Lost Between The Shelves

My favorite place growing up in Hickory, NC was the Elbert Ivey Memorial Library. When I got to the age where I could walk into town on my own unattended by an adult, my mom would let me spend afternoons at the library on my own, after we were done home-schooling for the day.

I made so many discoveries there -- of authors and books I still read and treasure today.

It was there that I first encountered Ray Bradbury ("The Martian Chronicles"), Brian Herbert ("Dune"), Orson Scott Card ("Ender's Game") and Douglas Adams ("Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy").

It was also there that I also discovered real, genuine FEAR -- by way of an anthology of scary stories for children, and ABOUT children ("Young Monsters" edited by Isaac Asimov); and it was there that, barely a teen, I dared picked up Stephen King's "Night Shift" and scared myself out of my wits -- and promptly returned the following day for more.

So many fond memories of those days, spending endless summer afternoons, lost in the shelves.

This piece is a tribute to all the bookstores and libraries around the world, but most of all to that one in particular.

Overlook

Summoning the Death Metal Apocolypse

melancholy gargoyle

"Melancholy Gargoyle" (one of 2 versions). 01/02/23. 

Micron pen, digital background. 

Background photo used w/ permission by Aleksandar Pasaric (pexels.com).

NFT - version 2

NFT - version 1

Christopher Doodles - NFT's now on OpenSea

Happy New Year! I'm pleased to announce that my collection of work from this year is now available in NFT form on OpenSea, for those who collect such. I admit when the NFT craze first took off, I was rather put off by them, largely due to obnoxious crypto-bro's pumping thousands of pixelated pabulum, generated en-mass by automated script, with little or no thought except for the dominant intent to market to the masses in get-rich-quick schemes. Suffice to say it wasn't my style. In recent weeks, however, I've encountered -- largely via Twitter -- a host of really incredible and genuine ARTISTS of all kinds, specializing in all manner of genres (death metal to manga/anime to landscapes), dedicated to honing their skills in sketching, inking, painting ... and yes: displaying their work as NFT's, which inevitably prompted me to reconsider my initial distaste and investigate further how that form could be put to better use. So, anyway -- for those interested:

• Christopher Doodles' Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/blosser_doodles
• Christopher Doodles' OpenSea NFT collection, 2022:

p.s. 2022 was a difficult and challenging year for me in many respects, but I have sought solace in art and creatively learned and advanced a great deal. Just looking at my "pen and ink" drawings from a year or two ago and today seems like night and day. Credit is definitely due to the recent discovery of Micron pens. Of these works, the majority were produced in a span of 3 months!

cocoon

forest-thumper

"every sunday evening..."

mountain storm, revisited 12-25-22

12-24-22 - untitled

Nomad

Tree, 12-21-22

 

"Santa Claus, Demon-Slayer"

pencil + micron ink, white gel pen

"ahhhhhhhh, ramen."

quick sketch (w/ some digital editing)

Portal

 

"Space Marines Battle Against Bug-Eyed Creep -- News at 11"

 

Death Star Happy Hour

 

Peace to Ukraine

November Moon

 

Support Ukraine

Dungeons & Dragons

Autumn!

Autumn! -- my favorite season of the year (obviously). A colorized version of a drawing from last month, using watercolor markers and some colored pencils.

In the mood for something a little apocalyptic/sci-fi-ish this weekend…

Surfing the Zombie Apocalypse ...

Kraken

(available on RedBubble -- in 76 different products, including, apropos, a shower curtain)

Today’s doodle — Tolkien-ish

inspired by watching “Rings of Power” 

… dwarves on the mind!

 

Kew Gardens Community Arts Day 2022

 

Great day today at the Kew Gardens Community Arts Day… some high points:

• selling enough to pay the fee for my space (and then some!)

• ALL of my 4”x6” postcard prints were a hit, and it was truly a thrill to see WHICH cards appealed to whom. I have received requests for others, so more will be coming. And also exploring means to make them available for purchase online.

