Although you probably wouldn’t be able to tell based on how sporadically I’ve been posting, over the last few months I have wanted to focus
Working Through a Misfire by way of the Backlog (11/8/2019) - I wrote a couple of months ago about an art show called the River Oaks 5x5x5, which I often refer to as the "tiny art" show. It's… (click to read more of this randomly selected old favorite)
Almost a Sketch Request, Sam Carrying Frodo (4/20/2018) - In the comments of an Instagram post I made on my last sketch (Fezzik and Inigo from the Princess Bride), one of my longtime friends responded with… (click to read more of this randomly selected old favorite)
Mark Hearts and Kids at the Dentist (5/18/2019) - In my last post, I discussed using Unsplash images as inspiration for artwork. Although I have a ton of backlogged ideas now, and many of my sketches… (click to read more of this randomly selected old favorite)
End of Summer 2020 Portrait Giveaway
I think I’ve enjoyed some pretty good luck lately with portrait giveaways. I had a great experience with the last giveaway winner, which really left
Drawing of New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern
This post is mostly going to be about a portrait I did of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, but I’ll also take a detour
New Product and Game Review Site ‘Armdog Reviews’
It’s been quite a busy last month or so. The family and I finally made our long-delayed moved to Texas. It’s something that’s been in
Finished Portraits from the April Giveaway
It’s taken me quite a while to actually get to the writing portion, but I’m finally sharing the portraits from the most recent giveaway. The
More from the Witcher, Ciri of Cintra
This is a continuation of my post last week about the Witcher Netflix show and game series. In that first post, I discussed the show
The Witcher Art, Geralt of Rivia
Somewhere towards the beginning of the new COVID-19 home quarantine reality, I finally forced myself to sit down and watch The Witcher Netflix series. I’d
Initial Sketch Outline Discussion
It feels like it’s been a while since my last post, but when I looked back, it’s actually only been a couple of weeks. Time
YouTube Channel for Amdall Gallery
As of today, Amdall Gallery’s new YouTube channel is live! Its main purpose is to share some progression videos; if you’re familiar with my typical
Mother’s Day Portrait
A bit of a delay writing this one, but this post is going to be dedicated to Mother’s Day and sharing some related artwork. It’s
Scenes from a Mr. Bungle Concert
Welcome to the part two continuation of this Mike Patton-related discussion! In the first post, the write-up was centered around musician extraordinaire Mike Patton and
Healthcare Worker Portrait Request
As you can tell from the homepage, Amdall Gallery has a custom portrait raffle going right now. We’ve got about 12 days left on the
Musical Virtuoso Mike Patton
My senior year of high school, I became friends with a group of guys who I’ve known multiple decades now (how has it been so
Portrait Giveaway While We’re Social Distancing
As I was thinking about tentative plans for a few upcoming posts, the thought crossed my mind to do another artwork giveaway. It’s been about
Dark Tower Villain Improvements
I haven’t discussed the series in a while, but if you came across this blog any time in early 2018, you were probably greeted with
Goofy Portrait from Another Decade
As I was browsing through some old photos looking for something fun to draw, I came across one that gave me a good laugh. It’s
Meme Art, Sergeant Mittens is Ready
I’m entering a very unusual artwork and post writing phase. If I’ve ever been in this situation before, I really can’t remember.Essentially, I have now
Artwork and Website Spring Cleaning
Over the weekend, I decided it was high time for some art-related spring cleaning. I’ve had a few things on my organizational “to do” list
By Request, Frozen’s Anna and Elsa
Like so many parents, we’re doing our best to keep the little ones busy as well as ourselves. In an effort to keep myself busy,
New Kids Book ‘Robot Family Adventures’
Apparently, the beginning of April is book publishing time! Last year, I released a book called Pencils and Process. That one took months to write,
Crowded Restaurant Drawing
It’s only been about a week and a half or so of social distancing/self-quarantine where we live, but somehow it feels a lot longer. Not
Video Game Sketch Inspired by Kenshi
This write-up is going to be about a post-apocalyptic sandbox style video game called Kenshi. But it’s also going to be about sharing art that
