Right Brain Redux: Day 18 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux Day 18: T-Shirt 2-4-1!

As luck would have it, today we both pulled T-Shirt assignments. Jessica has "Design a T-Shirt based on a verse of Scripture". I drew "Create a T-shirt that a 'Dr Who' fan will recognize without using any character's face or name".

Inspired by my favorite character from the 11th Doctor's tenure, I submit to you this heavily armed potato.

 

The verse Jessica chose as inspiration for her design was 2 Timothy 1:6 "Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands." (HSCB) Especially focusing on the line "Keep ABLAZE the Gift of God that is in you". The idea behind this shirt is to create a piece that fulfills the challenge while also being a design that could be used for a potential future youth ministry.

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Right Brain Redux: Day 17 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux Day 17: You want Catch-Up on that?

Just to recap for those who have joined us recently: Jessica and myself are just over halfway through a 30-Day Creativity challenge. We randomly choose a single project for each of us daily. Each chooses from their own Challenge Jar. We call this Right Brain Redux, for the old saw that creativity is a function of the right brain, and Redux from the Latin meaning "to bring back, revived". If you have any suggestions for challenges, leave them in the comments and we might add our favorites to the jars.

Today we are still working on catching up. Catching up on sleep (a sick toddler will put you behind on it fast) and catching up on projects. Those of you keeping tally will realize we are actually a day behind, even though we made a post yesterday. I'm also feeling much better after the major surgery I had back in July, so I am also trying to finish the house now (as I have the energy. Better, but still not fully recovered). Our projects for today took us to some interesting places.

For today, Jessica pulled "Color a coloring sheet" while mine was "Draw a Superhero".

Kev: For my challenge to "Draw a Superhero", I decided to go outside of my box a bit. When I do superheroes, I prefer to draw my own characters. I rarely draw ones belonging to anyone else, except for maybe in a doodle. So I elected to draw someone else's character for today's project.

It took me a little while to decide who to draw. Right off, I knew I didn't want to draw a big time super-popular ten thousand pieces of fan art character. No Deadpool (sigh), no Wolverine, no Bats or Superman. I tried to think of an obscure character from Marvel or DC. Even looked at some lists. I couldn't make up my mind. Then I started thinking about that small stack of comics I had when I was a kid. Now, I'm not trying to tell a sad story, but up until I was about ten, we were let's say, less than affluent. I didn't get to go get comics all the time. Mostly, I read other peoples' comics. When I did get one of my own, it got read and reread until it fell apart.

One of those treasures was an issue of the 60's comic "Dr Solar, Man of the Atom". In this issue, Dr Solar is invited to some sort of scientific unveiling and realizes that the hi-tech floating city this guy has built is in fact a giant nuclear bomb. The villain turns out to be King Cybernoid, Solar's arch nemesis. They fight and the human face gets torn off cybernoid to show he is a robot underneath. Now, this was pre-Terminator, so my seven-year-old mind was blown at the thought that a human could be a robot under the skin.

I read this story so many times, I can't even begin to guess how many. But one thing about the comic is when it was handed down to me, it was sans cover. I used to draw covers for it all the time in those years. I still have the comic somewhere. And it hit me; I would, for the first time in probably twenty-five years, draw a cover for that issue of Solar.

Pencil on Canson Bristol Comic cover sheet. 11"x17"

Jessica, for her challenge of "Color a coloring sheet", chose a printable adult coloring sheet with a geometric pattern. She had heard from a number of people that these "Adult Coloring Books" were fun and relaxing. Not for Jessica. She found that while she might find it fun if she was already relaxed, coloring the sheet did nothing to relax her. Quite the opposite, in fact.

