Noah's Ark Interactive "Mural"

This is a small project that I plan on donating to the children's ministry of my church. It is an interactive "mural" painted on a 36"x 54" wood panel.

I painted the entire surface with magnetic paint which you can find at most hardware and craft stores. Then I painted the simple ark scene with acrylic paints and brushed a coat of gloss sealer for a textural finish. The panel has a wooden frame attached to the back so it stands about 2.5" off the wall when mounted.

Here are some detailed images of the magnets:

I sketched the characters with pencil and scanned them into my computer. I painted them with digital watercolor in Corel Painter and then printed them on "antique parchment" paper which gives them a warm and textural look. I used 3M spray adhesive to attach the prints to a sheet of magnetic material (which can be purchased from sign suppliers) and then covered them with a layer of clear gloss vinyl.

I'd like to make a bunch of these that could possibly be used as interactive apps as well. I have dozens of scene ideas (space, jungle, fairy tales, ocean, cars, zoo, etc). It would be a dream to make a living by painting fun interactive murals for daycares, schools, libraries, kid's rooms, restaurants, etc...

...so...

...feel free to contact me if you have an interest in commissioning a fun interactive mural of your own!

denver@denverwagner.com

Salt and Pepper: Page 1

Here's a semi-finalized page from my contribution to "Boo!" Check out the process and progress of some amazing creators here: www.illopond.com

A Sneak Peak

A couple months ago, I was invited to take part in a very cool story anthology for kids.  The contributors are an amazing and talented group with diverse and imaginative story-telling styles.  I've been able to watch their stories develop and the illustrations "come to life" in our creators forum.  I am truly honored to be part of the group.  We are self-publishing the book through Ka-Blam, which is a print-on-demand / distribution service.  The book will be released this fall and I will be posting a lot of cool stuff about the stories, creators, processes, and other information as the release date gets closer.

In the meantime, here is a page from my story, "A Roar and a Squeak".  I am still cleaning up and tweaking the illustration, but you can get the overall idea of what I'm trying for.

 

Here is the text:

There is a place that is green and sticky and wild. 

It is a forgotten place where monkards swing from the branches above, and the air sizzles and pops as a crackle cat chases down a stingrat. 

The forest is bursting with a whirling flurry of life.   Until...

Pink Eye!

 It nevereverevereverever stops.   If you have kids, you know what I'm talking about.

The Future of a Future Kindergartener

My daughter is starting to get excited for kindergarten next fall. She told me,

"School is fun, but you have to go to work."

There are so many things I want to teach my children. Obviously, I haven't painted the idea of "work" in a very positive light. A five year old should not already expect work to be a "but". Kids should be playing and learning and dreaming. I want my children to know how awesome it is to be a kid. I also want them to know how awesome it is to be a grown-up. The loves and interests of childhood can remain into adulthood, where they can become even more powerful and meaningful with an understanding and experienced eye.  Work can be the fulfillment of dreams. I pray for the time and the wisdom to communicate this bit of truth to my children (and with a little luck and a lot of hard work, I intend to be their example!)

Go get 'em, kids. (In 20 years!)

I recently listened to Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" .   He gave this inspiring speech titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" 10 months before he died from cancer.   He left behind a wife and three very young children.   Nobody should have time for "reality" television or a negative attitude.

Nien-nos and A-guhngh guhng guhngs

Living with a toddler requires a lot of investigation and translation.  My son's favorite animals are "nien-no"s and "a-guhngh guhng guhng"s.  A "nien-no" is easy enough to figure out...he means rhino. But without the picture above, you would probably never guess that an "a-guhngh guhng guhng" is a penguin. How did "penguin" become "a-guhngh guhng guhng"? My wife figured it out. A penguin waddles so we say "waddle, waddle, waddle" when we see one at the zoo or in a picture. So he is really trying to say "waddle, waddle, waddle" which is what he thinks a penguin is called.  He also rocks his head from side to side when he says it, looking very geeky and adorable.

Happy

A one and a half year old's babbling may be the funniest sound on earth. 

 I recently read The Element by Sir Ken Robinson.  Here is the gist of it:  "The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves, most inspired, and achieve at their highest levels."

The book digs deep into the current state of eduction, the job market, and society in general, and lays out many great examples on how people with creative minds and attitudes are, and will continue to be the ones who come out ahead in life. I found it relevant for my life, but even more so for my children's future.

Creative problem solving and artistic expression are not  high priorities in most schools, but children don't live in schools.  Parents should make creativity an important part of home life. It promotes an additional way of thinking, which will be beneficial no matter what direction your child takes with his/her future.  Plus creating is fun for kids and parents alike.

Bark

Bark is a character from a story my daughter and I have been building on called Morgan Monster Hunter & the Crypto Kid.

