Showing posts with label muppets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label muppets. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Big Birds
Just to prove I wasn't imagining the subject of my previous post, when I was in Portland on Sunday with my friend Olivia on hand for moral support I got a couple photos of the scary chickens and roosters in the gallery window on Congress St. These are from the Bridge Gallery and as you'll see, not only is there an entire line-up of freaky fowl, they're all overseen by a giant, unsettling puppet master. Let's send around a petition to force the Bridge Gallery to pull some curtains on that nonsense and display a series of mspainted muppets instead.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Birthday Girl
She's long since asleep and onto her second day of 23rdhood, but here it's technically still her birthday, and here, the US, is where she was born, so happy birthday again, Stasia. Naturally she's already seen these, since they were made for her, but for posterity and all that, a couple small tokens of my affection. Any images I post can be clicked to enlarge them -- I keep having to remind my mom of that, so maybe others don't know it, either.
You didn't think she was getting through a birthday without a Muppet picture, did you? Yes, I looked at reference photos for this. A girl's birthday was at stake!
The Count is sometimes pink and sometimes purple. Check google images if you don't believe me. That's why I hedged my bets and colored him pink and wrote in purple. Also, did you know he had a beard? I'm not sure I ever knew that. It blends in with his suit. And it's impossible to make Oscar the Grouch look angry without drawing eyes -- without them, his naturally angry uni-brow becomes an Asian happiness emoticon (^^). I was trying to make him happy, not ecstatic. Impossible. (Please prove me wrong if you can.)
You didn't think she was getting through a birthday without a Muppet picture, did you? Yes, I looked at reference photos for this. A girl's birthday was at stake!
The Count is sometimes pink and sometimes purple. Check google images if you don't believe me. That's why I hedged my bets and colored him pink and wrote in purple. Also, did you know he had a beard? I'm not sure I ever knew that. It blends in with his suit. And it's impossible to make Oscar the Grouch look angry without drawing eyes -- without them, his naturally angry uni-brow becomes an Asian happiness emoticon (^^). I was trying to make him happy, not ecstatic. Impossible. (Please prove me wrong if you can.)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Scho-Ka-Kola
I don't eat (use? chew? what's the proper verb here?) mints much these days, but a couple months ago I stumbled across a list that almost made me reconsider. (No, it wasn't a list of ways my breath could be improved. I use the internet so I don't have to have good breath. Or leave my parents' basement. Okay, this joke is too real to be funny anymore. Abort. Abort!)
Here's the list that made me want to pick up a bad mint habit: 22 Manly Ways to Reuse an Altoids Tin. If you can browse that list and not have a Dwight Schrute Pavlovian response, you, sir or madam, mystify me. But really, I didn't even want the mints; just the packaging. I admired the ingenuity and frugality on display and buying a tin of mints solely for one of these projects would have been counter-intuitive. Thankfully, pretty much any little tin will do for most of these, so I didn't have to buy a tin of Altoids and enjoy their curiously strong minty freshness; henceforth, Altoids will be stricken from the record.
I wished to assert my own manliness through the art of mint-tin re-purposing. Naturally, I alighted on the least manly way to reuse a tin, aka the least labor-intensive and most manageable way for ME to reuse a tin. I gave the finished product to Stasia as a gift, however, in an attempt to put the "man" back in "manageable."
Anyway, I already spilled the beans last time so you know roughly where this is going: I re-purposed a tin as a pocket watercolor kit. I didn't re-purpose just any tin, though:
My parents bought this extra-caffeinated chocolate in Germany as a souvenir last time they were over there. The name Scho-Ka-Kola is a mix of the words "Schokolade" (chocolate) and "Kola" (cola, i.e. any Coke or Pepsi-style soda) and plays on "Coca-Cola." My parents love both chocolate and Coke, but they don't drink coffee or drive 18-wheelers through the night, so despite "The Energy Chocolate's" claims that it "creates power" and "makes you alert," the tin remained firmly sealed through its "best before" date of March 4, 2011. She chucked the chocolate but thankfully my mom held onto the beautifully bizarre tin long enough for me to spot and claim it. Now it's filled with better things:
It turns out real watercolors are expensive and the kinds of people who need a pocket kit of them probably already have the materials required for miniaturizing them as suggested in the instructions, including crafting separate paint enclosures out of brass strips or clay. In my case, as I also mentioned last time, my mom finally helped me find a cheap ($2) solution at Michael's. The paints are already in their own containers, I just pulled the plastic connectors apart. Then I sawed (well, scissored) a brush in half and included the non-bristled end as a stirrer. The lid doubles as a mixing surface. Technically, you could even use one of the tin halves as a water cup.
