Art!

Hi everybody...
I realize that I haven't posted in FOREVER, but I have been quite busy with school and whatnot.  However, I'll be out of school after this week, so I'll try to do more posting over the summer.

Anyway, I took a year of art class this past school year, and I think I might have made some pretty cool stuff.  So, here are some photos of various projects I think I did a decent job on.  There are a few projects I left out of this post, which I might post later.  Also, please forgive the poor picture quality-- I had a tricky time getting the angle right on some of them.

1. This is a random collage I made with a guest teacher one day.  I've always had a thing for making these completely ridiculous and random collages... and this one is no exception.

2.  My art class also did linoleum block printmaking, and I think that mine turned out pretty well, though I kind of went insane trying to carve out all of those tiny spirals.  (By the way, I had to make the print based off the art of a specific country that I picked out of a hat... mine is Greece.)

3.  This is a scratchboard drawing I did for a Day of the Dead art show.  I actually think the frame turned out better than the actually piece on this one, but I still had fun making it.

4. This an abstract line drawing that turned out to be not so abstract because I decided to put a duck in it.  From a distance, I think it looks pretty neat, just don't look at it too closely.

  5.  This is a project where I had to cut shapes out of a piece of black paper and then flip and transfer them to the opposite side of the paper.  I did Batman, obviously.

6.  In between projects, I had some free time, so I made this random steampunky sketch thing, which I think ended up looking pretty cool.

7.  Finally, I did a project where I took a square and transferred  it over and over again until it covered the entire canvas.  Most of my class did flowers and stuff like that, but, ya know... chickens.

These are just the best ones I think I did, but you could feel differently.  Leave a comment and tell me what you think!  If I get a lot of positive feedback, I might post some more art from this year.

 Band update:  I'm still looking for one.  Anyone need a mandolinist or violinist?  I've been thinking about trying the guitar lately, too but if there are any bassists, drummers, singers, guitarists, or keyboards out there, or if you have a preexisting band I could join, please leave me a comment or email me at thetoothpickchick@gmail.com.  Thanks, ya'll!

Episode 1... The final installment...

Hello everybody!  Here's the final installment of Episode I as Explained by a 3-Year-Old!  Next up is Episode II, which doesn't stick to the story very much (in fact, most of it seems to be from Episode I as well!) and a miscellaneous Star Wars adventure that doesn't adhere to the plot of any Star Wars movie in any way, and is just something I made up.

Episode I: The Saga Continues

 Here's some more Episode I as Explained by a 3-Year-Old.  I'm nearing the end, but don't worry- there are two more Star Wars books coming up.

Random Thought:  Does anyone know where I can get some Jedi robes for fairly cheap, or would it be easier/cheaper to make my own?

More Episode 1...

Here's three more pages of Episode I As Explained by a Three-Year-Old.  If you didn't see the first three, make sure you check the last post.  Enjoy...

Episode 1 as Explained by a Three-Year-Old

Ah, the sweet simplicity of childhood.  When I was younger, I used to like to write books with my brother.  I would dictate to him, and he would write it down.  I also drew the illustrations in crayon, though sometimes he helped a little.  I was watching Star Wars Episode 1 the other day (in case you didn't know, that's the one with the really annoying little kid as Anakin Skywalker.)  Anyway, I was reminded of making a book based on Episode 1 when I was about three years old.  After I hunted it down, I was laughing out loud.  It was almost identical to the movie, just cut down and with better pictures.  I knew I had to share it.  So, enjoy the first three pages of Star Wars: Episode I as Explained by a Three-Year-Old!  (I apologize for the fact that these are rather poorly scanned.  I was hesitant to fold down the cover so they would fit into the scanner better.  Keep in mind that they're drawn on flimsy paper and I didn't want to destroy pieces of my childhood.)

Tentacles of Terror...

I was poking around on my computer and I discovered two pages of a story I started when I was six.  Evidently I only did the cover and two pages, but it was cute.  Anyway, looking at them, I decided they were awesome enough for this blog.  I have posted the title, first two pages, and the original title page (written by hand).