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It's a mix of Alice in Wonderland, Universal monster and 50's B-movies, The Spiderwick Chronicles, cryptozoology, mythology, and legends from around the world, Scooby Doo, and Stand By Me (minus the dead body and the swearing, of course!), all contained in the normal school and family life of 11 year old Morgan and her genius friend, the Crypto Kid .

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We take turns adding characters and adventures before bed. It has been entertaining...and the world is quickly expanding. I wish I had more time to play around with the character designs. Bark was discovered in a cave in the woods behind Morgan's house. Morgan rescued him from the horrible Spider Lord of the Underground. She had to create a dog disguise for the little creature so her parents wouldn't get suspicious.

Of course, Bark can't "bark" and makes strange noises when he tries, raising suspicion in Morgan's parents anyways.

kangaroos? rabbits? dogs?

My daughter and I were playing Connect Four yesterday afternoon. She was about to drop one of her pieces when I told her that I saw a spot where she could win. She examined the board, but couldn't find the spot.

I said "Look closely."

She got right down on her hands and knees and put her face about two inches from the game. She didn't understand why I was laughing.

There's not a whole lot of edgy or sophisticated humor in our house, but there is plenty of genuine laughter.

Great Uncle Boris

I was telling my daughter a bedtime story a few weeks ago with Dr. Frankenstein and his monster as the villains. She liked the story, so last weekend I asked her if she wanted to watch Frankenstein the movie. I thought she would probably get bored within a few minutes, but she loved it! We immediately watched Bride of Frankenstein. Now, of course, she wants more and I just happen to own the Frankenstein Legacy Collection, which also includes Son of Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein, and House of Frankenstein. (None of which I've had time to watch yet , so we can experience them together for the first time.) There probably aren't many four year old girls who like black and white horror movies from the 30's and 40's. But there's one for sure, and I'm lucky to know her!

Panda Story Time: Wallaby Story Time Part 2

I've always loved children's books and cartoons. I think my mind is subconsciously trying to balance out all the horror movies and books I like.

Reading books with my kids has had a great influence on my art style. Reading, writing, drawing, and making up stories with my daughter is pure joy. My boy is beginning to show a love for books as well. I believe that sharing simple creative moments is the key to a happy life.

Here are some of our favorite books:

from That's Good! That's Bad!

by Margery Cuyler and David Catrow

The good and bad things that happen to a boy who is carried away from the zoo by a shiny red balloon. Great illustrations with a unique animal style.

from Purplicious

by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann

All the girls in Pinkalicious' class like the color black. Pinkalicious tries to hide her love for the color pink. With the help of a new girl, Pinkalicious learns to just be herself. We also like the Kann's other books, Pinkalicious and Goldalicious.

from What Pet To Get

by Emma Dodd

A boy weighs the pros and cons of having various animals as pets. This one is pretty funny and has some cool illustrations.

from Someday

by Alison Mcghee and Peter H. Reynolds.

This simple book follows the milestones of a girl's life from birth to old age. At the risk of sounding like a big softie, I admit this book has choked me up a time or two (or every time I've read it).

from Olivia Forms A Band

by Ian Falconer

And of course, we love the Olivia books. It is a fun series and Olivia is a great original character.

I spent years admiring the creators of children's books. Someday I hope to have many books of my own.

Princesses Everywhere

My Daughter likes Disney princesses. I'll take that over Bratz any day. Actually, I think I'm more excited about the upcoming The Princess and the Frog than she is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6DmEgtibOg
I made this canopy for her play set.

First, I found pictures of all the princesses and combined them into a composition that would fit the canopy. Then I traced the composition so I would have crisp closed lines. Scanned it in and vectorized it. Digitally filled in color and found matching vinyls. Cut the vinyl (over 15 colors) and applied each as a layer on the canopy. It turned out pretty cool, but it seemed to take forever!

Okapi Craving M&Ms

Give me M&M's or I'll blow up your planet!

My wife has been calling our kids "Bumper" and "Bruiser" lately. Great names! Anyways, Bruiser is home sick today so Ma and Pa are each working half a day. I'm taking Bruiser into the doctor this afternoon. And then hopefully he'll take a long nap and I'll get an extra hour or so to work on the Forgotten Wildlife poster.

I think I'll start with the Crowned Quib.

Here are some old sketches. I'll need some good photo references as well. I'm thinking okapi.

The Birds and the Basement

We have a toy room in our basement. We also have every other room filled with toys. I use our snow shovel to clear some paths between rooms. We painted a wall in the basement toy room with magnetic paint. Then I painted a summer scene over the top. I made some animals, flowers, etc. out of vinyl and applied them to a sheet of soft magnetic material. Then I cut out the shapes and they stick to the wall. Now that the wall has a magnetic layer on it, we can update with a new scene and magnets sometime down the road.