First, she had to choose between crayons, markers, and pencils. Then once she chose colored pencils, she had to choose between three set of those. Then, she started counting blocks in the pattern to decide on a sequence of colors. The set of pencils she is using is a 36-piece set. After several false starts that included reprinting the sheet at least four times and starting over, she finally narrowed the color palette down to eight pencils. Then she told me that she'd like to be painting some watercolors. She did finish the center of the pattern, but it definitely did not make her feel relaxed. She thinks that perhaps a new twist on something she already knows she enjoys would be more calming or relaxing after a long day of not feeling well following a night of little sleep. Something as rigid as the geometric pattern is more stressful than relaxing. She feels it might have been less so if she had chosen a less rigid, more organic design.

It wasn't a bad project. Turned out rather nice. I t just wasn't "relaxing".

Source: "Don't Eat the Paste" Blog  by Shala Kerrigan

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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 15 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux Day 15: Super Scary Saturday

Me n Mini-me hit the woods this morning to try and find us some ginseng (along with MawMaw). We only found two diggable plants (Have to be at least a 3-prong, so we couldn't dig the smaller stuff we found). Fun time, but it ate up a lot of the day. The projects for today were:

Kevin: Draw something that scares you.

Jessica: Create a timeline of significant events in your life.

(Kev): Right off the bat, my first thoughts were to draw a monster of something. To see what I could imagine that was super-scary (Hey, anybody remember/ miss "Super Scary Saturday" on TBS? Old monster movies hosted by Grandpa Munster.) But I digress. It dawned on me that I should draw what I am scared of, not just something scary-looking. So I thought about it.

I'm not really worried about monsters and a lot of stuff like that. Roller coasters, now... THEM'S SCARY! I used to love 'em. Would stay on them all day when we went to amusement parks. Then I got hurt on one when I was a kid and ever since then, they freak me out. I rode the Scooby-Doo kiddie coaster at Carowinds and by the time it stopped I was a heap in the floorboards. Is that still there or did I just date myself?

Clowns gimmee the heebie-jeebies. 'Nuff said.

There's a 3rd fear in there. Bonus points to anyone who spots it. Not a current fear, but a recurring childhood and young adulthood nightmare.

Jess: Create a timeline of the most significant moments of your life. I took a little bit different approach with this task in choosing a theme of "What I want to be..." 

I freely admit to having some pretty random things on my timeline. Notice also a pattern of wanting to be creative. Random is definitely my style and how I think, and I no longer apologize for that. 

1981: Alive!
1984: Read "Harold & the Purple Crayon" and decided that was the life for me, drawing everything!
1985: Full-time babysitter of my new little sister
1986: Head Playground Activity Coordinator (The Boss of Kindergarten)
1987: Dump truck driver just like my Daddy & Personal body guard to my two little sisters

1988: Jem's Personal Stylist- Truly Outrageous! and 
A Dancer because I just knew I was better than Paula Abdul, straight up!
1990: Wedding Dress Designer (None of you fellow 4th graders called me up for your designs. What's up with that?!?) & Inventor of new art supplies (I totally invented colored glue!)
1993: Person who studies sharks because Ichthyologist sounded really cool and confused adults when they asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?"
1994: Fashion & Shoe Designer
1996: Writer / Journalist / Poet
1998: Dream school= Savannah College of Art & Design // Majoring in Textiles & Furniture Design

2001: Photographer
2002: Not a loser or failure at life // The best mommy I can be to my baby
2005: Founder of a non-profit- counseling children and teens utilizing the arts as therapy

2007: ??? Honestly, I had no idea. I felt really lost when it came to goals in life. I really had to pray and seek God for direction.
2008: Graphic Designer & A great, loving wife

2009: Branding consultant for small businesses, especially start-ups
2010: Jewelry Designer

2013: Artist // The BEST mommy I can be to 2 awesome boys!

2015: After a great deal of prayer and fasting, Kevin & I realized we were both being led to start a Kids' Church ministry. // Children's Church Co-Pastor & whatever God wants me to be

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Right Brain Redux: Day 14 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux Day 14: Bluebelly the Pirate

Started today out in the woods with Mini-Me, hunting some 'Seng (Ginseng). Didn't find any this time, but still had a good time. Today's Challenge projects were:

Jess: Create a new Pandora station, then create a piece of art inspired by the third song that plays.