And the best part? With this fashionable little kit, Stasia actually paints pretty pictures - Sam Eagle and a gnarled tree, to date.
How cool is that?
Here's the list that made me want to pick up a bad mint habit: 22 Manly Ways to Reuse an Altoids Tin. If you can browse that list and not have a Dwight Schrute Pavlovian response, you, sir or madam, mystify me. But really, I didn't even want the mints; just the packaging. I admired the ingenuity and frugality on display and buying a tin of mints solely for one of these projects would have been counter-intuitive. Thankfully, pretty much any little tin will do for most of these, so I didn't have to buy a tin of Altoids and enjoy their curiously strong minty freshness; henceforth, Altoids will be stricken from the record.
I wished to assert my own manliness through the art of mint-tin re-purposing. Naturally, I alighted on the least manly way to reuse a tin, aka the least labor-intensive and most manageable way for ME to reuse a tin. I gave the finished product to Stasia as a gift, however, in an attempt to put the "man" back in "manageable."
Anyway, I already spilled the beans last time so you know roughly where this is going: I re-purposed a tin as a pocket watercolor kit. I didn't re-purpose just any tin, though:
My parents bought this extra-caffeinated chocolate in Germany as a souvenir last time they were over there. The name Scho-Ka-Kola is a mix of the words "Schokolade" (chocolate) and "Kola" (cola, i.e. any Coke or Pepsi-style soda) and plays on "Coca-Cola." My parents love both chocolate and Coke, but they don't drink coffee or drive 18-wheelers through the night, so despite "The Energy Chocolate's" claims that it "creates power" and "makes you alert," the tin remained firmly sealed through its "best before" date of March 4, 2011. She chucked the chocolate but thankfully my mom held onto the beautifully bizarre tin long enough for me to spot and claim it. Now it's filled with better things:
It turns out real watercolors are expensive and the kinds of people who need a pocket kit of them probably already have the materials required for miniaturizing them as suggested in the instructions, including crafting separate paint enclosures out of brass strips or clay. In my case, as I also mentioned last time, my mom finally helped me find a cheap ($2) solution at Michael's. The paints are already in their own containers, I just pulled the plastic connectors apart. Then I sawed (well, scissored) a brush in half and included the non-bristled end as a stirrer. The lid doubles as a mixing surface. Technically, you could even use one of the tin halves as a water cup.And the best part? With this fashionable little kit, Stasia actually paints pretty pictures - Sam Eagle and a gnarled tree, to date.
How cool is that?
Saturday, May 14, 2011
realpainting: Sam Eagle
Two posts ago I promised that "next time" you'd see Stasia's second contribution to the world of Muppet fan art, then I made myself a liar by posting my own drawing which I had given my mom for Mother's Day. So really, in so many ways, my mother made me a liar. It's good to get that off my chest.
Only one post later than planned, here's Stasia's rendition of Sam Eagle, sketched with pencil, outlined in marker, and then painted with actual paint and actual paintbrushes on actual paper. Who even has the time these days?
See, Big Bird's cool and all, but S. Eagle is one ice cold bird. He will PECK you, man. This wasn't done from memory, but it was done awesomely. Check out the shading on his face! That was done with $1 "watercolor" paints and $1 paintbrushes I picked up from Michael's Stores. And Stasia rocked 'em.
Next time I'll show you some behind-the-scenes pictures of the artist herself at work on this meisterwerk, including her secret weapon: the portable watercolor kit I put together for her, full of $1 paints and $1 paintbrushes. Don't you wish I were your sugar daddy?
Only one post later than planned, here's Stasia's rendition of Sam Eagle, sketched with pencil, outlined in marker, and then painted with actual paint and actual paintbrushes on actual paper. Who even has the time these days?
