moustache

We had mid-term exams this week.  Gosh, I haven't taken a mid-term since... who knows?!  Oh well, I think I held my own okay.  I'm starting to get used to this college kid thing.

As a result of mid-terms, I found myself without much homework.  What to do with my Saturday morning??  I ended up taking a stroll over to my previous Saturday morning stomping grounds - the right side of my brain - to do this watercolor pencil sketch.

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "moustache".  Does anyone know the reason for the popularity of the black handlebar moustaches popping up everywhere?  I got a kick this week out of this photo from the local humane society's surgery team on my facebook page:

I think they were removing a dog's manliness at the time.  A little facial hair ode to testosterone?  

May it rest in peace.  

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hybrid

For the last few days, the weather people around here have been talking about wednesday WEDNESDAY  WEDNESDAY!!  All this hype for WEDNESDAY.

It's supposed to rain rain rain.  Flood watches and warnings.  Flash flooding in the two burn scars.  We've already seen some of that this summer, but WEDNESDAY is going to be messy.  Roads downstream from burn areas will likely be washed out.  Damaged.  Again.

I even drove Wolfgang to his carpool this morning.  They meet at Jack's house, and when it's not Wolfgang's turn to drive, he enjoys a nice 3-mile or so bike ride to Jack's house.  

But it was overcast.  It was WEDNESDAY.  It wasn't raining, not yet, but it would start any minute.  Plus, after work, it would either be pouring down or the bike paths would be flooded or both.  

Since we were up talking to the trees over the weekend, I didn't do an Illustration Friday.  I was just going to skip, but I kinda started having withdrawals.  Then we had all the weather people screaming about Wednesday.  I chose to illustrate this week's prompt, "Hybrid" for a rainy day activity.

I rather like this steampunk movement among artsy geeks.  Steampunk fashion and accessories feature components of steam driven machinery.  We saw plenty of it at this year's Comic Con.  Lots of goggles, gear drives, chains, etc. thrown together with clothing fashions from Victorian England or Old Time American West.  

It's fun.  It's creative.  It's hybrid.  It's Steampunk.

It's Wednesday.

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Jungle

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "jungle".

The closest I've been to a real jungle are the rainforest displays at zoos, and from reading about them in books.  So I was reminded of a book I read several years ago.

"At Play in the Fields of the Lord" involved Christian missionaries in the Amazonian jungle along with another white guy who was supposed to kill the natives.  I remember that I really liked the book, but that's mainly what I remember of the story.

It's quite heavy in that it brings up religion and temptation and defiance and harsh conditions.  A child dies, a mom/wife goes nuts, a hired killer ends up instead joining up with the people he's supposed to kill, then ends up accidentally killing them by spreading his cold virus.

Later, it was made into a movie, which I also saw.  Again, it's been a while, but I remember thinking it was well done, and I liked it.  Kathy Bates was very impressive as the go-nuts mom/wife.

So after all that pondering and recollection of a dark story about the harsh jungle and destructive humans...

...I painted a parrot.
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Equality

Once again, I think it's safe to assume that this week's Illustration Friday prompt, "Equality", is inspired by news of note from current events.  

Yes, it's time once again for Crested Butte Bike Week!  A little nice press for promoting bicycle love.  Really, sometimes when I'm out and about on the bicycle, I feel invisible.  Then there are those who feel we are somehow a threat to their way of life.

So I chose my love Tessa, a.k.a. "The Girl with the Emerald Tires",  as this week's model.  It's so nice to have our relationship recognized as the good healthy, harmless relationship it is.  CELEBRATE!

More photos HERE

Share the road, share the rules.  Don't be hatin'.

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Worn

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "Worn".    My first thought was, "Well, I've done plenty of beat up shoes..."

So I started thinking about things that are worn by specific groups or for specific reasons.  With the Black Forest fire still predominately in our minds, I started thinking of all the gear worn by the firefighters.  What does one wear to a fire?  

...which led me to this Native American dancer.  RAIN dancer, to be specific.

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Children

This week's prompt at Illustration Friday is "Children".  Some find it stressful to be around children.

Others deal with them quite well.
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Liquid

I thought I was going to miss another Illustration Friday, where this week's prompt is "liquid", because of a schedule that was booked "solid".  Wouldn't that be a "gas"?

Okay, sorry...

Wolfgang is at freshman orientation today, and I was half-planning to go with him.  After consulting with various expert sources (namely Chaco and Wolfgang), it didn't seem necessary.  The thing goes on ALL  DAY, and maybe 15 minutes of the parental portion would be helpful for us.  So it was that or paint these ducks.

