Right Brain Redux: Project 23 of 30: We're baaa-aaack!

Right Brain Redux: Project 23 of 30

We're baaa-aaack. Sorry for the gap between posts. Lots to do and colds to fight (life with kids. Someone ALWAYS has a cold to share). So, post number 23. 

For this challenge, Jessica pulled out the one-line challenge "Draw something using only one line" in which she had to draw a picture without lifting pen from paper. Kevin (that's me) drew "Write a one-page story based on a random dictionary word."

Kev: Well, I don't have a paper dictionary available, so I used a handy-dandy random word generator and got "Sloughed". For me, the challenge was writing a one page story. I just realized writing this that I missed the spirit of the challenge, sort of. I did USE the word in the story, but I was so focused on limiting myself to just one page that I forgot the story was supposed to be based on the word rather than just including it. But it is already written, so I submit to you:

"Exponential"

Brannix cracked open the containment unit, raising the internal temperature by more than a degree. Working quickly, he shaved off a razor-thin sample from the specimen inside and hurriedly resealed the cap. Transferring the sample to a petri dish, he carried it over the high-powered  microscope manned by his colleague.

"Are you certain we shouldn't be working this under full containment, Ardon?" he asked nervously.

"What are you so worried about? This things dead for at least five thousand years. The only reason we keep it chilled is so it won't break down before we can study it."

The sample slid into place and Ardon adjusted the focus on the viewer as he continued "Something killed this thing outright, and it wasn't an EMP. The planet is covered with remains of them. Figuring out what kind of weapon did it will be a real boost in the fight, not to mention our bank... oh..."

Brannix looked up from stirring the noodles he was boiling in a beaker "Oh? What's Oh? Oh doesn't sound good. That was a bad Oh."

"Look here," Ardon tipped the screen around so Brannix could see "There's one nanite functioning. Barely. It looks like its eating one of the inert ones."

"Wow," he replied, slurping his noodles, "Guess after five k, he's pretty hungry. Why would it do that?"

"Reproduction cycle, you boneheaded idiots," boomed the voice of Professor Xedos through the intercom, "Who authorized you to open one of the alien samples?"

"Uh, we just thought we'd do some hands-on studying while we..."

"Look at the screen."

On the monitor, the first microscopic machine had already become more than two dozen. As they devoured the corpses of their ancient fellows, the number doubled every half-second. Then the screen went blank as a silvery mass surged up out of the dish and around the camera lens of the microscope. Within seconds, it was boiling out of the top of the cylinder. Plastic components sloughed off like dead skin as a form took shape in the center of the writhing mass.

"I'm sorry," the lab shuddered as Xedos explained, "Containment protocols have been activated. The lab has been sealed off and ejected from the station. You two... you knew better."

The lights went out as the lab was disconnected from the station's power, leaving only the red glowing eyes of the fully formed alien robot standing amid the ruins of the microscope.

Jess: Jessica's task for today was a true challenge for her: Draw using only one line. My love is a perfectionist, and using the single line means you can't fix mistakes. She is trying hard to embrace the imperfection, but it drives her nuts at the same time. I think she did great. Here are a few of her pieces.

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Right Brain Redux: Update

Right Brain Redux: Update Hey everybody, I know we haven't posted any updates in a couple of days. We will be getting the challenge back on track over the weekend. The reason for the lack of activity is our preparation for a big event this weekend. We are the Children's Pastors at our church, and this Sunday, Kids' Church is taking over "Big Church". We are going to be conducting the service in the main sanctuary, but leading the adults through the service along with the kids. It's been some extra work, but it's going to be awesome. More project posts coming on the other side! Kevin & Jessica Rose


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Right Brain Redux: Day 20 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux Day 20: Blind Man's Bluff

At the 2/3 mark, Kevin had to draw while blindfolded and Jessica was challenged with "Draw Zentangles".

Kevin: "Draw without looking at the paper". That's what the challenge slip I pulled out of the jar for today said. Without looking? I knew that was impossible. So I grabbed a blindfold. Because I knew, jest knew I wouldn't be able to resist looking.

For my subject matter, I chose three characters that I have drawn before.  Two of them very frequently and for years. I used a Pilot G2 gel pen on plain printer paper. I spent about 5 minutes on each drawing. Overall a fun little experiment. I used the fingers of my left hand as placeholders to give me an idea where I had drawn what, but it was still tricky, as Hulk's puny left arm and Warhawk's skinny legs attest. Here are the drawings.

First up is Marvel's Hulk.

Second was Optimus Prime.

And thirdly I drew one of my original characters that I've been drawing over and over since creating him about 25 years ago, Warhawk. Since most of you will have never seen Warhawk, I included a quick sketch of how he's supposed to look.

Jess: Draw a Zentangle

So what's a zentangle? "The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns." I think mine probably turned out more doodle than zentangle. Here are my results before I had to stop because my hands hurt too badly. I really didn't want to quit. These are a lot of fun actually.

Can't wait to finish it.