See, Big Bird's cool and all, but S. Eagle is one ice cold bird. He will PECK you, man. This wasn't done from memory, but it was done awesomely. Check out the shading on his face! That was done with $1 "watercolor" paints and $1 paintbrushes I picked up from Michael's Stores. And Stasia rocked 'em.
Next time I'll show you some behind-the-scenes pictures of the artist herself at work on this meisterwerk, including her secret weapon: the portable watercolor kit I put together for her, full of $1 paints and $1 paintbrushes. Don't you wish I were your sugar daddy?
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Thursday, May 05, 2011
mspainting: Bat Bird
"Bat" in the title refers both to "batting one's eyelashes" and to "Batman." It seems clever to me, and even if you don't agree, you'll at least see what I mean.
I pestered my sister into drawing me a picture. While she was mspainting (which is a legitimate term now that I've coined it) she remarked, "jeebus it's pretty horrifying already." That's what we like to hear!
Full disclosure: Alena admits she cheated and used a photo reference. I've already said that doesn't bother me. If anything, it makes resulting flaws much more entertaining. Plus, if you're reading my blog, you've got so much Big Bird on the brain that you'll never forget what he looks like again.
Anyway, while drawing anything strictly from memory is an added level of difficulty, the biggest challenge here has to be drawing anything with MS Paint. Using a mouse is great for so many things. Drawing is not one of those things. Hell, even using a touchscreen I struggle to draw basic shapes on the computer.
So with all that in mind, let's see the masterpiece:
Wow, after having expectations set at an all-time low with "horrifying," this is brilliant. Here's the description that accompanied the email: "So I tried to give Big Bird his eyelashes, and ended up making him look like a chick (rimshot). Bonus Snufflepagus!"
Bonus Snuffleupagus indeed.
First of all, well done. Second of most, Big Bird always looks like a chick, with or without the pun intended. Third of some, Big Bird does not actually have eyelashes.
See? If she'd have stuck to drawing from memory, Alena would have had a better excuse for drawing eyelashes, as Stasia did. Also, apparently we would have gotten the super-villain interpretation, as Alena explained, "i originally had big bird with purple and green legs until i looked at the pic. very jokerish." Now you get the hilarious wordplay in the title. What you don't get, sadly, is to see the Joker version. I was disappointed too. Somebody get on that.
(In the meantime, here's a Muppet Wiki [yes, that exists] article about Batman's connection to Sesame Street along with video of one of Batman's amazing animated appearances on the show, doing absolutely nothing to stop the Joker from being run over by a car. Key line: "Holy manhole!" Not in public, Robin. Not in front of the children.)
Oh, and if bonus Snuffleupagus weren't enough, Alena went on to mspaint me something else, which she described as, "My current obsession. Drawn completely from memory (which explains the crappy logo)."
While it sounds revolting, it looks amazing. All of you, get on a caffeine high and mspaint me some more stuff. And next time: Stasia mspaints a muppet without the MS Paint. What's that called again?...Oh yeah, painting!
I pestered my sister into drawing me a picture. While she was mspainting (which is a legitimate term now that I've coined it) she remarked, "jeebus it's pretty horrifying already." That's what we like to hear!
Full disclosure: Alena admits she cheated and used a photo reference. I've already said that doesn't bother me. If anything, it makes resulting flaws much more entertaining. Plus, if you're reading my blog, you've got so much Big Bird on the brain that you'll never forget what he looks like again.
Anyway, while drawing anything strictly from memory is an added level of difficulty, the biggest challenge here has to be drawing anything with MS Paint. Using a mouse is great for so many things. Drawing is not one of those things. Hell, even using a touchscreen I struggle to draw basic shapes on the computer.
So with all that in mind, let's see the masterpiece:
Wow, after having expectations set at an all-time low with "horrifying," this is brilliant. Here's the description that accompanied the email: "So I tried to give Big Bird his eyelashes, and ended up making him look like a chick (rimshot). Bonus Snufflepagus!"
Bonus Snuffleupagus indeed.
First of all, well done. Second of most, Big Bird always looks like a chick, with or without the pun intended. Third of some, Big Bird does not actually have eyelashes.
