I was asked a while ago to contribute something to this show and you may have seen some of my initial attempts during the 30 Days of Drawing challenge. The artwork is due today and is finished. While I could (and probably will at some time) color it I felt the initial ink over non-photo blue pencil had a nice feel to it. Plus since I color digitally the finished work would end up looking mass produced and not original. The pieces are not for sale, since I have no idea what I should charge, and kind of feel that if I just charged for the frames, it would be silly and overpriced. The art show is being held at New Day Meadery in Fountain Square with the following events (descriptions taken from the New Day Meadery website):
IDADA First Friday: Circle City AerodromeFriday, February 7, 6-9 PMCircle City Aerodrome has done it again! This juried show is a collection of pieces that fit this year’s theme “Time Travel is Messy: Vonnegut in the Aerodrome”.
Stop by to see this amazing collection of works from artists and inventors from Indianapolis, and around the country. Curiosities and thrills shall be had by all!
Circle City Aerodrome Artist Reception:Friday, February 14, 6-9 PM
This is a fantastic opportunity to meet the creative minds behind the amazing juried art show presented by the Circle City Aerodrome, as part of their national convention!
This year’s gallery theme is “Time Travel is Messy: Vonnegut in the Aerodrome”, and is part of the weekend-long A Dark Victorian Romance. Not to be missed!!
—
As for the drawing I guess you could also call the “30 days of drawing… day 32- yes I skipped day 31” The wrench is an antique that I felt added the certain something to the work…
As for the events.. I’m not sure if I can make either due real life work commitments, but who knows?
12×12 pen & ink over non-photo blue pencil on Bristol. A depiction of Sir Cecil’s Simian Aero Corps that were invaluable at stopping the assault of the mechanical armies from the East during the great time-war of 1883… not to be confused with the great chrono-war of 1875, or the somewhat great wibbly-wobbly skirmish of 1892. Hence the idiom “throwing a monkey wrench into the works” became part of the vernacular.12×12 pen & ink over non-photo blue pencil on Bristol. A portrait of Sir Cecil. E. M. Ookington-Smythe KBE DFC on his faithful steed “Bernice” after returning from “abroad” (Sir Cecil never did explain whether it was forward or backward through his chronovortex.) The original artist is unknown and presumed eaten.
The initial display from IndyLUG at the Greenfield Brick Expo- After seeing the film today, we know there’s a lot that needs to be added…
I’m and old school animation guy… classic Warner Brothers animation, Disney, & Pixar are all my favorites. While I haven’t had a chance to see a lot of the more recent stuff I haven’t really been a fan of other studios attempts at creating an animated film. Some have been good, but I compare animated films to super hero films and you’ve got Marvel that has figured it out, and DC that hasn’t (this coming from a DC comics fan). I think I’ve had the misfortune of seeing a few failed attempts at telling an animated story from Dreamworks, or whoever and just left shaking my head. The studios idea seemed to be if we use famous people and throw in a song by a popular artist (along with a few fart jokes) it will make us enough money to cover the costs. I feel bad for parents who have young children and have to sit through Ice Age 16, Madagascar 25 or whatever. Again I’m generalizing so don’t come back with a “What about…” There have been some good movies, but nothing consistent, like what Pixar had done.
Being an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) when the hype started about “The Lego Movie” I was cautiously optimistic. The trailers seemed amusing which could be that they cut the trailer to include only the funny parts. The cast, while stars, weren’t necessarily Hollywood A-listers (although I stay away from tabloids so they could be and I don’t know). The thing that kept coming to me as I watched the trailers was it looked like it was going to be fun. It looked like they were taking themselves seriously, but not too seriously. When the Lego kits for the movie came out, they continued with this theme. Almost a child-like whimsy built into to each set. I started to really look forward to seeing this film- and that scared me even more. I was scared that I was setting the bar too high and that nothing could be as good as what I was expecting.
I was wrong. This film not only met those expectations, but surpassed them. I was lucky enough to get a couple of passes to a screening this morning since I had contributed to a display at the Greenfield Brick Expo and was amazed at how it appealed to everyone in the audience, and this could have been a tough audience since a large portion were AFOLs. Frankly, I don’t want to give anything away and I suggest you avoid spoilers because there are some twists that really make the film more than just 100 minutes of animated Lego Minifigs. I also suggest you see it as soon as you can, before you can’t avoid reviews that ruin the film for you.
