I am pleased to announce I will have a booth at Princeton Art Bazaar the first weekend in May. The community event is Saturday, May 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Paul Robeson Place, by the Arts Council of Princeton’s building and the back of the public library. The rain date is Sunday, May 7 (same hours). Entry is free.
About 80 artists, craftsmen, and vendors from the area will have work and goods on display. A humble selection of my artwork and cards, including Pandagrams, will be available. The Arts Council does not allow books at the bazaar, so Racing Pajamas and Cartage will not be offered at this sale, but you can always contact me separately about them any time.
If you are in town, please stop by, say hi, and have a look.
Hmm. Judging by the title, the Art Walks may be done, but wordplay and references to foot travel persist. So be it. I have updates on three projects this month: a long-term one, a medium-term one, and short-term one.
Long-term: Recently I finished illustrations for a Biblical children’s book. It is a retelling of an Old Testament story. After the author and I wrap things up, I will share more.
Medium-term: A few months ago, an illustration project I completed for a client a few years ago fell through. In short, after long absences, the client completely rewrote the story, so the illustrations no longer fit. I have been thinking about how to use them for a book of my own. More on that, too, when things are further along.
I have posted some of the art before, so if you would like to see any, either visit the Illustration gallery (after the Racing Pajamas illustrations) or, for some different images, including in-process work, search for “goats” in the site search bar.
Short-term: A special lady who has has served the organization where I work is retiring from the board. She has served with overflowing love and joy in many capacities over multiple decades. This drawing was part of her send-off and thank-you gifts.
Glad tidings to all! In the spirit of the season and of the now-concluded Art Walks, here are photographs of wreath-inspired floral arrangements I created in a Christmastide past (December 2018).
Have a happy, blessed Christmas, and may much good blossom in the new year.
Once again, Ohno (L), Tackey, & Tsubasa. Why this drawing of Ohno? So you’d get the point.
Given my penchant for puns, it should come as no surprise that today’s theme has been in mind from the beginning of the series. I hope you will find it enjoyable and that you will neither shoo nor shoe me for my insole-lence. This is also the last Art Walk. Perhaps years from now, there will be another run.
Seemingly perpetual note: You will need to click images to enlarge to view a lot of the art properly.
Doggone it!
You might think this blog has gone to the dogs after reading some of these puns, but as promised last time, here are the doggies!
Cavalier (2018): A dashing King Charles spaniel. I think the ears of the tricolors and black-and-tans make them look like members of the French court, appropriate for a mutt-keteer.
Rescue Dog (2017)
Undercover Pup (2015): Not a skillful painting (just a “use up extra paint before it dries” venture), but given today’s theme, I’m not un-comforter-ble sharing it.
From under a downy cover to down under, here’s Digeridog (c. 2015).
Pirates
I’m sure I could transition with a joke about salty dogs or sea dogs, but since this post already carries a boatload of wordplay, I will spar(e) the effort.
Wok the plank: I never finished this cartoon because I didn’t come up with a satisfying set-up and punchline. “See the / cedar plank? Wok it!” may have been the closest, but I wanted the parrot to squawk (sq-wok?): “Rrraaaaah! Wok the plank!”
R: I think U get the I-D-ea.
Two Pair
Apparently paired pears pear-iodically appeared: Apparantly (2009) and panels from the cabinet project (2018).
What’s in a name?
Converse-ation Piece (2006): Tongue-tied? Comment on somebody’s shoes.
Bubblegum Pop (2017): A style of music and a sugary snack.
Ja-puns
Japanese pop culture returns to the Art Walks in full force.
Machu Pichu (2010). To readers not versed in Pokémon, think of Pichu as a baby Pikachu.
Yamapeace (2008): The back of the Yamapi birthday card I drew for a friend. The front is in Art Walk 2. (⼭ is yama.)
The Big O (2008): Oh, no, another Ohno Satoshi joke? Oh, yes. They never get Ohld. The kanji for the “Oh” (大) in “Ohno” (大野) means “big.” The Big O is an anime from the late ‘90s and early 2000s. So there you gO.
