Burning Questions

Here is a very interesting piece of writing I found from 3 months ago, June 3rd. I forgot all about writing this, but now I thought I'd like to share it with you out there in the blogosphere. Tell me what you think. How does this make you feel? Do you know any of the answers to these questions? If you do, comment me, unless of course you don't feel like it, in which case I'll have to go on my own journey to find myself then. Shucks. Enjoy!

Who am I?

What am I supposed to be doing, if anything?

How much time do I have?

What do I love to do?

Where am I supposed to be?

Am I afraid of showing fear?

What is the worst thing that can happen if I take a chance?

Am I ready?

How will I know when I am ready?

Why am I here?

Is there someone watching me?

What do I believe in?

Am I important?

Must I feel important to be important?

Where does laughter come from?

Why do people waste so much time hating?

How can I have it all?

Is there anything better than perfection?

Who do I trust?

Am I strong enough to do what I must?

Where does strength come from?

What does happiness mean?

Why is it that the easy way is not always the right way?

Can anyone hear me?

Blob Art

These pictures are late in coming, but I still thought it would be nice to put them up. It was Friday, July 31, and I attended a sort of arts-and-crafts meeting at Ramona's house. First I made this cute one of Yakko with watercolor paints, and then we did a bunch of awesome "blob art"! "Blob art", as you may guess from the name, is a technique where

1. You fold a piece of paper in half.
2. Then open it and put blobs of paint on it (its good to use tempura paint because it's easy to pour).
3. Fold the paper in half again and spread the paint with your hands.
4. Finally you open it, and voila! An abstract masterpiece!

Now here's a game I'd like to try: Leave a comment saying what these two pictures remind you of, and I'll add some outlines to them in Photoshop using your suggestions. Thanks a bunch!

More Animaniacs Art

This picture was done first by hand, and then I used Photoshop to color it in. I then took the original photo and turned it into a cute hanging frame in the background. Hey, it's a lot easier than having to upload two pictures to my blog at the same time! This frame is from an episode called "65th Anniversary Special", and there's a part where Yakko says, "These people would clap at anything.
Wakko tests that theory by blurting out, "Hey, everybody! Wanna hear me play Yankee Doodle with my armpits?"

*awkward silence*

"Ahhhhhhhh, almost anything." says Yakko right after he and Dot make those surprised faces.

Ha ha, classic Warners. Now that was a funny episode right there.

I love to draw Yakko! He's just so cool, you know? I can just imagine him saying something clever like: "It's never too late to do something great with your life. Unless you're Da Vinci, then you're history". (He never really said that, I made it up just now!) Same method as above. Compare this with the original sketch in the upper-right corner.

Animaniacs Art

Hey guys! I am so excited to show you my latest art masterpieces featuring the Warners! First off, let me turn your attention to the chalk drawings that I first did of Dot and Yakko.

I know, Dot's head is wrong and Yakko's mouth is weird. Don't remind me. I did these about a week ago anyway. They were done from memory though, so it must count for something. "Where did the chalk-board come from?", you might not be wondering. Well I'll tell you. While me and Bettina were adventuring in Boston, Shira took the time to paint a section of our kitchen wall with this special black paint that turns any wall into a chalkboard! Since then it's been much easier to jot down phone messages and do cute doodles and then erase them whenever we please. This is a good solution for creative little ones who love to do stuff like draw on the walls. It's so much fun!

<--- And now, for my big achievement, a doodle of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot hugging Steven Spielberg! This is what I did with a pencil...

And this is what I turned it into using Photoshop! I love eeeet! I swear, this has got to be my best work ever! However, that will not stop me from making even more sketches of these guys, they are so much fun to do! It's as if they leap off the page with their manic energy as soon as you draw the final line! That's the joy I believe in being a cartoonist. The thrill you feel as you make friends with a new character. I wish I were Steven Spielberg in this picture.

Please share your opinions; the comment link is right under the title, you can't miss it.

Photoshop Paintings

Check it out!

Boston ~ Yakko's Head and Caricatures

July 3~This morning I drew a picture of Yakko's face (shown here, cute, isn't he?), and memorized the first verse of the song called Yakko's World (watch the movie, it's amazing). It's not really that hard once you watch the clip over and over to memorize the first verse, but the other countries later in the song are sung faster and faster and they're harder to pronounce. (Animaniacs. It's an obsession.)

July 4~We had a caricature artist do a picture of both of us, and here is a photo of the final product! In my opinion he made me look more like Tina Fey than myself, but other than that he did a good job. It only took him 7-8 minutes to draw, so I'm pretty impressed. We chatted a little as we posed and he drew, and it was really fascinating. I am intrigued by artists of this sort, because through the years they must meet a lot of people and gain a lot of experience in honing their talent.