Pandemic Social Distancing Artwork
Writing about artwork during a global pandemic really isn’t something I expected to be doing at all. Yet here we are in an escalating health
More Stranger Things Artwork
A couple weeks ago, I shared some ramblings about my late discovery of Stranger Things, and how it turns out everyone was right about how
Late to the Stranger Things Party
I’ve really been slacking on my usual pattern of art and website posts. In the last two or three months, I’ve only written a couple
Portrait of a New Nephew
This is sort of a belated part two for my last post about holiday portrait gifts. In that write-up, I discussed a colored pencil drawing
Holiday Portrait Gift
In what is apparently becoming somewhat of a tradition, this post is a delayed one. What I mean is, it was actually written at the
Luka Doncic the Surprise MVP Candidate
As I’ve mentioned in a few previous sports-related posts, I am a huge Dallas Mavericks fan. Although I’ve always loved football, and am (sometimes regrettably)
How to Make Progression .Gif Images
If my “archive categories” widget is to be believed, at this point I’ve written 115 art-related posts on this website. That’s pretty surprising to me,
Continuing Through The Backlog
It took longer than I thought to finish this write-up, but welcome to part two of a series I started with last week’s post about
New Gadget Fun – Fossil Hybrid HR Collider
June 2020 Update: After about 6 months of daily (or at least nightly) use, the hour hand of the watch appears to have failed. Re-calibrating
Working Through a Misfire by way of the Backlog
I wrote a couple of months ago about an art show called the River Oaks 5x5x5, which I often refer to as the “tiny art”
Updating a Wedding Present Portrait
Lately, I’ve been in a bit of an art re-visitation phase. I have been back into the drawing hobby for over two years at this
Video Game Museum Scenes
A few months ago, during one of our periodic Texas visits, the family and I got a chance to check out the National Videogame Museum
Poseable Drawing Figure Research and Testing
I am often thrown for a loop about the passage of time. I’ve written in many posts here about such and such amount of time
River Oaks Tiny Art Show 2019
I’ve done a few posts lately somewhat focused on near-term nostalgia, particularly in comparing how my drawings have changed over the last two years. Right
Unfinished Art and an Unposed Portrait
I had to double check because it didn’t seem possible, but it looks like it’s been almost a month since my last drawing. Time really
Drawing Models and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
One of my favorite things about browsing the Internet is how easy it is to randomly discover something new. That could involve stumbling upon an
Jon Stewart Getting Things Done
I generally try to avoid wading into the political on Amdall Gallery. I’ve done it occasionally in the past, like my discussions and data analysis
Drawing Friends, Another Yearly Comparison
I still feel that overall I am improving as an artist, which is nice to realize after two years of becoming re-involved in this hobby.
The Push and Pull of Artistic Envy
I try to be as forthright as possible on this blog about my experiences with art. The site didn’t really start with a focused goal
Experimenting with Light Sources
I surprised myself a bit following my last post by jumping immediately into another project. I hadn’t planned to do so, but I found myself
Back to Paper for a Coworker Request
Following my brief foray into digital artwork, it felt like time to get back to my usual comfortable pencil-and-paper mode. At this point, I’ve got
Digital Painting Capstone
Welcome to the grand finale of this series of posts on digital artwork! In the first post, I discussed my past struggle with digital art
Improving with the Tablet and Sketchbook App
In the previous post, I discussed my purchase of a Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 and decision to try digital artwork again. My first experience with
Another Try at Digital Artwork
Just over a year ago, I wrote about my first ever attempt at using a tablet and digital pen to draw. I bought an XP-Pen
Mark Hearts and Kids at the Dentist
In my last post, I discussed using Unsplash images as inspiration for artwork. Although I have a ton of backlogged ideas now, and many of
Drawing from Unsplash Photos
My free time has been pretty well monopolized recently, first with writing a book, and then with figuring out the ins-and-outs of independent publishing. Now
Welcome to Flavortown