We will also travel from the past back to the future present. This next bit, a gift for a friend, is quite involved, so allow me to elaborate (without, I hope, ruinous over-explanation).
Arasheep (2022): Count them for dream!
The chorus of Arashi’s debut song, A · RA · SHI, ends in “for dream” (and sometimes scrumptious five-part harmony). Here are clear scans of the originals. The laminated ones in the photos were resized to fit the sheep better.
Ohno (blue): 大 (Oh) yeah!
Sho (red) has a clock pin on his vest because it’s show time!
Aiba (green): The sound ai can be written with the kanji character for “love,” so there’s a heart (plus the katakana ba, バ.
Nino (yellow): The kanji ⼆ (ni, 2) repeats (sleeves, lapel, shoes). “We are the Knights Who Say Ni[no]!”
Jun (purple): “Diva.” ‘Nuff said. In this case, “no pun intended” means “intentionally no pun.”
Glass container: The Japanese word for “pun” or “bad joke” is dajare (sounds like “the jar A”). It was filled with more jokes.
Thus we come full circle. 楽しかったです。(Tanoshikattadesu. “It’s been fun.”) Thanks for walking with me. All’s well that ends well.
Just don’t count all the sheep to doze off. This is an Art Walk, not a sleepwalk, and a Walk to bring the series out of its long winter hibernation at that.
Are you ready for a subarasheep time? (Memory jog from pun section of Art Walk 1 — subarashii (“soo-bah-rah-shee”) means “wonderful” in Japanese.)
Though it is “shear” folly to prevent me from punning, I won’t blame you for saying “Baaa, humbug” to my baaad jokes.
I made a concerted effort to include art that had not been featured in the blog. To see previously posted pieces, visit the Animal Art gallery. I’ll have to update it to include newer pieces and likely some older ones that have not been uploaded yet.
For the birds
When I was in high school, I once went to an event when the Saint Louis Art Museum partnered with the Saint Louis for life drawing. A zookeeper brought a few relatively small animals to the museum (lawn — note “to” the museum, not “in” the museum) for participants to draw. There were birds of prey and an opossum. I also drew the zookeeper, but I have yet to relocate that sketch.
The above profile sketch became the reference for this painting in 2018.
The owl below is not from the life drawing session. It was the outcome of using up some acrylic paint before it dried.
I have a series of bird paintings on panels that has not been posted yet; they will receive their own post later in the year and be added to the animal gallery.
Here, kitty, kitty
Having had cats most of my life, it’s no surprise I drew them somewhat often (cats in general, not just mine). Here’s one from 6th grade. (No dogs today. They will appear in Art Walk 6.)
Does Cats (the musical) fan art count? No, but I’ll post some anyhow. The “bagpipe” made of candy canes and a football still makes me smile. It was an actual production prop, not just a figment of my imagination. What sweet music. (Readers probably know by now the pun is always intended.)
Here is a compilation of sketches of my cats.
Pandas
There are no Pandagrams in this post, but perhaps you will enjoy some realistic panda sketches (I think from 2014). One sketchbook page later, Pandagrams were born. You can see the precursor to Butterfly at the bottom right.
Other
As mentioned in previous posts, for birthdays, holidays, & such, I often drew cards or gifted my friends drawings of their favorite things. (Not just Japanese boy bands! XD)
One friend particularly loved wolves & dragons, so it was easy to decide what to draw for her. I suppose this could pass as a coyote, but the ears and snout seem rounded or wide enough to distinguish it as a wolf.
The butterfly is fantastical (not a real species). A tidbit appropriate to the reflective nature of the Art Walks is that this was the first serious watercolor painting I did (in high school), “serious” implying that I wasn’t just a kid splashing around with paint at home or primary school art class — or with children’s activity books with 3-5 circles of color on the front or the little dry cakes of paint. Until the day I started this, I had never seen watercolor paint squeezed out of a tube. Now tube watercolors are all I use.
“See ya later, alligator” seems appropriate to send you off today. Here is a crayon and pencil sketch of the required response’s reptile from my Peter Pan-themed door from a house (dormitory) decorating contest in winter 2011 (which I won).
This Art Walk now draws to a close. “Pun intended” is restated as preparation for part six.
