Positively Glowing

It's been awhile since I completed He's Got a Knife. And, by awhile, I mean about a year. That's unfortunate. Where did the year go?

While it certainly didn't require a full year, I did recently complete another sculpture. I call the little guy Textron. Really, he's not that little...probably 10 inches tall total. He's a mixed media kind of thing...a combination of Sculpey, plaster of Paris, recycled food containers, coax, and a handful of random parts scavenged from the garage. These may or may not have fallen off a bicycle, a moped, or a TR6. The finish is several layers of primer, sealer, silver paint, and sealer. Amidst that was a lot of sanding.

And, yes, the brain, the brain-juice, and the eye all glow-in-the-dark. It's a shame glow-in-the-dark doesn't photograph well. I tried but just couldn't capture the awesome.

Anyway, here are the results. I'm happy with how it turned out.




As a side note, I would recommend being very careful about buying second hand toaster ovens. The one I bought to bake sculpey in the garage (rather than stinking up the house) burns about 150 °F hotter than the setting. It's true. After baking some Cajun-style robot parts, I checked it with the oven thermometer.

Months!

It's been months since I've posted anything. Not really sure why. I think I've just been distracted by...well...a lot of stuff. Maybe I was testing to see who noticed my absence and said something. If that were the case, every single one of you failed. Miserably. Not that I'm keeping track.

Some quick updates:

1. The boys are growing like crazy. Jonah has passed through crawling to cruising in a blink. He's a determined little guy. Jonah's first birthday as well as his dedication at church is in just a couple weeks. Jesse is full of questions and curiosity. He's sleeping in a big boy bed and even memorizing Bible verses. Amazing!

2. I banged up my Honda Civic on my commute home in February. Poor Rhonda ended up totaled. She was a loyal friend (not that you would know anything about loyalty) and I miss her. This prompted me to buy another car. The new ride is another Civic EX. It's pretty close to what I had...just black and with 2-doors instead of 4. We'll call it the (semi) sporty version of Rhonda. I got a great deal on it. I haven't named it yet. Maybe Coop. Or Cooper.

3. Worked on and completed another sculpture. I'll get pictures and details posted shortly.

4. We refinanced our mortgage and started college funds for the boys. We've been meaning to do both for awhile. With rates low and investments on sale, it seemed like prime time to get going. I think this put us working on Dave Ramsey's Baby Step #6 (Payoff home).

5. More reading. I finished the last of the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. I love Lewis. Good stuff. I also read Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer. This book was a look behind the creation of Veggie Tales. And interesting story of a man pursuing his mission. I think that's it. Currently, I'm reading Story by Robert McKee and Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message by Ravi Zacharias. both are pretty intense.

6. Pondering my next creative endeavor. Sculpture? Graphic Novel? Not sure.

Sorry I don't have more pictures. Here's a start.

Iron West, Tommysaurus Rex, and Creature Tech

	Iron West by Doug TenNapel Image Comics ISBN: 1582406308
	Tommysaurus Rex by Doug TenNapel Image Comics ISBN: 1582403953
	Creature Tech by Doug TenNapel Top Shelf Productions ISBN: 1891830341

I like westerns. I like robots. Why not have both? That's what I thought when I found Doug TenNapel's Iron West graphic novel at the library. Ok…I admit that I think similar thoughts on a pretty regular basis. This was different as it was prompted by the finding of book rather than…well…boredom.

Anyway, if the name Doug TenNapel sounds familiar, it’s probably not surprising as he’s worked on a lot of different projects. I was most familiar with his Earthworm Jim creation.

Iron West featured the humor and, let’s face it, off-the-wall-ness you’d expect from TenNapel. There were portions that seemed a little gimmicky but, overall, I really liked the book. It had humor, action, character development, and character growth. In this case, the main character grows from a man that runs from challenges to one the accepts and responsibility for those around him. I liked the silliness of the story. I enjoyed the free-flowing artwork. And I liked that the story was wholly contained in one book. You start from scratch with no preconceived ideas as to who the characters are or should be. Well done.

