Chalk-O-Holic

Bushbaby

2011-08-27T02:16:00.001-07:00

I snuck in a quick one this week while playing with the kids.

Carol's favorite animal at the zoo is the slow loris, and she's really disappointed when he's not on exhibit. Lily likes the potto —don't ask me what's the difference.

I set out to do a prosimian of some sort, but didn't have time to research it or sketch it. I think it's a bushbaby.

Birthday Zebra

2011-08-04T08:11:00.001-07:00

When the girls have a birthday, I allow them to make a request for an original piece of art and I do my best to fulfill it. This weekend, Lily turned seven and requested a zebra painting a "7" on a canvas. The weather finally got cool enough to do execute her vision on the driveway, so here it is.

The birthday girl with the final drawing.

(she was very pleased with the result)

and the sketch:

Pounce

2011-04-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

Been away for a long time. Just too much rain for playing. Friday night, I started this fox with the kids. Finished it up this afternoon. We were trying out a new set of chalk —bold colors!

Here's the sketch:

Witch + Cat

2010-10-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Martian

2010-06-28T19:01:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted. A long winter, followed by a rainy spring made it hard to resurface the drive. But resurface I did, and this evening the girls and I enjoyed giving the new asphalt a test drive. It was Lily's idea to do a Red Monster from Mars. We didn't have a red stick of chalk, but I thought I could approximate it by throwing orange highlights over magenta. Nada. By the time Carol added a hat to the monster, and Lily fashioned a pair of antennae, Lily noticed a resemblance to Fuzzy Lumpkins.

I'm not taking the blame for that.

Bug

2009-08-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

I had about 10 minutes to escape to the driveway yesterday. (Boy, that's a sad statement.)

I got halfway through this obnoxious beetle and then I had to put the chalk down.

Rain came 2 hours later, so he's not going to get finished.

Dog

2009-06-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

I had to take a break from drawing in the studio, so I went outside to draw with the girls. Lily drew 5 rainbows. I drew one dog.

It all started with this doodle I did about a week ago while warming up.

It was harder than usual to get the photo of the kids with the drawing, but patience sometimes gets rewarded.

Get Well, Michelle

2009-05-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

I got a slight reprieve in the workload this week, so I enjoyed some outdoor time with the girls. That means chalk drawings, of course, so I started on a bird inspired by a doodle I did during choir practice.

Halfway through, I thought I'd dedicate the piece to a good friend on our street who is struggling with some difficult health issues.

Get well, Michelle, and pay us a visit whenever you need cheering up!

Sea Monster

2009-03-29T04:27:00.001-07:00

Finally, better weather is here!
Things are heating up a bit in the studio, but I was playing with the girls outside last night and thought it might be a good time for a fresh drawing. This one's unique, because the girls contributed more than usual.

We started by tracing our shadows. After this warm-up exercise, I put two red eyes down. I spaced them far apart, not knowing what it would become. I crafted a mouth and put in two peglike teeth (inspired somewhat by the art of Lane Smith.) Lily took interest at this point and wanted to help. I decided to make it a large Sea Monster and showed Lily my simple technique for drawing teeth. She took over while I instructed Carol on how to make a halfway convincing strand of hair.

At this point I had to go inside —phonecall or something. Anne Marie watched the kids, and Lily began to exert her influence over the grand design. When I returned, she not only finished the teeth and the hair, but she had blocked in a basic body and added waves and an island. I liked the contrast between the big head and tiny body, so I decided to run with this new direction and concentrated on making her additions blend with my previous work.

The results were not too bad for a quickie. I may get help on all these drawings from now on.

Here's a diagram, showing who did what:

Later that evening, I put the girls to bed with a book we got from the library —a great vintage holiday book by Adrienne Adams about a family of artistic Easter Rabbits. The Rabbit Parents are watching their young son's artistic skills bloom as he takes greater interest in his work and develops his attention span. It was the perfect coda to a nice spring evening.

Chalkarella

2009-03-29T04:25:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T09:32:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I've been a bit busy, so I'm letting the girls bail me out and provide the art this time.
We got some unseasonably warm weather last Friday, so while I mowed the lawn one last time, Lily and Carol decorated the drive.

This one surprised me. It's Santa going down the chimney —with snow, natch. I like the slanted line at the bottom which sorta suggests a rooftop with a pitch.

Then Lily drew Santa with a hula-hoop. I think she and Carol had the chipmunks on their minds. Carol just drew two hula hoops. You can see them in pink in the top picture.

Looking forward to posting more stuff in 2009! Happy New Year!

Lily turns 4!

2008-08-10T15:47:00.001-07:00

Lily turned four last month, so I did this one to commemorate the event. Lily requested a flamingo and Carol asked for the cat.
For the first time I sketched the piece first to give me a head start. Even so, it took some time and tried the girls' patience.
I worked on the flamingo and candles first and obviously ran out of steam when it came to the cat and cake. I fully intended to revisit it, but a downpour paid a visit first.

Another Bear

2008-08-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

This was a nice one from last month. The girls were in a good mood too, which is always nice.

More Old Stuff

2008-08-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

I did the bird in early April and the giraffe later that month.

I always try to get a shot of the girls with the final art, at least to give a sense of scale. Sometimes the sun is too intense, and the kids just can't muster the photo-op.

Ancient Art

2008-08-10T15:31:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some old driveway art. Hopefully I'll learn to keep on top of it. We'll see.

This Polar Bear was a request for Lily —her favorite animal. We did this way back in March. I didn't go way out on a limb here, but I think the lettering is kind of appealing.

Colored Chalk on Black Ground

2008-08-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

We don't own a lot of camping equipment, so when the weather is nice, I take the girls outside and we put colored chalk to our blacktop driveway. With all due respect to its weather-proofing properties, there is no better reason than chalk-art to keep the drive well dressed in Brewer-Cote. Seventy bucks worth of black slurry will get you a sprawling velvety substrate —black enough for a matador and rich enough for the King himself. Within a half-hour, the three of us will get the drive pretty-well covered with drawings, typography and colorful hopscotch designs.
Here is an example or two of instances when I got a bit carried away:

Please take special note of the white marks directly below the Mazda's tailpipe. This is Lily's "bear" and she's quite proud of it.

I habitually take requests from the girls. This is safe because I know Carol will always ask for King Kong. This particular version lasted a day before a thunderstorm censored me. The name is already fading.