Here’s the basic plot, most of this can be pulled from the trailers- It takes place in a Lego world where our hero – Emmet is just a construction guy doing his job. There is a group called the “Master Builders” who are looking for “The Special” someone who, because of prophecy, will save the world from Lord Business and his evil plans (destroy the world on Taco Tuesday). Emmet, our “hero”, gets mistaken for “The Special” and must try to save the world, with the help of others (the trailer shows an old wizard guy, a girl dressed in black, and Batman- yes, Batman). Sounds a little like “The Matrix”? I would agree as to the general premise, the nice thing is they tie everything up in 100 minutes, not three movies, and since it is geared to kids, adults can pretty much understand what’s going on. By the end you care about the world, you care about the characters, and it has a couple good morals (one for kids, and one for adults although the one for kids works for adults too)- If I told you it would ruin it for you so I won’t.
The thing that stood out for me is that I am seriously considering seeing this film again, in a theater. Most films I can wait until they are on Netflix, or I spend a couple bucks to rent them from iTunes (I did this with The Avengers & Man of Steel). This one I’m thinking about going back to the theater when it opens, paying a lot of money, and seeing it again, just to catch what I missed- and then I’m thinking about buying a copy to own when it’s available…that says something about this movie, since I haven’t done either thing for any film released in the last decade.
SO what are your thoughts? For me it was “AWESOME!” Your mileage may vary.
and so it ends not with a bang but a whimper…
This first 30 day challenge is over… 30 drawings in 30 days. What has it taught me. A lot. Not as much about drawing, but more about time management. I can do a drawing a day, some aren’t as great as others. Some I actually like and think they could lead to stories or build characters. I know I have a long way to go and as I learned when I first started out on my geek odyssey, the more I draw the better I get, subtly with little nuances. This drawing actually is a rough idea for something I need to have done by Sunday. I still don’t know if this will be the final design, but it did get me thinking. The other thing is I was bouncing around in meetings until around 8:30. So to get this drawing done, I stopped off at an art store and picked up a pad and some pencils (I strangely enough had a pencil sharpener with me). I did the initial drawing (along with some rough sketches) during one of my meetings. While I enjoyed adding this to my day, I think if I am to continue, I might not go all the way to coloring or even inking. Drawing was enjoyable, finishing sometimes became more time consuming.
The truth of this 30 day challenge was this it wasn’t my only 30 day challenge. I wanted to try a couple different things and being impatient and a little ADD (Squirrel!) I decided to try a few- something I won’t be repeating. Two were adding something to my day, and one was taking something away. Drawing and drinking a large glass of juice were added. Thank you to my brother Mike and his wife Erika for talking about Trader Joe’s cranberry juice (definitely an acquired taste). Seems silly to have to challenge yourself to drink a large glass of juice each day, but I wanted to make sure that I had something healthy at least every day, so a large glass of juice each day. Today I’m drinking that juice as I write this, most days I would drink it before rushing off to school. So what have taken away for the last 30 days… I decided to not drink alcohol for 30 days (maybe that how I could draw for 30 days). As an adult, I wanted to see how that would change how I do things. Not much change that I could see. Although going out was strange, since I tended to only order water. Health wise I figure it helped a bit and I did lose some weight which has been nice. I actually have one more day to go on this since I messed up at the beginning. And that’s why I really like the 30 day challenges instead of a resolution if you mess up, you can start over.
So 30 days, 30 drawings- which one was your favorite? I’ll start another challenge once I finally finish all the ones from this month & figure out which ONE from my list I think I should try.
One more day? One day more? Really? Wow… almost there. Can’t get cocky since I still could trip at the finish line.
Today’s drawing is a little practice for that art show I mentioned a few drawings ago… this one deals with Sir Cecil’s Aero Simian Corps that battled in the Great War against the Mechanical Men from the East… I like some parts of this drawing but need to tweak others… I need to have a final drawing ready by Sunday. At least I think I’ve got the monkey wrench pretty close.