I love to create to music. Here's what I'm listening to tonight:


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Right Brain Redux: Day 16 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux Day 16: Sunday Poets

Good Sunday, great Kids' Church, relaxing afternoon. Today, both of us drew writing assignments in the poetic vein. I have to write a Haiku about the last thing I watched on TV, while Jessica writes a poem on a random subject chosen by Mini-Me.

Kev: Write a Haiku about the last thing you watched on TV.

It was almost Ninja Turtles. But after mini-me went to bed, we watched Episode 8 of Top Chef: Texas - Season 9 (We have this on Amazon Prime and are rewatching it as we originally saw it not too long before Little arrived. Blur time.)

Top Chef Season Nine

She Serv'd Bigfoot To LaBelle

Yay Sarah's Gone Now

Jess: Write a poem on a random subject chosen by our oldest son. 

He chose "dump truck." 

I do have some experience with dump trucks. My dad drove one for many years, and when I was little I definitely spent a long time answering "what do you want to be when you grow up?" by quickly replying, "a dump truck driver like my Daddy!" So, here's a little tribute on his random topic that turned out to be a very emotional piece for me.

Dump Truck

by Jessica Paul Rose

Your boots are by the door
Waiting for tomorrow.
Caked in clay and trials
Their soles worn to the floor.

Go to sleep in apprehension
Praying I don't miss you.
Early hours are no matter
They've lived here long before.

Ice crashes in the cooler
Sends me running with a push.
Imploring eyes to greet you
Please... can I go with you today?

Excitement doesn't compare
To that familiar bounce and sway.
The smell of oil and laughter
Sometimes drifts too far away.

You take me on a journey
And how my world looks grand.
That dump truck is a carriage
For more than just the sand.

We eat
And drive.
Then suddenly,
It's time.

Kids line the fence to watch you leave.
Do I have to go, Daddy?
I love you.

Oh, wait!
Please bring me a mountain
Today.


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Right Brain Redux: Day 12 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux: day 12 (plus Kev's Day 11 catch-up)

Day late and a dollar short.

Broken teeth are unfun. Right. Well first off I have some catching up to do from Monday. I actually did the project late Monday night when I couldn't sleep from the teeth pain. The challenge was "Draw a picture using only one line". So I had to come up with something I could do without lifting the pen from the paper. I actually wasn't quite finished when I lifted the pen, but I stopped when I did.

"Line Doctor" (Day 11 challenge)

Day 12 Challenges:

Jess "Fill a page with doodles"

She puts my doodles to shame. When Jessica doodles, she sees/ thinks in lines and shapes rather than complete images, and the doodle grows organically. She wasn't able to fill the page before her hand went numb (she's being tested/ treated for arthritis). But normally, she wouldn't try to do this all in one sitting.

Kev "Create a new Pandora radio station, then create a piece inspired by the third song that plays".

The idea was to create a piece inspired by music, but to have no control over which music, other than maybe the genre. I created a station based on the Christian Rock band "Red". The third song was "War of Change" by Thousand Foot Krutch. Now, "war" and "change" automatically make me think of Transformers. And the music to the song had a sound that reminded me of some of the TF movie music. Once that was in my head, I couldn't really find another place to go.

The concept of the piece is the past and future at war in the persona of Optimus Prime (G1 and Age of Extinction versions). The only thing that stops changing is something that is dead. That's growth. But do we cross a line where we "grow" to the point that we are no longer ourselves?

"War of Change: Optimus vs. Nopetimus"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdnTSXUWd3E

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Right Brain Redux: Day 9 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux: Day 9

Coincidences do happen, I guess. One way or another, Jessica and I both have the same challenge today:

"Write a Haiku about something you can see right now".

Jessica drew hers in the living room late in the day, while I drew mine early in the morning in our bedroom/ office. This gave us a very different range of subjects to choose from.

Jess: When I pulled my challenge out and saw it, the first thing I saw was the living room itself. I had the indelible stamp of Little on it. All over it, in fact. Every time I looked back at the room to try and choose a subject, the only thing I could see was the room itself. It got cleaned up at least three times today. (Yeah, he didn't feel well today, so he was a little off his game.)

Epic Destruction

Home Lays In Ruins Today

We Have A Toddler

Kevin: I actually had a time picking my subject for the Haiku. What I can see from my desk chair gives me a lot of possibilities. Too many, actually. So I narrowed it down to my desktop itself. (Single letters are words)

Nine S D Cards Here

Fifteen G B Of Treasures?

Yep Mostly My Kids

Fun!

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Right Brain Redux: Day 8 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux: Day Ate

Eighth day of the challenge. Gone all day long for Dr appointments. But that's life. So today, Jess pulled "Recreate a childhood art project" while I drew "Create a piece of art inspired/ based on an everyday object".

Jessica told me that when she was a kid, she'd take a ruler or an object, place it on the paper, and draw around it to fill the paper with geometric shapes. Then, she'd take out the crayon box and her self-imposed design parameter was to use every single color to fill in the shapes she'd made.

