Fill, exhale, and deflate. Repeat.
(ink, pencil, digital)
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
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Express
Top floor please!
Not every thought or word we think of will make it to the top of our minds and seep into the world around us. There’s so many obstacles within us that create stops along the way that give us time to second guess ourselves. Once we do, we swallow our imagination making it difficult to recollect the ideas we’ve since lost. If only there was a way to make this journey easier and more direct. A way to express without an off ramp.
(digital, pen)
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
Trajectory
If only we could predict when we’re all going to crash and burn. That way we could stain the world with the footprint we choose to leave behind.
I decided to revise this old drawing and give it a bit more detail. I made this after seeing a mosquito that had been freshly smeared across a white wall. A complete track detailing it’s time of death. The exact spot it was hit and then the spot that it was left to die. We all despise being bitten, me included, but I guess seeing this made me see it differently. I felt bad, I saw it as a life ended as opposed to a pest I wanted to get rid of. Was the blood on the wall mine? Was it the blood of multiple people? Where did the mosquito come from and how long was it alive? I had questions about when it was alive, because I knew how it died.
(ink, pencil, digital)
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
Stick People in a Stick Room
Detailed activity of the room:
As seen from left to right – A stick mirror reflecting a stick self of a stick dad next to some stick art made by a stick kid hung above a stick floor stood upon by two giant stick twins standing in a stick corner.
(digital)
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
Features of Ario
Sketchbook Entry:
August 28th, 2018
Features of Ario
Another fun one I had done before my first class of the year. Inspired from another user on SKTCHY. It’s great practice finding that specific detail of someones photograph which you can then focus on or accentuate, in this case I loved this persons rounded glasses and chose to start the sketch from there.
(ink, marker, digital)
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
Fast Food
Fast Food.
Move those buns!
Here’s a drawing I did a couple months ago while trying out different materials and digital apps. I’m slowly learning to mix my materials more often. With this drawing I thought it’d be fun playing with irony and the idea of fast food and it’s detrimental effects on the body. What if it benefited us in the same way that it’s described, lending us a boost of speed for example. I Would love to keep playing with this style/idea and expand it into a series or comic one day.
(ink, crayon, marker, digital)
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
Features of Zan
It’s been quite a while since I’ve uploaded anything so I thought I’d post a quick piece from my sketchbook this week. Summers coming to an end and I have a lot of work to edit/upload and share in the coming weeks. I made this for an app I recently discovered called SKTCHY which I highly recommend to anyone searching for fresh references to use while sketching. The app lets users upload ‘inspiration’ photos (typically portraits/selfies) which other people can then use for reference. Once finished you’re able to upload your finished product and share it with the community but more importantly with the person who you were initially inspired by. The work is then displayed next to the original photo for comparison. It’s a fun way to get some practice in, but also a great way to get a nice sketch, painting or caricature of yourself done by other talented strangers. Seeing as though most people I draw never get to see or even know I’ve drawn them it’s satisfying when somebody most likely gets to look into the faintly familiar depiction of themselves I’ve reflected back to them.
-If anybody wants to get the app or has it already and wants to connect just look for:
Joshua Forrest Russell
(ink, pencil, marker, digital)
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
Magnetic Attraction
Growing up, I remember walking down to a park which had one of those rickety old wooden gyms in it. A park, which at least by appearance, seemed to have been there since the 1930’s. This was no Muscle Beach, just a couple of makeshift wooden seats and rusty bars which were most likely used more by kids to hang off of, then by actual adults counting reps. The thing that struck me most though were these simple yet confusing signs describing how one was meant to use the devices. These images were something I never really understood and still don’t, constantly asking myself “am I doing this right?” or “should this hurt more or less?”. Although it was probably less of an image issue and more of an overthinking problem on my end. I should have listened to my hypothetical fitness idol Arnold who said:
“The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.”- Arnold Schwarzenegger
Great advice, until you realize that you can’t fly, shoot laser beams or grow a second set of arms. Anyways I have always wished that I could be more attracted to working out and to push myself to be in better shape. So, I’ve drawn a series of work out instructions which involve absolutely no effort at all and that anyone can do, but just like the ones I saw at the park years ago, don’t expect any results, especially with the spin and twirl. Enjoy!
Get that perfect U shape today with magnetic pull!
Circuit:
Exercise 1:
Exercise 2:
Exercise 3:
(digital)
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
The Blues
Typically when I’m feeling blue, which seems to be most hours of the day, my go to cure is to drink something warm. It helps keep me alert and focused but also gives me a sense of comfort, like I’m hanging out with one of my best mates, the kind who can just hang about doing nothing but feels completely content in your company. My favorite of these being tea (mint) followed by a black coffee and then occasionally a mug of warmed up apple juice, not to be mistaken for a hot apple cider which has a bit too much sugar. Each one of these will instantly work their magic and put me right back into the swing of life. They’re my fuel for the day, unfitting seeing as though they have close to zero nutritional benefits but maybe that’s the real reason for me being blue.
Here’s a couple of other blue dudes getting their own daily fix:
The morning blues.
A cure: Large coffee, two sugar.
The afternoon blues.
A cure: Small tea, one sugar.
The midnight blues.
A cure: Medium hot chocolate. no sugar necessary.
(ink, marker, crayon, digital)
I posted this series on Instagram a few months ago so I’m happy I finally got it up on here. If you haven’t already, you can also follow me there @illustratedconnection where I post a bit more frequently. Thanks for the read!
JFR -@illustratedconnection.com
