The Human Canvas - Don't Tread On Me

This Human Canvas post is called Don't Tread On Me. Not because of the first drawing shown. We'll get to that in just a bit. But it's kind of a shorty...so I've included this session as well. 

This started with me being at work without my sharpies, finding a red pen, and putting it toward this rose on my arm...trying to pick up on some of the vibrancy it had in '88...slowly fading over 23 years. 

This'n faded in a day...

So it became a butterfly. This was actually only a week or so after doing "The Butterfly Effect" Human Canvas session with Court, so these were kind of fresh on my mind.  

(((And you can link TO The Butterfly Effect...HERE)))

It was also an experiment of sorts...as are all of these. Instead of be-moaning a faded color...Use it as an ADDITIONAL color.

But this ink washes away even quicker than the sharpies.

So...

Back to "Don't Tread on Me". A few weeks after sitting around at work, drawing on my own arm (again), I met up with Alex, for "The Human Canvas - Smaugy in Riverside" (link HERE). This was a fun session, and I thought I'd be done for a while. 

Right?

Well, next night found a buddy and I off to Pappy and Harriet's. Pappy and Harriet's? HERE's another link. Anyway - I ran into someone I had met out there about a year and a half before. We'll call her Shaun. After talking about The Human Canvas (and me doing a quick drawing to show just HOW quick these things can be) she agreed to be a canvas. 

She wanted a very specific image...

She actually wanted it to wrap around the leg...

...but I didn't think it would be as interesting visually.

Besides...she was complaining about the cold enough as it was.

So this was a quickie...

And here it is when it's not laying on a cold bench out back of Pappy and Harriet's. She was happy with the result...

...and was trod upon by no one. 

This, so far, is the favorite of my friend Tom. Not because of ANY level of complexity...but it was the fact that Shaun brought up this image, showed me a version...and then there it was.

I mentioned how glad I was that I had brought my sharpies.

Shaun mentioned how glad she was that she had shaved.

The Human Canvas - Istanbul

                  So...we were planning a trip to Istanbul...

                                   You know...Turkey? 

              Great architecture...great sights, art, and friends...

                                     And what did I do?

              More on this later. We just got back...I'm tired...


                                  ...but I wanted to say hi.

Art Contest - OH-MY-GOD!!!

Wow!


Just when I'd given up on getting any new entries for an ongoing "contest"...

...along comes Roger!


Wow!

Remember this? One morning I saw a beautiful sunrise - while a crescent moon hung on from the night before. This is what inspired...or led...the forecast drawing for that day.

I asked friends on facebook and MySpace to print or download it, color it in or digitally manipulate it somehow, then send it back to me. I received a half-dozen fairly quickly...then there was a bit of a lull.

And by "lull", I mean NOTHING...for over a year. So - I re-launched the contest. And I use the term "contest" rather loosely, as there's no winner per se - only publication. Mitch, who gave me my first entry, pointed out though that there doesn't have to be a winner...a reward. The reward is in DOING the art.

I thank him for that outlook.

And I thank Roger for the latest entry. Again - Wow!

And I thank YOU...for the next. The original, along with the other submissions can be seen with a click HERE, or just go to the tab for CONTEST!!! ONGOING!!! near the top of the page.

Send YOUR version to davidfleming28@g-mail.com.

And THANKS!

The Human Canvas - Smaugy in Riverside

So...

We were visiting Alex and a few other friends in Rivierside recently. 

Okay. NOT so recently. This was a couple of months ago by now. There's kinda been a lot going on. I've got a LOT of talking about Arlo Guthrie coming up. Got to interview him, get it on the air, then see him perform and speak to him in person a few nights later.

Actually quite a few interviews to talk about...Stanley Clarke, John Jorgenson, Jules Day, which also aired recently...

But Alex. Remember Alex? It's a song about Alex. (blatant Alice's Restaurant reference)

The cool thing about this session was that Alex knew I was joining my wife in the visit, knew about the Human Canvas series,  and wanted to be a canvas.

Actually though, she was too shy to ask. (I'll remove this fact if she asks) Everyone had eaten, we were hanging out by the fire pit, and Ricky asked, "Hey Dave, ya have your markers on you?", and pointed to Alex...quietly off to the side.

Boom! Off to the living room!

I'd been working on dragons recently...and castles...and a few shots at Marvin the Martian. These have been practice sessions for another large back-piece in the future.

You know who you are.

In the meantime...

...here be dragons.

I had a request for a unicorn dragon, actually.

So here's another case of getting to a point where I ought to be done...

...right?

But noooooo. I'd done a drawing recently (on paper) that I called "Smaugy on Mars".

So, with red markers in hand, this was my opportunity to do a Human Canvas version.

Really - just providing a landscape...a place for this dragon to be.

But it was Red.

You know...Mars.

And having put my initials on it...

...done!

So, meet Alex.

I've done better dragons than this...on paper, anyway...and would like another session with her.

I won't be too shy to ask.