See? If she'd have stuck to drawing from memory, Alena would have had a better excuse for drawing eyelashes, as Stasia did. Also, apparently we would have gotten the super-villain interpretation, as Alena explained, "i originally had big bird with purple and green legs until i looked at the pic. very jokerish." Now you get the hilarious wordplay in the title. What you don't get, sadly, is to see the Joker version. I was disappointed too. Somebody get on that.
(In the meantime, here's a Muppet Wiki [yes, that exists] article about Batman's connection to Sesame Street along with video of one of Batman's amazing animated appearances on the show, doing absolutely nothing to stop the Joker from being run over by a car. Key line: "Holy manhole!" Not in public, Robin. Not in front of the children.)
Oh, and if bonus Snuffleupagus weren't enough, Alena went on to mspaint me something else, which she described as, "My current obsession. Drawn completely from memory (which explains the crappy logo)."
While it sounds revolting, it looks amazing. All of you, get on a caffeine high and mspaint me some more stuff. And next time: Stasia mspaints a muppet without the MS Paint. What's that called again?...Oh yeah, painting!
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Ostrich Bird
When I was 14 I wanted nothing more than to own every version of every Beastie Boys album. I had just discovered some international versions in Germany and collected what I could. I sorta trailed off there, though, when I felt I'd gotten most of the stuff worth getting and when other music caught my attention. The Anthology was an excellent cross-section anyway.
Amazingly, 11 years later, the B. Boys are still putting out new stuff, and while I wasn't very impressed with their 2004 effort, To The 5 Boroughs, the newest release, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, is a remarkable return to form. You can stream it for free here (via Soundcloud) and you can stream or download a sweet megamix of the Beastie Boys through the ages by DJ Z-Trip here, which I'm jammin' to while typing this very post. Point being, if the Beasties can keep kickin' it after all these years, the least I can do is keep kickin' it after all these weeks, "it" in my case being Big Bird posts.
Another recruit from Easter, Stasia's aunt Meg requested to draw Big Bird on paper. Unorthodox, I know, but I allowed it: I don't say no to drawings in any format. Etch a sketch of Big Bird on an Etch-A-Sketch and mail me that if you really want. Just because I can't do it doesn't mean you shouldn't.
So here's our first colored-pencil-and-paper submission:
Magnificent. In case you can't read the inscription, the message reads, "This is what Big Bird really looks like." Can't argue with that.
Uhhhhhnless you've actually seen Big Bird. Then you've probably got a solid argument formulated.
The scan quality isn't perfect; some of the vibrancy of the colors were lost in scanslation. But this interpretation of Big Bird, with his gaudy head feathers and flamboyant neon orange- and pink-striped legs and neck, looks like an Ostrich of Paradise. This must be the mutilated extreme of the fabulous Big Bird envisioned by Stasia: Big Bird after years of wearing African neck rings to stretch out his neck in the vain pursuit of an ideal of beauty. (Or tourist dollars.)
Hollywood does terrible things to bird-people.
In Meg's defense, Big Bird wasn't of her childhood, nor did her kids watch much Sesame Street, so taking those things into consideration, this is a fantastic effort. Big Bird is also on the advanced side of Sesame Street characters you could draw from memory. Cookie Monster, my favorite, is probably beginner, since he's mostly just a blue blob with googly eyes and a gaping, cookie-devouring, black-hole of a maw. Snuffleupagus would be be intermediate to draw and advanced to spell (yeah, Google Suggest corrected it for me -- and that's Mr. Snuffleupagus to you).
So go ahead and try your hand at a drawing or painting or whatever, whether you're looking at it currently or you've only heard of it in passing and never actually seen one in real life. Hey, maybe you can find a field of blooming dandelions and strategically kick some of the yellow heads off to carve out a Big Bird shape. Now that's a picture I want to see (or a field I want to stumble upon while hiking). To inspire you, here's a poem I wrote in creative writing class in high school, after doing some tongues-on research by licking the head of a dandelion:
Dandelions
Ain't so dandy;
They don't taste at
All like candy.
