PHOENIX

As the Phoenix bird rose from the flames, it had the horrible feeling that this time something had gone wrong...

a fun read!

Hey... I read a book! "The Ride of Our Lives" by Mike Leonard. Mike does fun little feature stories for the Today Show. He loaded his family and parents into two RVs and took them on a trip around the country ending up in Chicago for the birth of the first great grandchild for his mom and dad. There are adventures along the way. This is your average American family getting along on a road trip. It will make you laugh out loud... it may make you cry. You might just learn something about pursuing your dream. It is a very easy book to read... it just zips right along.

Included in the book is a DVD which has the segments that aired on the Today Show and more behind the scenes footage. The whole family seems to be comfortable with video cameras.

For a good time... read this book!

PEACE

...and grilled cheese toward men

Guess what? One week after I complained about people using old images for Illo Friday, I am doing it myself! Yep, I dusted off this old Christmas card from a few years ago and am posting it. HA! See... I am just like you guys! Anyhoo... this is the only way to post this week and wish everyone a happy new year!

Peace to all.

HELP

Santa's HELPer needs some HELP understanding the game plan.


Often when I click on an Illustration Friday link, I am taken to an image from someone's archives. And sometimes I need HELP understanding how the image relates to the word of the week... and I think THEY need HELP understanding the concept. The idea is for the word to inspire you to create something new. Oh, well... I will now climb down from my soapbox. :o)

I added a copyright symbol on this one to hopefully deter anyone from HELPing themselves to a free Christmas card.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by JONESAPALOOZA this year. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Tagged!

I have been tagged by MrsB for the Christmas Song game. I am to list 5 of my favorite Christmas songs and then tag 5 others to do the same. I have a little box full of Christmas tapes (cassette... not 8 track) and CDs. I pull them out each year and listen to them. My list will be nostalgic and... BONUS! come with little stories!

1. "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays"- Perry Como
When I was a kid we had a record (vinyl... woo!) of Perry Como singing Christmas songs. This is about the only Christmas music I remember from that time. I found a CD of that record and when I play it, it's like stepping in the Wayback Machine when the world was a more simple place. Now if I could just find my Red Ryder BB gun...

2. "Christmas Island"- Leon Redbone
Nobody sings this song like Leon. When I was helping with a Cub Scout den, we had to do a skit for the December pack meeting. I had my guys in grass skirts made out of wrapping paper (with slits) paddling their canoe to Christmas Island. I thought it was the most creative skit of the night... but that's just me...

3. "A Christmas Together"- John Denver & the Muppets
Here is where I cheat. When my kids were small, we were big fans of the Muppet Show. This album has so many good songs that I couldn't pick just one. Listening to John Denver tell the story about little Alfie each year makes me think maybe there is hope for the world... maybe...

4. "Mele Kalikimaka"- Bing Crosby
Accept no substitutes! This is the only version to listen to. Play this one while decorating your Christmas tree.

5. "Gabriel's Oboe"- from "A Christmas to Remember" by Amy Grant
Hang onto your hat! We have moved up to 1999! This is one of my favorite Christmas CDs. The orchestration on it is wonderful. The cut of Gabriel's Oboe is just amazingly beautiful. It is on my short list of favorite songs... EVER. Speaking of Amy Grant... I also gotta add that since I live in Tennessee... her song Tender Tennessee Christmas is also one of my favorites. Amy lives in the same county I do... so we are practically realated... right?

So, that's my list... I could go on and on, but these are songs I listen to every year.

Now I get to tag 5 people...

MASK

Sometimes Santa puts on a MASK just to shake things up in the workshop.

spyboy

Here is a sketch and finished art for a little spot I did recently for a youth magazine.

MIGHT

INVENTION

SocMo's newest INVENTION is meat loafers. Shoes that you can wear around and when you get hungry... you can eat them!

CLEAR

SocMo knew he had goofed up when the hot chocolate he made turned out CLEAR.

SMOKE

SocMo always enjoys SMOKING a fine cigar...

