Day 82

Day 81

Day 80

Day 79

Maricopa Indians had mustaches...

Day 78

The drawing of the day. I took this picture with my iphone, and it looks a little grainy. Sorry!

Day 77

Today's daily drawing is a self-portrait. About a year ago, my wife and I were walking around Boulder, CO when we stopped a hat store. In a very Good Willing Hunting moment, we tried tried on a bunch of hats and took pictures. For whatever reason this photo was one we decided to have in our house. This is just one of those random photos that will probably be in our house for many years, leaving everyone to wonder "why s this stupid photo hanging up?"... I'm not sure either, it's just a part of the scenery now...

Day 76

Still in a bit of a rut. I appreciate people's compliments and input. I honestly was not throwing myself a pity party, I'm just in one of these moods. It'll pass, I'm sure. Either way, I can't really quit. I just need to focus and work hard. Thanks friends!

Day 75

Today was a really difficult day for me artistically. It hit me that at the rate that I'm going, I'll probably never make it as a full-time artist. I am not painting at the level I need to be. I really hit a moment today where I strongly considered giving it up and throwing the towel. It just seems like I'm far away from the skill level I need to be.

This morning I filmed a "how to paint" dvd today. The company named Cold Render featuring two of my earliest childhood friends. They guys were super professional and did a great job. I feel that I was unable to deliver on my end. The painting didn't turn out how I wanted. I ran out of time and the colors were not right. So, needless to say I was embarrassed.

I really need to commit more time to my life to painting or decide that this is not the route that my life is going.

As a result, you can see, my drawing of the day is not too impressive. Sorry, Jim

Day 74

Another Bama study...

Day 73

An Edward S. Curtis Study. I was in a rush with this one. The face is a little off. If I were to hold this up to a mirror, I would probably be pretty embarrassed.

Day 72

I woke up early today and had time to work on a drawing (another Bama). This one was fun to do, it isn't completed, but it will have to work.

Day 71

Drawing of the day from a long break. My grandfather recently passed away from Alzheimer's and I went back for his funeral. He lived a very full and honorable life worthy of a celebration. I had been aware of my grandfather's condition for about 5 years, so I thought I had slowly come to terms with his illness. At the end of every Alzheimer's patient, is a very slow, cruel death. I might sound harsh, but I was relieved when he passed away. He was released from his cage. When I arrived to his funeral to see "Pappy" I immediately broke down in uncontrollable tears. I had lost one of the greatest people I have even known in my life. The week had incredible highs - hanging with a wonderful family that he started and see my grandmother strength grow far beyond her own beliefs, and the obvious lows - dealing with the loss. All in all, I am very glad that I was able to go back and be there for everything.

After an emotionally fueled week, I was ready to come back and think about something else for a while. One of the greatest things about the whole process was after the funeral, where we were able to look through all of the photo albums my grandparents and take any of the photos that we wanted. This was a truly special gift to me, since my life is focused around images. I was able to look through all of the 80+ years of my grandfathers life. From his baby pictures, to his rowdy teenage years, to the years he played football (was offered to play for the New York Giants), to being a family man, and to being the grandfather I loved. So my goal was to honor my grandfather little bit in my blog by doing a drawing of him.

So when I returned to Ft. Collins. I was very excited to show my wife the amazing photos of my grandfather's life. After flipping through just a couple of photos, I broke down and was unable to continue looking at the pictures. It's still too early for me...

Instead of doing a drawing of my grandfather, I did a drawing from James Bama (who my grandfather knew) of a man that resembles my grandfather. At the age of 49 years old, my grandfather left his life in Pennsylvania to start a new one (as a cowboy!) in Wyoming. Inspiring my mother and father to move out a year later.

So for now, this one is for you Pappy...