Is it Flavor Town or Flavortown? I’m actually not sure. Unfortunately, I don’t know Guy Fieri, so I can’t ask the Mayor of Flavortown about
Publishing on Amazon’s KDP and IngramSpark
As you may have seen on the front page or my ongoing forum thread, I published a book recently! It’s something that I’ve vaguely wanted
‘Pencils and Process’ Book is Out Now
It feels weird to say this, but I finished writing a book…and it’s actually published and available now! The book is called Pencils and Process,
Book Status, January Giveaway Portrait
Although it doesn’t feel quite so long, it’s been over a month since I’ve written a post. I have actually been furiously writing away elsewhere
A Dark Tower Redo, One Year Comparison
At the start of 2018, I finished what has become one of my favorite fiction novel series; The Dark Tower by Stephen King. If you’re
Ernie Hudson and The Crow
Last fall, I did a sketch of three of the four Ghostbusters. I included Peter Venkman, Ray Stanz, and Egon Spangler…but unfortunately I ran out
Long Term Goals and Sketch Impulsivity
At the end of my last post, I mentioned off-hand a few ideas for what I might draw next. I talked about finishing a Dallas
Art on a Shopping Cart
Any time my family and I take a trip to the grocery store or Target, we absolutely have to grab one of those bulky carts
More Parks and Recreation Art – Leslie Knope
Over the last week or so, I’ve been dealing with a fairly tough cold. As is usually the case, the kids and I all got
Video Game Art, Pillars of Eternity Group
Lately, I’ve been playing a game called Pillars of Eternity II quite a bit. Even going back to when I was a kid playing our
Ron Swanson, The Simpsons, and New Parents
My most recent drawing is sort of a random one. I guess most of them are, but this was a very spur-of-the-moment thing. I was
Subject Counts and Wife Solo Portraits
Since getting back into drawing in 2017, I’ve generally been under the impression that most of my artwork has been of my family. I also
Self Portrait, Shadow and Contrast Struggles
I came across a really interesting article a few days ago called How to Be an Artist – 33 Rules to Take you from Clueless
New Phone Quest Revisited – Pixel 3 vs Pixel 2
About a year ago, I wrote about my quest for a new smartphone. The general scope of this quest was to satisfy a few parameters;
The Laundry Basket Girls
I’ve been all over the place lately with my sketches, jumping around to varied subjects like Ghostbusters, memes, Pinterest, and Einstein. I always come back
Advertisements on Amdall Gallery
I’ve been thinking about the advertisements on this site quite a bit lately. The purpose of Amdall Gallery has morphed slightly over time, but it’s
Art Prompts from Pinterest Part 2
Welcome to part two of this series of sketches based on Pinterest art prompts. In part one, I discussed some Pinterest basics and how useful
Art Prompts from Pinterest Part 1
When I started sharing artwork on this site, eventually I decided to create social media profiles for Amdall Gallery on any platform I could think
Well, I’m no Albert Einstein
This week, I worked on a sketch of legendary hair model Albert Einstein (I hear he also dabbled in some science-related stuff). As I was
Art from an Internet Meme
The Millennial generation is known for many things, including craft beer, skinny jeans, and “destroying” seemingly every industry (if you believe cynical clickbait articles). As
Three-Quarters of the Ghostbusters
Back in May, when I was in the middle of a flurry of sketches, I had an idea to draw characters from some of my
Big Kid and Her Apple
Wow, has it really been another entire month since I’ve drawn anything? Sort of a surprising realization, because it feels like I was just writing
Portrait from the August Giveaway
I haven’t been drawing much lately, which is pretty apparent looking at the site’s front page. It’s kind of an odd coincidence, but right around
One Year Site Anniversary
It’s a little hard to believe, but it’s been a year now since I rebooted Amdall Gallery and really got rolling on this artwork and
Lost Dinosaur Timeline
When I was little, I absolutely loved dinosaurs. I know most kids do, but I was sort of obsessed with them. I was all about
A Family Portrait from New Orleans
It seems like I haven’t posted much lately, which is confirmed when I look at the monthly archive counts on my sidebar. Over the last
A 2018 Liebster Award for Amdall Gallery
As you can see from the title, this site was nominated for a Liebster Award, which is given to blogs by other bloggers. So, right
June Portrait Giveaway, the Resulting Artwork
