Digital batch 5

Last batch of digital images, there are not even any left on my phone. Starting with a black background, I applied juicy neon brush strokes, followed by neon daubs. Most of the colours are realistic in that once could paint them, except for the bright lime green, its only possible with a digital app. 

Pop art pop, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Surrealistic, almost fractal-like, this one evokes a dream like state. Complex fills, blends, and pattern applications adorn the scene. Finishing with a few bold black rhythm lines on the right side completed the effect. I felt that something had to cut through all the grey and purple tones. 

Celestial talon, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

My favorite trick, start with dark background then over-paint with thin neon lines. In this case, I layered two designs in a clever fashion. My initials are hidden bottom center in yellow.  

A maze on maze, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Surprisingly dramatic, this one evokes the inside of a cellular structure, or pollinating flower bud. Pollen attracts bees, and we are studying the anti-cancer effects of bee venom in my research lab now. For the drawing, green neon highlights made the reds pop. 

Bee light, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Evoking forest fires, which were fairly minimal this year, this drawing used a series of spray paint and pattern stamps, although the birds were freehand. Or freefinger I suppose. These are all done with the index finger. 

Summer glow, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000 

Cilei and I took the train recently, which is when I made quite a few of these sketches. As you would know it, we saw the train gremlin again, at least, I saw it. Or did I?

Train gremlin reprise, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000  

Digital batch 4

This intense image recalls the 'Spirograph' toy where you could make concentric shaped within ovals and circles. I tried to emulate the sensation on the smart phone, going through a variety of yellow, red and pink hues. Hypnotic. 

Flamingo graph, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Resembling histones, the structure that winds up DNA, this drawing was complete in a matter of seconds, with some stamp and smudge to add texture. 

His tones, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Another childhood inspiration, the Diorama, which is a small scene set up within a box, usually a shoe box. It took a long time this one, in order to get the lighting and perspective looking correct. The star-field within a box idea was something I worked out in Sun Earth Moon. 

Diorama, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Is there a signature in there somewhere? If you did ask AI to make such a drawing it would probably look like this. If it hasn't happened already, AI will scrape my blog and let other people make such art. So my role in life is making AI!?

Signature piece, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Actually I looked up a fact about T cells the other day, and AI told me about my own paper that was published. Thanks! At any rate, the webs in this painting are all applied in real life, at least, digitally. One more batch to go. 

Initial webs, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000 

Digital batch 3

Continuing with the latest 'digital dump',  for lack of a better term, here are more of the August and September digital images. I have some new paintings from today too, might post later. In the digital sketch, I super-imposed a tree using negative space. 

Space saver tree, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000 

Working in the bright pastel range, with cyan, magenta and variations of yellow-orange, I created this imaginary flower bulb. The yellow brush and green grassy effects are stamp tools.  

Sky reach, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Going for more of an earthy palette, this effort used sparkle and spray effects to liven up a pretty flat composition. Finishing with a few high-definition finger strokes in the upper left completed the scene. 

Shine times, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Starting with a dark yellow to pale blue fade, I over-painted textural variations and then applied splatter stamps in various shapes and sizes. 

Spilt blue paint, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

The soft chalky brush tool is one of my favorites, it creates a pleasing crumble-effect. The composition was so neat I didn't know where to sign, eventually putting subtle initials on the bottom right. 

Chalk lines, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Digital batch 2

These sketches are all done on a smartphone app called Sketchbook which has a deep selection of drawing tools. No AI needed! Just creativity. At least it does not use up paper like watercolour does. 

 

Primary swirls, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Applying dark versions of the rainbow, then drawing over with the neon brush gave an interesting variety of effects. Spray paint spatter tool gave it a celestial feel. 

See me now, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Like a popsicle, or cotton candy, who knows? Using a similar technique as the last one, but with a bright background and searing yellow neon.

Question creamcicle, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

Starting with a pretty bland composition, I wasn't sure what to do with it, then used smear tool to make an organic looking frame. With real paint you have to time things out as the paint dries, but these sketches can be produced with any effect in any order really. 

Confetti framework, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000

And something that could never be painted, and that's the fun part, this indulgent neon doodle on top of a dark blue background. I adjusted the neon settings to have a greater glow effect. 

Neon ohs, 2026 digital, Sketchbook, 800 x 1000 

Digital batch 1

I made a bunch of new digital images over August and September, so here is the first batch. Above, its a duck-like abstraction set against a surrealistic background. Light sparkles create a sense of mystery. 

Periscope fowl, Digital, Sketchbook 800 x1000

A textural journey, I layered several patterns and contrasting colours to create this image. The black crystal shapes pop against a soft pastel background. 

Crystal night pastel, Digital, Sketchbook 800 x1000

A bland design was made lively with static-swirls and some highlights. Sometimes I try a lot of ideas on a composition before finding the right tool. The swirls are neon-stamp brush drawn in concentric circles. 

Static swirl clamp, Digital, Sketchbook 800 x1000

Reminiscent of a dust mite, or one of those small red insects that crawls on rocks, this image was created in black and white. Applying a red spatter gave a lady-bug like effect. I popped in some morsels of food at the top to give our bug something to eat. 

Mesh bug, Digital, Sketchbook 800 x1000

There were more layers than meets the eye here. Starting with pale swirls I kept overlapping more swirls with greater colour intensity. In digital you can completely 'draw-over' previous layers, although some tools allow for transparency. Its one of the things you cant really do with conventional paint. 

