The Human Canvas - NOT Sleepless in Seattle

Seattle. 

Whatcha see below is the closest thing we had to a clear sky. 

So...I did what I was hoping to do.

Yup.

I mean...we DID plenty. The space needle, Pike Place Market, A great bookstore and a couple of great used cd and record shops. Even an evening of great jazz. And...of course...

...another installment in The Human Canvas! 

This was on a new friend, Maya. She and I had talked about a lotus flower. What I ended UP doing...eh? Not so lotus flowery? But...whatever. She liked the drawing I had done on paper a few minutes before, and we went with THAT. A BIT lotus flowery, but really...Continuing this recently begun experiment involving the blending of colors - still, staying with Sharpies.

I tell ya...while rubbing alcohol works best...

An alcohol-based body spray WILL do the trick...

...but it WILL make the room smell funny. Not "funny ha-ha" OR "funny strange", but rather - "funny in the cheap, bought at Walgreen's only minutes before 'cause it was alcohol based and you really didn't KNOW that it would smell like that but you can't bring your rubbing alcohol on the airplane 'cause it's more than the allowed number of ounces and even putting it into a smaller bottle looks suspicious at the security checkpoints thank you 911 but at least they WILL let you by with 30-50 sharpies" kinda way.

I don't know if YOU ever go through that, but I do.

Thankfully, when you get tired of the "essence of Spring rain" or whatEVER the hell they thought they were capturing...

...old marker will do the trick...kinda. 

Here's the funniest part. While I was drawing, she was texting - to her husband:

A: Whatcha doin', love?

B: Getting a tat.

A: Whaaaaaa?

B: A tattoo.

A: I KNOW what a tat is.

(pause, pause...)

A: Really?

A: Are you there?

The conversation went for just a bit. She enjoyed this so much that it was hard to go back in with some definition...

...while she was laughing.

I THOUGHT I was done...until I decided that it looked a bit like a colorful stingray.

So...I dunno...adding a couple of leaves to make it a bit less stingray-ish?

The final shot was something I didn't use for the blog - despite the fact that it was quite nice. She's a bit bashful occasionally and I'm respecting her wishes.

She sent me the below pic to kinda make up for it. She thought it funny. 

I found it hilarious! Almost lost my coffee when I saw it!

Thank you M!

This was the first session of 2012. I think the house-sitter may be next...

...if'n she's still up for it! 

The beginning, and continuation, of these adventures can be found through a couple of tabs near the top of the page; THE HUMAN CANVAS - THE BEGINNING, and THE HUMAN CANVAS II - 2011.

And as always...thank YOU for checking this out! AND for being next! OR for lining up friends to be potential canvases...

OR...

The Human Canvas - The Year in Review

2011...a quick recap. 


The longer version can be found through the tab up above (The Human Canvas II - 2011).

This started just a few days into January. Marci - Puryear, TN

The next three, 10 or 12 days later, Courtney - Redlands, CA

The following two were me, the next couple of days at KVCR, San Bernardino, CA

Alex...A-Rod - Riverside, CA. This may be February or March by now.

Sean, the next night - outside Pappy and Harriets, Pioneertown, CA.

Me. I was giving a talk, and kept glancing at my hand. Waiting...just waiting for someone to say, "what's that, a Sarah Palin reference?"...then I'd show 'em what was actually on my hand.

It worked!

Court - the only one to not be finished. Redlands, CA

Court - a footpath, the next evening.

In Istanbul, in early Spring, Heena, Ha, and Mehmet...

followed by Haida...

...then a wolf on Musa.

back from Turkey, and now it's July in Boulder...Court, a quick lunch, and a quick flashback to the canvas from January. More Butterflies.

Jade, waiting to take the mic - The Vault - Redlands, CA

Priya, just before going out for the evening - Redlands, CA

...and finally, taking us to December 28th, Kelie...IN for the evening...our house...Redlands, CA.

I'm typing this on December 31st. If nothing happens this evening...that's it for 2011! 

If you have a favorite...lemme know - down below. Which one? Why?

Thanks for being a part of this.

More next year.

David

The Human Canvas - NYC Bound!

Just a few days before New Years...December 28th, 2011. Kelie.


I feel honor-bound to mention that, while being titled NYC Bound, the below exercise has nothing whatsoever to do with New York City. Only that my latest canvas was about to fly out to New York, and she wanted to try out some tattoo ideas.

She had thought about a sperm whale, perhaps a buffalo (John Dunbar say tatonka)...maybe a couple of rather humorous pencils... 

...So of course with all that in mind, I went right to work on a half-sleeve of flowers. Really - this was a continuation of the previous experiment...

...where I employed a blending and fading technique...

...but this time - taking it further...still just Sharpie...

starting with some very rough, basic lines...

...which serve as more of a guide-edge...

...as opposed to strict borders.

Then it's a matter of coloring and blending - one by one...

...adding a bit of green for mountains and meadows...

...and some blue for the sky...

...as well as to "cap off" the inked area. Bring it down a bit further...

...and add some black...

...to define...

...and make it "pop".

Thank you Kelie. 

Last year around this time saw a really nice turn for The Human Canvas. I now go toward 2012 with some fresh ideas...

...and a LOT of enthusiasm.

This next pic is from the following morning. Some of it having rubbed off onto her shirt (advance warning having been given), it looks severely lightened.

HOWEVER - I see this as yet another color...shade...tone - SOMETHING different that I can't create with just the sharpies with an alcohol rub. At some point, I will most certainly be taking advantage of this process, giving touch-ups the next morning, while USING faded areas...rather than simply bemoaning degraded color.

Thanks again Kelie. And thank YOU...reading this now...for making time for me to draw on you next.