This is an image created on an iPad with Tayasui Sketches. 

Created in Adobe Creative Cloud mobile apps.

More iPad art sketched from a photograph by Howard Bjornson. There is such a fluid feeling about the lines of the wild Nodding Onion.  Combined with the unusual colors of the blossoms, this was a joy to draw and paint using the Sketch Club app on an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.   

I drew the sunflower used in the web site header on my iPad Pro with an application called Sketch Club. I enjoyed using Sketch Club for this illustration because the vector and pen tools were on point for what I hoped to create.  The detail possible with an Apple Pencil makes drawing on a tablet a true sensual pleasure. This image will be framed and most likely hung in my office studio or kitchen.  Lately I have taken a shine to having sunflowers in the kitchen, so I am leaning toward the kitchen.      

By the way, I broke my right arm last summer and lost all use of my right hand for months. I was concerned that I would never be able to draw again with any precision. This is my first completed post-break work, and my gratitude for the doctor who performed the surgery and the healing I have experienced is profound.  I will remember this every time I see this image.     

About three weeks ago the Summer Solstice occurred, and a full moon came along as an added benefit. And even cooler, this was the June Strawberry Full Moon (according to the monthly full moon naming custom of the Native American Algonquin Tribe). This was a very big deal because it is the first time we have had a Summer Solstice full moon since 1948 (according to National Geographic) or 1967/aka The Summer of Love (according to The Washington Post).  I tend to go with National Geographic on matters of this sort, so I considered this event to be something wonderful that had never happened before in my lifetime.  And since the next Summer Solstice Full Moon will happen in 2062, long after I am dead, I realized I had only one shot at this experience.  

I headed outside with my camera for this once (literally) in a lifetime event, and waited, waited, waited for the moon to break from behind clouds.  While waiting I stood in the dark thinking that the street should be lined with people pointing, waiting, and gasping when the moon finally broke the prison of clouds.  But, alas, I was alone.

Where are festivals these day?  

My Summer Solstice Festival was observed alone and in my heart on a dark road.  But that was cool enough. I didn't miss out.  When the gigantic moon appeared I was just thrilled to be alive to see it and be a part of creation.  Even though I couldn't take a good photo, I have this little shot on my iPhone to remind me of the experience. Thomas Moore (A Religion Of One's Own) would heartily approve.

This is a close up section of a rendering of the Latin phrase "verba docent, exempla trahunt" which means "words instruct, illustrations lead." 

This illustration emulates the Ruling Pen Minuscule 2 script of German calligrapher Friedrich Poppl.  His font dates from the 1960s.  I am creating this work on an iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil in the Adobe Draw app and opened in Photoshop to create texture and embossing.  This is a work in progrss, so I am not sure how it will conclude.  I envision a poster and in a different color.

Apart from admiring Poppl's work, I admire his determination.  Here is a short piece on Poppl's challenging life as an amputee and prisoner of war.       

For years my traditional artist friends have talked about the failure of digital art to provide the sensory experience of traditional media.  I, of course, felt that the graphic sleekness, all colors available, lightening hot learning environment was more appealing from the moment I first began to work in digital art (I'm not the digital art advocate for no reason).  If I thought it before - well - I am now swooning over the new Apple Pencil and iPad Pro.  And the idea of using Astropad, a $20 app, to draw simultaneously on my Mac without a Wacon Cintiq (13" $999+) is pretty amazing.  Oh my, this really is something to look forward to!