Monday, September 29, 2008

So Ye Think Ye Can Dance?


"So you think you can dance?" is this week's Drawing Board topic.
He's supposed to be a slug. People familiar with kiltware may notice I left out the sporran (purse thingy). I ran out of time.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The Crack Monster!


A Sesame Street cartoon terrified me when I was small:
A girl stares around her room. "The cracks on the wall started looking like a camel..." a voiceover sings. The cracks morph into "Crack Camel." He gives her a ride. She meets Crack Monkey, Crack Chicken... ...then Crack Monster! He threatens them.
The heros fight back. He crumbles, leaving his outline and "beams of wood."
Crack Monster scared me for years. I was sure he'd appear on my bedroom wall at night. Even regular cracks made me nervous.
Recently I Googled the cartoon that had scared me so long ago. I couldn't find it. I did find others who were had been freaked out by the the cartoon when they were young.
They too, were seeking the old cartoon. Nobody's found it.
I wonder where it went. I wonder if I'll ever see it again.
Come to think of it, I wonder how the kid explained the broken plaster to her parents...


*there is a parody of sorts on You-Tube. Made me laugh.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Polly


This is Polly. She's a Spotted Western Orb Weaving Spider. She spins her web near the back door at work. She has black eyes, almost petable fur, and an Easter Egg butt. She makes her web with robotic precision, plunking each line in place with her back foot. When she nets a bug she wraps it like a burrito.
Each time I pass I stop to look at her. People think I'm nuts.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

"T" Animal

Click for bigger picture

Another piece from my preschool days.
There's kid logic for you. Put four legs, a tail and a head on something and you have an animal.
I wonder if this was based on something I saw on Sesame Street?

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Prinsessen! Prinsessen!


The upcoming Drawing Board subject is "Princess Princess."
Huh? Who or what is a "Princess Princess?"
I considered a tribute to the opera Salome. It's enchanting, dreamy, weird and disturbing.
Simplified Plot:
1. Princess Salome wants to kiss Jochanaan.
2. Jochanaan tells her to scram.
3. Salome demands (and gets) Jochanaan's head on a platter.
4. She kisses it. The king freaks out. He has her executed then and there. The end.
Then I googled "Princess Princess" and found it was a Japanese cartoon. There's a blonde, a redhead and a bluehead. No chickens (or severed heads), it seems.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Fish Expiriment





Here's an experimental fish animation I've been playing with. Both are nested loops. The big one swims a straight line, and the little one has a motion guide steering him around.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

You will Go to the Moon!


"Futuristic Promises Not Kept" is this week's Drawing Board theme.
When I was little I had a book called You will go to the moon. I believed it. I never believed in Santa or the Easter Bunny, but I was sure I'd visit the moon. I had a few ideas for the title of the book should have said: You will go Nowhere, You will go to the Starbucks , etc..

I almost skipped this one. I've left comments at another blog where an artist completed a project with a similar theme. Anyone reading that blog who wanders here may think Hey! She mooched his idea. In my defense, "Futuristic Promises Not Kept" was another Drawing Board member's idea, not mine. And I think my cartoon is different enough to stand on its own.

p.s. to Sally C. and Linda,
I hope it's clear that I'm referring to those silly viral videos with dancing hamsters, dramatic prairie dogs, pratfalls and assorted weirdos. Your animation videos are delights. Nothing inane about them.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Cabaret Birds (early 80s)

click for larger image

Detail from a picture I drew after seeing the movie Cabaret. I was thirteen.
I still like that movie, especially how it juxtaposes onstage silliness with real life horrors.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Bird Comics (circa 1984)

Click image for a bigger one.

I drew these when I was fifteen. Watercolor pencils, I believe.
The faded letters in the lower left corner say "Punk Parrot."
He had a safety pin in his beak and an electric banjo.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

1973 Duck





I was somewhere between 3 and 4 when I drew this.
He had to wait thirty five years to move.
I have several duck pictures from when I was little. I liked to feed them at the park. I had a plush one instead of a teddy bear.
His name was Ducky Lucky.
I remember wanting to take him with me into the supermarket (Market Basket,) and my mom saying I'd lose him if I did.
My preschool brain thought that was ridiculous. He was my favorite toy. How could I loose him? I took him with me.
Guess who lost her duck that day?