Brain Ticklers

RuffBook Giveaway

2007-11-21T18:06:00.000-08:00

The Thinking Blog is holding a free laptop giveaway and to participate, you just have to write about it!

Sponsored by Ruff PC, it is a brand new, rugged, water resistant laptop called RuffBook Tech with magnesium alloy casing built to survive under harsh conditions where ordinary laptops fail.

It looks like it will even survive a horseback trip up into the Cascades.

So, this is my entry - now give me the laptop!

Sketch-a-Day One-on-One

2007-06-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

Another interrupted drawing...

Sketch-a-Day Dream House

2007-06-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

Sketch-aDay School Play

2007-05-31T06:43:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Tressle

2007-05-30T06:42:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Waverunner

2007-05-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

Bored at Chuck-E-Cheese's.

Sketch-a-Day Signs of the Times - IF

2007-05-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

My entry for this weeks Illustration Friday theme - signs.

Sketch-a-Day My Desktop

2007-05-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Flipper

2007-05-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Driftwood II

2007-05-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Citrus for Illustration Friday

2007-05-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

Buddha Hand fruit.

Sketch-a-Day Lonely Old Horse Trailer

2007-05-12T19:30:00.001-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Sketchus Interuptus

2007-05-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

Spent most of today in waiting rooms. Every time I would get started on a sketch, I would be called and have to move to another room.

Sketch-a-Day Waterfall

2007-05-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Spring Cleaning

2007-05-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day My Pencil Block

2007-05-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

I had to have something to keep the sticks in some kind of order.

Sketch-a-Day Neighbor - IF

2007-05-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

My entry for this week's Illustration Friday.

Sketch-a-Day Cliffs

2007-05-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

A special occasion, I filled the sketch book with this drawing.

Sketch-a-Day Driftwood

2007-05-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Immunity

2007-05-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Mobeus Strip

2007-05-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

A drozen tries and this was the best (worst?) I could do...

Sketch-a-Day Remember for IF

2007-04-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

My entry for this week's Illustration Friday theme.

Sketch-a-Day Negative Spaces

2007-04-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

An exercise based on drawing the negative spaces first.

Sketch-a-Day Shading Exercies

2007-04-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Kevin's Place

2007-04-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

An idea from a joke at work.

Sketch-a-Day Remote

2007-04-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

Really not very happy with this one, just too tired to put more effort into it.

Sketch-a-Day Custard Cup

2007-04-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Book

2007-04-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Landscape

2007-04-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Cowboy Coffee

2007-04-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Pencil Sharpeners

2007-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day No Drawing Today

2007-04-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

All my free time was consumed doing a resume for my son-in-law.

Sketch-a-Day Broken Vent Pipe

2007-04-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

This generated an evacuation of our house, a fire truck, an ambulance and a rescue truck. Seems there was carbon monoxide escaping into the house around the water heater.

Sketch-a-Day Samba

2007-04-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Cup and Bowl

2007-04-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Expression Doodles

2007-04-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day An Idea for a Rocket

2007-04-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Just an idea for a rocket based on the British Bloodhound.

Sketch-a-Day Fortune for IF

2007-04-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

My entry for Illustration Friday theme "Fortune".

Sketch-a-Day The Collection

2007-04-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Cruising

2007-04-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Holy Roller

2007-04-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Waltz

2007-04-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Bolo Base

2007-04-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

I love reading Kieth Lamaur's Bolo series.

Sketch-a-Day Free Association

2007-04-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Green (IF)

2007-04-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

For the Illustration Friday theme "Green".

Sketch-a-Day Survivor Tribal Council

2007-04-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Sleeping Snap Dragon

2007-04-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

This was done for Illustration Friday. My computer got hit by a virus and I didn't get to post it in time.

Sketch-a-Day Pushing the Limit

2007-04-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Motor Home

2007-04-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Tango

2007-04-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Light and Shadow

2007-04-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

From Light and Shadow in Drawing from Barron's.

Sketch-a-Day Birangle

2007-03-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Cross Stitch Work in Progress

2007-03-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Stuck in an Elevator

2007-03-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

I was stuck for a while and drew this while waiting to be freed.

Review - Sketching with a Pencil by John Hamilton

2007-03-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

I am far from becoming an accomplished artist. With this in mind, I have been aquiring several beginners books on drawing and painting.

"Sketching with a Pencil for those who are just beginning" by John Hamilton is one of the better ones I have found so far.

The book starts off by stating something I have found to be true of the "beginners" books I have looked at, "..with few exceptions I find that for the complete beginner they are confusing."

The author goes on to say "...so many people seem to give up drawing almost before the have begun. This isuually because the choos a subject which is too difficult, and not suurpirsinly, they are disheartened by the result." This is the basis on which the rest of the book is written around.