Amazingly, 11 years later, the B. Boys are still putting out new stuff, and while I wasn't very impressed with their 2004 effort, To The 5 Boroughs, the newest release, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, is a remarkable return to form. You can stream it for free here (via Soundcloud) and you can stream or download a sweet megamix of the Beastie Boys through the ages by DJ Z-Trip here, which I'm jammin' to while typing this very post. Point being, if the Beasties can keep kickin' it after all these years, the least I can do is keep kickin' it after all these weeks, "it" in my case being Big Bird posts.
Another recruit from Easter, Stasia's aunt Meg requested to draw Big Bird on paper. Unorthodox, I know, but I allowed it: I don't say no to drawings in any format. Etch a sketch of Big Bird on an Etch-A-Sketch and mail me that if you really want. Just because I can't do it doesn't mean you shouldn't.
So here's our first colored-pencil-and-paper submission:
Magnificent. In case you can't read the inscription, the message reads, "This is what Big Bird really looks like." Can't argue with that.
Uhhhhhnless you've actually seen Big Bird. Then you've probably got a solid argument formulated.
The scan quality isn't perfect; some of the vibrancy of the colors were lost in scanslation. But this interpretation of Big Bird, with his gaudy head feathers and flamboyant neon orange- and pink-striped legs and neck, looks like an Ostrich of Paradise. This must be the mutilated extreme of the fabulous Big Bird envisioned by Stasia: Big Bird after years of wearing African neck rings to stretch out his neck in the vain pursuit of an ideal of beauty. (Or tourist dollars.)
Hollywood does terrible things to bird-people.
In Meg's defense, Big Bird wasn't of her childhood, nor did her kids watch much Sesame Street, so taking those things into consideration, this is a fantastic effort. Big Bird is also on the advanced side of Sesame Street characters you could draw from memory. Cookie Monster, my favorite, is probably beginner, since he's mostly just a blue blob with googly eyes and a gaping, cookie-devouring, black-hole of a maw. Snuffleupagus would be be intermediate to draw and advanced to spell (yeah, Google Suggest corrected it for me -- and that's Mr. Snuffleupagus to you).
So go ahead and try your hand at a drawing or painting or whatever, whether you're looking at it currently or you've only heard of it in passing and never actually seen one in real life. Hey, maybe you can find a field of blooming dandelions and strategically kick some of the yellow heads off to carve out a Big Bird shape. Now that's a picture I want to see (or a field I want to stumble upon while hiking). To inspire you, here's a poem I wrote in creative writing class in high school, after doing some tongues-on research by licking the head of a dandelion:
Dandelions
Ain't so dandy;
They don't taste at
All like candy.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Battle Bird
Happy belated Easter. I spent mine with Stasia and lots of her mom's side of the family in NYC. In addition to involving delicious food and good company, it was a productive trip: I recruited at least one Big Bird artist, and perhaps more still to come.
Stasia's cousin Rachel Denny, awesome person and artist du jour, has this to say about her effort, which was done on her iPad: "I just spent about a half an hour trying to draw big bird. It looks like an oversized chick drawn by a first grader...." As mentioned recently, this is as good a season as any for chicks, so check it out:
That rocks.
Rachel sent this follow-up comment: "Looking at it again I realize that I only gave cookie monster one eye... strange...." Except it's not strange once you realize the 'roid rage driving this scene. How else do you explain Big Bird's high-pitched voice, compulsive work-outs, and sudden bulk?
Here's how it went down: Cookie Monster spilled one too many crumbs on Big Bird's well-preened coat and got his eye pecked out. Elmo tried to intervene, which led Big Bird to punch a hole directly through his fuzzy red stomach. Now that tickles.
Is this really Easter-appropriate? Big Bird's legs are practically melting with anger. I suppose if he loses an eye for an eye, Old Testament God will be satisfied.
And if I get more drawings, I'll be satisfied. At least temporarily.
Stasia's cousin Rachel Denny, awesome person and artist du jour, has this to say about her effort, which was done on her iPad: "I just spent about a half an hour trying to draw big bird. It looks like an oversized chick drawn by a first grader...." As mentioned recently, this is as good a season as any for chicks, so check it out:
That rocks.
Rachel sent this follow-up comment: "Looking at it again I realize that I only gave cookie monster one eye... strange...." Except it's not strange once you realize the 'roid rage driving this scene. How else do you explain Big Bird's high-pitched voice, compulsive work-outs, and sudden bulk?
