Tag Archives: Saturday Art Day
Pictures to Think About
Possibly Preposterous Pen & Ink
Why do daisies bully onion bulbs?
Filed under artwork, humor, Paffooney, pen and ink
Soft and Subtle Surrealism
Surrealism is basically the putting together of things that don’t go together to realistically portray what is not real. And sometimes it can be done in ways that you don’t realize are, in fact, examples of surrealism, unless you look at it and think about it more carefully. So, can you tell me why “The Wizard of Edo” above is surrealism?
This one is obvious even though I used photographs to draw every single element.
Cartoons, especially bizarre cartoons, are all surrealistic, though not all of them lack subtlety as much as this one does.
Some surrealism is highly horrific unless you think of this as merely a portrait of Boris Karloff in make-up.
It is inherent in surrealism that the images are going to make you stop and think about what it means.
There was a time when relatives might have told me that this was a realistic picture of my two sons. However, they didn’t tell me that since I drew it sixteen years before my eldest son was born.
So, is there anything at all surreal about this picture? Besides the fact that Sherry Cobble couldn’t arrive at school naked, I mean?
Filed under artwork, humor, Paffooney, surrealism
The Possibilities are No Longer Endless
This is an oil portrait of me and David. I can probably no longer create a picture like this. My arthritic hands are not steady enough anymore to blend shadow colors, especially in clothing.
I will never return to the classroom as a teacher again. Not even as a sub. I am no longer physically capable of doing the job. Most people don’t realize how tough a job it truly is.
My super powers are fading, even the incredibly bad smell that makes criminals pass out during combat.
Fortunately, my kids can carry the family name onwards.
Filed under artwork, autobiography, humor, Paffooney, pessimism
Saturday Art Day Once Again
Is there a consistent theme in these random-pictures posts? I wonder.
So, what is the theme?
Pictures can tell lies, obvious lies, and colorful lies?
Mickey doesn’t understand what the word “Theme” means?
You should draw or paint what makes you happy?
Does the theme of one picture have anything to do with the theme of another picture?
You tell me.
Double and Triple Portraits
Sometimes a single face is not enough to convey the person you want to portray.
Why This Picture?
This is a character from the novel The Boy… Forever. Icarus Jones is based on a kid I mentored back in the 1980’s. His real name was Jose. He was incredibly curious and good at skateboarding. He went to college at Notre Dame.
This picture was inspired by a piece of pottery I saw in 1994 in New Mexico on my way back to Texas after visiting my sister in California. The background is an imitation of the glaze on the pot. The Native American Boy is drawn from a model in a Sears catalog, one that was wearing a polyester t-shirt and narrow jeans.
These are all students I taught my very first year as a teacher. Teresa would even get a teaching degree and come back to teach in the same school district as me, though in the elementary school, not the middle school where I taught.
This is a picture inspired by a dream of being alone on a tropical island with a native island girl. Fifteen years after drawing this picture, I married a girl from the Philippines.
Dilsey Murphy is a character based about 85% on the older of my two sisters. The 81 is the number of Minnesota Vikings defensive end Carl Eller. My sister and my father were rooting for the Vikings as I rooted for the Kansas City Chiefs in Superbowl IV after the 1969 NFL season. I am still not allowed to gloat over who won.
This is a portrait of the main villain in the Disney version of Treasure Island. That book is the one that really hooked me on reading novels in the winter of 1966. I read Grandma Aldrich’s copy of the book illustrated by N.C. Wyeth that February while I was sick with the flu.
The background of this picture is my last actual classroom at Naaman Forest High School in Garland, Texas. I used it for this illustration of Mike Murphy and Blueberry Bates in my novel Magical Miss Morgan.
Filed under artwork, autobiography, humor, nostalgia, Paffooney
What Makes a Child Beautiful?
Loving others makes you beautiful.
Filed under artwork, Celebration, humor, illustrations, kids, Paffooney
Catch a Falling Star 