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I do so appreciate the input from all of you. I'm pretty much putting up all of the work I've done and am doing now because I am a non-professional and I hope this is providing a learning experience for others besides myself. Just remember that I've had no profesional training (or experience, for that matter) so what you're seeing is basically coming from my gut and my instinct. I certainly aim to improve but, at this point in my life, I have no illusions of ever achieving what I might have once done if circumstances had been a little different years ago.

As I said before, the closest I came to professional training was by standing over the shoulder of a highly skilled pastel portrait artist for weeks on end. I never had a 'formal' lesson from her. I believe she was also self-taught. Her name was Sandy Speagle (or was it Spiegle?). It's been so long I've forgotten and I've lost contact with her.

The closest I ever came to working as a professional was when I got up the nerve to rent my own space in the mall. I definitely remember drawing those parallel eye lines first. Now that I'm not trying to sell my art to the general public anymore, I have dropped some of my 'preciseness'. I guess that along with the freedom of not having to depend on my art for a living anymore, I become more 'subconscious' with my drawing, with interesting, but sometimes mixed results. I'll try to add a little more of the 'consciousness' to my work as I keep on going.

One more thing-- we're in a very bad financial situation now. On one hand, I'd like to reach a level where I could sell my work. But, on the other hand, I'm fearful that if this ever happened, I would freeze up and stop drawing like I did years ago. So I want to thank everyone on this board again for the encouragement and the opportunity to draw again (without editorial pressure) and bring some of the fun I used to have back into my life. This is really helping me through some very bad times. I love you all!

ZD

A week or so ago, on the THEM thread, M F Berry asked me if I'd ever done a Giant Behemoth. Well, now I have and, Mark, this one's for you!

ZD

Gosh, I'm both amazed and delighted by the response from all of you! Thank you!!! This piece is my latest on the black paper, but it won't be the last! I still have some earlier ones to post as well. I love to do scenes like this from black and white movies.

Mark, I 'm a big fan of this movie, too. Your post inspired me to tackle this one sooner than I had planned. Like I've said before....so many monsters, so little time. I appreciate suggestions from you guys. It sometimes helps me make up my mind on what to try next.

As some of you know, my daughter, Jen the Zombie, is now able to make nice hi-res 8 x 10 prints. Anything larger would have to involve an outside source and I am as yet unfamiliar with what this entails. I'd have to charge something for the smaller ones. Send me a PM for any further discussion on this.

ZD