Monday, August 20, 2012

Potty Humor!

Ever wonder why kids are so fascinated with potty humor?

Me too, and luckily for me, awesome YA Author Sue Quinn let me pontificate on the subject on her blog!  Check it out, click here.

And while you're there, poke around to around to learn more about Sue and her books, the Mindjack series is a lot of fun!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Sand Art- The Reader

Thanks to D.G. Hudson for the inspiration / suggestion.  An open book, indeed...along with a reader absorbed in its pages.

What book its it?  Why, it's Rudy Toot-Toot, by yours truly!  The sand version slightly thicker than the print or Kindle versions

The sculpture is slightly incomplete (about 95%)...a thunderstorm popped up and I had to abandon my efforts in the final details in order to not get hit by lightning.  I guess I'm not the world's most dedicated sand artists, but at least I survived to sculpt again.  It may be a while, since we are leaving first thing in the morning.

Here's a play by play on how I created the reader:

Step 1- Make a rough outline.
Step 2- Make a huge pile of sand.  This took 15 minutes.
Step 3- Add water.  I dumped about 8 buckets full of water on the pile.  The water makes the sand stick together better.
Step 4- Make a rough shape.  Basically, remove sand until I have the shape I want.  It's rare that I add more on to the pile.
Step 4- Front view.  The head is exaggerated, because I will whittle it away.  Start big and refine the sculpture as detail is added.
Step 5- Detail.  I have a paint scraper to make cuts and fine lines.  Making angled cuts at the bottom where the sculpture meets the beach creates shadows, which add depth to the work and keep it from getting washed out in the pictures.
Front view.

Head-on.  This was bigger, so I could put more detail in the face than my mermaid had.
Side view.
Reading over his shoulder- Rudy Toot-Toot by Rick Daley!
Angled view, I like the way the shadows fall on this one.  My son Vic is in the background.
The total effort = 1 hour 15 minutes.  The hardest part was taking the pictures...I couldn't see my phone screen at all in the beach sunlight, so I could only hope a few of them turned out!  Then, I almost wiped them all off my phone, which was giving low data warnings.  Luckily they survived...

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Sand Art- Mermaid Edition

Many pictures of one sculpture today.  This sand mermaid is probably the most intricate sculpture I've attempted to date.  It took about an hour and twenty minutes from start (piling up a bunch of sand) to finish (the cross-hatch lines on her tail and fins).  Now I'm brainstorming for the next sculpture...I think I have one more in me before we head home.  Any suggestions?





Monday, August 13, 2012

Sand Art- 2012 Edition

If you've been following this blog for a while, you know I love to make sand sculptures at the beach.  I'm no professional sand artist, but I know how to have fun with it.  My past works range from Bugs Bunny, the Sphinx, and alligators, to Kris Kringle napping under an evergreen tree and sand swimmers.

So here we are in Hilton Head for our annual vacation, and this is what the tide brought in...

This frog was my first creation...
Then I made a dragonfly for him to snack on...
...while a hungry cobra eyes the Frog!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Breaking News!

This just in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 8, 2012) – Political discourse in the US took a highly anticipated turn and devolved into a childish name-calling contest.

It all started when the Obama camp slammed Mitt Romney, calling him a “Doodyhead.”  The Romney campaign, in retaliation, accused the president of having cooties since the third grade.  Fact-checking sources were not able to confirm or deny the latter accusation, as Obama’s elementary school records are sealed.

“I think Obama should release his grade-school files to prove that the accusation is false,” said Rush Limbaugh.  “Until he does that, we’ll all just have to assume that he has the cooties, and anyone whose hand he shakes on the campaign trail will get them, too.”

David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, condemned the allegations in the strongest possible terms, saying, “It’s f&*%ing bull*&^#.”  He went further to explain the Romney’s mother is so fat that when she sits around the house, she sits around the house.  He ended his statement with, “Neener, neener!”

Sarah Palin, professional Attention Whore, fired back, accusing the president of actually being born with cooties, and again calling for a release of Obama’s birth records.  Harry Reid retaliated, quoting a secret source who confirms that on Romney’s past tax returns, he did in fact list his occupation as “Doodyhead.”

Regardless of the president’s health or the actual size of Romney’s mother, this election is certainly shaping up to be a game-changer in American politics.