Author Archives

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Rhyme & Season

The snow and sun in Elsah shine whilst I have art to fill the time.

You may have noticed that literary devices occasionally make appearances in the Captain’s Log. This week’s adventures are brought to you by rhymes. (Two weeks ago, it was alliteration.)

Boats
I started a painting of the M. Moran, a sea-going tugboat. The image is based on (a photocopy of) an old newspaper photograph, or rather, part of a photograph, since the stern of the tug is cut off. (At least I assume it is a colorized photograph; it looks like an old tinted poster or postcard but does not have the same graphic quality. At some point, I’d like look into it and learn about printing press graphics.) At one time, the M. Moran (designed by my great uncle) was one of the most powerful tugboats in the world. It traveled between Korea and the continental United States, stopping only in Hawaii.

Goats
As I practice drawing goats for my latest illustration commission, Do You Have a Pebble in Your Pocket?, a counting book for very young children, I am discovering how much goats, despite being ungulates, resemble dogs in certain respects, not exclusively a penchant for chewing.

Quotes
More accurately, quotation marks, which make regular appearances in the fantasy/science-fiction novel I am editing for an acquaintance. 7 chapters down, 15 to go.

Notes
A divertimento from visual art — music notes. (Not a surprise, given rehearsals and practice, plus playing the Chapel carillon before church & before hymn sing this past Sunday.) Again, when MusicLearningCommunity sends word about the Terry Treble print run, I’ll post information about purchasing Terry books 1 & 2.

Coats
We may soon abandon them — today was a tropical 30-40 degrees! Also, over the next couple of weeks, I intend to upload more art — flora, fauna, and merry weather* — to Draws the Eventide. I’ll include concept sketches from my ongoing projects so you can get a tiny taste of what’s developing (beyond general progress reports).

*Any Sleeping Beauty fans in the audience? Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are the three good fairies in Disney’s take on the classic fairy tale. Merry weather would also eliminate the need for coats.

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Dash it all, there’s an octopus on my paper!

Whatever could an octopus have to do with writing a paper? Read and “sea” for yourself.

As you may know, my official capacity–or rather, my capacious official title–at Principia College is “post-graduate teaching intern in writing, Teaching and Learning Excellence Center,” which in almost layman’s terms is “super-tutor for the erstwhile Writing Center.” Last term, we started a writing blog full of tips, WriteHereWriteNowWriteOn.wordpress.com. All entries are by Principia tutors and/or writing staff, past and present. Yes, you guessed it–this week was my turn.

For your edification and enjoyment, I present not one, but two entries!

An Awk-topodous Approach to Clunky Composition: Eliminating the “awkward sentence” and revising for clarity, with octopus jokes to spare. (Yes, it is okay to have fun writing. I mean that both ways–fun writing and fun while writing.) Perhaps you hear the connection between the octopus and writing: “oc” and “awk” sound the same.

Dash it all! The difference between dashes and hyphens (my debut entry).

Write on!

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Wintry Week One

Just more than a week has passed since I came back to the bluffs at Principia College, and what a week it has been! Things are swiftly scurrying along (squirrels and shivering students as well as writing work & program development) as afternoon temperatures approach Arctic averages.

Arctic alliteration notwithstanding, this wintry Week One bore witness to several art-tic adventures.

  • Terry Treble: After examining the proof copies and consequently editing them more extensively than expected (there’s that alliteration again — I assure you it shan’t abate), Terry Treble Music Adventures Books 1 & 2 are ready for their first official print run. I’ll post details, including how to order them through MusicLearningCommunity.com, once I receive word from MLC that the books are printed and bound. In the meantime, click here for a preview.
  • Centralia Carillon: (More alliteration!) As you may know, I was commissioned by the director of Centralia Carillon to complete a drawing of the bell tower to place on their programs. After comments and clean-up, ’tis complete! Right there’s the thumbnail. (It’s larger in life, about 5″ x 9″.) CentraliaBellTower_frame
  • New projects: (Alas, less alliteration.) Illustrating a counting book for young children featuring a farm boy, goats, and pebbles.
  • Website work: (Additional alliteration!) Modified a few things and set up… *drumroll*

Captain’s Log Subscriptions! Readers can now subscribe to updates via the subscription page or the sidebar. If you subscribe, please check your email for a message from Draws the Eventide — read it and weep confirm. (Kidding about the weeping.) Cue 18th century fanfare.

Also, as articulated in a prior post, I made another paper Olaf. As promised, he dons his “In Summer” hat and carries his cane. If he’s feeling dapper, he can hang his cane on his arm. (It’s not glued.) My brother is very pleased with his happy snowman, but perhaps not the room traffic he now gets — clusters of Frozen fans knocking on his door and exclaiming. But it’s worth it.

PaperOlaf2A

PaperOlaf2B

Big post. Bigger smiles.

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Swing into Spring with Snow-laf

It’s still wintertime, but spring semester begins again at Principia College! That means back to tutoring, evaluating, and all that other writing support, not to mention all the music, art, and story-building I fit in the rest of the day!

That also means the captain’s log will again update semi-regularly.

So, to swing into snowy spring term, I commenced another craft. Specifically, after spending nearly a week at Disney World (a great place to take a sketchbook, by the way) and hearing my brother sing “Do you want to build a snowman?” and other lines from Disney’s Frozen nigh incessantly, I asked him if he would like me to make him an Olaf to hang in his dormitory room.

Here he is. Made yesterday in the USA. It’s amazing how much lighting can affect a photograph.

PaperOlafA PaperOlafB

It can even make noses like little baby unicorns’.

PaperOlafC

And back to big again.

PaperOlafD

In fact, Olaf came out so well that I decided I would make another with the hat he wears when dancing in “In Summer” — that one will go on my brother’s dorm door, and this happy snowman will go in my office so more people can see him.

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Christmas Swing

Now that Christmas break’s in full swing, it’s time to give you readers a ring! (Lest I mislead, this post has nothing to do with holiday jazz, telephones, or bells — although I did play Christmas music on the carillon a week ago.)

Work for the term (writing internship, that is — storybuilding is never done) finished last week, which means instead of squeezing story time between meetings, teaching, and rehearsals, I have to squeeze it between Christmas activities, housework, and moving the cats off the drawing board.

And there are developments! Here’s a smattering:

  • Terry Treble Music Adventures: Books I & II are in the printing queue!
  • Post-November novel “Goodness, there’s a long way to go” revision/keep writing/overhaul process has begun
  • Operation: Opera continues — and hopefully will produce a tighter version of The Antiquary
  • Preliminary work on commissioned art for Centralia Carillon

And so many more things to explore! Who knows? Maybe I’ll wade into the realm of creative non-fiction and write a collection of this Christmas season’s “everyday adventures.” Life is an adventure, after all; we just have to remember it as such.