WIND

"Zebra in a high wind" ...10x8 acrylic on panel


Here is something different for you. I have done some little acrylic paintings of animals in the past, and this is an idea that has been bouncing around in my head for a year or so. The Illo Friday word for this week (WIND) gave me the incentive I needed to go ahead and paint it. I made endless sketches of zebras trying to get the stylized look I wanted. I finally landed on one that was close enough. I don't think the final painting has quite the graphic impact I was hoping for. The real thing never quite matches the vision I have in my head. It seemed a lot funnier in my mind than it looks painted. Oh, well... that's about par for me. Does this happen to you?

So... what do you think? I welcome any comments or helpful suggestions.

Sunday sketch

The unfortunate victim who sat in front of me Sunday. Bic pen on bulletin.

Paint Out!

WOO!... the color on this scan came out very BRIGHT! The actual painting is more subtle. This looks really gaudy here...
On Saturday I participated in the Oil Painters of America (OPA) great Paint Out. This is a national event that encourages anyone and everyone to go outside and paint. The Tennessee Paint Out took place at Bowie Park in Fairview, TN. It was a beautiful fall day, with blue skies and awesome fall colors on the trees. Most painters lined a small lake and painted the scene. It was fun to see 35 or so people painting away. A representative from American Artist was there taking pictures of it all. In the midst of all the quiet beauty... a bunch of geese went crazy honking and causing a ruckus for about 10 minutes on the lake. It was the noisiest thing I have ever heard!

GHOST

Who you gonna call?
After missing the last two Illo Fridays, I am back in the game this week. Woo hoo! I had other things going on the last two weekends, and never had the time to draw up something. This week I am grabbing the first fun idea that comes along and doing it. I was trying to stick to an orange/black Halloween scheme here.... sorta.

Bravia ads!

Well, for those friends dropping by to see my latest IF picture, I got too busy to get one done last week... even with that terrific word -TROUBLE. I had SO many ideas for it, but no time to make a picture. Maybe I will be able to get one done this week. I am a bit busy with work right now, and tomorrow I go in to have my wisdom teeth yanked out. I guess I should say "removed"... but YANKED is much more graphic, don't you think?

Anyhoo... I wanted to share my favorite video which is an ad for Bravia. It always makes me happy to watch this. I watched it over and over when I first found it. Watch the extended version. It may take a while to download, but it is absolutely worth it!
Here is the link: BALLS


There is a new ad I just saw today. This one is just as great and it uses paint. Take a look:PAINT If you watch these let me know what you think. They are amazing!

Sunday sketching

click to see full size
I enjoy going over to Paula's blog and seeing the sketches she does in church (and elsewhere). Today, I had a this guy right in front of me, so I pulled out my Bic pen and did a sketch on the sermon notes page. It didn't take that long so I scribbled the lady in front of him... and the guy in front of her... then quit. I really should do more of this.

QUIET

SocMo makes his latte money by doing a QUIET mime routine...
I thought I would play around with the Photoshop halftone filter on this one. I still don't know how to use the thing. I applied it at different settings and at different resolutions... trying to get something that I liked. After an hour or so... this was the best I could do. Oh... and I was very QUIET while I did this. yeah... right!

PHOBIA

So... I got this idea in the shower... at the YMCA... is that too much information? :o) I was thinking of the word PHOBIA and other words that sound the same. Faux worked for the first part of the word. Ita helps toa have a fakea Italian accenta fora the lasta part... beea. The more I thought of it, the better I liked the idea. I couldn't wait to get started.

I usually draw everything in place when I do an illustration, but I found myself drawing various parts of this. I scanned the parts into Photoshop and then arranged them so they looked like what I had in mind. Add some color and it's done! Lotsa funa for mea!

Joke

Q. Why did Beethoven get rid of his chickens?
A. They kept saying Bach, Bach, Bach...

guess who?

CHANGE

It always takes SocMo 30 minutes to order an ice cream cone because he keeps CHANGing his mind.

It looks like I will not have much time for IlloFriday this week, so I whipped out this idea. Part of it was done while talking on the phone... a bit of multitasking

FARM

SocMo enjoys visiting the FARM... but the animals are always glad to see him leave. Click on picture to ENLARGE... you'll be glad you did!
Illustration Friday is where I tend to experiment with stuff. This week I rediscovered my old, long forgotten Rapidograph pen, and used it on the line work. Then I played around with digital watercolor for the first time. Fun stuff... but I have a LOT to learn here.

the baby!

