricate God’s creation is. Artists can have trouble drawing eyes at any size, yet God put a world in such a small space. The fact that artists struggle drawing eyes is ironic, considering eyes enhance so greatly an artist’s ability to not only see but also perceive light, shadow, contrast, and hue.
Personally, painting big and small has enhanced my art in the ability to see, draftsmanship, color mixing, color handling, and appreciation. It has also taught me in another area, expanding what I thought was possible. It reminds me that we all should continue to try new techniques and ideas that will enhance our skills.
iPainting Nick’s Favorite Duck
It may seem strange, after all the sketches and paintings of ducks to include one of a child’s toy, but this is Nick’s favorite duck. If you don’t know our story, very briefly God gave two people who longed for a child our son through the miracle of adoption. To me, even this little toy is a sign of God’s love and power.
Watercolor Young Theodore Roosevelt
Whether he was walking the streets of New York as a Police Commissioner, running a western ranch, or climbing San Juan Hill, Theodore Roosevelt has always intrigued me. Here is a watercolor of a young Mr. Roosevelt.
May 26, 2022
iPainting Squawk Duck
Another one of the breathtaking creatures God created.
