9.29.2008

Reading the Word

It occurred to me in the past few days that I do not read the bible nearly often enough. It's an easy thing to say, it really is, and I'll say it again; I do not read the bible nearly often enough.

Let me go back to some of the origins of these thoughts. In my Intro to Literature class I have to answer questions pertaining to an assigned section of a work of literature. If I don't take the time to read the section then I won't do well in answering the questions, and my grade will begin to reflect my ineptitude for preparedness. Basically, in reading the section of literature I am able to prove to my teacher that I understand and have a knowledge of the required text.

Similarly in reading the bible, we can show our Teacher that we know the knowledge of His Word, and the Truth that is reflected in every page. I want to know the Word so well that I can pass every test laid before me by my Teacher, the Lord of heaven and earth.




   1 Peter 3:15-16

     15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander

9.26.2008

illFri: Packed

Well, this guy is packed full!



This is a drawing i did a while back, and i really loved it.
The whole thing about this one isn't that there are crazy spiders
de-figuring this guy, it's whether or not they are coming out or going in.
I would love to hear any insight you might have.

Sunflowerman Logo.ai

Sunflowerman, yet again!





I don't know if I have really explained the entire story behind Sunflowerman as of yet, and that would make sense... Sunflowerman's origins, as it were, are quite ambiguous.  All that is truly known about this terrific hero is that he roams the city of Grand Rapids Michigan, protecting the citizens of this grand city. 

All of that is rather superfluous to the idea at hand, which is these logos above.  I had a project for my intro to digital illustration class to make a logo, and what other logo is there to do than that of the greatest superhero to ever haunt the streets of Grand Rapids.  This project was a stretch for me.  I don't do digital artwork, I prefer the real stuff myself.  But this seems to look nice for a web page or for advertising.


9.23.2008

turtle bug...or something like that

Here's my first real attempt at doing something in photoshop.
All I really did is use the paint tool, but it was fun.
I still don't feel right using the computer for 'art' though.  There's something in-authentic
and underhanded about it, but it was fun lol.
...and this horrible blog page will not let me upload the original image!!

9.19.2008

X-Lightining

Like his counterpart, Sunflowerman, not much is known about X-Lightning.  
Some say he is akin to Wolverine, but that is impossible in reality
 do to the fact that Wolverine was a comic book character.  
He is a man in his own right.
A little bit of what we know is that he realized his ability's when he was a toddler, 
playing out in the rain.  A brilliant light reminded him of his family,
 and what his parent's told him about what he was.

X-Lightning has powers unlike anything known to belong to man.  
He can manipulate lightning and electricity, but many believe that at times,
 the lightning controls him.  
It is as though he does not know how to control his own power.


9.17.2008

Self Portraits

These are two different portraits that I've done of myself.
To be honest, there is no philosophical or 'deeper' meaning to either of them.
Both are done in the medium which I love best; pen!
micron pen
ball point pen

9.13.2008

5 Minute Cakes!!!!

Well,  my girls Ellen and Shannon wanted to make this cake 
that Shannon found while browsing the internet.  So I decided to document what 
happened on this cake making adventure, but I decided to use comments
from the yahoo page on which the recipe was posted to describe what 
happened on our great escapade...
enjoy.


mr_adam July 21st, 2008 7:06 pm
5 minutes? But I want my cake now!!!!!!

ZorronX July 19th, 2008 11:01 pm
Would this work if you use a box cake mix instead?

-Zorron


Andrew July 7th, 2008 12:17 pm
Hi, looks good, will try it just now!

Tia July 2nd, 2008 9:49 pm
Hi, This is so cute and a fun way to make cake, thanks, I’ll remember it next time I have a cake craving…I feel one coming on now, lol.


tucacamemata July 9th, 2008 2:26 am
yuck!! looks like poop in a cup



Jeff July 8th, 2008 3:11 pm
IT IS DELICIOUS CAKE YOU MUST EAT IT



Peter Butler July 11th, 2008 8:19 pm
Just one word for this - FANTASTIC



Rose July 11th, 2008 11:35 pm
This is awesome! Thx, going to try it!