• Selling four of my small paintings — and some were chosen that I honestly didn’t expect to be (again, both delighted and fascinated by others’ taste)

• Hanging out with fellow neighborhood artists, watching each other’s tables and talking tips and techniques

Lastly, having someone return to my table towards the end of the day and inform me she had walked around the entire fair and decided to come back, because one particular piece of mine “really spoke to her, and gave her HOPE” and she just HAD to get it …

Coincidentally, it was the very FIRST piece I had made when I actually took up painting in 2021, after I made a personal (New Year’s resolution) to do more with my art … so perhaps it was fate to have a piece imbued with that meaning come into her possession almost a year later. (We both were very moved, and seeing the joy on her face was the best moment of my day).

September (Black and White)

Lotus II - Acrylic Paint Markers on Canvas

(available as a 4x6 postcard print)

 

Mountains (Acrylic on Canvas)

Four Trees, Literally

 

from sketchbook - (micron ink pens and pencil)

Tolkien-Ish

Some Scratch-Art

 

Mountains II

 

Winter's Bonfire

(Chance of snow tomorrow put me in the mood for a winter bonfire… )

 

Wildflowers

 Acrylic Paint Markers on Canvas

(available as a 4x6 postcard print)

Scratch-Art Tribute to Frank Herbert's "Dune"

scratch-art tribute to Frank Herbert's "Dune" 

 

Just doodling via scratch-art, 

but if you thought “that’s reminiscent of Andy Goldsworthy” 

you wouldn’t be mistaken. 

he was a true master of his craft 

 

Albert Camus, "Storm Sky in August..."

Was pleased to work with other Kew Gardens' artists in decorating Lefferts' Blvd this month.

 

Skinny Puppy - A Tribute to "Too Dark Park"

Submission for the Skinny Puppy art contest. I love all eras of this band but wanted to pay tribute to the iconic (and my favorite) albums, "Too Dark Park" (1990) and "Last Rites" (1992), with those memorable first lines of each album and some familiar faces from the album covers themselves. Drawing this took me back to my college days when I'd fill my notebooks with this style of doodling.

acrylic paint markers on canvas

 

Acrylic Paint Markers on Canvas

(available as a 4x6 postcard print)

 

Experimenting with some Acrylic Paint Markers ...

(experimenting with paint markets on canvas ... when I doodle/cartoon with pen I find I'm very focused, with a semblance of an idea of what I want to draw -- conversely with paint markers it's very loose, spontaneous -- mostly playing with contrast and seeing what comes out to my surprise).

Complimentary Coloring Book from Christopher Blosser

Greetings!

These are probably not the prettiest or most practical, high-resolution black and white renderings of my doodlings -- but hey, when you’re “sheltering at home”, whatever works, right?

So should you wish to pass the time, and exercise your own personal creativity bringing these to vibrant colorful LIFE of their own, do enjoy this Complimentary Coloring Book of Christopher's Doodlings. (I particularly recommend colored pencils or fine-tipped watercolor markers).

Download is free. If you wish to make a donation to myself and family, you can do so via Zelle at blostopher@gmail.com (I’m also on PayPal).

You can also find me at: https://www.facebook.com/christophersdoodles

Happy 2nd Birthday to Kew & Willow Books (Kew Gardens, NYC)

Happy 2nd Birthday to Kew & Willow Books (Kew Gardens, NYC)

 

Homemade Halloween Masks, 2018.

Tree (Quick Doodle)

 

"Adventure Awaits"

Done in participation with the Kew Gardens: A Place Where Art Has a Home" project featuring "Images of Everyday Life in Kew Gardens" -- highlighting the talents of local artists in Kew Gardens, Queens NY. The drawing is currently displayed at Austin Ale House until June 11th, after which point it'll take up permanent residence in the Kew & Willow Bookshop.

Kew and Willow Books -- a community-funded bookstore that opened this past December -- was a natural choice of topic for me given my (nearly weekly) patronage and support. Check out this interview with two of the booksellers on how they brought an indie bookstore to life after a successful Kickstarter campaign. If you're in the neighborhood I highly recommend a visit!