But It's a Dry Heat

Archive for January, 2026

Itty-Bitty Nazgul

Revisiting an old cartoon. The old version…

And the new version…

The original definitely has its charms. But what’s funny is that even though I thought my horse-drawing skills were good back then, they’ve definitely improved in the years that followed. And, a solid year of doing figure-drawing studies also improved my hobbit drawing ability.

El Tecolote de Navidad

Saw a photo of this adorable little burrowing owl and was compelled to draw it. As it was December, I gave the little fellow a festive hat.

I’m Alive

Rebooting and re-animating this site as a secondary (more like tertiary) place to post artwork. Though I continue to post stuff on social media, the constantly changing landscape of socials is pushing me back to also having a place with more permanence.

Honestly? I know no one likely to see this and that’s appealing as well. Posting to the void rather than chasing influence.

Anyhow, this horse was one of my earliest attempts to paint with Krita. Previously, I was using an old version of Photoshop to create digital art, but when that wouldn’t run on my new computer, I gave Krita a try.

The sequence of events actually consisted of me trying Corel Paintshop Pro, which was functional but not optimized for digital drawing and painting. Looking into free, open-source options, I came across Krita.

Initially, I found it a little frustrating because I was accustomed to Photoshop and to some extent Paintshop Pro.

Now? I love it and recommend it enthusiastically. It’s got all the functionality of most paid drawing and painting software, a terrific workflow and really great brushes and tools. Plus, there’s loads of help available online if you get stuck.

If you’d like to give it a try, here’s the main Krita site.