Friday, February 16, 2007

death by alphabet

alphabetgrid
A few days ago my wife left to go back to Utah for a wedding, leaving me to get time off work and watch the kids until she gets back. I was looking forward to a break from work, and rediscovered a different type of work, namely, being with my 3 children 24/7. So, a couple of nights ago, as I realized that I was facing 3 children strung out on Valentine's candies, I pulled out the paints, pencils, paper and anything else art-related and told them, "WERE DOING ART." I then tried to think of a project that would last them until far into the night. AN ALPHABET GRID! I told them to draw 26 squares and draw a picture in each one of them for every letter of the alphabet. I drew along too, hoping to make it a "family moment." My two year old lasted about 10 minutes, and about 30 papers later, he went off to entertain himself by spilling punch in various patterns on my kitchen floor. My second oldest lasted until the letter "o", I was impressed. My oldest lasted until "M" and went off looking for munchies.
I kept plugging along, however, and after getting them all to bed, I kept working on the various little sketches. I painted it today because I couldn't stand it being unfinished. It looks kinda "kidsy" and "cartoony," but I had fun working on it. I'm posting a list just in case you need help understanding my letters:
A. Apple Core
B. Beach Ball
C. Circus Tent
D. Dime
E. Envelope
F. Film
G. Googol
H. Hell
I. Indian
J. Jar
K. Knife
L. Lips
M. Molar
N. Noose
O. Octopus
P. Pipe
Q. Queen
R. Rabbit Ears
S. Sock
T. Track
U. Udder
V. Vial
W. Watermelon
X. X-Ray
Y. Yolk
Z. Zipper

Finally, I was tagged by MRANA today. She wanted me to list 6 things about me that are weird.

Here's my list:
1. I keep a box of desk supplies (inexpensive stuff like post-its, pens, index cards, etc.) tucked safely away in my closet and don't let anyone get into it. These things were my dad's (he was a schoolteacher), and I use that box to remember him.
2. Along the same lines as #1, I have a ton of books that I got when Dad died. They are the bane of my wife's existence because they fill up my house. Some of the stuff I know that I'll never read, but I'll never get rid of them because they were his.
3. I hate onions, not just dislike, I despise them. They are devil-fruit and should be destroyed. When I was young my mom used chop them up small in an effort to sneak them into my food. She would say, "you can't even taste them," and I would quickly retort, "If you can't taste them, why put them in?" Onions are poo. It saddens me that so many burgers, lasagna's, pizza's and other dandy treats have been adulterated by such things as onions. Shame!
4. I also hate cats. I remember when I was little, very little, thinking that a cat-but looked like a pencil sharpener. When I get rich, I think I'll design a pencil sharpener that looks like a cat in severe pain, eyes bulging out.....I'll stop there before I get junk mail from P.E.T.A.
5. Speaking of P.E.T.A... There is always room for another animal in my house, right next to the mashed potatos. I love all animals, especially when slow cooked over a fire to perfection.
6. I like to say the word "Hawaii" when I belch.

I don't know who to pick to carry on this "tagging" tradition. I'll be searching the next little while, and will post their names later.

Friday, February 09, 2007

More and more projects

I haven't done much art this week, but realized as I have looked around my office, that I haven't posted on this site a couple of other things that I have done in the recent past. Here is a mask that my kids and I made on a blustery Saturday Afternoon. Masks are fun and a great way to keep kids entertained.

maskfront


maskside


Here is another cigar box that I started working on, but never finished. I use it in my office to hold scratch paper next to the phone. I guess that painting eyes on cigar boxes fascinates me...

CigarBox2


cigarbox2closeup

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Missionaries

I bought some prismacolors last night, I haven't used colored pencils since I was a kid, but thought that I could have some fun with them. I went to church today and saw a couple of missionaries that pertain to my faith and thought I would do a little drawing of a couple of missionaries. When I got home I colored them with prismacolor, and then "photoshopped" a world in the background. After I was done I realized just how similar the composition was to a "sick" sketch that I did a couple of days ago. Sorry about the redundancy. Enjoy..

missionaries

Saturday, February 03, 2007

cigar boxes and scanner fun

Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated with boxes. As I got older I began collecting cool wooden ones, and there is nothing better than the cigar box. The other day I found a cigar shop here in town that has an entire hallway full of empty boxes for the taking. I snatched up a few and have been doing some "refashioning" with my children. Here is a picture of the most current project:

cigarboxeye

Here is a close-up of the painting on the top:

eyeonbox

Also, as anybody human knows, there is nothing more tempting than being in an empty room with a scanner or copy machine. I fell to the temptation and this is the result:

face1

I decided to play with it in photoshop for a minute and came up with this:

face2

How's that for a Saturday? Let's see what church brings tomorrow...