Kev: Finger paint with the boys and post the results.

It wasn't hard to get Mini-me on board with the finger painting. He went to town as soon as we sat down. Little took a little more convincing. First he wanted to wave the paper around. Then as soon as there was paint on his finger, he had to taste it. Must've been pretty bad, based on the face he made and the fact that he didn't try to eat it anymore. After I put his finger on the paper and showed him he could make a streak, he lit up. He was pointing at colors that he wanted and holding his hand out for me to wipe when he got too much paint on it.

Mini-me finished his piece solo while I supervised Little on his first one. Then all three of us got our hands on the third piece (literally. All 3 of our handprints are on it). I even got Jess some of Little's handprints in her sketchbook before we were done. Then, Bluebelly the Pirate made his first appearance. Shortly thereafter, he began to Hulk out and then went for a scrub. But not until he painted MY belly, too.

Mini-me never said what he was painting, but to me it looks like the woods when the leaves start to turn. Which we did see one tree already changing color this morning, so maybe that was in his head still.

Who knows what Little was painting, but he was very deliberate with his color choices and placement on his solo piece. And belly.

Jess: Create a new Pandora station, then create a piece based on the third song that plays.

My song was "Freedom" by Warr Acres. This song brought into my mind the thought of "Crying out to God". So I looked for verses that fit that feeling. I came across "In my distress I called to the Lord". The image I chose was of a hand, reaching out for help. I placed the verse within the hand. Outside of the hand I added the verse "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked way, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. 2 Chr 7:14". After this, I needed to look up the reference/ location of the scripture on the hand, because I couldn't remember it.

It turns out this phrase appears in 5 different places in the Bible, giving me one verse reference for each finger on the hand. I did NOT plan this. God is amazing.

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Right Brain Redux: Day 13 of 30-Day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux: Day 13

It's T-shirt Thursday! Ok, so that's how it turned out, anyway. Today, both of us drew T-shirt design projects from our Challenge Jars. Jessica pulled "Design a 'Dr. Who' inspired t-shirt that a fan will recognize, but you can't use any character's name or face." I drew "Design a t-shirt based on/ inspired by a Bible verse."

(Kev) My first thought was to draw an "Armor of God" picture. I've imaged that in several different ways over the years, and I actually enjoy drawing it. But then again, that is a passage of Scripture, not a verse. Since this is a challenge, I elected to select a single verse to interpret. I went with Philippians 4:13.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. " (KJV)

The original image in my head was of the letters outlined in white with black and white images of people doing things inside. But it just didn't look right. So I went with the text instead. The tough part of these challenges is getting them done in a short time. The nice part is that we are getting something down as a design, but we intend on revisiting the good ideas and refining them to completed designs after the challenge is over.

The thought of "DO" has been on my mind for the last while, especially when I think of that verse. "Do" puts action to something. It is also a command or instruction. "Do this." We say "I AM a Christian." To me, I just keep thinking about "Being" verses "Doing". Are we "Doing" Christianity for the world to see? When "I am", it is a statement. When "I do" it is action visible to the naked eye. Just my thoughts.

Go Do.

(Jess) When I read my challenge, the first thing I thought of was the "Bad Wolf" graffiti because I love graffiti. And that's my favorite season of the The Doctor anyway. Then I realized that there was already a lot of those designs out there. After thinking a bit, I chose to do "Bad Wolf" in Gallifreyan. I found several sites with the alphabet and showing you how to read and write it. There seems to be a couple of different versions out there, but I settled on one and turned the words into this design. How you write it and form words is very interesting. It's far from just being a simple substitution alphabet. I found myself lost in studying how to read it, and I had to make myself stop in order to finish the project.

And as Kevin mentioned, the good ideas we will revisit and refine later. This is one I definitely want to give a second (and third and fourth and...) go over. I really like the concept, but I want to spend more hands-on time with this design and the writing itself. Most likely with my own hands instead of digitally, so I can give it my style. I like... need that control when it comes to design.

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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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