Go Get 'Em, Spider

I spent some time this weekend cleaning and organizing my basement workspace/studio. It's easy to be motivated and spend time down there when it's clean. I cleared out a lot of junk, shop-vac-ed all the cobwebs, organized supplies and artwork, and cleared some space. Space for what? A brand new computer! That's right, we are investing in an art computer and I'm psyched. It is a huge up-grade: tons of memory and storage and a 23" screen! It should come in this week.

I have been doing more research on the business side of art, design, and illustration. Believe it or not, it's incredibly boring. Necessary, though. I found some decent books on the subject at the library. (plenty of time wasting books, too.) There are also tons of great resources online. It's hard to imagine/remember the world without the internet. I want most of my paperwork, promotional items/portfolios, website, art fair applications, etc. set up by the end of the year. Some busy months ahead.

I'll be posting some WIPs for COW#156 over the next week or so. I like seeing other artist's processes, so maybe someone will find this interesting. The topic is "red hot doom". Here's the pencil sketch I'll be working on. I call it The Smolderer.

Scaring the Beans Out of Kids

In the cupboard under the sink

Lives a terrible bloody thing

Call him BloodyBones
Call him Rawhead
Either way you’ll end up dead

Covered in hair and bits of bone

He waits as still as a stone

Some say he looks like a decaying dog

Others say a scabbed-over hog

BloodyBones, BloodyBones

Covered in sores

BloodyBones, BloodyBones

Open the door

Today is the day

That BloodyBones will have his way

I adapted the poem above from an old American folk tale. We have a long standing tradition of scaring kids throughout our history. Classic fables, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales by Aesop, Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and even Mother Goose are full of horrific images. Halloween is one of the most popular holidays for children. Movies, folklore, cartoons, books, comics, and theme parks are full of monsters, villains, and other "bad guys".

Morals and safety are often given as the reason for such horrific tales, but I think some adults just like to scare kids. When I was young, I had an uncle who bashed through a cornfield in a werewolf mask and it scared the crap out of me. An older cousin told me the story of "Thump, Drag". Older family members seem to be full of terrifying and/or hilariously inappropriate stories for children. Looking back, the things that scared me most as a kid are some of my favorite memories.

I think horror is fascinating to children because they realize that they are not being talked down to. Of course, I don't condone stories with depravity, excessive gore, or other themes that can truly confuse and/or upset a child. All children have a different tolerance to fear and as long as that line isn't crossed, a scary villain can really spice up a story. The good guy/gal always wins in the end (in children's stories, anyway), and life goes on.

The first questions my daughter asks when I'm telling a story is: "Is there a bad guy?", "What does he/she/it look like?"," When is the bad guy gonna be here?" The "bad guy" has been showing up earlier and earlier in our stories. I'm cool with that.

I have a plan to eventually do a week or more of posts about the horror in Walt Disney films. I just need to find some time to create a series of paintings based on Disney villains. So you can expect that in July of 2013.

Dad, watch this. Dad! Dad! Watch! Dad! Are you watching?!

"Hey! Wanna dance?"
"What?"
"Do you wanna dance?"

"What?"

"DO YOU WANT TO DANCE?!!"

"Oh, sure. After I'm done dancing."

My daughter loves to dance. She says she wants to be a dancing doctor/teacher/mom when she grows up. Well, that's what she said last night. She has also said she wants to be a zookeeper, an artist, a princess, a vet, a chef, and for Halloween this year - Dorothy. She thinks I should be the Scarecrow. Guess what movie has been playing over and over at our house.

Teething in the Jungle

Here are two paintings I did for the Super Shrimp's room. He points at them and then laughs when I make the sound of that animal. (I've gotten pretty good at animal noises over the last few years.) He's having a massive invasion of incoming teeth. The pain is keeping him up at night. Poor little guy.

An Accidental Sasquatch

A couple of months ago, I looked over at a painting my daughter had left on the easel. There he was...Bigfoot strolling through the forest. I think my love for monsters might be infecting her brain.

Here's her picture:

Here's how C.O.W. 151 is coming along. Another hour or two of work on it and I think I'll feel confident enough to submit.

Firefly Art Fair

Hey, Why the long face?

I'm a chalk monster.

Oh.

My daughter and I went to the local art fair this morning. When she saw something that she liked she said, "Can I do that when we get home?" She is a creative and talented kid (parents don't say that about their kids unless it's true). Maybe someday she'll be in a position to help out her old man, since she thinks my work is "pretty good". I think her favorite thing about the fair, though, was the popsicle.

I love that my daughter likes to create but I'd never let a mess like this happen. Here's the trailer for My Kid Could Paint That:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j46V9wclBaw

I'm going outside to do some sketching. There was some very inspirational work at the art fair today. Plus, it's a beautiful day!