Big Doings

In size, if nothing else. The kids' Vacation Bible School needed a couple murals for a backdrop, so I volunteered to pitch in. I wasn't the only one – a bunch of the older kids painted a lot of other murals. It's just that they could use an overhead projector to trace theirs, but I had to make these two up to fit a certain space. That being said, they did an amazing amount of work, very quickly.

This is me at home, working on our newly finished floor. I could only do that without fear because of what I'm painting on. It's some kind of weird plastic wrap/paper napkin hybrid that lets no liquid through at all. I have no idea what this stuff is normally used for, or why it's produced in such large sizes, but it works great for impromptu murals.

Alphabattle!

Check out the alphabattle site – there is a lot of creativity going on there. In particular, the letter H – everyone seemed to pull out the stops on that one. I've been meaning to get into the game, and finally got to pull one together for the letter K, shown here (but also on the K page).

For people interested, you should see the submissions info. You can even put up past letters.

I have an idea in mind for L, which, if executed, will be in a completely different style. Fortunately, I'm not trying to construct a whole alphabet. On the other hand, though, it might be fun to have a whole karate set of letters.

Meanwhile, Back at the Other Lake...

The one without swans (you'll be seeing more of the swans later, though, the closer I get to finishing it). Still making my way through this – I'd like to finish it soon, so I can move on to an animal story for the kids' annual Christmas book.

Wedding Invite: the pencil comp

A friend is getting married in Hong Kong this year, and she asked Serena to do the invitation, and me to do the drawing. She said she wanted swans, so my first take on this was to do them like an Asian brush painting.

When she saw them, she said don't do that. Go full-out fairy-tale style.

For me, that's like saying to your puppy, "No, don't play with the rubber bone. Here, have some steak."

I mean, I love Chinese and Japanese brushwork, it's absolutely amazing. But even more than that, I'm the biggest fairy-tale geek, so I was all over this.

The final will be in full color, so I get to have even more fun.