Here's how it went down: Cookie Monster spilled one too many crumbs on Big Bird's well-preened coat and got his eye pecked out. Elmo tried to intervene, which led Big Bird to punch a hole directly through his fuzzy red stomach. Now that tickles.
Is this really Easter-appropriate? Big Bird's legs are practically melting with anger. I suppose if he loses an eye for an eye, Old Testament God will be satisfied.
And if I get more drawings, I'll be satisfied. At least temporarily.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Bulk Bird
Kyle Doran's twin, Brian Doran, feeling both the ancient spirit of sibling rivalry and the hereditary fondness for the spray paint feature overtaking him, emailed me a drawing from Japan yesterday, truly making my day:
Working both Big Bird and Cookie Monster into the image was pure class. Brian included a description which deserves to be seen as much as his drawing, which is why I'm posting it verbatim:
Additional drawings needed.
Working both Big Bird and Cookie Monster into the image was pure class. Brian included a description which deserves to be seen as much as his drawing, which is why I'm posting it verbatim:Alright, I'll bite. No way I'm going to be shown up by my brother.There you have it: no additional commentary needed.This little ditty attempts to answer the age-old question of 'why did Cookie Monster' cross the road. It also features a rarely seen profile view of Cookie Monster, showing off his enviable cookie belly. While Cookie Monster does his thing, Big Bird is all business. Gotta bulk up for the show and make up for his high pitch voice.Yeah, basically I have too much time at work. As a bonus, you can look closely and see when someone was walking behind me, as I tried to alt-tab while leaving the paint can in the same place.
Additional drawings needed.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tiny Bird
And now, a Big Bird selection from the inimitable Cyber Twan Dambrie with the following disclaimer: "I know it's terrible....but in my defense, I did it on my phone. Enjoy!"
Stasia exclaimed, "It doesn't really look like Big Bird, but it looks like a chick for Easter!" Anthony had no need to be modest: this is adorable and timely, what with Easter Sunday coming up. This creature belongs in a microwave next to an Easter Peep. We'll call this Big Bird's baby picture. At least it's not embarrassing. He could have been splashing around naked in the birdbath.
That's an impressive drawing for the iPhone. Simple and stylish. I'm not sure what app he used. On my iPod Touch I have the app Brushes, which I bought ages ago thinking it'd be sweet to draw on the go. But I hated trying to use such a small screen, scroll around, zoom in and out constantly, etc, so I almost never use it. I can't control the scale of my drawings, so I need a lot of space in case things sprawl wildly.
Also, on my original Big Bird post Stasia had commented about the accuracy of my drawing's "'guitar holding' pose" based on this diagram:
The link she posted to the diagram didn't work, so I wanted to make sure you all saw it. Stasia clarified, "That's not to say that the second arm never moves, but it requires a second puppeteer." Either way, go me. Please note: the Big Bird operator appears to be wearing solid 6 inch platform shoes. Maybe they should just hire a tall guy instead. Hint hint. Although I don't think I could pull off the high-pitched Big Bird voice, which would mean everyone's nightmare: more wrong sounding muppets. Can you imagine how frightened children would be if my voice came out of Big Bird?
I hope I get more Big Bird pictures. Even though Cookie Monster is my favorite. Feel free to draw him, too, if you're looking to truly make my day.
Stasia exclaimed, "It doesn't really look like Big Bird, but it looks like a chick for Easter!" Anthony had no need to be modest: this is adorable and timely, what with Easter Sunday coming up. This creature belongs in a microwave next to an Easter Peep. We'll call this Big Bird's baby picture. At least it's not embarrassing. He could have been splashing around naked in the birdbath.
That's an impressive drawing for the iPhone. Simple and stylish. I'm not sure what app he used. On my iPod Touch I have the app Brushes, which I bought ages ago thinking it'd be sweet to draw on the go. But I hated trying to use such a small screen, scroll around, zoom in and out constantly, etc, so I almost never use it. I can't control the scale of my drawings, so I need a lot of space in case things sprawl wildly.