Renee French

Today (or this evening, rather) I'd like to recommend an amazing artist, Renee French, who I discovered not too long ago because I found her book Micrographica at the library.  If you've ever read this book, you'll know why I felt like i HAD TO GET IT and also why I fell in love with it (and it's author) immediately.  If you've never seen it, click here.  In case you can't tell from the Google Books preview, it's about 5 and a half inches tall, was drawn on pieces of paper that were about a centimeter large, and is an epic story about some mice and a ball of crap (far more riveting than it sounds.)  To learn more about Renee French, as well as seeing some of her work and her blog, click here.  Speaking of blogs, I have discovered an awesome blog with a lot of really cool art, music, and links.  Please visit "Call Me A Lyre..."

The Mighty Lemon Drops!

Recently, I was at the library booksale and found a CD by a band called The Mighty Lemon Drops.  I had never heard of them before, but I liked their name, so I bought the CD (this time checking to make sure there was actually a CD inside) and listened to it-- and guess what: THEY ARE REALLY GOOD!  I'd reccommend them really highly.  Here is a link to my personal favorite song, My Shadow Girl.  Also today I've got a few sketches I drew some time ago but apparently haven't posted here before.  The first one is called Bobert Sees The World, and I have no idea what it's supposed to mean, but it's a cute little drawing.  You see the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and this bizarre helicopter creature thing; that must be what the world looks like.  The second is called Stopping to Say Hi While Walking His Cat, which not only did I like enough to put on a T-shirt, but it's just one of my favorite drawings I've done.  The third one is just one of these creepy baby things I used to draw a lot of.  I also have ANOTHER link, this one to the Deviantart page of my friend who does the creepy experimental films.  He is an artist, too, however, like his films, they're really creepy and gorey (some of them).  Check it out.  I have another friend, too, who recently made another song.  He's going to be sending me the CD soon, and then I'll post it here.
Random thought for the day:  I'm happy, because there is a Chipotle's burrito place coming to town!  I discovered them on the East Coast trip I went on over this past summer, and it's quite good, but I thought it was just an East Coast thing.  Apparently, though, it's not, so there is one coming in where the old Shoney's was that they tore down a while ago.  Yay!
Another random thought:  Currently I'm working on a list of my absolute favorite books of all time, for reference, and since a lot of them appeal to the nerd element, I'm going to post it here as soon as I finish it.
Yet another random thought: I want to make a small, one-person personalized helicopter based off of the designs in old Popular Mechanics so I can fly it to and from school and beat the traffic.  I think it's really sad magazines no longer contain blueprints to small helicopters that actually work, and so I'm going to make a statement with mine.  I will, of course, have to get FAA approval.  

Choose Your Favorite!!

Hello, so today I have count 'em TWO prints from over the summer.  They are the same image, but different styles, and it's up to YOU to choose your favorite.  And by you, I mean if you are following this blog or are just looking at it, I want you to post a comment saying image A or image B (the darker one is A, the lighter is B.) YOU!!! DO IT!!!

Speaking of hands, the third image is what it looks like when you scan my hand.  Interesting.
An aside: This is a link to Digger Enz Wiki, the page for a game my friend designed.  You should play it, it would make him very happy. 

The Sound Machine and other creepy experimantal films

Hey, so I have a friend who, besides being an AMAZING yet dark artist, also makes creepy experimental films under "The Human OBSCENE" on Youtube.  I'd reccommend his films very highly, especially The Sound Machine, The Food Machine, and Jonathan Alone.  Since I'm at school and Youtube is blocked, I'll post a link later, but meanwhile YOU can go to Youtube and search any of the above film titles.  Prepare to be disturbed!

As promised, the rest of Slurb

Here, at last, is the final part of Slurb Episode 1!!!! I haven't done much work yet on Episode 2, so don't be expecting that any time soon because i have a lot of homework, and not much time for drawing.  Soon I'll try to wrap up the art pages and attempt to start the Graceco winter catalog, where you can order custom-made nerdy winter apparel for a fairly low price (as low as I can make it, but mind you this IS a scheme for money, so I need to make a bit of a profit.... Sorry...)  Mind you, this is just an idea, so please post feedback comments!

