Phoenix Rising

I've probably named other drawings with this same title. I was looking through my 2009 notebook and noticed several pieces that I thought worthy of upload. I'm pretty sure that's a self-portrait stuck in the middle and I think, after so long a time and some added hindsight, I know why that is. I was in a position wherein I was constantly being shot down in flames, metaphorically, of course, and having to pick myself up, reformulate, and move on. I was using my usual gel pen but, at that time, I was using Crayola gel pencils as well. I found them very simpatico with the pen, for obvious reasons. This is a small drawing with an image area 5 by 2.5 inches on nice watermarked paper. I'm not sure where I got the paper but it had a nice tooth which took the pen and pencil in a great way. So is Original Jones Art trying to play catch up? I'm afraid I'm too far behind here in northwest Austin, Texas, to ever truly do that.