I enjoyed Iron West enough that I proceed to read the other TenNapal works in the library’s collection. Next up was Tommysaurus Rex. I actually enjoyed this more than Iron West. Like Iron West, the story is solid and well told. Again, there’s silliness but I’d consider that a good time. Through the telling of a story that involved a boy finding and befriending a dinosaur, the boy learns valuable lessons about kindness and sacrifice.

Third in my TenNapel reading trilogy was Creature Tech. Maybe my favorite of the three. The silliness is still there. The solid story and characters are still there. The silliness (thankfully) is still prominent. Space eels? Demon cats? A symbiotic organism? Good stuff. Here, the main character finds a faith he’d previous put aside for science. Yes, there’s a message of faith here. I wouldn’t call the message thinly-veiled though I didn’t find it preachy, either.

All in all, I’m disappointed the library doesn’t have more TenNapel works. From what I’ve read, it’s lively and fun without being superficial. While I didn’t know it when I first picked up his work, TenNapel’s is a professing Christian and it shows through. As in several of my previous book reviews, I was pleased to see these books fall into the category of things I wouldn’t mind my kids reading. The language was clean. There may have been a cheek shown in Creature Tech but it’s brief (you know, assuming you don’t read the same panel over and over).

Bone: The One Volume Edition

Bone: The One Volume Edition
by Jeff Smith
Cartoon Books
ISBN: 188896314X

I've fallen behind on my reviews and my blogging in general. I've been busy, ok?!

Anyway, I've always heard good things about the Bone series by Jeff Smith but I never really got into them. No, it's not that I didn't get into them. I don't think I really even tried. I'm pretty sure I picked up the books and thought they looked too childish and left it at that. I know...this from someone that still watches cartoons. Recently, though, I thought I'd give them a real try. Fortunately, the library has copies and I was able to pick up a few of the books published by Scholastic. I was impressed and, with the help or Christmas gift cards, I scored a copy of Bone: The One Volume Edition.

Well, I'm still impressed. First off, the edition is something like 1300 pages. I own some pretty big books but I think this is definitely the biggest. But, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The artwork is a terrific mix of realism and stylization. The fact that three of the main characters are, for lack of a better description, blobby people only adds to the fantastical nature of the story. And it really is fantastic. There are twists and turns. Humor and horror. Action and drama. It's pretty intense. No wonder it's 1300 pages.

I think part of why I liked the book was that is offered something for both adults and children. It is childish, as I initially thought. But, unlike my first feelings, there's a lot for grown ups too. It's something I can enjoy without worrying about my kids also reading it. That scored big in my book.

It should be noted that Bone: The One Volume Edition is in black and white. I believe that's how the books were originally published. I know you can get them in color as the Scholastic copies at the library are printed in color. Really, I could go either way on it. I like the black and white for it's originality and simplicity. On the other hand, the color looks really good, isn't distracting, and might draw in those that are turned off by lack of color. Either way, it's worth checking out.

Baltimore,: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire

Baltimore,: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire
by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden
Spectra
ISBN: 0553804715

I think I've been through just about all the Mike Mignola Hellboy graphic novels in the local library's collection. I enjoyed each of these a great deal. They packed in a lot of action, mystery, and humor into a package of fascinating artwork. This led me to look at other works by Mignola. I think there are a couple short story collections that I'd like to eventually read but, sadly, these were not part of the library collection. However, they did have Baltimore,: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire which was written by Mignola and Christopher Golden. The cover featured artwork by Mignola, the book was peppered with pretty cool woodcut-type art by Mignola, and the story sounded pretty interesting. So, I picked it up and read a good vampire story over the holidays.

I really enjoyed the book. It was...I don't know...different. It doesn't follow a linear kind of "...and then this happened..." story. I don't want to give away much of the book as reading it really benefits from not knowing what's going to happen next. Essentially, though, the story follows a man named Baltimore as he transitions from warrior on a battlefield of man to warrior on a supernatural level. Much of the story is told by three of Baltimore's friends as they wait for him in a strange little inn. Each was summoned by Baltimore and each showed up without really knowing why they were summoned. None of the men previously knew each other so we, the readers, learn a lot about them as they learn about each other. As the talk, each man answers essentially two questions:

1. How do they know Baltimore?
2. Why did they show up when Baltimore asked? That is, why do they believe the strange things he says?