Boston ~ 2 Animaniacs Drawings

July 1~Woke up really early this morning, around 6:30. Bettina wasn't up, and I was still very psyched after watching the wonderful "Wakko's Wish" Animaniacs movie the previous night, so I found on Google Images a webpage of how to draw Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, and I proceeded to draw them in my trusty sketchbook, which I brought with me on this trip but frankly hadn't used up till now. Here's the picture, I hope I did a good job in my reader's opinion (as an artist I need other people's criticism):--->

June 2~This morning I did another Animaniacs drawing, and here is the picture to the right. ---> I could've done Yakko better, but I'm proud of my Dot.

Father's Day

I am so happy that today turned out to be so wonderful. I am so lucky to have a father like my Benny, because he is the best dad ever! This morning, as per usual on special occasions, my family had a bountiful breakfast of fruit and pancakes! Then me and my sibs presented our father with homemade cards that he read with pride and love. Want to see 'em? Here they are!

First there is my card, then Bettina's, then Adam's.

Paint Post/Doodle Collection

Hey there! I'd like to show you a few new works.

---> This is Adam's paint-by-numbers project from last post, all finished by Shira. It was just taking too darn long for Adam to do it himself. I know that I didn't have much to do with this, but I thought it was nice enough to write about in my blog.

<--- Now this is something I did. Originally I just had a fancy sun shining on the forest, but it had too much color and it didn't go with the rest of the painting, so I turned my sun into a sunflower. Now the squirrel and the deer have a giant flower to look at! I wonder how big the seeds would come out? (I love eating sunflower seeds, unsalted) I think it may be one of the first watercolor paintings I've done that didn't involve a stick figure me (standing under a rainbow, holding hands with my mom, or in a giant flower garden. You know the way a young kid thinks. Or maybe that's just me).

Below are three instances of bishoujo manga experimentation. Bishoujo is japanese for "beautiful women", in case you didn't know. I love drawing manga, because it's like cartooning, only slightly more artistic looking. However I find it a bit challenging to draw all the hair and the big eyes and stuff. Hopefully if I practice I'll get better. In the future I hope to create more of my own original manga characters for my enjoyment.

---> I copied these out of a manga book by Christopher Hart. He has dozens of "how to draw" books to his name, and his writing style is nice. The undated one was made May 26. I like the way I did both of their hairstyles, even though they are copied. This kind of drawing gives me great practice for getting comfortable and confident in my hair and eye drawing abilities.

<--- Original character, coming through! I am both proud and slightly embarassed to show this to you. On the one hand, I pride myself on the hair, winking expression, and ruffled sleeves. On the other hand the arms are doing nothing, the proportions of the body don't look quite right, and the boobs are obvious. Of course in bishoujo manga, all the women have big boobs, but they only show on revealing costumes. I don't want it to be obvious under a simple frilly top! Oh well. What can you do?

If you like what you see (or not), please feel free to comment (or not).

1st Paint Post

I am so happy today! I just got my mom, my brother, my dad, and myself engaged in a morning of watercolor painting! Bettina didn't feel like painting, because she was busy reading Pendragon #10: "Soldiers of Halla", which she bought a few days ago when it came out. It's the last Pendragon novel ever, so she's way excited about it. ANYWAY...(ha ha, I'm saying it like Leslie)...Yesterday we bought a bunch of awesome art equipment at A.C. Moores, like tubes of watercolors, a starter brush set, a couple of plastic palettes, and 2 pads of watercolor paper. Me and Shira were really the ones who chose all the tools, while Bettina and Adam just tagged along.

After leaving the store, we were ready to begin our painting careers! This morning was perfect painting weather (e.g. cloudy, rainy, not sunny). Before I knew it, almost my whole family has a paintbrush in their hands and creating art! Benny and Adam are working together on a paint-by-numbers for the time being, but it still counts. Here are the beautiful pictures I took of the final paintings:

---> This is my first watercolor painting, called "Essence of Random". As you can see I did a whole bunch of experimentation, to get used to the new materials I had to work with. I've never worked with tube paints before.

<--- This is my mom, Shira's first watercolor painting. I love her style, all flowery and bright. She said she used a lot of water when painting, maybe that's why it looks different. Hmmm.

---> This is Shira's 2nd painting, a crack at pointillism. Beautiful, in't it?

<--- This is Adam's first watercolor painting. Just so y'all know, Adam is 11 years old, and has no previous painting experience other then paint-by-numbers. (Coming up next.)

---> I know, I know; it's not finished yet, but here's how far Benny and Adam have gotten so far. This painting was started three weeks ago, and Adam hasn't worked on it in about a week, so this morning was a nice boost in the productivity department.