Illustration Friday -- Skyline

This week, I thought I would try the oil paints in ArtRage 2.

I originally started my Illustration Friday topic with a NYC skyline that included the World Trade Center towers. I was excited about doing this classic skyline at first since Cathie and I are going there at the end of this month. Then I got depressed about doing that particular scene and decided that I wanted to do something a bit more cheerful.

I'm not sure if it necessarily cheerful, but in the end, I chose a skyline from Beach 6 at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. The cheerful part came because Cathie, the boys, and I were there over Memorial Day weekend and I remembered this was how the skyline looks. We had a blast and everyone was happy playing in the COLD water and sand.

Growing up in Erie, I remember going there when I was a kid and there were no stone monuments blocking the view of the boats that were out in the lake. I even remember on a clear day you could see Canada.

I guess you could say, "Skylines are like life. You never know when and how much they will change."

Fireworks at Baker Park

Since we had great weather for the Fourth here (the rains hit south of us -- Sorry DC), Cathie and I walked to Baker Park with the boys to see the fireworks. We were not sure exactly how the two of them, especially James, would react to the loud booms, but they were both great. The boys actually loved the fireworks so much that, without prompt, we heard a lot of "oooo's" and "ahhh's" from them.

If you go here, you can see some of the pictures I took of the fireworks. The pictures of the crowds did not turn out as well as I would have hoped, but there were probably a thousand people in and around the park that night.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday.

Happy 4th of July

Hope everyone has some fun plans today. We are taking the kids to Baker Park for some fun. We will be spending most of our time in the Kids Tent making PB&J sandwiches, controlling remote control cars, and playing in the air tents. We will probably also sample some of the great vendor foods they have and maybe even get to enjoy some of the bands that are playing.

If for some reason, you are looking for something cool to do on the Internet, check out this site. ZoomQuilt is a collaborative art project. It has a slight MC Escher look and feel to it. The main website has a HTML version and screensaver in addition to the Flash version linked above.



Have fun! Enjoy! And be safe on this holiday!

Doodles of the Day -- 07.02.2006

For someone who said they would probably not be posting much due to projects, work, and school, I seem to have posted a lot lately. :)

Anyway, I had some opportunities to play with my Wacom tablet and ArtRage today.

"Chalkboard Doodles" was created using a chalkboard canvas and chalk as the medium.


"Fruit Doodles" was created using the Oil Paints tool on a basic canvas.

Art of a Different Kind

When I took the dogs out to do their business the other night, I had an interesting surprise at the doorway of their kennel. A spider had spun a web across the opening. Luckily, it was high enough that the dogs did not disturb it when they entered it and I could sneak under it in order to get this picture.

I really like spiders particularly because of their webs. Most of it is due to the fact that I am fascinated by fractals, especially those found in nature.

Illustration Friday -- Sticky

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this week's Illustration Friday theme was a pancake with some nice sticky maple syrup.


My second attempt at 'Sticky' is a person eating glue. I would say that this would leave him in a pretty "sticky" situation. :-)