New Fall Line Up!

As summer fades away, we bid adieu to West Nile mosquitoes and them nasty little ticks. I am hoping to have a bit more time to post fun things here on JONESAPALOOZA. To kick things off, I have put up a brand new header. Let me know what you think of it. Thanks for stopping by... come back often to see what is new. No telling what you will find!

SAFE

When SocMo eats spaghetti... nobody is SAFE!

RUN

SocMo RUNs his best with the right motivation

MATCH

SocMo easily won his tennis MATCH thanks to his prehensile tail.

PLAY

SocMo was banned from the PLAYground after he was accused of using jump-rope enhancing drugs...

have a BEN DAY!

Got inspired by a tutorial I saw here: www.flickr.com/photos/apelad/212102444/ and did this smiley carrot.

CAPTURE

How does SocMo CAPTURE an elephant? He looks at him through the wrong end of his binoculars, then picks him up with tweezers and puts him in a jar!

CLEAN

Q. Why did the robber take a bath?
A. He wanted to make a CLEAN get away...

RAIN

SocMo loves to pretend he is Gene Kelly, and reinact the famous "Singing in the RAIN" scene.

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I am bummed! After having done a great job coloring this in Photoshop, I was messing with filters to get a cool rain effect... and Photoshop crashed! A VERY rare occurance for me. Lost everything. I decided to rescan the line art and post that anyway. If I come up with some time I may try to add color again... who knows. Alas... these are the perils of working digitally. (sigh) Gotta remember to save early and save often. :o)

Singing in the Rain is one of our most favorite movies of all time. If you have never seen it... or it has been a while since you have seen it... go get it and watch it. The best musical ever! Really! Donald O'Connor doing the "Make 'em Laugh" number is a great bit of fun cinema. He looks a lot like SocMo!

DANCE

Inspired by the classic Calvin and Hobbes.

PORTRAIT

SocMona Lisa... a little Photoshop fun...

SORRY

SocMo is going on vacation for a few days, so he won't be around to entertain you... SORRY.
He did see the new movie "Over the Hedge" and really liked it. I think the adults laughed more during the movie than the kids did. It is very entertaining and fun. SocMo would give it two thumbs up... if he had thumbs... and knew which way was up...

devil/angel

Flee Flea!

So... the dad was telling his son about God warning Lot that he was going to destroy Sodom. He told Lot to take his wife and flee. Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. The kid asks... "What happened to the flea?"

FAT

On his last physical exam, the FAT scan found that the only FAT on SocMo's body was located between his ears.

Under the Sea

SocMo was at his favorite dairy bar quaffing chocolate milk when someone slipped something into his drink. When he awoke, he found he had been shanghaied! After traveling 20,000 leagues UNDER THE SEA, SocMo looked out the window and saw that his problems had just begun...

When I first saw Disney's version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, I thought the Nautilus was awesome. I still think it is one cool ship design. I started out just trying to draw the Nautilus. Then I thought I could have SocMo looking out of the window. Later I remembered the great fight scene with the giant squid... and that was added to the picture. Then it was time to make up some plausible story to explain it all.

ROBOT

SocMo quickly lost control of his giant ROBOT, due to his lack of fingers... or thumbs!

SPOTTED

SocMo enjoys putting on his SPOTTED shirt and playing poker with the clueless Far Side cows.

SPEED

As SocMo picked up more and more SPEED, he suddenly realized that he had no idea how to stop on his new inline skates!

Not much time this week, but managed to whip out this episode with SocMo in peril. Thanks for stoppin' by!

SPRING

SocMo heard that he needed to SPRING ahead this weekend... but he keeps asking, "Spring ahead of WHAT?"

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Last week Illustration Friday topped 1000 entries! When I first posted, there were around 400. I sure hope there is some relief in sight with a new revised site design. I would like to thank everybody who drops by for taking the time and effort to find SocMo and say hi.

MONSTER

SocMo was overwhelmed as blast after blast of forms spewed out of the unrelenting tax MONSTER that has been chasing him since the first of the year.
(click to enlarge)
You will never guess what I have been doing this weekend.

BONUS MONSTERS!
I illustrated a book for Scholastic not long ago that was full of monsters... suitable for first graders... here are some samples.