From Minion #261 to Minion #9823452 find out which Minion best matches your personality!
So are you as tired of these facebook “personality quizzes” as I am. I admit I’ve done a few, but the pessimist in me is trying to figure out what the companies are getting out it except for website hits. For the record let’s see: I’m Princess Leia (or Han Solo if I really think about how to answer), Scotty from Star Trek, The Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons in one quiz, in another I was Sideshow Bob, Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory, and Walter White is my TV dad. Am I really like any of these fictional characters? Maybe a bit… but I like to think I’m myself- something that has taken me a few years to get to, and I’m not done yet.
On a daily basis- as a public school teacher I do feel like Minion #4238. For the record- The description works for any of the Minions so you don’t have to worry about taking the quiz.
Unless something changes- let’s call this drawing # 28 for my 30 days of drawing challenge…
Welcome to the 27th Century! All right, maybe the 27th drawing…nothing too fancy here. I decided to play around in greyscale and add just a touch of color. I started off My Geek Odyssey this way and realized that adding grey took almost as much time as color so why not just do the comic in color? Tomorrow Mother Nature has thrown some more extreme temperatures our way so I’ll be home catching up on some things included in that list are drawings so as long as Hemi doesn’t decide he needs my undivided attention I hope to be productive.
As we prepare for another wonderful winter week, probably filled with 2 hour delays or a snow day or two, I started working on some ideas for a banner for my upcoming convention appearances… I began with a few ideas and went instead with this one. I call this “Cecil’s version of armchair caching”.
For those who do not geocache, armchair caching is basically like being an armchair quarterback. You sit around and instead of actually caching, you find a geocache somewhere in the world and log it as if you actually found it. Cecil doesn’t believe in armchair caching… he must see the cache and sign the log or he doesn’t claim it.
This is getting harder and harder, not just because of time but other commitments. Today I finished up the comic strip for FTF Geocacher and sent that off and really just wanted to sit back and relax… but I knew I needed to to get a drawing done. SO after dinner tonight a sat at my drafting table and decided to dredge up an old drawing I had done years and years ago Harry Potter chasing a a golden snitch. The crazy thing these entries take more time to write than the drawing do.
The story for this drawing is one of opposing authority or at least openly disregarding it. As you know I’m a school teacher and over the years certain “Educational Decrees” have been issued some make sense and others show that whoever is writing these things isn’t all there. Unfortunately once a decree has been made the people in charge tend to just send out reminders without really looking at what the decree said. So years ago a school I was at sent out to all teachers requirements for classroom holiday decorations. basically a list of stuff that you could have on bulletin boards, on worksheets, and newsletters. When I first scanned the list I thought, “Hey, it’s nice to know so I don’t get in trouble.” Then I took a look at the list and since it was getting close to Halloween I started there. It was the typical – no monsters, or witches- you could however have harvest themed decorations including jack-o-lanterns. I stopped… I did a double take- you couldn’t have anything related to Halloween, but you could have jack-o-lanterns? I was confused and decided at that point I was going to see how far I could bend the rules. Outside of each room was a floor to ceiling bulletin board. It was a monster to deal with. I decided starting in October to create a Harry Potter bulletin board. Today’s image is pretty close to what I drew except Harry was pretty much life size. So there in the middle of the school was a bulletin board with a guy in a black robe riding a broomstick. That bulletin board stayed up for a year. No one said anything. I updated it with information about (at that time) the upcoming Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone film. Oh, that same educational decree still get’s sent out every year- and I’m still allowed to put jack-o-lanterns in my classroom to ward off evil spirits during All Hallow’s Eve.
As we reach the end of this challenge, it is getting a little more difficult. Mostly it’s about just finding the time to draw. I’m behind on things like this comic, or finishing the comic for FTF Geocacher. Fortunately for me, the weather looks horrible for the weekend so I should be able to take the next two days and get those done.
As for today’s drawing- a while ago (not sure, a few years maybe) I thought about doing a comic about fairy tale characters attending a school. I liked the idea but with “Fables,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Grimm” and other fairy tale based properties I figured someone had already done it. Then I started reading things like JL8, so I moved on. I still might try it sometime, but tonight (with “Grimm” playing in the background) had the desire to draw the red hood… Fine, Little Red Riding Hood- I thought about having her wearing a Joker t-shirt, and jeans. Maybe next time.