At the end of last month, we wrapped up a custom portrait giveaway with some pretty solid participation. The winner sent me a photo she
Gift Sketch of Nana and the Grandkids
This post will be a delayed publication; most likely you’re reading it in July, but everything here is actually from June. Not that it matters,
More Throwback Practice Art
A couple months ago, I did some sketches that took their inspiration from the many “historical photo” Twitter accounts out there. One was a not-very-accurate
Drafting Doncic – The Mavericks’ Future is Bright
The NBA draft was Thursday night, and I’ve been obsessing about it for at least a week. The 2018 draft was considered by many to
The Greatness of Mystery Science Theater 3000
One of my favorite shows as a kid was Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). If you’re not familiar with it, MST3K was basically a show
Back to Basics, Paper Sketch of the Kiddos
This weekend, I made my first clumsy attempt at digital art. And over the last couple months, I’ve been almost exclusively drawing fictional characters from
Digital Drawing is Really Hard
I am generally very interested in tech-related things, and love to waste money on gadgets. I am the type of person who will have a
Preferred Medium, Process, and Frequently Used Colors
A few days ago, there was a comment asking about which medium I use. This is a simple question, but a really great one – especially
Tribute to Dragon’s Dogma, My Favorite Game
There will be some spoilers, so be warned. If you’re just here for art, scroll to the end. This is a game mostly about the
The Fifth Element – Gary Oldman’s Zorg
Welcome to part two of this run of drawings from The Fifth Element. In the first one, I covered some basics from the film and
The Fifth Element – Leeloo Dallas Multipass
Last week, I did a sketch from one of my favorite movies, the original Karate Kid. I like how the drawing turned out, but the
Mr. Miyagi and Daniel from the Karate Kid
I’ve been home sick for a few days, and felt a bit like drawing…unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything, so I just lounged around instead.
Access and VBA Cheat Sheet
As I’ve mentioned many times on this site, I am a huge fan of Microsoft’s data-crunching solutions. I’ve gained a reputation for it too; when
A New Type of Subject – My Sister’s Cat
When we were visiting family Mother’s Day weekend, I was talking to my sister about something related to drawing. I asked her if there was
My Attempted Tribute to Emmitt Smith
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about one of my favorite Dallas Cowboys players of all-time, who recently announced his retirement. Jason
Sneezing Lady (or Maybe Crying? Yawning?)
As I was browsing around a few days ago, I came across this article about how to approach handshakes at work when someone (client, business
Jason Witten’s Retirement – The Secret is in the Dirt
“The secret is in the dirt.” – Ben Hogan, responding to questions about the secret to his golf swing. He was well-known for his striking
Messing Up a Guardians of the Galaxy Drawing
I’m sure I’ve said this in many other posts…but sometimes drawings work out, and sometimes they just don’t happen the way you want. Unfortunately, I
Star Trek’s Captain Picard, This Time in Color
Back in December 2017, before I switched over to color drawings, I sketched a scene with my three favorite characters from Star Trek. It featured
Rock and Roll Beethoven, Historical Photo Account Part 2
Continuing on with the second post in a two part series, the subject of this one is guitar legend Jimi Hendrix. In the first post,
Inspiration from Twitter, Historical Photo Account Part 1
It seems I’m always on the search for art subjects lately. And since I can be somewhat creatively limited when it comes to drawing, the
Almost a Sketch Request, Sam Carrying Frodo
In the comments of an Instagram post I made on my last sketch (Fezzik and Inigo from the Princess Bride), one of my longtime friends
Fezzik and Inigo from the Princess Bride, A Warm-Up
Despite wanting to put pencil to paper, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve drawn anything. I’ts been on my mind, but life/work has been
Milestone Statistics, Unnecessarily Detailed Data
Welcome to part two of three in a series of posts thanking readers, and taking a step back to review Amdall Gallery’s status as we
Subscriber Thanks, Some Artist Site Favorites
To my continued surprise, this website has gained more subscribers than I ever would have expected. When I resurrected Amdall Gallery from the ancient blog