You guys did so well guessing last weeks images, I wanted to do another without a label. I hope I didn’t make it too easy. I couldn’t get the animation to go automatically so you have to click on it to see the full effect.
What do these three things have in common?
For this week’s blog you have to guess.
Moses Staff
This is my interpretation of the staff of Moses and it was a challenge. I suppose the reason that I chose it is that I have felt like a stutterer in terms of art lately.
Moses complained that he couldn’t be God’s speaker because he wasn’t smooth of tongue. God asked him what he did have and Moses said a staff so God said to throw it down. It became a snake and later split the Red Sea and made a rock gush water.
None of it was the staff. It was all God, but Moses had to do his part by throwing down what he had. So here’s my staff this week. My stuttering offering.
There's got to be a better way to say that
I was doodling a pic of The Hulk when I realized that Bruce Banner may be the first ever technicolor never nude!
Hulk Smash NOT Flash!
Anxiety/Insomnia gives us a bonus hulk that remembers he started out grey
Hulk Stash (you know moustache)
I knew I shouldhn't have left the shark door open
This week’s doodle is inspired by the Dr. Who Christmas Carol episode. It’s a fun watch and I started a couple of other drawings, but didn’t get a chance to finish them. I may stick them on to this post later.
The New Omni Blast Weed Wacker
This week’s doodle is straight from space. My take on a character named Heath Huston from the comic series Fear Agent. He’s a Texan that is always getting into trouble and then blasting his way out.
Here’s the cover of the first trade paperback.
Where it all began
Here are my warm ups
A sketch card of Huston in action
Love is a warm rocket
Spider King Uuuh huh
This week’s blog is a mash-up of two pop culture icons. A lip curling hip shaker and a web spinning wall crawler. I spent the last week in Memphis and while I was there I was introduced to The Spectacular Spider-man by my 1st cousin in law once removed. I also noticed the murmurs of Elvis week in the city that served as his home and somehow the two ideals seemed ripe for a combo (I mean they both have charisma and armpit wings it seems like an obvious connection).
Spectacular Spectacular Spiderman
Are you lonesome tonight?
Unfortunately I got to the party a little late because The Spectacular Spiderman was canceled after two seasons (spanning 2008 and 2009), and Elvis died 34 years ago.
However, the DVD set has helped me get caught up on Spidey and my dad ensured that I was never lacking in Elvis education while growing up (he made sure I was familiar with both the King’s music and his uneven (to be generous) acting).
So enjoy this week’s hunka hunka a burnin blog.
The Basin and the Towel
Every once in a while I start a doodle without knowing exactly where I’m going- honesty cops say stop that sentence and start again. Every once in a while I start a doodle knowing exactly where I am going with it, but most of the time I learn as I draw. This week is an example of that with a dose of meta.
Two weeks ago I taught a teen program at a family camp. It was a great energizing/exhausting time that inspired last week’s wheat post. In the middle of the week I did a lesson on water and we all washed each others’ feet. If you’re not a Christian (and even if you are) you may not have ever experienced this, but it is a humbling activity that Christ gave us an example of being leader by being a servant. Non-Christian equivalents are easy to find for nurses (they have to do all sorts of humbling but incredibly important things) and parents (diapers) but for those that aren’t any of the above I am sure that you have had a time when you swallowed your pride and put someone else first (if you haven’t then check with your therapist to see if you are a narcissist).
I decided to draw a pitcher with a basin and towel to represent serving. As I drew I threw in a window to add interest to the composition, and decided to leave the space in the window blank to represent hope. The blank would let people fill in with their own ideal of hope and personalize the drawing. As I started shading I realized something. Putting the light source in the background would shift the shadows to the foreground. Suddenly the basin and towel weren’t so light and cheery.
Being honest to the drawing I continued to shade and think about doing another composition that wouldn’t be so dark, but I changed my mind. Our foot washing service was invigorating and once everyone got past the embarrassment (and tickleshness) of the act it was really an uplifting time, but not all service is.
Sometimes it’s really hard to keep wiping the grunge off others’ feet or changing the 189th diaper of the day (we have two boys that love to fill them diapers (even still 189 is some hyperbole)), but it’s still important to keep going even in the shadow. However, this isn’t supposed to be a depressing post so remember that the light of the window is there and even when the basing is dark the rim is light.
The Wheat and the Weeds
Jesus told a parable (an illustrating story) about a farmer that spreads his wheat seeds on different types of ground. The wheat that lands on the path is trampled and doesn’t grow at all. The wheat that lands on the stony ground springs up quickly and dies in the rays of the sun because it has no root. Then there’s the wheat that springs up and grows until weeds grow up and strangle it.
Jesus explained that the weeds that strangled the wheat were the worries of the world taking the joy of the Christians that let them.
It’s a good parable, and I can tell you that I have related to each of the kinds of soil at different times in my life. Whether you are a Christian or not if you let the cares and worries of each day wrap you up and take you away from your larger goals, then you won’t produce- You’ll wilt and die.
The last kind of soil Christ described was good soil and the wheat seed that fell there produced 100 times what was sown. Impressive. I hope to be that kind of wheat, and I hope that your week is like that too.
Who says Obi Wan is our last and best hope?
This week is going back to the theme of strong women. This was a drawing based on a Princess Leia costume. The background was snagged from an image online and significantly altered with Illustrator live trace and Photoshop filters. I might revisit the image and put in some of the other characters later, but I think Leia is pretty cool on her own as well.
So enjoy the post and may the force be with you.