Swirls on swirls, Digital, Sketchbook 800 x1000 

Digital art: AI, symmetry, disco energy

In this digital image I depicted the Earth in the bottom right, with an exaggerated version of the moon stamped with AI. Like, AI taking over the Earth. 

AI versus Earth, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026

 

Using the 6-fold rotational symmetry tool, I created this swirling fan-shape. Making a circle with smudge paint and pattern stamps on top of the symmetry tool made for some interesting circular patterns. 

Disco neon energy, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026

 

The initial sketch was not too interesting, so I transformed it on a tilted angle and surrounded with purple haze. 

Tilted purple haze, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026

Also using the transform tool, followed by the rotational symmetry tool and stamps, here is a vicious looking fan tearing apart its surroundings. Its what I imagine the inside of a broken computer printer to look like. 

Busted printer, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026

 

Finally, another rotational symmetry piece, this time using the glow tool on a black background. I made a short video of this one, since I discovered that the Sketchbook app can record as you draw. Perhaps I will try to edit and post a video of the drawing being produced, its kind of neat to see. 

Lights up my brain, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026 

Digital art: Forms and figures

Another work using circular gradient fills, it turns out that if you apply gradient fill on top of another gradient fill, you get these bizarre shapes that look like birdies used in badminton. Strategic placement created a dynamic composition. 

Radio tube meld, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000

In this one I took a photo of a Vincent Van Gogh print I have hanging on the wall, then embellished the glass reflection with textural brushes and transparencies. 

Vincent reflections, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000

 

It was raining hard one day which inspired this textural work using a variety of brush tools. The under-drawing was circular, the over-drawing was on a diagonal to create visual kinetic energy. Splatter tool completed the wet look.  

Rainy day texture, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000

Using pop art composition, like Picasso or Warhol, I made a quick set of squiggles with an agitating colour scheme. It doesn't take much to convey the impression of a face with emotion. 

Worried person, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000 

Digital cold dip

I did a painting in 2020 called trapped under the ice, it was a very hot day and the blue colour made us feel cooler somehow. In this digital version made on Sketchbook app, I recreated the effect with concentric blue rings done in spray paint. Stamping the crack features with varying sizes created depth, and some spatter brush added an ice effect. 

Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

To make this image, I drew out the background alien with soft spray paint, used spatter brush for stars, then took a picture of my cellphone with my other cellphone. Importing the image, trimming, and over-drawing the glow fingers, completed the artwork. Luckily, the fingertips glowed where they touched the screen. 

Non-selfie, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

In this case, many different brushes were used to make a swirling effect, along with cyan bubbles. Its looking down the laundry drain. 

Laundry drain, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

This is the path that the alien took to get to work. I started with a faux-sunset with spray paint, applied stars with spatter brush, then drew over neon lines until they looked good.  

Night light show, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Finally another swirl in monochrome blue. I first applied a texture grid, warped it with the transform tool, then applies a simple swirl with a marker tool, and added spatters with stamp tool, varying the size and colour saturation. Staring at this makes me feel a little cooler! 

Warped swirl in blue, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000 

Digital heat wave

Its getting hot out here, and summer has just got underway. These digital sketches made on Sketchbook app were all of a warm colour scheme. In this one I applied a dark red (maroon) background and used the mesh tools to establish an interesting pattern, followed by consecutive stamps. Zooming in, you can see a lot of texture like inside a brain. 

Hormonal brain receptors, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Another dimension, inter-galatic planetary, according to the Beasty Boys. Varying the sharpness of the lines created extra depth. Each brush has a different hardness and softness, the markers being sharp, and the spray paint tool being soft. 

Interplanetary growth, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting with a digital painting, I smeared it, then drew a yellow outline. Trimming the edges and applying a coloured mesh completed the effect, then I made a warping effect with a transformation tool. 

Glow mask mesh, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

This one uses glow stamps and glow meshes on a blue background. Each lint ball is a tight spiral, which gets whiter at the center. Additional stamps gave the lint effect. 

Microscpic lint balls, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

This one was completed with the 'watercolour pencil' tool, which gives a braided-rug like texture. Processing it in Image J, I applied sharpening transformation to give an edgier appearance. 

Sharper swipe, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Digital giggles and thrills

Initially a colour digital artwork done on Sketchbook app, I changed it to greyscale on Image J. Image J is a free image processing program, developed at the National Institute of Health for scientists. I use it at work for image processing. I also use it at home to format my watercolour scans, and save digital images as jpeg. 

Cellular confusion (grayscale), Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting out as three interconnected loops, I gradually turned this one into a surrealist piece. In elementary school, my friends would draw a random squiggle on a piece of paper and I would turn it into a cool drawing. 

Magenta flower smoky sky, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Science inspires art, this one looks like it could have been taken by a confocal (laser scanning) microscope. I learned to use such a microscope back at Western University. 

Microscopic examination, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting with near-black coloured swirls, I over-layed neon swirls. The neon tool reacts in an interesting manner to its background. Its quite a pleasing effect. 

Neon swirl on swirl, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Not so pleasing, this one is agitating, like anger artwork. shocking yellow threads evoke a monster, with contrasting red and green patterns. Most of the composition was accomplished with stamping, then I drew over dozens of squiggles. 

Yellow lint monster, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Finally for this batch, I kept over-laying patterns and stamps until it looked like a mish-mash of arts and crafts. Then I used the mesh tool to write my initials PJD and year 26. 

Arts and crafts PJD, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000