A Different Green III

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So obviously I had to go beyond my normal sources to get this many different greens. Fortunately, I knew where to go and had many different options available. In the end I think it was something like 15 different kinds of paper: butcher paper, printer paper, construction paper, origami paper, tissue paper, and specialty paper.

The attribution to JRR Tolkien was actually yellow paper but I did the lettering in 2 green marker outlined with green pen and then colored the rest of the paper with a different green marker.

Even though I was just going for strips of green, a lot of people saw a forest in this design. One person even specifically suggested a birch forest.

All 3 of these bulletin boards took about 14 hours.

A Different Green II

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I’m just posting these all at once so they don’t slip my mind again, because I actually finished them Friday and now it’s Monday. So this is part two of the verse.

This panel was in fact the second one I did, and it was fun cutting a million trees and tearing up paper for the river, at first. After a while it got onerous and I had to throw away so many pieces I messed up. I couldn’t help but think of the giant mallorn trees, but this forest was supposed to be about GREEN and in any case what I saw in my mind’s eye was pine.

A Different Green I

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I recently reread Lord of the Rings, which I think is more relevant now than it’s ever been, being a tale of unlikely heroes compelled by honor and duty to do the right thing in the face of certain death. Like every single character knows their enterprise is doomed to fail but they march grimly toward their own putative demise because that’s what you do when evil threatens to overwhelm your world.

But they have some nice moments mixed in with the doom, like Lothlórien, where the grass is festooned with the golden, star shaped elanor flowers and the white, snowdrop niphredil.

Even though this panel is the first of three, I did the image last.. The flowers and letters are cut paper but the stems and leaves are markers. The font is based on Aniron.

The quote is from a poem of Bilbo Baggins sings to Frodo in Fellowship of the Ring, an old hobbit wistful with nostalgia, watching a young hobbit prepare to make a journey beyond any he can imagine.

They Will Know You Are a Lion

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It didn’t quite match the vision in my head but on the whole I’m pretty pleased with this card. The lettering is basically balanced and the cat is pretty cute. I got some very wonderful new art pens and all the fine lines are from that set, and then the thick ones are Sharpies.

Our school mascot is a lion and this card is for the outgoing librarian, who sadly had to leave yesterday. But hopefully she carries the spirit of the lion with her wherever she goes.

It’s a Fish with a Mustache in a Top Hat

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People keep asking me what it is and I’m like, “It’s very obviously a fish with a mustache wearing a top hat.” A fancy koi fish, to be precise. Like how is that not obvious? I feel like, while I may not be the greatest artist in the world, when I make a picture of a fish with a mustache wearing a top hat, it looks exactly like a fish with a mustache wearing a top hat.

It goes with the jackalope and the catterflies. I actually finished it last week but I was so tired I forgot to take a picture of it. He took so much extra time to make because I accidentally put his face on sideways and it was a lot of work to fix it and cover up the mistake.

The sakura blossoms, of course, symbolize the fleeting nature of life, youth, and beauty.

Originally I was going to make 7 of these “part real, part imaginary” banners because there are 7 columns but already there is a giant sun? sunflower? occupying one of them and I think it’s possible I might be asked to create a large Dewey Decimal System poster for another, plus it’s time to change out the bulletin boards and then comes the mad rush to lay out the literary journal and get that to the printer’s so it’s ready for the release party, immediately after which I’m going to Chicago to present my new comic book at the American Literary Association convention.

So, we’ll see. But this fish with a mustache and a top hat is a vision realized. Originally I thought he might also wear a monocle but that would just be silly, right?

Seasonal Coziness Chimineas I

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This is probably the latest winter holiday bulletin board I ever did: Friday is the last day of school and I just got it up yesterday. I’m not thrilled with the fact that the flags are just suspended in space but I needed to be done. I spent a lot of hours on it but I never have enough time.

But this is a very Tucson kind of scene. I love that chiminea on the left and wish it were real and in my back yard.

I noticed the kinders all putting their hands up to the fires like they were trying to warm up. I must add that, even though it was cold when I had this idea, it was 82° when I finished and the kinders were pretending to warm their hands by the fire. That’s Tucson for you.

I’ll post more chimineas tomorrow. The third bulletin board just says “STAY WARM” in big letters. I probably won’t post it at all because it’s not that interesting.

A Bombshell Mousie Birthday Card

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I went to a birthday party for the Coyote’s mom who turned 97! She was a famous beauty (literally) in the 20th century and she also was known for drawing little mousies, so I tried to draw this bombshell mouse in her style. Big hair, little red dress, and a champagne toast

I’m partially satisfied with my success. It was a busy week and I didn’t feel well and it was left to the last minute and I guess I fell asleep before i finished and had to color it in the car on the way to Phoenix. So possibly could have been better. But she loved it. I also gave her a snowflake, one of the best ones I’ve cut since my snowflake workshop.

I gave the rest of the snowflakes to the librarian.

Science Night!

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They asked me if I would participate in Science Night and present an activity that combined science and art, so I’m doing snowflake cutting. I’ve wanted to teach a little class on this for a long time, actually. A lot of kids don’t seem to know about how much fun we had making things with our hands before the internet.

This poster presentation took a ridiculous amount of time, like 8 or 10 hours. It would have taken a quarter of that time and looked much sharper if I made it in Photoshop but it’s more fun making imperfect things with your hands.

I only made a couple real mistakes and I was able to mostly fix them.

Jesus Stands with the Marginalized

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This is a commission and it’s hand lettered so I guess I should put it here. There is some controversy at a local school district and those TPUSA d-bags will be there to scream about how their religion requires them to hurt marginalized people, so of course the Coyote, who is also a one of those radical priests who think Jesus wanted people to feed the hungry and welcome the immigrant and support the marginalized will be there too, wearing his collar and carrying this sign.