Also, on my original Big Bird post Stasia had commented about the accuracy of my drawing's "'guitar holding' pose" based on this diagram:
The link she posted to the diagram didn't work, so I wanted to make sure you all saw it. Stasia clarified, "That's not to say that the second arm never moves, but it requires a second puppeteer." Either way, go me. Please note: the Big Bird operator appears to be wearing solid 6 inch platform shoes. Maybe they should just hire a tall guy instead. Hint hint. Although I don't think I could pull off the high-pitched Big Bird voice, which would mean everyone's nightmare: more wrong sounding muppets. Can you imagine how frightened children would be if my voice came out of Big Bird?
I hope I get more Big Bird pictures. Even though Cookie Monster is my favorite. Feel free to draw him, too, if you're looking to truly make my day.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Little Bird
All the way from Armenia, a little birdie flew into my inbox a few days ago:
Kyle Doran, currently spreading peace in the European east and tipping the balance of this feature in favor of guys named Kyle, explains his drawing: "I took your challenge because I felt like the spray paint feature hadn't been featured enough, especially for someone with Big Bird's texture. Not sure why he looks ornery, but enjoy!"
And enjoy I do. This looks like a baby owl dressed up as Big Bird for Halloween. He's just now realizing how awful the paint fumes are, not to mention how long it will take to wash the yellow out of his feathers. (Plus his mom probably warned him of these downsides and he ignored her.) That would explain the orneriness. That and the coal-black eyes pecked out of Frosty the Snowman's melted-puddle corpse at the beginning of spring. Circle of life!
More Big Birds, I say.
Kyle Doran, currently spreading peace in the European east and tipping the balance of this feature in favor of guys named Kyle, explains his drawing: "I took your challenge because I felt like the spray paint feature hadn't been featured enough, especially for someone with Big Bird's texture. Not sure why he looks ornery, but enjoy!"And enjoy I do. This looks like a baby owl dressed up as Big Bird for Halloween. He's just now realizing how awful the paint fumes are, not to mention how long it will take to wash the yellow out of his feathers. (Plus his mom probably warned him of these downsides and he ignored her.) That would explain the orneriness. That and the coal-black eyes pecked out of Frosty the Snowman's melted-puddle corpse at the beginning of spring. Circle of life!
More Big Birds, I say.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Huge Bird
Yesterday, there was Big Bird. Today, there are Big Birds.
Since I sent out a challenge to Facebook daring all comers to try drawing Big Bird in MS Paint, a couple of brave souls have taken up their digital drawing tools and shown me what B.B. looks like in their heads.
Kyle Courcy, who does a comic called Cereal With a Fork for Boston's Weekly Dig and blogs over at this other place, showed me his "oddly morose" version, explaining his technique thusly: "Basically I drew a body around a yellow drumstick."
I don't think there's anything odd about his moroseness. This is the "before" picture: Bird before he stopped caring about the haters, threw on a pair of pink legwarmers and a splash of blue and pink mascara, and truly embraced his fabulous side.
Now here's another "after" image in the style of mine. Stasia took the touchscreen for a test run, insisting she could draw Big Bird from memory. Turns out she was more than half right, but being more talented than I am wasn't quite enough to fill in every blank. Her version is certainly fabulous, so see if you can spot her mistakes:
Anyone else care to contribute? Go ahead and look at pictures while you draw, I don't mind.
Since I sent out a challenge to Facebook daring all comers to try drawing Big Bird in MS Paint, a couple of brave souls have taken up their digital drawing tools and shown me what B.B. looks like in their heads.
Kyle Courcy, who does a comic called Cereal With a Fork for Boston's Weekly Dig and blogs over at this other place, showed me his "oddly morose" version, explaining his technique thusly: "Basically I drew a body around a yellow drumstick."
I don't think there's anything odd about his moroseness. This is the "before" picture: Bird before he stopped caring about the haters, threw on a pair of pink legwarmers and a splash of blue and pink mascara, and truly embraced his fabulous side.Now here's another "after" image in the style of mine. Stasia took the touchscreen for a test run, insisting she could draw Big Bird from memory. Turns out she was more than half right, but being more talented than I am wasn't quite enough to fill in every blank. Her version is certainly fabulous, so see if you can spot her mistakes:
Anyone else care to contribute? Go ahead and look at pictures while you draw, I don't mind.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Large Bird
My parents have a touchscreen computer. No one uses the touchscreen but me, for when I occasionally draw these pictures. WORTH THE COST (that said, I don't know the cost).
