Cute Animal Alert: Piggy Outtakes!

We've been going back and forth on several ideas for Christmas cards lately. We've settled on our idea and will be getting the cards printed next week, when money permits us to. Here are some outtakes from the other day.

This one is my favorite. This is Jasper, who is behaving surprisingly well, for now...



Here, Max is watching from the sidelines. He cooperated extremely well. Normally he'd plop down right in the middle of things. But, he is scared of my lights, so he will usually hide when I bring them out. Here, he is laying right next to one of them, watching the piggies for their mini photo shoot.



In this photo, Max is now on the other side, keeping an eye on Blondie. Even though he looks like he's going to trample the set, he stayed there. I like Blondie's help me! look. I like this picture too.



The last photo I'm going to share is Blondie escaping. You can see Jasper in the background munching on some lettuce. You can see Blondie knows he's breaking the rules by the look in his eye, but by this point, I was pretty confident I had something usable, so we let him wander about.



That's all, I hope you enjoy =)

Where The Wild Things Are

Everyone dabbles...

I like children's books. I may not have the affinity for them that a certain other person does, but, to be honest, I've always loved them. I may not read them every day, or think about them all that much, but I like them. I cannot imagine writing (or illustrating) one myself. They are incredibly simple at face value but beyond the simplicity of the words and rhymes directed at children are messages far more profound. I don't know if this is for the parents or if these deeper messages are meant to sink in for the children who are merely given these books for their educational purpose (what kid learns with War And Peace, right?). I suspect that children know what they're reading; perhaps children aren't given enough credit.

Max (Click to see larger)

I drew this first picture the other day. For some reason I decided to draw Max from Where The Wild Things Are. I don't know why. Maybe because Max is troublesome, or a rebel, or because of a certain cat, but it is likely because my brain meanders constantly and at that precise moment it thought Where The Wild Things Are.

I don't have a deep connection with this book. I like it (also, the movie is good). I don't recall reading it all the time or anything. I do remember it though. I like that it's not your typical children's book; it's darker than many are. But the story is relateable, is it not?

Monster #1 (Click to view larger)

Next, I decided to draw the rest of the characters. I figured, while I am at it, I may as well do the rest of the characters. Truth be told, I haven't started one of the characters yet (the girl with the long, straight hair). But I started with who I can only assume is the leader of the monsters Max finds. I like the way he looks. My drawing actually turned out fairly well. I have since drawn a new one with colored pencils, which looks pretty decent but I don't have a photo of it yet.

Goat Monster? (Click to view larger)

As I made my way through the cast, I next arrived at this goat like fellow. He seems angry, but I don't know why. Maybe he wants to be in charge sometimes, maybe he is tired of having to take orders from the other monsters. Maybe he reflects Max's struggles with his mother, which subsequently get resolved in the end. I don't know, but he is angry and he really shouldn't be. Sure, he's kind of alone. He only has three other monsters on the island to keep him company; perhaps he needs more. Some people do, after all, need more companionship than that. Maybe he needs to be surrounded by creatures to be comfortable. Then again, maybe three is the perfect number and once Max showed up, his entire foundation crumbled; not to mention Max immediately becomes their king, so maybe the monster has a lack of trust there.

Bird Monster (Click to view larger)

Next in line is the bird. I was looking forward to the bird, to be honest, but it proved to be somewhat of a pain. I found it difficult to find a good source image so I could see what the bird actually looks like. All in all, I am fairly happy. He is not perfect, but then again who or what is? The fur and stuff isn't bad. Oh well, I'm pleased.

King of the Wild Things (Click to enlarge)

For some reason I ended up painting Max. It's loosely based on the drawing from the first card. This is an 8x10 canvas board. Krissy likes it a lot, but she likes everything. I like it. As a whole, I'm happy with the painting but there are definitely parts I feel could be improved if I knew how to paint, but I'm kind of a perfectionist, so if I knew how to paint I can only imagine how I'd tear it apart. I didn't add the bush's shadows until the end, and I feel like it brought the painting up a level. It's kind of neat how small things can have such an impact sometimes.