The list of equipment is suprisingly short; a sketch book, 4 pencils, an eraser, a ruler, a wooden match box cover and a pencil sharpener. He recommends a good, portable stool for outside sketching.

The rest of the book is devoted to tips on composition, perspective, shading and subjects for the sketches. There are lots of samples of the authors works, showing both good and bad results for the subject being examined. And lots of encouragement to enjoy drawing.

The book is relatively short and an easy read. I am hardly the person to make a recommendation on an art how-to book, but I enjoyed reading it and am using it a source for my practice sketches almost daily.

Sketch-a-Day Strawberry Basket

2007-03-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Perspective Practice

2007-03-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a drawing like this in a long, long time.

Sketch-a-Day Doodling with Mikki

2007-03-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

Mikki and I are drawing together every so often. These are the drawings I did. I will post her drawings as soon as she gets them all together for me to scan.

Sketch-a-Day I spy... IF

2007-03-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

My entry for the Illustration Friday theme "I spy...".

Sketch-a-Day Fall Harvest

2007-03-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

An exercise from Jon Gnagy's "Learn to Draw".

Molding Oldie

2007-03-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

Another old sketch surfaced last night.

Budding New Artist

2007-03-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

These are drawings done by my 10 year old granddaughter, Mikki:

Sketch-a-Day Steam Powered Robot

2007-03-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Chicken Scratches

2007-03-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

Not much creativity left today, all burned up elsewhere.

Sketch-a-Day Total Annihilation - IF

2007-03-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

Sketch-a-Day Missed Again

2007-03-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

Just not enough hours in this day...

Sketch-a-Day IF Rough Sketches - Total

2007-03-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

This is the first one:

and here is the second attempt:

Doing these two helped me solidify the idea and will lead to the final drawing.

Sketch-a-Day Drawing Exercise Phase 1

2007-03-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

An exercise from an old book. I didn't have time to finish it tonight.

Sketch-a-Day Canby Tack Sale

2007-03-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

A very rough sketch of the scene at the Canby, OR, Tack Sale (a biannual event).

Sketch-a-Day Walnut

2007-03-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

From a drawing exercise in Gene Franks's "Pencil Drawing".

Graphic Design Hero Tells Off CraigsList

2007-03-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Josh Farcas for posting this on his web site, Refreshing Content.

I have no aspirations to become a paid artist, I draw just to draw. But there are a few people I care about who could benefit from this advise. So here it is, take it or leave it as you will.

Graphic Design Hero Tells Off CraigsList

Every day, there are more and more Craigs List posts seeking “artists” for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate logo designs. More people are finding themselves in need of some form of illustrative service.

But what they’re NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.

To those who are “seeking artists”, let me ask you; How many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the services you need? A dozen? Five? One? …none?

More than likely, you don’t know any. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be posting on craigslist to find them.

And this is not really a surprise.

In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as there are professional illustrators. There are eleven times as many certified mechanics. There are SEVENTY times as many people in the IT field.

So, given that they are less rare, and therefore less in demand, would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free? Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others as you drive down the street?

Would you offer a neurosurgeon the “opportunity” to add your name to his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor? (Maybe you could offer him “a few bucks” for “materials”. What a deal!)

Would you be able to seriously even CONSIDER offering your web hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing your website, as their payment for hosting you?

If you answered “yes” to ANY of the above, you’re obviously insane. If you answered “no”, then kudos to you for living in the real world.

But then tell me… why would you think it is okay to live out the same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy when seeking someone whose abilities are even less in supply than these folks?

Graphic artists, illustrators, painters, etc., are skilled tradesmen. As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything less than professionals fully deserving of your respect is both insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person. In short, it makes you look like a twit.

A few things you need to know;

1. It is not a “great opportunity” for an artist to have his work seen on your car/’zine/website/bedroom wall, etc. It IS a “great opportunity” for YOU to have their work there.

2. It is not clever to seek a “student” or “beginner” in an attempt to get work for free. It’s ignorant and insulting. They may be “students”, but that does not mean they don’t deserve to be paid for their hard work. You were a “student” once, too. Would you have taken that job at McDonalds with no pay, because you were learning essential job skills for the real world? Yes, your proposition it JUST as stupid.

3. The chance to have their name on something that is going to be seen by other people, whether it’s one or one million, is NOT a valid enticement. Neither is the right to add that work to their “portfolio”. They get to do those things ANYWAY, after being paid as they should. It’s not compensation. It’s their right, and it’s a given.

4. Stop thinking that you’re giving them some great chance to work. Once they skip over your silly ad, as they should, the next ad is usually for someone who lives in the real world, and as such, will pay them. There are far more jobs needing these skills than there are people who possess these skills.