I wear an number of hats at work… today one of my co-workers came up with an idea to engage teachers in some technology training. We’ve done this before, “Tech Trick or Treat”, “Tech the Halls” Basically anything to get someone to read our email and pay attention to us. So the idea of “Tech Things I Love” was presented. Like I said anything to help get people better use the technology they have. I doodled a quick robot cupid… an decided if I finished it it could be today’s drawing. As with any graphic design project I’m sure it will need to be revised 12 times before the committee likes it.
—
update: January 29 (so 30 days of Drawing … day 29) I actually worked on a different version that I kind of like better due to the simplicity. I also took the black outline and made it grey, just to see how it changed the look.
This first 30 day challenge is over… 30 drawings in 30 days. What has it taught me. A lot. Not as much about drawing, but more about time management. I can do a drawing a day, some aren’t as great as others. Some I actually like and think they could lead to stories or build characters. I know I have a long way to go and as I learned when I first started out on my geek odyssey, the more I draw the better I get, subtly with little nuances. This drawing actually is a rough idea for something I need to have done by Sunday. I still don’t know if this will be the final design, but it did get me thinking. The other thing is I was bouncing around in meetings until around 8:30. So to get this drawing done, I stopped off at an art store and picked up a pad and some pencils (I strangely enough had a pencil sharpener with me). I did the initial drawing (along with some rough sketches) during one of my meetings. While I enjoyed adding this to my day, I think if I am to continue, I might not go all the way to coloring or even inking. Drawing was enjoyable, finishing sometimes became more time consuming.
The truth of this 30 day challenge was this it wasn’t my only 30 day challenge. I wanted to try a couple different things and being impatient and a little ADD (Squirrel!) I decided to try a few- something I won’t be repeating. Two were adding something to my day, and one was taking something away. Drawing and drinking a large glass of juice were added. Thank you to my brother Mike and his wife Erika for talking about Trader Joe’s cranberry juice (definitely an acquired taste). Seems silly to have to challenge yourself to drink a large glass of juice each day, but I wanted to make sure that I had something healthy at least every day, so a large glass of juice each day. Today I’m drinking that juice as I write this, most days I would drink it before rushing off to school. So what have taken away for the last 30 days… I decided to not drink alcohol for 30 days (maybe that how I could draw for 30 days). As an adult, I wanted to see how that would change how I do things. Not much change that I could see. Although going out was strange, since I tended to only order water. Health wise I figure it helped a bit and I did lose some weight which has been nice. I actually have one more day to go on this since I messed up at the beginning. And that’s why I really like the 30 day challenges instead of a resolution if you mess up, you can start over.
So 30 days, 30 drawings- which one was your favorite? I’ll start another challenge once I finally finish all the ones from this month & figure out which ONE from my list I think I should try. 
One more day? One day more? Really? Wow… almost there. Can’t get cocky since I still could trip at the finish line.
Today’s drawing is a little practice for that art show I mentioned a few drawings ago… this one deals with Sir Cecil’s Aero Simian Corps that battled in the Great War against the Mechanical Men from the East… I like some parts of this drawing but need to tweak others… I need to have a final drawing ready by Sunday. At least I think I’ve got the monkey wrench pretty close. 
From Minion #261 to Minion #9823452 find out which Minion best matches your personality!
So are you as tired of these facebook “personality quizzes” as I am. I admit I’ve done a few, but the pessimist in me is trying to figure out what the companies are getting out it except for website hits. For the record let’s see: I’m Princess Leia (or Han Solo if I really think about how to answer), Scotty from Star Trek, The Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons in one quiz, in another I was Sideshow Bob, Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory, and Walter White is my TV dad. Am I really like any of these fictional characters? Maybe a bit… but I like to think I’m myself- something that has taken me a few years to get to, and I’m not done yet.
On a daily basis- as a public school teacher I do feel like Minion #4238. For the record- The description works for any of the Minions so you don’t have to worry about taking the quiz.
