8 legs of Ink

I'd mentioned that ever since my internet has been down because of a lightning storm, that I've been spending a lot of time drawing lately. In my first picture (the one of the angel), I used a lot of cross-hatching to build up the gray tones. But the other day I sat down and began to sketch an octopus, yes an octopus. Don't ask me why I chose an octopus -- I don't know. I just drew a circle on the page and wound up with an octopus.

Regardless of the unseen inspiration behind the work, I decided to try and do a complete drawing without using any shades of gray. Everything in the drawing is composed of pure black, or pure white. No sissy cross hatching, stippling or fancy-pants midtones here, nosiree!

Anyway, the drawing got really complicated really quickly, but I still like the way it turned out. I feel like my drawing skill is still considerably lacking, but maybe these recent exercises will bring up my confidence.

A practice Prophecy

For the first time in about a decade, I had the compulsion to draw. The occasional doodling aside, I just never seem to have the motivation, let alone the time needed to complete a real drawing. I don't know what got into me, but the compulsion to draw hit me smack it the medulla oblongata last night.

I was in the middle of watching the old Christopher Walken movie called "The Prophecy" with my daughter. The movie tells the story of a war in heaven between angels and what happens when that war spills over onto the Earth. If you've never seen it, it's a kick-ass suspense movie and has been out for at least a decade. So its an easy assumption that the movie's subject matter led to the drawing, huh.

I know it's not that great, but considering how long its been since I've tried to draw and that I was drawing with a cheap old ink pen, I think it turned out okay. Maybe I'll start drawing more and get my skills back up to par. Or maybe it'll be another decade before I draw again, who knows.

Click on the image to see a larger version in a new window.

Shrek's bits

Several years ago we started making “stuffed peppers” for meals. The recipe is simple, blanched bell peppers are filled with a mix of spiced hamburger and rice, then topped with a little shredded cheese. I really like them as a meal, as long as the peppers don't have that “toad” taste to them. I tried to explain to Wendy that sometimes the bell peppers (especially if they have been frozen) taste amazingly similar to toads. How do I know? C’mon, was I the only kid in the world that used to play with toads?! I never really TRIED to taste them or anything, but you know how kids are! After playing all day on the farm with toads and other creepy crawly things, a kid is bound to wipe his mouth sometime! And when they do, they taste the toad!!! Am I crazy? Am I the only one who knows this bitter taste? Surely not!

But I digress. Back to the stuffed bell-peppers; I was eating my stuffed bell-peppers at lunch today when I realized something strangely repulsive. One of the peppers in my bowl look disgustingly similar to what I imagine Shrek’s ass would look like. After showing Wendy the pic, she thought they look more like an ogre's nut-sack than it's ass! Either way, nobody wants to eat an ogre’s ass or nut-sack, right?!

Steam Punk Art-ifacts

Yesterday I may have found the coolest hobby-genre that I’ve ever seen. It’s called “Steam-Punk” and is an arts and craft style that reflects modern day technology as it may have looked if it existed in the early 1900’s. You’ve undoubtedly seen the look before. I’ve seen it in movies such as The Rocketeer, Wild Wild West, HG Well’s The Time machine, and others, but I never knew that there was a whole group of people who were building these things. I love the look of copper and brass infused with wood. Maybe it’s time to stop building Halloween props and move on to making these intricate pieces of fictional eye-candy. I’m getting excited about it. It’s what I’ve been thinking about all day long (well, that and Maria, from the old Sesame Street shows).

If you want to see more of this type of art, check the Brass Goggles site. It's cool as hell and safe for work.

By word of mouth

Captain Alex informed me about something in the June 1 post. Apparently Phil Hartman’s wife actually committed suicide after shooting him in the face. Really, as horrible as it was, it really makes sense. They say that married people start looking like each other over time. Maybe she figured that she should be all bloody and pale too.

Okay..... Forgive me. Phil Hartman rocked and I don't really mean those gross things.

When I asked Captain Alex how he knew these Phil Hartman facts, he told me that a friend of his named Skidis told him! This Skidis guy must know everything!!!! He's like a wise, old sage in all things related to SNL or television. I'm not sure, but he just may be the Yoda of dead Saturday Night Live cast members.


So thanks for the round about info Skidis! By the way.... have you ever met the Swami Monkey???

Not an oxymoron, just a moron

Today I heard some radio DJ’s trying to decide whether to eat at an Indian restaurant or at an Ethiopian one. WHAT???? I thought, why would anyone want to eat like an Ethiopian? What would that be? I conjured images in my head, none of which were appetizing. It was me and Wendy sitting on a dirt floor, eating boiled white rice with our hands while a bloated Sally Struthers swats the flies off of our backs with a palm leaf. Not a pleasant sight, huh?

Before this morning, the thought of dining at an Ethiopian restaurant boggled my mind. Do they really have good food in Ethiopia? I guess I never even fathomed that they would have their own cuisine. (Well, that kinda makes sense — maybe Lean Cuisine...) But much to my surprise, after Googling the subject, the food looks friggin’ awesome!!! Now that I know that there are so many delicious Ethiopian dishes out there, I’m just confused why there are so many people there who aren’t eating it.....

Don't fear the Reaper

Someone has been visiting the small shed behind our house at night. I'm not sure who or why, but weird things have strangely gone missing. Like the hose that connect our propane tank to our grill – I mean, why would anyone puposefully take something like that?!

I guess we could always start locking the door to the shed if need be, but I think it will be more fun to just put this glow in the dark Grim Reaper right inside the door! I'd LOVE to see the guy’s face who sneaks inside and gets a surprise glance of Death standing three feet away.