Tonight's project is a recreation of this using circles and restraint (hey, it's supposed to be a challenge, right?).  Four different sizes of circles were overlapped to create a series of curves. Color was applied with watercolor pencils and brushed smooth. Some arcs were left white for negative space effects. Personally, I love the end result she came out with. I want to keep it.

Now, for myself (Kev), I actually had an idea for what I would do for this project when Jess drew it a few days back. I would have preferred to create this digitally, but Photoshop isn't a current option. So I went with gouache and pencil. I haven't worked with gouache much, but I think I like it. I laid down my shapes in pencil, then painted over and tightened back up with watercolor pencils. I actually agonized over my color choices for a while, knowing that once I put it to the paper there was no going back. Digital doesn't have that sort of commitment. It was sort of fun to just go with it, knowing that there was no turning back. Kind of like jumping off the bridge into the river (don't tell my mom I did that when I was 12... 30 years ago and I'd still catch it for that).

Oh yeah, my inspiration was a fork and plate. I had the thought of them so close up, they were just curves. This is another project I'd like to revisit later on. Maybe in a medium I am more experienced/ familiar with.

22 more projects to go. Ain't this fun? (Big grin goes here)

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Right Brain Redux: Day 5 of 30-Day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux: Day 5

#1: We love you Aunt Dorothy. Rest easy in His arms.

#2: What we're listening to tonight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOzh0I3IHMg

Short day for projects today. Had to go say "See you in a little while" to a precious family member.

(Kev) My challenge for today was to cook something I had never cooked before. Everything I could think of I had the stuff to make, I've done before. I elected to make something in a way that I never had before. We have no working oven at the moment, so I decided to try making cookies in a waffle iron.

I took balls of dough and placed them in the iron and squished them down with the iron on high. It took about 5-6 cookies worth of dough to make an even waffle. Too much dough is messy. Found that out the hard way. 

I timed the cooking at 4-5 minutes. The cookie had good color but was too soft to lift out so I had to flip the waffle iron over to get the cookie to drop out on the plate. This is NOT SAFE.  I only made two so I haven't come up with an alternative yet.

After letting the cookie sit for a few minutes, it hardened up to a crisp cookie. I prefer them softer myself. I served the cookie topped with vanilla ice-cream. I would think servings would be best at 1/4 waffle with a scoop of ice-cream. I plan to try it again at some point with a lower temp to get a softer cookie. Jess found the final consistency to be perfect.

Jess' challenge for today is to write a Haiku based on the last thing she watched on TV. Well, the last thing she watched before making her draw was the Dr. Who Christmas Special "The Christmas Invasion" (2005). We've already watched through the end of Season 8 of new Dr. Who, and now we're re-watching with Kev's Mini-Me (our oldest son/ Whovian.) 

Haiku Doctor Who

Christmas Sycorax

You know the Doctor saves us

It's a Fightin' Hand!

Posted from scribbly-wibbly-stuff.tumblr.com via Pinterest.com

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Right Brain Redux: Day 4 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

First off, we want to tell Aunt Dorothy: Say hey to Pawpaw Bill for us. We love you. You got your healing when you crossed the river.

Monday. All day. So today gifted us with the challenges of Kev creating a set of inkblots (like an inkblot test) and describing what he saw in them. Jess drew out "Draw a friendly robot". Which immediately caused her to ask "Is there truly such a thing as a friendly robot? They all have ulterior motives." I submit to you Transformers G1 Bumblebee (cartoon version). So friendly you might get diabetes if you hang around him too long...

Anyways.

For my (Kev) challenge, I created about a dozen inkblots using plain printer paper with India ink and some of Little's finger paints.  I pre-folded the papers then opened them back up and applied drops of black ink and in some case some blobs of colored paint. Then I folded the paper and smoothed it out to spread the pigments and unfolded it to dry. A couple of them ended up so full of paint they were almost useless, but I came out with ten really nice ones. Some of them I think made such nice patterns they are practically art and I may explore this as a method/ medium in the future.

That much said, I selected  6 blots to describe. I have numbered them 1-6 and will flip through them and give my immediate first impression of what I see. I will not spend time studying them or seeking patterns, just what jumps out at me.

 #1. Alien woman in a black lace collar and a blue dress with pink ruffles and black shoes.

#2. Hammer-headed lobster

#3. Wolf's head

#4. Pelvis with a vertebra above it

#5. Mothra flying over islands

#6. Blue man with warthog/ elephant head

I give no analysis. Take what you will from what I see.

When I (Jess) pulled out "Draw a friendly robot", my initial thought was cutesy robot. But then I gave it a second thought and mulled over the idea of a robot that was friendly/ helpful but didn't necessarily look friendly. My first thought after that was of the terminator in T2. But even that character, though he was a father figure, wasn't really friendly. Picture an endoskeleton holding a balloon. Then I thought of Handles. Yes, we watch Dr Who. A lot. Cybermen are very very bad. But handles started out useful and even though we didn't get to see but the beginning and end of his story, he spent a long time with the doctor. At the end, he was clearly counted a friend and not just a tool. So without further ado, I give you "Handles." Well done, Mate.

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