43/100 - Owl warrior
It isn't very often that I put multiple planes on the same drawing but I enjoy the dreamy effect. I'm trying to signify what is going on in the weird armored owl's mind, a bit like a thought cloud in a comic book. The composition is strange and I filled the frame a bit too much but I think it's still held together by the eye contact between the owl and the dream warrior.
Even with all these flaws I find it marvelous there is so much freedom in this simple act of mark making. Do you know that feeling you get when you repeat a word out loud until it's only a meaningless sound? I think there is a visual equivalent that I get when I stop to analyze my own marks, they become meaningless shapes for a short period of time. And it happens more easily with the cartoony ones, the ones like this one that are not trying to be too realistic, the ones halfway between symbols and depictions.
That middle ground is very appealing to me, I like the way it seems more likely to slip into dreamland steering very clear of any uncanny valley. I'm sure I could slip deeper into the gorge of pure meaningless shapes but right now the forest of insinuated narratives feels like a good home.
Owl meditating on his dream state warrior persona is 3" by 3". Available here(sold).