The first question prompts them to recall to their experiences with Baltimore. What's their connection? The second opens the door to the weird occurrences the men have experienced in their own lives. And these experiences are genuinely weird. While the world is normal on the surface, there's definitely something strange going on just below. Whispers of the unexplained.

The actual world reminded me a lot of the old Tales from the Darkside series..only a little less 80s and a little more bleak.



Anyway, in summary, I really liked the book. It's a pretty quick, intriguing read. Give it a shot.

Farm Fresh!

We're trying something new at home. It's a service called Farm Fresh Delivery. It seems like a pretty cool idea. They deliver fresh organic produce directly to your door. They offer a number of different packages on either a weekly or bi-weekly plan. And there's no contract to sign...it's just a standing order you can cancel anytime. You can even make substitutions if there's something on your delivery that you don't like.

This really isn't a sales pitch...

Anyway, we signed up to have produce delivered every other week. Our first green tub of fruits and vegetables arrived this past Tuesday. In two weeks, I believe we simply set the old tub out on the porch and Farm Fresh Delivery swaps it out for another one with our new order.

So far, our experience has been very positive. We did make a couple substitutions in our delivery. I think we requested grapes instead of Brussels sprouts. Seems like we opted out of something else but I can't recall. What we did get included oranges, apples (2 kinds), pears, onions, potatoes, garlic, lettuce, and kiwi. We've tried a good deal of it. I know the the apples, oranges, and pears have been really good.

With no contract, we figured we didn't have much to lose by trying it out. We'll see after a couple months if it still makes sense for us. Will we use the food we get? Will it be enough? What's the budgetary difference between this an buying food at the supermarket?

Has anyone else tried it (or something similar) out? What was your experience?

Sketchy Schemes

For those of you that may not be keeping track on your own (well...first...shame on you), I did post my most recent drawing to my Shady Dealin's Etsy shop. Still no sales on the shop but I'm encouraged by the fact that there are actually a couple Etsy users that marked my shop as a favorite.

I do have plans for some additional monster drawings but I think I'm going to take a couple weeks off from that project. I'm not taking the time off from drawing so much as a break from that specific set of drawings. I've rekindled my love of comics over the last few weeks mostly through reading some Bone by Jeff Smith and various works by Mike Mignola. That reading prompted me to revisit some of the comic book ideas I shelved a long time ago. I began putting some character drawings together. That went...ok. I couldn't put a finger on it but something was missing. So, I went through some published comics and it didn't take long for it to be clear. My drawings were lacking life. They seemed stiff and awkward. Oh, technically, they were decent drawings. They had nice proportion, the shading was good, and even the hands were well drawn. The problem was they felt like you were looking at a drawing. Reading Jeff Smith and Mike Mignola feels like you're looking at action, motion, and life (yes, even with drawings of the zombies feel alive). I needed to capture that life...the fluidity that the eye wants to see.

I'm not exactly sure how to fix that but I do have a couple ideas to get me started:

1. Relax. Ease up on the technical side and work from the imagination. As previously proven, correct isn't always right when it comes to drawing.
2. Practice. I can't expect perfection right off the bat. Ok, I can (and do)...but I need to realize that's not realistic. I also can't expect change without effort.

These are a lot easier said than done. How do I put it into action. I just started a new Sketchy Scheme. Instead of trying to put together a whole, I'm spending my time putting together parts. I'm working on a lot of quick drawings that may or may not go together. So far, I've filled several pages with these drawings and each sketch has more life in it than a lot of the other stuff I've done. Really, it reminds me of a lot of the sketches I did during various lectures in school. Much easier and fluid.

As a side benefit, the sketches are a lot of fun...both to work on and to look at. This was also missing in those first drawings.

Anyway, I plan to follow this for a week or so. I've got a few days off of work at Christmas which should offer some good opportunity for either this assignment or whatever this assignment leads to.