The Human Canvas and tiny, TINY arms at the Fall Fest

Fall Fest 2013.

This first annual event was presented 

by the Santa Ana River Trust and the 

Inland Empire Water Keeper.

I've been asked 

how long it takes to do a Human Canvas piece. 

That varies quite a bit, and for this event, I tried to list 

a bunch of Fall or water-themed pieces - ones that I could 

do in 4-6 minutes. The above water droplet ended up 

being one of my favorites from that day, even though 

it was SO simple and quick. Two shades of

 blue - then accented with black. 

That's it.

This leaf was maybe the funniest.

Funniest in that her parents wheeled her up... 

....And said, 

"You can get her quick while she's asleep."

The next is one that 

I truly wanna try on a much larger scale. 

I was calling these "Halloween Trees".  Just a bare 

tree with a moon and sky in the background. And when 

I say larger scale - really - ANYTHING bigger than this. 

I don't think I drew on a single adult at this festival. 

This usually meant tiny, tiny, TINY arms... 

...Which meant this tree ended up being about 2 inches tall. Close to the same in width. Tiny, tiny, TINY arms made 

it a bit more difficult, occasionally giving me a few 

pieces that could've gotten better detail.

Speaking of which, 

there WERE several pieces that 

I would've liked more detail on, though I 

did enjoy the variety of color.

The Sea Turtle was requested several times...

As was the seahorse, the colors used either by request, or picked to match whatever they were wearing, and...

A few other familiar favorites.

There were a couple of Cliffords...

...A few roses...

(a green one was requested)

Some butterflies (always fun, and well received)....

And our old friend, the koi.

Not just the koi, though. We got this little fish...

And one guy asked for this wonderful jellyfish...

And another wanted a chameleon.

I had a photograph of 
some of my puzzle pieces from 
the last couple of autism events, so while not 
fall or water related, I was happy to answer this request. 

And I have to say, 
I was quite happy with how it turned out.
Okay - totally away from the fall/water theme now, 
but how could I NOT fulfill this next request.

She plays a pink trumpet. That's what she wanted.

The next girl want a heart. Plain and simple. But I have problems doing something "just plain and simple." 

So she got this.

The next girl (God bless her) 

wanted something "a bit dark... or gothic maybe."

And the next (back to this time of year) simply 

asked for something to go along with 

her outfit and face-paint.

One more that was fall related, 

the good ol' Jack O'Lantern. Did a few of these as well.

All in all, 

a fun day at another fun festival, 

though I didn't get to SEE any of the rest of it. 

Once I started drawing, it didn't stop for some 4+ hours. 

The organizers of the event even had to move my table (at 

least once) because the line of kids waiting to be next 

was blocking traffic to some of 

the other booths.

COOL!

Got a Christmas (kids) event coming up. 

We'll see if I actually stick with the theme on THAT one.

But the kids had fun.

As did I.

So far so good.

The Human Canvas does PBS!

I should clarify.

Like - when I told a friend 

that I had an A&E show, he said he watches

that channel, and I should let him know when it is.

 

 

The show we were

talking about is KVC-Arts,

aired on KVCR-FM, in San Bernardino, CA.

So when I say "The Human Canvas does PBS,"

I should say that I spent a late morning - early afternoon drawing PBS characters. KVCR is an NPR affiliate

on the FM side, as well as a PBS TV station.

 

We also launched FN/X.

That's First Nations Experience,

a television station with solely indigenous

programming

 

So back to PBS.

Lillian Vasquez, Marketing Coordinator

for KVCR, was the first to serve as a canvas that day.

She asked for a Clifford (the Big Red Dog), and I

was QUITE grateful. It also became my favorite

of the Cliffords done that day.

 

I was a bit nervous

about having to draw exact

representations of things. This gave me a

practice session, and made me realize that Clifford is

close to the easiest thing (in the world of PBS) to

put on someone

 

Curious George, believe it or not,

was one of the more difficult characters to draw.

Just a little bit off, and it ends up being some sort of

cartoony bastardization of JoJo the Dog-Faced Boy.

Pictured below is probably may favorite of the

Georges I drew that day. And there were

quite a few OF them.

 

It's getting to where

I can't draw on people at a festival

without the EMT's getting involved. At least

they're not rescuing people from Sharpie

inhalation or something.

 

What was actually

the EASIEST to draw was Shiny,

one of several siblings from Dinosaur Train.

 

 

It's interesting that this was

the easiest because this has more blends,

and more depth than Clifford, George,

or some of the others.

 

The first version of

Shiny went to Grant Wisegarver, Lillian's son.

His turned out REALLY well, though with his being

the first of those, I was still toying with

the idea of just doing faces

or "busts" of sorts.

 

I kinda wish that I had done

a complete drawing on Grant, like this one below.

This one MAYyyyyyy..... be my favorite.

 

 

Not only in how it turned out,

but in that she had every intention of flying it

proudly at her Senior Homecoming dance that night.

 

That made ME

even MORE proud

to have done such a good one on her.

But again - I soon discovered that Shiny

was possibly the easiest...

 

...And if you do one that's a bit smaller,

it becomes one of the OTHER siblings - Tiny.