Guy July 8th, 2008 1:11 am
hold me, i’m afraid. =(



scaramond July 19th, 2008 9:23 pm
absolute genius. this has changed my life forever!



angela July 14th, 2008 11:15 pm
Changed my mind, after the first few bites it taste odd… will try again with normal cocoa!



ejes July 8th, 2008 11:55 pm
the cake is a lie!

9.12.2008

illFri: Island

I can do whatever I want on my own private island!



Perhaps this is outrageously cluttered, but I need have all of these images,
if only for my own sake. I have recently, like, within the last couple weeks,
begun to learn the programs that most of the world already uses;
Photoshop and Illustrator.
These three images are the illustrator-ed,
original (which I really love in all of it's genuine-ness),
and the photoshop-ed versions, respectively.





9.09.2008

Here is Sunflowerman!
This is a sketch i did of my favorite superhero Sunflowerman!
He really is a good guy.  You may have never seen him, but believe me, 
he is a real man for sure.  Some day you will know the magnificence
of this, the #1 superhero in the world!

Itai, the Illustrator

Alright, alright; I don't know if you know about my disgust with digital artwork, but this is just mind blowing to me.  I love it, I love it, I love it... and might I say, I love it!!!!  Now, that's not to say that my view on digi-art (as I say), has improved greatly, but it certainly has improved, slightly.  
The artist, Itai, born in 1975, is from Israel, and has been in the 'industry' since 1990.  I found this work posted on the illustrator world website http://www.illustratorworld.com/.

Perhaps the smooth lines and curves of the face, and soft tones of the skin are not as attainable in painting.  Perhaps in a digital age and a media dominated generation, this type of art seems slightly more attractive.  Perhaps this is what the world is turning to as the future of aesthetics, but I promise you that when a painting is done by hand, with, yes I know this is absolutely corny and horribly cliche, with love, then it contains so much more beauty, and inspiration, and quality than something done intangibly and simply stored in virtual data.
I guess that what I've said thus far seems confusing and contradictory, but the summation is that, though I completely appreciate the ability of Itai to spend the amount of time and effort in this digital program, I have little respect for digital artwotk.

9.05.2008

Meijer Draw! 5

 This day I only had time for one developed sketch.  I really like to do more than one when I do a post, but this is a nice change from the normal format.  In fact, this day at work, I wasn't even going to do a drawing, then a lovely greeter, who we shall call Janice, asked (paraphrased of course, I do have the worst memory), "What have you drawn today?"  At this point I hadn't done any drawing, so I decided that I would.  In the end it made the day go by faster, as it always does, and it made me happy to draw, as drawing always does lol.

I don't know what to name this guy, but I think that he could be used as a metaphor for all of the things I find disgusting at meijer.  The most egregious offense is that I have to tuck in my shirt!  I know right, it's horrible.  I hate tucking in my shirts; it's uncomfortable, and ugly!  C'mon, back me up on this one.  There are a few other things, but I'll just leave those out for now.  So... perhaps I'll call him 'the Egregious Tucker.'  I kinda like that, please chime in with your thoughts.

Meijer Draw! 4

yipity yahoo!  I finally have the 4th installment, which is really technically, like, the 5th or 6th, but that's not a problem.  For all intents and purposes, it's the 4th. Now that that has been established, let's talk about the Draw!  I am quite satisfied with how these particular sketches have turned out.  The quality of my meijer sketching has improved lol.  I'm not gonna lie to you, I think that if everyone did this, many problems in this world could be solved.  I think death itself would probably no longer exist.  But then, that's just me isn't it.
I've been told that this guy looks like one of our managers.  
Not sure if I completely see it, but I understand where they're coming from.
Oh my! this rabbit is rabid.
Just a cute old man.
I like to think of this guy as an extinct, dinosaur warrior
cuz I'm sure they wore armor, we just haven't found it yet...
Here's my favorite cowboy =]
...a shady character...
Aviator eagle.

9.01.2008

snowventure

A movie of drama, action, and cold!

meijer draw, before there was Meijer Draw!

These are all sketches that I did before I started Meijer Draw!  
These sketches had no process as do the Meijer Draw! sketches.  Yet, I seem to love these ones almost so much more.
Here's batman!
I still can't believe I found this out of a scribble.
um...it is something, I'm sure of it...
I oh so love dragons.
A conglomeration of different things.
A wormy thingy.

Dragon on a dirk.  
A drawing I did for a friend at work, but I still haven't showed him