I never had a rubber duck as a kid and was rather jealous of Ernie on Sesame Street.  But then, I had green humanoid Gumby and his talking red pony sidekick Pokey to bathe with.

My non-conformist waters run deep.  Or maybe I just watched too much TV.
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Tribute

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "Tribute", so I sat here wondering what I should pay tribute to.  

"Star Wars" came to mind since it's May 4th, as in "May the 4th Be With You"  *groan*.  Really, I'm not that much of a Star Wars geek.  And Jar Jar Binks fully ruined whatever geekness I had to begin with.  

I am, however, a bit of a closet horse racing fan.  I don't gamble, I don't follow any particular horse or trainer, but I do love to watch a good horse race.  The Kentucky Derby kicks off the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and is run on the first Saturday of May - today!

So much power and speed and grace in two exciting minutes.  

I know there is controversy around horse racing - with allegations of abuse or unhealthy conditions for the horses.  I don't know, but I hope that's not the case.  I think they are beautiful to watch, racing all out.  And the jockeys - what a ride that must be!

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Train

This week's prompt for Illustration Friday is "Train".  Train is one of those words that has many meanings.

It can be a noun, as in a succession of railroad cars or a part of a gown dragging on the ground.  It can be a verb as in teaching or coaching or preparing...

All those choices left me behind, so I drew none of them.  I drew a caboose.

When I was a kid, I'd get excited to watch the trains move through town.  My hometown was a coal mining town (there's more to life than sex change operations), so coal trains moved through quite frequently.  We'd never know how many cars there would be, or if the train would come to a stop while we watched.  One thing we knew, however, was that the caboose signaled the end.

Cabooses (Cabeese??) provided shelter for the train crew and used to be required.  Now, they are quite rare.  As a mom of boys, I have been to many many a train museum, and I always enjoyed climbing around  the old caboose displays the best.  They just seemed so cozy and restful compared to the rest of the old freight trains.

So, always a fan of the behind, I do a caboose.

Now a major [motion picture]
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Wild Silver Liningness Sunday

Happy weekend.  First of all, it just didn't feel right to let an Illustration Friday go by without a proper illustration.   So  for the prompt "wild", I'm sticking with the feral man theme...  This time of year, my thoughts can drift to such things.  Y'know, camping and stuff...  Bathing outside... Watercolors...  That kind of thing...

It was a good and productive week, but I did end up spending a lot of time hanging out in my left brain.  I'm thankful for the right brain time, and my Illustration Friday OCD helps insure I get a token amount.  

We did get that snow day, and while I wasn't happy with a blustery snowstorm in April, I'm thankful I didn't have to be out in it!

As mentioned, Wolfgang and the track team had another successful meet this weekend.  It was the first official local one since another previous one had gotten canceled, and it was nice to be able to watch the fun.  

In somewhat related news, I'm glad to report that my friend has found an appropriately tallish victim to fulfill the role of Lumber for next week's elementary school fundraiser.  Poor sucker.  But at least I'm no longer being subjected to the sad puppy eyes.  

I hope it's sunny and warm where you are!  Now, go shower!

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Urban

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "urban", so I painted this subway scene, complete with urban grafitti.

I've never been on a subway or in a subway station.  Well... now I have?

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eye glasses

I was in my early 20's and sitting in one of my classes in college when I found myself struggling to see what was on the board.

I was sitting in the second row, couldn't the professor write better?!

I realized, however, that there were others way back in the last row that seemed to be able to see everything just fine.  I had to face the facts.  It wasn't the professor.  It was *GASP* my fault.

I scheduled a checkup with an eye doctor, and soon afterwards joined the ranks of the bespectacled.

This week's prompt at Illustration Friday is "Eye Glasses".  That's a pretty specific prompt, and I thought about honoring it with, maybe, Ben Franklin - the inventor of bifocals.  But transitioning to bifocals is something I'd rather not think about!

An artist I admire over at DeviantArt often paints acrylic on card stock, so I thought I'd experiment, having never done that before - myself as guinea pig... or Secret Squirrel... Whatever.

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Storm

I guess it's appropriate that this week's Illustration Friday prompt is "storm", with the mayhem going on in the northeast part of the country.

So I thought I could do the cop out white-on-white thing to symbolize a whiteout.  Or I could do the cop out black-on-black thing to symbolize the power outages.  No.

Or I could do a Nemo, but I just did Buzz Lightyear and don't want to overdo Disney Pixar.   I could do a Halle Berry from X-Men or a weather vane.  Sorry Halle, a weather vane it is.