 

 

Though truth be told,

they became rather diminutive

because I was drawing on tiny, tiny, arms.

One more (slight) variation on this one.  Make it

a blue blend instead of green, and you have John,

yet another sibling. 

 

 

As mentioned earlier,

there were several more drawings

of Curious George that day.

 

 

Including on some of

the Crafton Hills College faculty and staff.

 

There were quite

a few Cliffords as well,

and only ONE of this guy below, Elmo.

 

 

I tell ya,

Elmo was SO quick and absurdly simple,

I couldn't believe I had done it with such simple lines,

but there he was!

 

 There are of course MANY

PBS characters that are wildly popular,

but might take a BIT longer to draw. All of

these were done because they were quick pieces.

 

 

The only one I took

a lot of time with was on Daniel Tiger here.

It was drawn on Lindsey Wisegarver. Lindsey is 

Grant's sister, Lillian's daughter, and all-around GREAT person to have on hand at a KVCR event.

 

She's also a very willing canvas,

and enjoys the fact that she keeps getting some of the

best work at the festivals we're both at.

 

Above and below,

Lindsey, Lillian, and Grant.

 

This is now the third festival for me to be at,

with three more in the relatively near future. Thanks to EVERYONE involved in such a great event, thanks to Lillian for having me there (and booking even MORE gigs for me), and thanks to Lindsey for letting us BOTH get our fix

for some REALLY cool blends.

 

And thank YOU for being the next canvas.

I'm NOT slowing down!

 

 

The Human Canvas - Rock Autism! 2013

Walk and Rock Autism 2013!

Last year, I had asked if I could go

draw puzzle pieces on people during the event.

This year they asked ME if I'd come back.

I was SO excited to do this again.

 

Everyone last year

got puzzle pieces - the symbol for autism.

This first one you see went to Brandon.

More on this in a bit.

 

 

 

This year,

MOST of the people got puzzle pieces.

I can do a simple puzzle piece, along with a

subtle blend of colors, in about 90 seconds to 2 minutes.

It leans to the 2 minute (or so) point when I start staring

at the pice, trying to figure out what fraction of a

fraction of an inch needs improvement.

 

 

 

Last year,

I found myself (unconciously, at first)

coordinating the colors with whatever they were wearing.

 

 

It was a concious decision this year,

but again, I was still able to play with minor blends.

Enough to where I didn't feel like I was

just doing "flat" drawings.

 

 

 

Even got a couple of EMT's involved!

 

I mean, how could I NOT?

The truck was all decked out. Besides,

they were cool, friendly guys that were there

for a good cause. Just like everyone else.

 

 

 

 

I remember THIS girl

was going to be giving a presentation

on autism in a few days, and was hoping the

piece would last. Actually - we switched positions

so that I could draw on her left arm (she's right-handed) so

she could do some needed touch up

before her presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

The woman above , Juliana,

got one of three nearly identical

pieces which was not color coordinated

with HER outfit (though it DID work well with

her black and pink ensemble). The piece one her,

and then on the gentleman below, were both done as demos

so the boy you see pictured could see that it wasn't

something to worry about.

 

The red (initially) went with HIS shirt.

 

 

This next one went on Brandon.

It was heis idea to have a flaming puzzle piece,

and I was more than happy to oblige. I LOVE drawing

me some flames! SO simple, yet effective!

 

Only thing was, he was gonna be appearing before

some suits a couple days later...

 

 

So this one went on the calf.

Easy to cover.

 

 

Now, ya can't have an

autism related event without

Lillian Vasquez being involved. To top that,

I couldn't have Lillian at an autism event with

drawing on her too. Actually, she was

anxious and waiting.

 

 

She got a blue one,

not to go with her outfit, but to match

Grant's piece (which went with HIS outfit).

 

And if ya have Lillian and (her son) Grant there,

You'll probably have Lindsey there as well. Lindsey is Lillian and Keith's daughter, Grants brother...

 

And is the person representing KVCR at

MANY of our functions these days. She was a

great person to have on hand dealing with questions,

gathering people for more tattoos...

 

 

And she was quite the

anxious canvas herself - getting one of the

NON-puzzle pieces that day.

 

My dear old friend, the koi.

 

 

The rest of the images here

are also of the NOT puzzle piece variety.

This first one went to Rocheal. I was QUITE hesitant to

do a horse (or unicorn - yeah, whatever),

but ended up happy with it.

 

As was Rocheal.

I think if she'd had her druthers,

this piece woulda been continually touched

up so it would NEVER go away.

 

But her parents wouldn't have like that.

 

This piece goes with Karen, from

Queen of Hearts Therapeutic Riding Center.

She simply asked for something going up her arm.

I matched up the logo on her shirt

with her jewelry.

 

We got one rather quick dragon...

 

A few really nice butterflies...

 

...And then going back to the koi on Lindsey...

Giving it more of a tie-in to most of the rest done that day.

 

She was really happy with the koi to begin with...

 

...And was happier still when the puzzle piece

got wrapped around it.

 

Thank you SO much...

Lindsey, Lillian, Rocheal (for getting me over

my fear of drawing horses), and to EVERYONE in

ANY way associated with The Autism Society Inland Empire!

 

It was SUCH a pleasure, and can't WAIT until next year!