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wrong Colored Food
First I heard they'd turned blueberries pink. Is this like when they try to make games for girls? Were blueberries not selling well enough with the 12-25 year old female demographic? Will they also utilize the delicate Japanese art of growing perfect apples to imprint the blue pinkberr--er, pink blueberries with Hello, Kitty symbols and further corner the lucrative squealing teen girl market?
Now I hear they've turned garlic black. Garlic finally found its much needed street cred.
Bad jokes aside, I can't wait to try these two food innovations. If it's true that, as described, the pink blueberries are "sweet and flavorful," then they sound just like normal blueberries. But looks matter too, and they'd certainly make for a nice oddity for the backyard.
If it's true that, as described, the fermented black garlic "tastes much sweeter than traditional garlic" AND "doesn't leave you with bad breath," well that's progress we can all agree on. Except for the "sweeter" part because I'm fine with the current taste of garlic and until I taste a sweeter one I'm having a hard time imagining it. Will I put it in ice cream instead of spaghetti sauce? Also, I don't know how the price compares to regular garlic cloves because I don't remember what garlic costs at the store. But I'm guessing the fermenting process plus the increased rarity of black garlic makes it more expensive. My friends are cool, and all, but are they worth it?
All this talk of wrong colored food makes me want some right tasting food (and of course makes me think of the greatest Family Guy joke ever: wrong sounding muppets). Maybe I'll make a peanut butter milkshake tonight. Or a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. Lots of recipes for "chocolate peanut butter milkshakes" call for vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. Why not just skip the sauce and use chocolate ice cream to begin with? That's all we have, since vanilla ice cream's not worth keeping around.
Then maybe I can approximate the Colonel Parker milkshake from the UK's chain of American-style diners helpfully named "The Diner." The Colonel Parker is a hard shake, i.e. a shake with hard liquor, not a shake that isn't soft: peanut butter, vanilla ice cream, and Four Roses bourbon, and it is delightful, and will probably be even more delightful with chocolate ice cream and with any other kind of bourbon. I recently got a 1.75 liter bottle of Jim Beam white label for $5 (after rebate...$20 before rebate, which is still good, but not $5 good) from the New Hampshire liquor store, so I got that goin' for me, which is nice.
Now I hear they've turned garlic black. Garlic finally found its much needed street cred.
Bad jokes aside, I can't wait to try these two food innovations. If it's true that, as described, the pink blueberries are "sweet and flavorful," then they sound just like normal blueberries. But looks matter too, and they'd certainly make for a nice oddity for the backyard.
If it's true that, as described, the fermented black garlic "tastes much sweeter than traditional garlic" AND "doesn't leave you with bad breath," well that's progress we can all agree on. Except for the "sweeter" part because I'm fine with the current taste of garlic and until I taste a sweeter one I'm having a hard time imagining it. Will I put it in ice cream instead of spaghetti sauce? Also, I don't know how the price compares to regular garlic cloves because I don't remember what garlic costs at the store. But I'm guessing the fermenting process plus the increased rarity of black garlic makes it more expensive. My friends are cool, and all, but are they worth it?
All this talk of wrong colored food makes me want some right tasting food (and of course makes me think of the greatest Family Guy joke ever: wrong sounding muppets). Maybe I'll make a peanut butter milkshake tonight. Or a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. Lots of recipes for "chocolate peanut butter milkshakes" call for vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. Why not just skip the sauce and use chocolate ice cream to begin with? That's all we have, since vanilla ice cream's not worth keeping around.
Then maybe I can approximate the Colonel Parker milkshake from the UK's chain of American-style diners helpfully named "The Diner." The Colonel Parker is a hard shake, i.e. a shake with hard liquor, not a shake that isn't soft: peanut butter, vanilla ice cream, and Four Roses bourbon, and it is delightful, and will probably be even more delightful with chocolate ice cream and with any other kind of bourbon. I recently got a 1.75 liter bottle of Jim Beam white label for $5 (after rebate...$20 before rebate, which is still good, but not $5 good) from the New Hampshire liquor store, so I got that goin' for me, which is nice.
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