Army Men 2 Movie Concept Poster / CD Soundtrack (2002)
Posted Jul-31-2005
The first "movie" poster I designed was for my portfolio when I was finishing up my graphic design degree. I wanted to show a variety of print pieces, and since I didn' t have a 'class project' movie poster, I decided to design one independently. ...

Is there really a Hell? Posted Jul-29-2005
"A liar is not believed even if hells the truth."
I love reading fortune cookie "fortunes," especially the ones that slip by the Chinese proofreaders. In a recent after-diner Peking delight, I opened my cookie and found the above goof. I think.

I didn't need my thinking cap on to know it should have read "A liar is not believed even if he tells the truth." But the slip-up is quite funny. It kinda gives a new perspective to the 'Hellfire and Brimstone' religious thing, don't it?

At any rate, the cookie message was much better than "That wasn't chicken." •

Marketing Mambo Posted Jul-28-2005
Common $ense
Having Internet-based interests, I get zillions of direct-mail postcards and solicitations to join 'this' or 'that.'

Usually this spam snail-mail gets tossed, but I couldn't resist taking note of an amazing revelation one company promoting "sponsored ad search advertising" shared:

"Research indicates that if your business isn't listed in both web and sponsored search, you're not getting as many customers to visit your web site as you could be." [emphasis mine]

Let me get this straight... you mean I can DOUBLE my customer click-through opportunities if I'm listed twice instead of once?

Who would have known? •

Pottery Class: Day 3 Posted Jul-27-2005
Try, try again.
I’ve turned myself into a “pottery class mole.” You know how actors take on odd-jobs to prepare themselves for an upcoming role? Well, I’m acting my way through this process, and by shifting my attitude, I’m beginning to have a lot of fun. And because of this, it’s no surprise that other things are getting smoother along the way. ...

How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci Posted Jul-26-2005
Michael J. Gelb
I recently wrote about a drawing exercise I did in a creativity workshop based on Michael J. Gelb's book "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day." Since then I've acquired the book and have made my way through several chapters. Related to that, a couple of nights ago the Science Channel ran a two-part series on da Vinci called "Leonardo's Incredible Machines" (2004). The show highlighted a few of Leonardo's inventions and ideas that were way ahead of his time — that actually worked when engineered from his drawings.

Up until I was introduced to Gelb's book, I rarely gave da Vinci more than a Mona Lisa smile. In fact, even after reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, my interest in the man was linked more to the conspiracy theory about his Last Supper painting and the real significance of Mary Magdalene in the whole Jesus/Bible scenario. But now, this has all changed.

I have been introduced to a whole new perspective on Leonardo da Vinci that doesn't include conspiracy theory or much religion at all. Thanks to Gelb, my eyes have been opened to the "creative genius" da Vinci was, and I'm totally absorbed in learning all about his multi-faceted life as a scientist, inventor, and artist.

Mona Lisa may be the most famous painting in the world, and for good reason too. Besides the endless attention she gets with her enduring portrait, she just may be smiling about all the other intriguing things da Vinci did during his lifetime. And thanks to his extensive journaling habits, we can smile at them too. •

Hamburger Helper's Off-season Job Posted Jul-24-2005
That thar's a turkey costume...
I know we're nowhere near November, but I just had to dig out this Nit Wit comic (#16) for the fun of it. I won't have any drawing lessons to share from it, so here it is anyway.

I drew this in the fall of last year and totally cracked myself up doing it. For one, I got to draw that lil' hand guy with the nose you just want to squeeze. And two, the play on the 'hand tracing turkey' thing just *so* makes me laugh. Do you get it? That little hand dude has no commercial work during all of the end-of-year turkey holidays, so he takes a side job getting inside of a turkey costume to greet all the shoppers (he's putting it on in the comic). See the turkey sign in the background... the fingers... get it? Oh, I'm just so funny, aren't I? <giggles to self> •

Lost Soul Companion Project Flyers Posted Jul-23-2005
Want some free schtuff?
I crossed paths with author Susan M. Brackney several years back and published a couple dozen of her Be Mused columns on the Creativity Portal. I also reviewed her book The Lost Soul Companion, which was quite affirming at the time. As a fan, I check up on her projects from time to time and just found some cool promotional flyers you can download and print from her Web site.

Forget coffee shops, I'm gonna hang 'em on my wall! (I'm doing my part in spreading the word about the LSCP by telling YOU about said flyers). •

'Try something new' is all about stepping outside of your established structure, set patterns, comfort zone. It means sampling that weird food, touristing a different town, enrolling yourself in that pottery class. ...

Pottery Class: Day 2 Posted Jul-20-2005
Centering on the Wheel: A Life Metaphor at My Fingertips
The trimming technique reminded me of what a woodworker does on a lathe. With a tool, he carves away excess material from his piece of wood to form an elegant design as the shavings fall to the floor. But in this case, the "wood" was clay, and the "lathe" was the potter's wheel. ...

"Oreo-Talk" and Other Kids Art Camp Adventures
Posted Jul-15 to 19-2005
Day-by-day reflections and observations of a week-long art camp for pre-teens that included clay mask making, drawing, printmaking, and abstract wood sculpture. Like my cat?

Pottery Class: Day 1 Posted Jul-12-2005
Going to Pot(tery Class)
The course catalog noted that the class was “designed for beginners as well as those who are somewhat experienced in creating pottery on the wheel.” What a great opportunity to learn something new with other newbies! ...

The Day My Creative Life Began Posted Jul-10-2005
Planting Creatreevity Seeds
About six months before I decided to leave my corporate job in 2000 to pursue a creative path, the company I worked for was running a week-long schedule of lunchtime presentations geared towards professional growth. ...

Brenda Schaffer on Growth Posted Jul-4-2005
I found a one-page handout I was given some time ago on the topic of nurturing. On the page is this quote by writer Brenda Schaffer:

"Growth means becoming more of who we already are, not what others want us to be. Growth means evolving and waking up, not remaining asleep in the illusion of the learned self."

I checked out Amazon to see what book this quote may have come from, but didn't find any results under "Brenda Schaffer". I did see some books by "Brenda Schaeffer" (notice the "e" in the last name), and am wondering if my handout has the name misspelled.

Anyway, I like the first part of that quote. "Growth means becoming more of who we already are..." makes me think about the potential that lies within each of us to excel at something WE have a passion for. When we try to live other people's dreams or abide by their expectations, do we really grow? Or are we just good pretenders. •

Myth: Creativity Comes from Creative Types Posted Jul-3-2005
Creativity and Innovation in the Workplace
The title link is myth #1 in Bill Breen's article "The 6 Myths of Creativity" (Fast Company, December 2004) discussing the findings of a study by Harvard Business School's Teresa Amabile taglined "A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who's really creative in your company."

The next time I find myself punching a clock, I promise to print this article and stuff it into every manager's mailbox I come across with a big yellow Post-it that says:

Attn: Managers — Creativity Quashing STOPS TODAY! •

Lesson: How to Draw a Nightstand Posted Jul-1-2005
Here's a classic example of combining simple shapes into bigger, more complex items. ...