22 May 2008

raging slab - don't dog me

Now I'm not saying you should go out and buy every album these folks made. Raging Slab is not for everybody. But why they never made it bigger than they did is beyond me.

Monster trucks crushin' stuff. How can you not like that?

21 May 2008

Work and such

Sorry again for the posting lapse. Work is making it very difficult right now. I'm on the night shift again, and when I'm not working I'm trying to do all I can to help with the boys. Just trying to keep my priorities straight is all.

15 May 2008

Dottie Rambo


I just heard yesterday that Dottie Rambo was killed this past weekend when her bus wrecked. She was 74 years old and apparently on her way to a concert.

When I was very young, around five or six, my mother would listen to Rambo LPs. This was back in the early seventies. As I grew older I began to appreciate just how talented Dottie Rambo was. The woman was a tremendous song writer and singer. And the Rambos had a sound that was unique and anointed. 'Sheltered in the arms of God' is one of my favorites. 'I have Hope', 'New Shoes', and of course 'He looked beyond my fault and saw my need'.

Good memories

http://www.dottierambo.net/index2.htm

13 May 2008

Life Cycle of a drawing


There was a time when a drawing like the above would have been tossed in the trash. After all, I drew it on notebook paper and have study sketches littering the left side.


But in today's world of computers and such, I can scan it and then use a program like Paint to cut away most of the extraneous material and blue lines.



By getting really meticulous I can eradicate the remaining blue lines and print out the cleaned up drawing.



Then I can use colored pencils to color it in, the old fashioned way. And then rescan.





Again, using Paint, I can fill in some background colors. I can print this out again, or work on it some more.


This is just an example of how I plan to begin saving more of my raw artwork. The above started out very raw, and while the finished product is not really 100% to my liking (or finished for that matter), I am happy to be able to take something that I once would have thrown away and actually make something out of it. Portfolio material if nothing else.

My favorite is actually the first colored version, without the background. The good thing about all this is that I can play around and put in different backgrounds if I want. The above is really quick and dirty and looks a lot like the comic book style that was popular when I was growing up. I owe a lot of my style to Frazetta, Kirby, Ditko, Sal and John Buscema, and probably even Kubert. Anyway, this started out to be a viking, but my oldest looked at the first drawing and called it Thor...so Thor it is.

12 May 2008

The best Moma in the world.


She lives right here in this house.
I could not have picked a better
mother for my sons, but come to
think of it, I really believe God had
more to do with that than I did.
Thank you Lord for giving her to us.
I don't know what we'd do without her.
I love you darling!




Chick Flicks: subgenre - the Romantic Comedy


Sure they're formulaic, but most genres are. If you are looking for a good movie to sit down and watch with your wife, then check this one out. One ingredient of a believable story is having well drawn characters, by which I mean the good guys are not all good and the bad guys are not all bad. Such is the case here.

Katherine Heigl is one of those actresses who doesn't look like a carbon copy of all the magazine models. She has that girl-next-door appeal and can flat out act. James Marsden's character lays on the cynicism so heavily that you know it's nothing but an attempt to hide the fact that he really has a heart of gold. And the tension as they both pull each other toward a center that they both need is perfect.

My only nits about romantic comedies (or I guess most secular movies) is that I find their worldview a bit bothersome. Premarital sex bothers me. You can relieve some of the sexual tension without putting your leads in bed together. Which is what I loved about 'Once'; the leads there never even kiss (but that was an indie film and not a romantic comedy). Even so, this movie is pretty tame by most standards. Sure there is some profanity, but not gratuitously so. And the movie ends on a really, really uplifting note.

Which is what I love about this genre's formula.

Happy Birthday!


Our youngest just turned three! We had lots of fun this weekend.

My beloved baked the cake and iced it. I really believe she can do anything. I made the little banner, and the boys already had the toy cars.



Water fun!


Sugar is your friend!

Oh Goody, something with a million pieces!


The party was a blast. Thanks to everyone who came. We are still trying to recover and to rein in the latest deluge of toys.

08 May 2008

God's 2 cents

One of the greatest things about following Jesus is learning to hear His voice. Sure, there are times when I wonder if it's His voice I'm hearing or just my own wishful thinking. But sometimes the words are so powerful, so unexpected, or said in such a way that I absolutely know: it's Him!

And He can say more in two words than anyone else could say in their entire lifetime. He spoke to me earlier this year. It was a simple question from me and prompted a response so succinct, yet powerful, that there was no doubt He had spoken.

I had been feeling overwhelmed at my job. It seemed like the artist in me was for naught. Often in my life I've felt my vocation and my heart's desire were at opposite ends of the spectrum. And for me life can really be frustrating when there isn't time for the art to be expressed. (One reason I am blogging, actually. Expression.)

Anyway, I asked God, why did you give me this artistic talent? What am I supposed to do with it? What am I supposed to do with my life?

And He said, "Get creative."

03 May 2008

Marvel-ous!

Almost as good as Ultraman.

02 May 2008

Making art: Step one - getting it on paper

As mentioned previously, I call myself an artist. More on the definition of that later. Since I don't have much time for posting, I wanted to put up an idea I've been kicking around. Some time ago I had the idea of representing the call to arms that God has for each of us. The weapon He places in our hands is His word. I saw in my mind's eye an image of Jesus offering a sword hilt-first. It is our responsibility to take it up and to learn how to use it. I call this piece of art "Godsword", which can be pronounced two ways, either of which is correct. My plans are to translate this idea into a painting. For now it's just a pencil drawing.



The contrast of the scanned image isn't very good, but here it is:



There is the hint of a lion in Jesus's hair. Also, you can't see them, but the words Veritas and Spiritus are on the blade.

Peace,
Crotalus

01 May 2008

Sorry for the lapse

To my plethora of loyal readers, sorry for the lapse in posting. As many of you know, I work at a nuclear power plant. Not only am I working night shift this week, but there is a mini-outage going on this weekend. Most of my time this week has been spent at work and while I'm at home I'm either sleeping or playing with the boys.

Oh well. Life will settle again soon, and I will get back to regular posting.

One glorious thing to mention today; my buddy Mike (alias Wunderkraut) swung through on his way back home today. It was good to see you again, man.

Oh yeah, and I'm trying to write a short story right now. I've also got to get back to my paints and easel. Being an artist is hard. Especially when you have to work for a living.