Sunday, January 29, 2006

Illustration Friday: Glamour

Glamour is boring

A couple of news stories griped and gripped me today. One points out that the gap between rich and poor in the U.S. is growing alarmingly larger. We are the richest country in the world and yet have the greatest percentage of children living in poverty of all wealthy nations, nearly 22%.* Another article highlighted one of our celebrities, one of our glamorous, who declared bankruptcy a few years back, yet still owns three houses; one in Vegas and two in California.

The original sketch

* Berliner, David. "Fixing Schools Isn't Everything." NEAToday. February 2006: Pps. 38-39

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Illustration Friday: Cat

Tiger sometimes thinks he's a hood ornament. Here he is on a '58 Edsel.

We share space with two cats, one indoor only and one outdoor only (though he has access to the garage through Blackie the mutt's doggie door). The indoor cat is a diminutive, albeit full-grown, gray and black female named Skweex. The outdoor cat is named Tiger, and he must remain outside because, even though he's neutered, he has chosen a corner of the living room in which to urinate. This is a non-negotiable offense with me; he only comes indoors under constant observation. He prefers the outdoors at this point, anyway, because the much younger and smaller Skweex pesters him.

When we come home from work or the store or a small trip, Tiger is at the end of the driveway to meet us, trusting our driving skills (and our brakes) implicitly. I have warned my daughter and my wife that the noble feline will surely end up as driveway pizza someday, no matter how careful we are. He disappears under the front of the vehicle, and we must creep forward at tortoise pace, praying that he is moving ahead in front of the wheels.
One of his favorite cat things to do is to warm his rump on the heated hood of the car. See below...

The real Tiger on my actual mode of transportation

Tiger will often be perched on one of the vehicles when we are ready to use it ourselves. He will stay there until we have backed out of the driveway, only jumping off when the auto starts moving forward, at which point the driver is forced to crane head and neck to determine that he has retreated back to the yard. Fortunately for
Tiger, we live at the end of a cul-de-sac, and there is not much traffic. Also, he is a homebody, and never ventures more than a couple of doors in either direction.

For those of you who are wondering why I've placed the cat on an Edsel in the illustration, you'll have to go to my Illustration Friday post on 'E is for...' I made a promise that I'd include an Edsel in the illustration for the next topic. So, true to my word there's the rough rendering of the elusive Edsel. I've been a bit rushed this week, and the illustration shows it.

Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy (or at least complacent and contemplative). Peace to us all.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Illustration Friday: E is for...


Elephant in the living room...
Gotta say I wasn't elated when I read this week's topic. I mean it didn't evoke any real emotion in me. I earnestly tried to ignore the first thought that entered my mind... an elegant elephant eating eggplant in an Edsel. So I started thinking about people with E as one of the intials in their names. Einstein, Eminem, or ... say, how about Edgar Allen Poe? An eclectic mix of personalities, I know. As a matter of fact, I endeavored to render a likeness of that great American poet and originator of the detective story...


... but my initial attempt didn't excite me all that much. May eventually finish it and post it to the other blog.

So. I thought and thought, and all sanity eluded me. That damned elephant came trumpeting back into my train of thought, blasting my eardrums. "Egads!" I exclaimed, exhausted. "Enough! Let me extricate the beast from my brain!" So 'ere you go. Entertain yourself in his living room.

Peace, everyone.


Sunday, January 08, 2006

Illustration Friday: Sea

So Jonah went to sea in the belly of a 'fish' of some sort. Whether you take the story as literal fact or as allegory, his sea cruise had to be a little uncomfortable. And the fish... or whale... or whatever... having a hooman bean stuck in his craw. That had to hurt. No wonder he belched the reluctant prophet up on the beach.

Think I went a little overboard myself, with all the layering done here. One of those instances where you don't know where to stop. Same goes with this wordy text entry. Stop me, please.

Peace, everyone.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Illustration Friday: Flavor

"There's nothing like unrequited love to take all the flavor out of a peanut butter sandwich."
-Charles Schulz

This 'flavor' subject has so many possibilities, it was hard for me to narrow the choices down: summertime strawberries from the Salinas Valley, a good glass of pinot noir, any of the famous 31 ice cream flavors. When I have trouble choosing just one, I start searching the quotation sites. Found some good quotes, but this one from a Peanuts strip especially touched me. Not that I'm suffering from unrequited love... at least I don't think so... we'd have to ask my wife. No, I'm particularly fond of peanut butter. I could probably live off the stuff. I can't imagine it losing its flavor. Life would be hard.