LANYARDS!!!

Hey guys, so I've been making a lot of those little plastic lanyards these days, and I'm hoping to make a Youtube account so I can post some how-to videos that are more comprehensive than the ones I used.  Anyway, if you are a person who I see regularly or will see in the near future, you can place orders for a lanyard now! (If I don't see you in person I can mail one, but the price will be a little higher because of shipping.)  I'm trying to think of a reasonable price to charge for materials, time, and key rings/clips that come with.  Does 50 cents per lanyard sound reasonable ?  I am trying to make a small profit to add to the iTouch fund.  You can post an order today by just posting a comment with the following information:
 1: Your name
2: Type of lanyard: Right now I can do circle and square ones, and I hope to learn other styles soon.  You can place an order for a kind I don't know how to do yet, because I'd love to learn more styles, but keep in mind it will take a little longer to make.
3: If you know I won't be able to give it to you in person, your address.
4: What you'd like your lanyard to be: I can do bracelets, key chains, cat toys..... Just tell me what you want it to be.
5: Colors!  Right now I only have green and black, but if my business gets rolling I will probably buy more colors, so if you could please put first preference, (any color you like!) and then say green and black is okay as a backup option, that'd be great!  (If, for some reason, you hate green and black, you can always just place that in your order and keep in mind that it will take much longer for your lanyard to be made, that's fine too.)
PLEASE ORDER!!!

Ryan Conners

This is a link to the website of one of my favorite folk artists, Ryan Conners.  You can look at his artwork, etc. by clicking the smiley face. :D  Do enjoy!!!

Slurb parts 3&4

Hopefully you liked parts 1&2 of Slurb.  For those of you who didn't read it, READ IT!!! (angry eyes).  Anyhoo, these are parts 3&4. For those of you who are just checking in and haven't for a while, CHECK IN MORE OFTEN!!!!  Today, not only do I have two pages of Slurb, I have a Engrish gummy wrapper and a cover scan of the strangest (but most funny) movie of all time!

The first picture is the cover of my crazy Russian Two Towers.  But the cover is just the beginning!! First, someone in Russia (probably illegally) dubbed out all the dialogue with this guy speaking Russian in a monotone.  The catch is, I don't think he's actually saying the real dialogue! Secondly, they also recorded over all the soundtrack with various stuff, but NOT normal soundtrack.  This is really funny, and actually works sometimes (like at the beginning when Gandalf falls into the pit of fire, it goes FIREEE!!) Also, randomly, every once in a while, it says "for your consideration" on the screen.  The whole thing put together is hilarious! I'll try to post clips later on.

If you don't get the gummy wrapper, enlarge it and read the black print in the middle.  It's funny.


Random thought for the day: Mmm! My house smells like roasted green chile! I'd recommend Sichler Farms for the the best state-grown fruits, veggies, and green chile!!

Printmaking I

This is a little printmaking thing I did of the Albuquerque skyline. It's not very good, but here it is anyway.  Apologies that it didn't scan very well.

SLURB!!!

Finally, Slurb, the adorable puffy guy is going up on Nerdy Babble Today! Today is the first couple pages of Episode 1.  So far I've done Episode 1 and a few pages on episode 2.  Hope you like them.  Also coming up today is some experimental printmaking from this summer.  Later this week I'll put some sketches up.  Hope you like it all, and please post feedback as to what you like, etc.  I'd like to hear what you think! 

THE END OF BEETLE CIRCUS

Guess what!!! I just realized that that last post was the end of Beetle Circus!! Tomorrow (or whenever I next get a chance, this weekend at the latest) I'll begin posting Slurb! I've already done one 6-part episode and I'm currently working on part two of the second episode! I hope you like it, and you're not mourning the end of Beetle Circus too much :D

More book

Hello! Sorry it's been a few days but I've been a bit busy (crazy math teacher assigns 40 problems a night!) Anyway, I hope to finish up this book soon so I can start posting Slurb, my incredibly cheesy but entertaining comic. Here's the next 2 pages of Beetle Circus.

Page 7 of Book

Page 6 of Book