Watercolor makes the corners of my paper curl, and rather than wait for the thing to dry and then smash it and wait for it to flatten, I just put heavy things on the corners and snapped a picture.  Hence the shadow in the upper right.

Pretend it's a U.F.O.  Or Halle Berry.
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New

I remember reading an article several years ago, probably in a parenting magazine or some such.  It was about children and new stuff.

The article recommended against having children open birthday gifts with a bunch of other kids around, like at a birthday party.  Save the opening of gifts for a later time, after the little partiers had left.  The reasoning was that, the other kids would most naturally want to play with all of the new stuff too, but the birthday boy or girl wouldn't be ready to share.

"Making" the kid share would only cause more disruption.  There needs to be ample time for the child to make the new thing rightfully his.  A period of "imprinting" before the child is ready to share.

Sounded sensible to  me.  I don't think that's true just for kids either.

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "New".  I pondered what to illustrate.  My new iPod is a pretty boring subject.  Then I thought of the new Element.

I finally let Wolfgang drive it this week, after much prodding.

I guess I was ready to share.
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Glow

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "glow", so I painted this Mayan mask in light and shadow, as in:

Mayan mask says, "Sunrise?!  Aw.... rats"
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Snow

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "snow".  Typically, the word snow would conjure up thoughts and images of fun and playfulness and rosy cheeks...

But with yesterday's news still so raw, I was more in the mood for something quiet.  Stillness.

Stay safe, my friends.
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feeling blue?

Ah, *breathing*.  Things are falling into place.  I hadn't really realized the number of loose ends until I started tying some up.

First of all, I got the yams this morning.  I had to take out a guy wearing a sweatshirt from my college alma mater, but oh well.  It's Thanksgiving.

Meego got his dashing retainer from the orthodontist yesterday.  Mouth all fixed yet?  How about now??

I picked Chaco up last night and he's settled in for the long weekend.  Needs a haircut.  But we may have confirmed the missing jeans residing at the dorm

Also, recall that Wolfgang went to get new running shoes, but the store didn't have his size?  They had some trucked down from one of the other stores and they were in yesterday.  They're loud.  Bright blue loud.

He took them for a test drive this morning and declared them good except, "the color's kinda.... girly".  Now, I happen to have a pair of the girl version in purple.  Also a bit loud:

Brooks PureFlow
girl, boy, girl, boy

It's the laces, he says.  Maybe if the laces were black instead of royal blue?  So we found some black laces laying around so the shoes can be more masculine.

How important is color?  I remember in home ec. classes, how we were taught to make colorful meals as well as tasty ones.  What color to paint the baby's room?  Not red, he'll never sleep.  Blue and brown are relaxing.  White is associated with cleanliness.  Selling your house?  Paint everything beige.

Color seems to keep popping up as a discussion theme lately.  A friend of mine who is a teacher noted an advertisement for a new building toy targeting girls, to try to encourage more girls to become engineers.  This started off  a discussion of the silly  "pinkification" of other building toys like Legos and Tinkertoys.  Do most girls have no awareness of these toys unless they're pink?  I say no.

But I bet there are long discussions and decision making processes that go into the color for athletic shoes.

How much do you care?  Colors.

I found this video I made about a year and a half ago.  As I recall, I was using up some old paints - just random colors - and this is what came of it (and yes, I was cooking eggs at the time too).

Why a scorpion?  I have a thing for arthropods?

Not really, but today is my birthday.  Get the connection?

For a more difficult test, whoever spots the cat in the video gets extra pie.
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Haunt

Happy Holidays!

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "Haunt", and I decided I wanted to illustrate a recognizable character.  Once I decided that, the choice was obvious!

Igor.  My reason for being.  My very life breath.  You say, "haunt"?

I say, "HAUT"!
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Book

Just after I blogged about getting that naughty book from the library, the Illustration Friday prompt for this week is "book".   Hmmm, coincidence?

I thought about just doing a still life of a book and some prop - like a candle or a glass o' wine or the cliche' book with roses...  Then I considered the cop out of just opening up a couple of sketchbooks and snapping a pic of them.  Nah.

In the end I went with this girl reading some chick lit.

The lace leggings were a challenge.  To me, she looks kind of naked with some strange rash on her legs, but oh well.  They're supposed to be lace leggings.

I wonder what she's reading.
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Burst

Have you ever laughed so hard you thought you might burst?  I hope so!  

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "burst", and I tried to capture that STOP-or-I'm-gonna-pee! essence.

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