1055 - "Shaving Santa"

DISCLAIMER: If you really, really believe in Santa Claus, then don't scroll down.  As my wife put it:

"Way to ruin Christmas, Jeff!"

Coca-Cola Santa Claus ("The Pause That Refreshes"), Haddon Sundblom, 1952

Santa Claus, the commercial version of Saint Nicholas we all know.  This one was painted by commercial artist Haddon "Sunny" Sundblom in 1952, and was the corporate mascot for Coca-Cola.  Sundblom's Santas are used by Coke to this day, a testament to the advertising genius of the corporation and the talent of the artist.

We've all seen this Santa or one much like him hundreds of times on television and in movies.  On my 10,000th viewing of Santa this year, I got to thinking: what would the old boy look like with a shave and a haircut?  

So I held him down and force-shaved him in Corel Painter.  Was this a good thing to do?  Am I proud of myself?

Behold shorn Santa!

1054 - "Adore Mouse"

For the holidays, I got it into my head to make a proper porch for our Christmas Mouse.  I'm not ordinarily much into craft work, so my wife helped considerably.  She did the assembly, and I painted the door and set up the photograph. 

At one time we did have a real mouse living in our house, just long enough for me to find a humane trap that could catch and hold a genius-level rodent.  Please click here to see JSVB Post #208 and see little Mousey Tongue, who was our guest back in 2010. 

Merry Christmas to all JSVB readers!

1053 - Yuletide Gastropod II

My wife asked me to draw a Yuletide Gastropod (the famous Christmas Snail), neither of us recalling that a couple of years ago I had already drawn one.  Please click here to see JSVB Post #273, where I explain the importance of holiday-based invertebrates.

1052 - Nativity X

Today's JSVB Nativity post concentrates on the mountains.  My brushwork is still primitive, but the mountains now have good colours.  The main mountain has rock colours similar to the hills of Galilee and Bethlehem, or at least I think so.  The background peaks are red and green, either to symbolize modern Christmas or to pay homage to Canada's greatest television hero, take your pick.  I recently came across an icon that had red and green mountains and thought that they would add colour to the composition.  Originally, they were supposed to be a darker yellow ochre (a medium tanned brown colour).

1051 - Bobblehead Coloured

I've coloured in my bobblehead portrait from a few days ago.  Please click here to see it.

 

1050 - The Workshop

 

It's getting close to Christmas, and so our kitchen table has been converted over to a workshop for making new decorations.  Looking at this, there should be more glitter.  So strange for a heterosexual male to say that, though. 

1049 - Wacom Pens: Grip Versus Art

I made this diagram so that I can keep my collection of Wacom styluses sorted.  For whatever reason, the Wacom Grip Pen an the Wacom Art Pen were designed to be nearly visually identical from the distance that you'd typically look at one if you were using it in your hand.  However, each stylus comes with its own features and driver rule-set, so confusing one for the other can lead to unpredictable results (for a good example, click here to see JSVB Post #246, way back when I was trying to calibrate one of these pens and I got the values all wrong). 

So, completely frustrated with confusing one stylus for the other, I made the above diagram to refer as to which pen is which.  The Grip Pen is the Wacom standard stylus, and has basic features such as tilt and pressure sensitivity, a rocker switch and a virtual eraser.  The Art Pen is more sensitive, and it also uses rotation so that if I use asymmetrical tips like a chisel, a calligraphy nib, or a filbert brush, I will get rotation-enabled results.  

1048 - Nativity IX

This last pass on my Nativity icon seems to have been almost completely dominated by mistakes and miscues.  I've been trying to get the rock floor to look decent, but now I will have to paint over most of it and re-do what I have done to it. 

The very thing about iconography is that it's easy to look at, difficult to understand, and even harder to paint, especially if you are in a hurry. 

1047 - Moore Support For Moore

Well, it's the final Ungood Art Day for JSVB in 2014.  Ungood Art happens on the 13th day of every month: I present an art piece that I worked on with the best intentions, but somehow everything just turned to crap.  Ungood Art is a natural process for every artist.  Most just don't bother to make a showcase of the projects that went south.

Today's Ungood Art is a rare performance piece.  Most of the video I have of myself, I end up looking like a fool which is why I don't post videos on JSVB.  Still, this one goes above and beyond.  

I'd just jump to the Jeff part (around the 1:23 mark)of the video which is an informal citizens' tribute to Greg Moore, the Mayor of Port Coquitlam, but then you'd misunderstand the depth of my gaffe.  So, watch the whole thing and then see how it ends.  

1046 - Christmas Hamster Framed!

For an early Christmas present for my wife, I had my design for "The Hamster Who Saved Christmas" book cover printed out large and framed.  It makes a zingy decoration for the holidays!

 

Even at this late date, it should be possible for any loyal JSVB reader to order one of these sweet vignettes and have Santa courier it under your tree jut in time for the 25th!  E-mail me at the address above, and I will quote times and prices for availability.  

 

You can see the original proof of the picture way back in JSVB Post #891, please click here to see it!

1045 - Nativity VIII

Will I get this icon ready in time for Christmas?  Likely as thing stand, no.  But there is yet to come Orthodox Christmas, so there's always hope.

1044 - The Secret Life Of Margarine

A tentacle made of margarine poked towards the light the moment I lifted the lid on a new tub of Parkay.  

 

1043 - Bobblehead Inked

I inked the bobblehead caricature from the previous JSVB post.

1042 - Everybody Loves Rollerskate'n

Guess what?  I'm drawing one of those bobble-headed caricature portraits.  It's pretty far from the sort of thing I like to draw, and I wonder at how people can do this for a living.  But then I wonder at what it would be like to make money.  Anyways, the drawing is for a  friend who just got back from maternity leave, and the JSVB blog post title is what the caricaturist says in an episode of the Simpsons.  It's the kind of line that when you hear it rings so true that you never in life forget it.