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!

The Human Canvas - Ink!

"Ink"

Well... sumi, the kanji FOR ink.

Or at least - a close approximation, anyway.

There's a proper brush stroke involved, 

which I'm SURE I didn't follow.

This session involves 

my friend John, and it's meant 

to recreate - in a way - what happened when 

I got MY first tattoo.

 

When I left home,

off to the Navy, my arm was bare. 

An empty canvas - though I hadn't started 

using that term yet.

When I came home on leave, 

after getting a small clown head on my shoulder, 

I kept my shirt on for like - ALL the time. Well, all 

the time I was around Mom, anyway. At some point, 

maybe 9 or 10 days into my stay at home, 

I ran out to answer the phone...

 

More to the point, 

I ran out to answer the phone without a shirt on.

While I was talking to whoever it was, 

Mom starts pointing 

at my shoulder.

 

"IS THAT REAL???"

 

"Um, hey Susan... I'm gonna have to call you back."

She said - pointedly, 

"GO... SHOW YOUR GRANDFATHER!"

He saw it - and laughed. 

"Heh-heh-heh. A clown. Heh-heh-heh."

Every so often I'd come home with another. 

And that's all they'd ask. 

"Is that another?"

 

Back to this session with John.

In all honesty, I DID do this at work.

I was keeping an eye on the clock, but

I was told that one of my on-air announcements

would be covered (THANK YOU MATT GUILHEM!)

so I could concentrate on the drawing.

 

Despite the (apparent) detail

and wonderful blends on the fish, this

went RATHER quickly. The colors used to

create the fish were simply a red - pulled out

and (subsequently) blended with a yellow.

PLAIN and SIMPLE.

Really.

 

It's the same blend as my newly found love for making

little Sharpie flames.

 

Some detail with an ultra-fine...

 

...As well as the fatter fine-line.

 

And I now enjoy extending the fins

with a series of dots. This adds another color,

as well as some nice detail that takes only

an additional 15 seconds or so.

This next pic (thank you Mike Munoz) shows

all the colors used

on this piece.

 

 

What? Only three?

 

That includes a rendering of

the symbol FOR ink. I thought it'd be clever

to ink someone with... ink.

 

 

That SHOULD have been my stopping point,

but I wanted to add a sense of water, though really

just trying to extend the piece slightly below the

length of a short sleeve, so his Mom could

"accidentally" see it.

 

I mean - this was the point of it all.

Have his Mom get a glimpse...

And react.

 

Then only to powder it down,

giving it a bit more of an "in the skin" look.

It's subtle, but there IS a difference.

 

And mission accomplished.

His Mom reacted... I mean... she RE-ACT-ED!

Perhaps even more. He had a hard time getting her

to "accidentally" notice. When she DID though...

 

BOY! 

 

He grabbed a gameboy (or some similar device)

which, to begin with, she didn't like him being on.

Add to this - when he reached FOR the device,

his sleeve rode up. Just a bit.

Enough though.

 

 

Her face started "...twisting with rage..."

 "contorting with anger." She could BARELY even

speak.  John and his brother (who was in on the joke)

by this time were laughing SO hard that they just HAD

to spill the beans. John said, "...Um, before I got

kicked outta the house."

 

MIS-SION AC-COMP-LISHED!

 

Thanks John for the canvas.

Thanks to Mike for snapping the shots,

and thanks to Matt for covering my on-air

responsibilities for a minute so I could

draw on someone.

 

BOY has this place changed!

 

Thanks to all involved in that as well.