Big Fish Craft

big Fish Craft 10I made a Big Fish Craft for our church VBS program. The backdrop was made from a 4×8 sheet of mylar that Allison Kromer gave me, she had painted a Riverside High School backdrop on it. Allison your mylar is now, “the big orange fish” at the Country Church of the Open Bible in Elk Washington. The theme is Big Fish Bay teaching about Jonah.

big Fish Craft 03There were paper plates and about 100 clothespins used. big Fish Craft 04To the best of my figuring ability, I was able to find that 6″ diameter plates would fit in a “scale” configuration and allow for about 100 kids to do the fish. big Fish Craft 08It was a quick and fun craft to fill any free time that the children had during their program day. This image shows a very helpful assistant next to “Mr. Big Fish” who is about 1/3 complete.

Bluejay Fireman

Bluejay Fireman SketchThis was a design for a unit called the Bluejay Firemen in California (T-shirts). I used to work as an artist for copyartwork.com, that was a site that would contact me with small jobs in the $25-50 range. They needed me to draw up a quickly sketched design. Which they would approve or ask for changes.

Bluejay Fireman

Then, I would create a vectorized digital art file using Adobe Illustrator. It was one of the ways I paid bills between other jobs.

Fireman Helmet Fireman NozzleThe only info I received about this design was a picture of their helmet and the firehose nozzle. The rest of the information like pictures of bluejays and firemen were found on the internet. You would not believe the pictures that come up on the internet when you search for “firemen”. I had no problem finding muscular men in fireman outfits for this project. Whew.

Christmas Music Booklet

Singing a Christmas CarolChristmas Is Not Cancelled!

I have put together a Christmas Music Booklet for carolling. It is full of many, many lyrics and some illustrations. Using the China flu as a political strong-arm to force us into isolation is just sinful at this time of year. Any attempt to make our entire population live in isolated fear should be considered a crime against humanity because that is what it is. Humans are social animals requiring interaction with others in our community to keep us from going insane.

Do you enjoy singing together at Christmas?

I believe that our Constitution still guarantees us some rights and one of them is the separation of church and government. Therefore, I intend to do Christmas carol “ing” this year. Common sense will be necessary and we are definitely not planning to kiss strangers, or spread colds. Observing normal courtesy’s… keeping spit and body fluids to ourselves and staying home if you are sick.

No you can’t have a sip of my hot cider!

Jesus Laughing chalk
working with chalk on black paper

This illustration is a chalk drawing of Jesus laughing, which is on the cover of the Christmas Songbook I last printed in 2011. If you have a copy of the old booklet, you will find that there are a few new illustrations along with more songs. At this point, the booklet has the lyrics for 74 songs. The file is not a free downloadable booklet, and I am requesting a $2 donation to cover printing costs. I have spent a lot of time researching lyrics, followed by typing and illustrating.

Christmas Music
If you are interested in getting copies of the CHRISTMAS MUSIC BOOKLET this year please send me a note, and I will include your quantities with the order? Please contact me by Nov 20th if you would like to be included in this order.

Mystery Painting Answer

Okay, I will tell you then the mystery painting answer is:

Where Your Mind Goes Energy Flows:
A Self-Healing Manual for the Mind and Body
“.

It is actually the cover painting for my newest book project published by Michele Bourgeois an author in Canada who does Alternative Holistic Healing.

 

Some of my best art is in this book, check it out on Amazon.com. I also did all the manuscript layout and design. I enjoyed reading this one, if you get a chance to read this let me know what you think of it.

Chakra Root Level 1

Chakra Root Level 1,  is connected to career, money mindset, and sense of belonging. Its colors are Red and Rose Red and it is located at the base of the spine in the tailbone area.

First, I am painting the symbol from the middle out to the exterior. This root symbol is located on the figure base so I have to be careful to preserve the image of the figure in the background. No opaque painting is allowed. In order to keep the figure separate from the background, I drop brushes full of red into the ray background, to emphasize the outline of the figure. Finally, I add darker values to retain the leg edges on the interior behind the symbol and also add shadow darkness to the symbols to keep them from looking too flat.

Chakra Sacral Level 2

Chakra Sacral Level 2, is connected to sexuality and pleasure. Its colors are Orange and Rose Orange is located right over the sacral bones of the lower back.

First, I carefully paint what looks like some off-center moons in the middle. Then adding a teeny touch of Pyroll Orange. Going in with a light Cadmium Yellow wash on the mosque shapes around the interior circle and then more pale yellow is dropped in at the outside border circle. It is truly amazing to watch how strong reds are so powerful when dropped into any yellow.

Heart & Solar Plexus 3 & 4

Heart & Solar Plexus 3 & 4

Chakra Heart Level 4, is the connection to love, relationships, and self-acceptance. Its colors are Green and Rose Pink and it is located right over the heart. First I carefully paint the symbol in opaque Sap and Hookers green. Have you ever wondered how that Hooker’s green got its name? Enquiring minds want to know.

I wet the area around the chest of the figure and drop in Viridian to get a little twang going into the rays extending out between the mastic reserved white rays of the heart symbol. This symbol is interesting to me with a Jewish-looking star in the middle of a sun? Things speed up now, as two symbols at a time are being painted.

Chakra Solar Plexus Level 3,  is the connection to personal power and the ability to channel. Its colors are orange and rose orange (salmon) and it is located on that middle cartilage that makes your ribs stay together in front. I paint the middle of the symbol with another upside-down triangle a bright pale yellow and drop a little teeny tiny bit of pyrrole orange (a powerful color) in the center of the pool and watch it spread out beautifully.  This one’s color combo reminds me of the sun, a hot and bright one. We have now got five out of the seven chakra backgrounds in. Moving right along.

Chakra Throat Level 5

Chakra Throat Level 5, is the connection to self-expression. Its colors are light and other blues and it is located at Adam’s apple of the throat.

First, carefully painting the symbol in varying blues, I think of all the air that passes through that part of the body. Blue is probably a real appropriate color for this part of the throat. I wet the area around the figure and throat and apply layers of cerulean blue, royal blue, and ultramarine repeatedly till I see the rays the way I want them.

Now I am also washing a little over the figure to be able to see how the shades are showing on that too. There is so much color information in this that I don’t want it to be too confusing or busy.

Third Eye & Crown Levels

Chakra Third Eye & Crown Levels 6 & 7

Chakra Third Eye Level 6, is the connection to intuition. Its colors are Indigo and Purple and it is located on the forehead of the figure. The third Eye symbol is just above the head on the left. It has an outer circle with two sides of pointy mosque shapes coming out of an inner circle that has an upside-down triangle in the center. I paint the symbol with a rose/purple center and indigo rays expanding across the area of the body that it affects. Now I can see the curves working together in the design.

Chakra Crown Level 7, is the connection to the divine. Its colors are white and rose and it is located at the very top of the head just like its name. A bright white and rose crown that looks kind of like a lotus blossom. The wet-on-wet painting begins. I love the way colors can flow together.  I will paint the symbols and the areas outside the figure first.

Beginning with painting the symbol in opaque rose hues with touches of red to bring up the value. I wet the area around the figurehead and the top symbol. I repeatedly apply layers of rose to the rays extending down to the head. Now, the rose shows but the white is covered up by the mastic. It will not be hard to finish this up after we remove the mastic allowing us to see the reserved white area.