Orbit simulator

I mentioned this to Kevin a short time ago, and just found a link:
 

 

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/applets/satellites.html

 

If you click, move the mouse, and release, you can launch a satellite.

 

I've seen other versions of this where you can do it without the moon.

 

I find it difficult or impossible to get a stable orbit unless I make the satellite go the opposite way the moon goes.

skull drawing

 

This is yet another recently found and touched-up drawing.  I drew this in late 2000, and it was tucked away since then until I pulled it out last week and cleaned it up a little.  I don't think it's a great drawing, but I sort of like it, and it could easily be used as the basis for another work.

 

The subject is a skull I found outside Saratoga, Wyoming.  I didn't know what kind of skull it was until a few days ago when I did some rummaging using Google's image search.  Looks to me like it's a dog skull.

 

This was done with charcoal and chalk.

 

Our rites have ensured a bountiful harvest, father.

 

 

Vedauwoo Snow

I found this old drawing in the back of a closet and thought it had some promise, so I worked on it a little more - mostly making some areas better defined, and filling in some holes in the sketchiness.

 

This is about 10 x 16 inches, charcoal, white chalk, a little graphite, and (I think) touches of acrylic gesso.
 

 

Waved Sphinx

 This big guy (gal?) was above our garage door.  I saw him as soon as I pulled into the driveway; he really stood out against the white, and he was pretty big (maybe not 2 inches, but close.)  I think he's a waved sphinx moth.

 

High School Art

I was cleaning out some old folders when I found this gem from my high school art class. The assignment was to create a collage from magazine pictures, and then turn that collage into a color pencil drawing.  What I think is great about this drawing is that it works on multiple levels (level 1: weird. Level 2: stupid. Level 3: cockamamy farce.)

 

I'm also impressed by my ability to handle colored pencils, which I find difficult and unforgiving.  There are problems, sure.  The faces are pretty screwy.  However, I quite like how the hands are rendered (last night when I looked at it I was struck by how many rings there are in the picture.)  I also like the shading on te lab coats. The aspirin bottle looks nice.
 

 

IMG00032-20100921-1721.jpg

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Practical solution

Purple Haired Mermaid (Jill): Hi.

Boots (me): Hello- Oh my gosh! It's a mermaid! I can't believe it! I bet this isn't really happening. I must be dreaming!

Purple Haired Mermaid: Why don't you go check your bed and see if you're in it? If you're not there, then you know you're not dreaming.

astronomy

Tonight after dinner we took the girls over to E. P. Sawyer State Park. Members of the Louisville Astronomical Society had their telescopes set up for people to look through. We got to see some up-close-and-personals of the Moon, and some views of Jupiter and four of its moons (we could see Jupiter well enough to faintly make out one of its bands). Pretty cool.

Farmington prints for sale!

 

I had my Farmington drawing digitally scanned and printed.  I have prints I can sell!

 

I'm pleased with how they look.  Now comes the hardest part of all: selling them.

 

I'm also trying to figure out the best way to sign them.

 

Vidia

Today we were playing Never Fairies (you know, Tinkerbell and her lot) and I was assigned the juicy role of Vidia, the mean-spirited fairy who has no regard for anyone but herself. I like her and think she's just misunderstood, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, the older of my pixie daughters was trying to convince me to be nice. I was uncooperative, so she ran past and shoved a note in my pocket: "Be nise!"

Then, a minute later, she ran by and slipped me another note: "Or else."

Sometimes you have to be tough with Vidia.

Old paintings from way back in the '90s...

This is art from a simpler, more innocent, less sophisticated age.

This first painting, the naked lady leaning on a ladder --a common scene at U of L-- isn't very refined, but it's luscious and energetic! There are some minor drawing and compositional problems that sort of throw it out of whack, but I love the paint application. For the most part. The way it's mounted on wooden braces is fittingly (and intentionally) crude, with screws and nails driven though the surface of the painting. I think this dates to about 1992 or 1993. This downtown Louisville scene was painted a couple of years later. I don't think it's too bad, and it was actually a part of my BFA show; it's still pretty far removed from how I'd like my paintings to look now. Whaddya think?

Labor Day with the family

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