5. Students DO need “experience”. But they do NOT need to get it by giving their work away. In fact, this does not even offer them the experience they need. Anyone who will not/can not pay them is obviously the type of person or business they should be ashamed to have on their resume anyway. Do you think professional contractors list the “experience” they got while nailing down a loose step at their grandmother’s house when they were seventeen?

If you your company or gig was worth listing as desired experience, it would be able to pay for the services it received. The only experience they will get doing free work for you is a lesson learned in what kinds of scrubs they should not lower themselves to deal with.

6. (This one is FOR the artists out there, please pay attention.) Some will ask you to “submit work for consideration”. They may even be posing as some sort of “contest”. These are almost always scams. They will take the work submitted by many artists seeking to win the “contest”, or be “chosen” for the gig, and find what they like most. They will then usually have someone who works for them, or someone who works incredibly cheap because they have no originality or talent of their own, reproduce that same work, or even just make slight modifications to it, and claim it as their own. You will NOT be paid, you will NOT win the contest. The only people who win, here, are the underhanded folks who run these ads. This is speculative, or “spec”, work. It’s risky at best, and a complete scam at worst. I urge you to avoid it, completely. For more information on this subject, please visit www.no-spec.com.

So to artists/designers/illustrators looking for work, do everyone a favor, ESPECIALLY yourselves, and avoid people who do not intend to pay you. Whether they are “spec” gigs, or just some guy who wants a free mural on his living room walls. They need you. You do NOT need them.

And for those who are looking for someone to do work for free… please wake up and join the real world. The only thing you’re accomplishing is to insult those with the skills you need. Get a clue.

Advice to Young Men from an Old Man

1. Don’t pick on the weak. It’s immoral. Don’t antagonize the strong without cause, its stupid.

2. Don’t hate women. It’s a waste of time

3. Invest in yourself. Material things come to those that have self actualized.

4. Get in a fistfight, even if you are going to lose.

5. As a former Marine, take it from me. Don’t join the military, unless you want to risk getting your balls blown off to secure other people’s economic or political interests.

6. If something has a direct benefit to an individual or a class of people, and a theoretical, abstract, or amorphous benefit to everybody else, realize that the proponent’s intentions are to benefit the former, not the latter, no matter what bullshit they try to feed you.

7. Don’t be a Republican. They are self-dealing crooks with no sense of honor or patriotism to their fellow citizens. If you must be a Republican, don’t be a “conservative.” They are whining, bitching, complaining, simple-minded self-righteous idiots who think they’re perpetual victims. Listen to talk radio for a while, you’ll see what I mean.

8. Don’t take proffered advice without a critical analysis. 90% of all advice is intended to benefit the proponent, not the recipient. Actually, the number is probably closer to 97%, but I don’t want to come off as cynical.

9. You’ll spend your entire life listening to people tell you how much you owe them. You don’t owe the vast majority of people shit.

10. Don’t undermine your fellow young men. Mentor the young men that come after you. Society recognizes that you have the potential to be the most power force in society. It scares them. Society does not find young men sympathetic. They are afraid of you, both individually and collectively. Law enforcement’s primary purpose is to suppress you.

11. As a young man, you’re on your own. Society divides and conquers. Unlike women who have advocates looking out for them (NOW, Women’s Study Departments, government, non-profit organizations, political advocacy groups) almost no one is looking out for you.

12. Young men provide the genius and muscle by which our society thrives. Look at the Silicone Valley. By in large, it was not old men or women that created the revolution we live. Realize that society steals your contributions, secures it with our intellectual property laws, and then takes credit and the rewards where none is due.

13. Know that few people have your best interests at heart. Your mother does. Your father probably does (if he stuck around). Your siblings are on your side. Everybody else worries about themselves.

14. Don’t be afraid to tell people to “Fuck off” when need be. It is an important skill to acquire. As they say, speak your piece, even if your voice shakes.

15. Acquire empathy, good interpersonal skills, and confidence. Learn to read body language and non-verbal communication. Don’t just concentrate on your vocational or technical skills, or you’ll find your wife fucking somebody else.

16. Keep fit.

17. Don’t speak ill of your wife/girlfriend. Back her up against the world, even if she’s wrong. She should know that you have her back. When she needs your help, give it. She should know that you’ll take her part.

18. Don’t cheat on your wife/girlfriend. If you must cheat, don’t humiliate her. Don’t risk having your transgressions come back to her or her friends. Don’t do it where you live. Don’t do it with people in your social circle. Don’t shit in your own back yard.

19. If your girlfriend doesn’t make you feel good about yourself and bring joy to your life, fire her. That’s what girlfriends are for.