Unless something changes- let’s call this drawing # 28 for my 30 days of drawing challenge… 
Welcome to the 27th Century! All right, maybe the 27th drawing…nothing too fancy here. I decided to play around in greyscale and add just a touch of color. I started off My Geek Odyssey this way and realized that adding grey took almost as much time as color so why not just do the comic in color? Tomorrow Mother Nature has thrown some more extreme temperatures our way so I’ll be home catching up on some things included in that list are drawings so as long as Hemi doesn’t decide he needs my undivided attention I hope to be productive. 
As we prepare for another wonderful winter week, probably filled with 2 hour delays or a snow day or two, I started working on some ideas for a banner for my upcoming convention appearances… I began with a few ideas and went instead with this one. I call this “Cecil’s version of armchair caching”.
For those who do not geocache, armchair caching is basically like being an armchair quarterback. You sit around and instead of actually caching, you find a geocache somewhere in the world and log it as if you actually found it. Cecil doesn’t believe in armchair caching… he must see the cache and sign the log or he doesn’t claim it. 
This is getting harder and harder, not just because of time but other commitments. Today I finished up the comic strip for FTF Geocacher and sent that off and really just wanted to sit back and relax… but I knew I needed to to get a drawing done. SO after dinner tonight a sat at my drafting table and decided to dredge up an old drawing I had done years and years ago Harry Potter chasing a a golden snitch. The crazy thing these entries take more time to write than the drawing do.
The story for this drawing is one of opposing authority or at least openly disregarding it. As you know I’m a school teacher and over the years certain “Educational Decrees” have been issued some make sense and others show that whoever is writing these things isn’t all there. Unfortunately once a decree has been made the people in charge tend to just send out reminders without really looking at what the decree said. So years ago a school I was at sent out to all teachers requirements for classroom holiday decorations. basically a list of stuff that you could have on bulletin boards, on worksheets, and newsletters. When I first scanned the list I thought, “Hey, it’s nice to know so I don’t get in trouble.” Then I took a look at the list and since it was getting close to Halloween I started there. It was the typical – no monsters, or witches- you could however have harvest themed decorations including jack-o-lanterns. I stopped… I did a double take- you couldn’t have anything related to Halloween, but you could have jack-o-lanterns? I was confused and decided at that point I was going to see how far I could bend the rules. Outside of each room was a floor to ceiling bulletin board. It was a monster to deal with. I decided starting in October to create a Harry Potter bulletin board. Today’s image is pretty close to what I drew except Harry was pretty much life size. So there in the middle of the school was a bulletin board with a guy in a black robe riding a broomstick. That bulletin board stayed up for a year. No one said anything. I updated it with information about (at that time) the upcoming Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone film. Oh, that same educational decree still get’s sent out every year- and I’m still allowed to put jack-o-lanterns in my classroom to ward off evil spirits during All Hallow’s Eve. 
As we reach the end of this challenge, it is getting a little more difficult. Mostly it’s about just finding the time to draw. I’m behind on things like this comic, or finishing the comic for FTF Geocacher. Fortunately for me, the weather looks horrible for the weekend so I should be able to take the next two days and get those done.
As for today’s drawing- a while ago (not sure, a few years maybe) I thought about doing a comic about fairy tale characters attending a school. I liked the idea but with “Fables,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Grimm” and other fairy tale based properties I figured someone had already done it. Then I started reading things like JL8, so I moved on. I still might try it sometime, but tonight (with “Grimm” playing in the background) had the desire to draw the red hood… Fine, Little Red Riding Hood- I thought about having her wearing a Joker t-shirt, and jeans. Maybe next time. 
I wear an number of hats at work… today one of my co-workers came up with an idea to engage teachers in some technology training. We’ve done this before, “Tech Trick or Treat”, “Tech the Halls” Basically anything to get someone to read our email and pay attention to us. So the idea of “Tech Things I Love” was presented. Like I said anything to help get people better use the technology they have. I doodled a quick robot cupid… an decided if I finished it it could be today’s drawing. As with any graphic design project I’m sure it will need to be revised 12 times before the committee likes it.
—
update: January 29 (so 30 days of Drawing … day 29) I actually worked on a different version that I kind of like better due to the simplicity. I also took the black outline and made it grey, just to see how it changed the look.
