Asya

Asya Tkachuk. Tumblr Girl

Chasid Story in Progress via Instagram

Chassid (Jewish) story ready for the text to be added. 

River

Life Drawing plus Artrage. 3.9.16

Amy

Portrait from the Thursday night portrait group. This is Amy.

Chassid Story

Detail

Detail from a Chassid story I'm working on, Sort of Pollock-esque.

Ramana Maharshi

The best way to meditate is through meditation itself. 
- Ramana Maharshi

Chassid Story in Progress

Working on the layout of a Chassid Story.

Duryodana

This is a detail from a story about Krishna.

A Buddhist Story

Here is the final story and illustration. The story comes from Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart by Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield.

A Buddhist Story in Progress

This is the sketch I did in April at the monastery in Upper Pisang while trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. It was an amazing afternoon after a long hike from Chame to Pisang. We arrived in Lower Pisang around 3, got settled in our rooms, then hiked to Upper Pisang where many of the men in the village were engaged in an archery competition, then hiked further to the monastery at the top. There was one monk chanting and beating a prayer drum and I had an opportunity to meditate there for about 10 minutes. The group I was with was ready to head back down but I asked Madhu, our guide, if I could hang back and sketch for a while. He was concerned that I wouldn't make it back before dark but I assured him I would make it back. So, I found a spot to sketch out of the wind and enjoyed the time alone to draw and paint in the middle of the Himalayas a beautiful monastery and listen to the chanting and drums coming from within the temple I was sketching. 

This morning I continued working on the sketch I started back in April and plan to use it in my book project along with a Buddhist story. I posted this photo to Instagram as I was working on it.

Hand

At Waterfall Arts doing a hand study. I did both but liked this one best. Messed with it some more in Artrage. 

Exit

I started going to a new group that meets on Thursday nights to do portrait painting. It's 3 hours of one pose and we can take pictures so that, if we want, we can work on it in our own studios. Then the model comes back for a second week and takes the same pose so that we can continue working. I spent 5 and a half hours on this portrait in my huge Moleskine sketch book. I don't usually spend that much time on a portrait. It will be interesting for me to see how the portraits from this group develop.

Week 1 and 2 - Amanda.