20. Don’t bother with “emotional affairs.” They are just a vehicle for women to flirt and have someone make them feel good about themselves. That’s the part of a relationship they want. For you it is a lot of work and investment in time. If they are having an emotional affair with you, they’re probably fucking someone else.

21. Becoming a woman’s friend and confidant is not going to get you into an intimate relationship. If you haven’t gotten the girl within a reasonably short period of time, chances are you won’t ever get her. She’ll end up confiding to you about the sexual adventures she’s having with someone else.

22. Have and nurture friendships with women.

23. Realize that love is a numbers game. Guys fall in love easily. You’re going to see some girl and feel like you’ll die if you don’t get her. If she rejects you, move on to the next one. It’s her loss.

24. Don’t be an internet troll. Got out and live life. There is not a cadre of beautiful women advertising on Craigslist to have NSA sex with you. Beautiful women don’t need to advertise. The websites that advertise with attractive women’s photos and claims of loneliness are baloney. All they want is your money and your personal information so that they can market to you. The posts on Craigslist by young “women” seeking NSA sex, and asking for a picture are just a bunch of gay troll pic collectors. This is especially true if the post uses common gay lexicon like “hole” as in “fuck my hole” or seeks “masculine” men, or uses the word cock (except in the context of “Don’t send a cock shot.”) There are women on Craigslist. They are easily recognizable by their 2-5 paragraph postings. Most are in their 30's or older.

25. When you become a man in full, know that people will get in your way. People who are attracted to you will somehow manage to step in your path. Gay guys will give you “the look.” Old people will somehow stumble in front of you at the worst time. Don’t get frustrated. Just step aside and go about your business. Know that these are passive aggressive methods to get you to acknowledge their existence.

26. Don’t gay bash. Don’t mentally or physically abuse people because of who they are, or how they present themselves. It’s none of your business to try to intimidate people into conformity.

27. If your gay, admit it to yourself, your parents, your friends and society at large. Be prepared to get harassed. See rule 14. If someone threatens you or assaults you, call the cops. Have them arrested. You have no obligation to self sacrifice because of who you are. As a gay person, you’ll have more social freedom than straight men. Use it to protect yourself. Be prepared to get out of Dodge if your orientation makes your life unbearable. Move to San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, or New Orleans. You’ll find a welcoming community there.

28. Don’t be a poser. Avoid being one of those dudes who puts a surfboard on top of their car, but never surfs, or a dude with a powder coated fixed gear bike and a messenger bag, but was never a messenger. Live the life. Earn your bona fides.

29. Don’t believe the crap about the patriarchy. More women are accepted and attend college. More degrees are awarded to women than men. Women outlive men. More men commit suicide. Men are twice as likely to be victims of violence, including murder. If you consider sexual assaults in prisons, twice as many men are raped as women (society thinks prison rape is funny). The streets are littered with homeless men, sprinkled with a few homeless women. Statically, women are happier than men. The myth that girls are being cheated by are educational system is belied by the fact that schools are bastions of femininity, mostly run by and taught by women. Girls outperform boys in school. It is the boys in school getting fucked over, and prescribed ritalin for being boys. Real wages for men are falling, while real wages for women are rising. Just because someone says something enough times, doesn’t make it true. You have nothing to feel guilty about.

30. Remember, 97% of all advice is worthless. Take what you can use, and trash the rest.

Sketch-a-Day Coffee Bar and some oldies

2007-03-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is little drive-through expresso bar I saw today:

These two were done a couple of years ago at an OROC launch near Brothers, OR.:

I had forgotten I had even drawn anything that year.

Sketch-a-Day Thoughts on a new web layout

2007-03-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

I have been kicking around some ideas for a new web layout and this is one I put on paper:

Sketch-a-Day Bad Start

2007-03-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

This one just didn't come together.

Sketch-a-day Negative Spaces

2007-03-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

An exercise in "Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain".

Sketch-a-day IF Wired

2007-03-11T21:12:00.001-07:00

This my entry for Illustration Friday theme "Wired".

Sketch-a-day Working on a multi-day effort.

2007-03-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

I spent today working on my entry for the Illustration Friday theme "Wired".

Sketch-a-Day Wired - phase 1

2007-03-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

The biggings of the drawing for this week's Illustration Friday theme - wired.

Sketch-a-Day Tree

2007-03-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

Sketch-a-Day Hand Held

2007-03-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Just too tired and late in the day for more than a half-hearted attempt.

Sketch-a-Day Sleeping Dog

2007-03-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Sketch-a-Day IF Hide

2007-03-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

When I saw the topic for this week on Illustration Friday, Rolf Harris' song, Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, immediately came to mind. This is the result...