Amateur Ramblings

Happy 3rd Birthday Olive

Image credit: © Astley Baker Davies Ltd

I Just Need Your Bank Account Number And Sort Code, Madam...

I enjoy Robert Popper's work. Here is some of it (in five easy-to-manage portions):

Awkward Angle

During bath-time tonight, Olive requested bossily that I should draw a picture of mummy, daddy and her. The end of the bath provides the biggest area but at the expense of an awkward angle. Here is the result.

 

Later, Gemma cruelly asked why I had drawn a picture of Daniel Kitson holding a child.

Quick On The Draw

One of the things that my daughter and I like to do together is drawing. I don't know how old children are before they're expected to render something recognisable. At 2 years and three months, Olive can jot a face. I'm sure you'll recognise this waterpen on canvas as being my mum:

She has also recently been obsessed with pears, the fruit. Not only to eat, but to draw, as you can see from this non-brand Magna-Doodle specimin:

 

Finally, bathtime isn't just about getting clean and splashing about. It's also fun to produce epic visions of psychedelic pears in bold waterproof crayon:

 

Proverb

There is a self-service catering toaster in our canteen at work. I have recently noticed that the dial for controlling the degree of toasting features potentially confusing labelling. Instead of there being 'High' and 'Low', 'Hi' and 'Lo', 'Light' and 'Dark' or some other variation of short words, the control dial has silhouette of a hare and of a tortoise.

The dial works by controlling the speed of the conveyor upon which the raw bread is placed, so it seems reasonable to use these fabled animals to indicate the speed setting, and the resulting toasting preference. Doesn't it?

Well, if you think about the story of The Tortoise And The Hare for a moment, then you will realise what is wrong with this choice of illustration. Call me a pedant, but didn't the tale tell of the tortoise winning the race? It must follow that for lightly toasted bread, you should select the tortoise setting.

Friends Got Talent

I am privileged to have lots of creative friends. And even though I link to most of them on the index (over on the right), I thought I'd mention them all within the one post. You can consider it a kind of small Yellow Pages for talent.

Paul (Photography)

John, Chris, Sam, AnneMarie, Justin, Rick (Bands)

Matt, Deb, Dan , Steve (Illustration)

Andrew (Artist, Handyman)

Michelle and Scarlett, Gemma and Olive (Mother and Daughter Blogs)

Sarah J, Dean, Warren (Design)

Sarah G, Tom, Katherine (Blogs - with a touch of craft)

Sorry to anyone I missed.

Fake Science

Back in university, Dean, Andrew and I produced some made-up science posters. Branded 'Science Today', we misinformed about light, sound, and animals.

So I was pleased to see the mantle of our pioneering work being well and truly grasped by Fake Science. Their science is as beautifully wrong as their illustrations are good.

 

Via Geeks Are Sexy.

Photounrealistic

Wow! Ben Heine's Pencil vs Camera set really rocks!

 

Bedtime Reading

Olive really enjoys having books read to her right now. She'll toddle over to me or Gemma, book in hand, and hand it over on the understanding that you'll immediately lift her onto your knee and read her the chosen story.

We have been reading her a book at bedtime for a while. Literally - we've been sticking to one book that she really likes. And that book is I'll See You In The Morning by Mike Jolley, illustrated beautifully by Mique Moriuchi.

The nightly repetition gets Olive in the perfect mood for twelve hours of sleep, and the extra-lovely illustration is a bonus for mum and dad.

I'd love, er, I mean, I'm certain that Olive would totally appreciate Mique's latest, My Village.

Matthew Lyons, Illustrator

Dean recently alerted me to the work of illustrator Matthew Lyons.

 

He's only 21, yet his images are mature and sublime and atmospheric, and I like them a lot.