Project 365 - a doodle a day

Day #365 - the End

2011-05-24T22:50:00.004+10:00

I've been thinking about what to draw for this day for quite a long time.

All along I've been thinking that I'd just draw "the End" like it is at the end of old movies.

or "FIN" like the end of foreign films.

then I thought I'd add some curtains to it.

Then I thought about doing the end of Looney Tunes with the "that's all folks" quote.

I dunno, it just didn't seem right?

All year I've either done portraits or cartoon characters from my childhood, I've never liked the run of the mill cartoons, i.e. I only ever liked Yosemite Sam and the little bird that went along to the sounds of "der der der da da da da" with it's little hop jump and the young African hunter stalking it. Instead I like cartoons like Milton the Monster, Fearless Fly, Flukey Luke, Batfink, Sherman Peabody. I've been a student of the history of animation for most of my adult life but I don't like Disney, instead I love the Fleischer Brothers, so much so that I got a tattoo of one of their characters on my shoulder (yes Dad, I have a tattoo), I love la linea, it's simplicity is its genius. I remember waking up and watching the Thunderbirds with my brother in the early hours of every Saturday. In the 80s I started watching G-Force (Battle of the Planets), this was my introduction into Japanese animation, I was in love immediately, In my late teens I was introduced to Manga, Akira is still one of my all time favourite movies. In my mid twenties I forced my girlfriend to go and watch Toy Story, my jaw was on the ground the entire time. Everything that Hayao Miyazaki makes is absolutely amazing, from the Castle of Cagliostro (which is rated as having the best car chase ever in a movie) to Totoro to Kiki's Delivery Service to Laputa to Nausicaa to Princess Mononoke to Porco Rosso to Spirited Away to Howl's Moving Castle to Ponyo - he is second to NONE!

So, I decided to end it with a little flying squirrel whom would have a stupid pal and annoying voice and two of the most memorable villians in cartoon history.

I can't believe that I actually completed this little project, all along I thought I was going to falter and this last month I have been completely absent of ideas, you probably don't realise that most nights I sit here staring at a blank piece of paper at about 10pm thinking I'd better think up something soon. Thankfully, early on Lester gave me a great idea if I got stuck and Wiki-ing the date led to a lot of pictures.

I want to thank everybody that gave me feedback, your comments really provided me with the inspiration to keep going on and on.

I thank anyone that gave me ideas of what to draw, I don't think you realise how much you helped me.

I thank my beautiful kids for giving me so many ideas and for letting me watch you pick up your pencils in response, I love you both so much!

My secret watcher (Dad) whom would check my blog on a daily basis but only towards the end did he let me know.

To Jhoven, for providing me with the idea and the ongoing encouragement all the way through.

And finally to Vic, whom put up with me sitting in the corner of the room ignoring her for a year whilst I doodled away. Thanks honey!

I'm really looking forward to not drawing tomorrow :)

Day #364 - words like like

2011-05-23T00:25:00.001+10:00

I was helping Hawk with his homework tonight, basically he has a list of 'sight words' that he needs to be able to read, each week the list grows with new words.

I've noticed that he really struggles with the word 'like' so I thought I'd draw him a set of cue cards with words that are like like.

Day #363 - Nautilus

2011-05-22T22:43:00.003+10:00

This is something that I've been promising to draw since about September.

A Nautilus shell is something that seems quite easy to draw but it's anything but and as I discovered once more you can't rub out ink!

Happy with most of this drawing, well everything except the largest section.

For some reason I've slept most of today away and I'm tired again now so I'm not even going to entertain doing this drawing any more but instead just going to go to sleep instead.

I hope Julie Miller likes this one? I told you I'd draw you one but boy did I cut it close.

Day #362 - Clock Designs

2011-05-21T10:28:00.000+10:00

Today I was cleaning out the garage when I got distracted by this broken clock I got from my grandfather's house, it's not a special clock at in fact it's just a cheap wall clock made of plastic.

I wanted to see if I could reverse engineer the clock and fix it, so I undid all the fine work that the Chinese assembly worker had done and after about 10 minutes I'd figured out how to fix it but it was at that point when I was staring at the plain cardboard face I said to Hawk "do you think we should make a different face on this? of course he said yes.

then we both got distracted with something else.

when I was sitting down tonight all I could think of was clock faces, so I drew the one on the right here, it was only after I had this done that I realised I could make the 9L3N clock!

Day #361 - missing Mix

2011-05-20T08:03:00.002+10:00

for different reasons this week I've gotten almost every night after the kids are already asleep, it's horrible.

Tonight I got to see Mix but Hawk was already asleep in the car (as they had to pick me up because my car became an unwilling participant in the journey to Seven Hills).

I thought that I'd draw something for the kids, I've done a hundred drawings for Hawk so this time I did one for Mix and tried to put in all the things she likes (except Dora of course).

As I was filling up the page I had a little bit of space left in the bottom right so I squeezed in Porky Pig, Mika doesn't know who Porky Pig is but I think she wouldn't mind.

Day #360 - the light!

2011-05-19T23:46:00.003+10:00

wow, back when I started this I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to complete this challenge but to my amazement I have only 5 to go.

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and it seems like it's blazing sooooo brightly.

Day #359 - the quickie

2011-05-18T00:22:00.001+10:00

tonight was the last night I could spend with Mitch before she flies back to nodnoL (that's what you call it when going from Australia).

rather than spend time doodling a detailed drawing I quickly whipped up a pic of us 4 from Ed's room tonight.

It's simple but it cracks me up!

Day #358 - Inch High Private Eye

2011-05-17T23:54:00.005+10:00

This one was by request from my manager, he asked me if I remembered Inch High Private Eye, which I did but I couldn't remember if he was brilliant or if he was a bumbler.

drawing just him would have been a cop out so I tried to make a panel comic of it. Couldn't think of anything else but what would a man that's only an inch high make of a giant vibrator?

Day #357 - Slave 1

2011-05-16T23:00:00.003+10:00

when I was putting Hawk to bed tonight he asked if I could draw him something from his Star Wars book, as I'm coming towards the end of this thing there isn't too much left from Star Wars that I haven't yet drawn.

I was sitting here quietly thinking about things, trying to figure out what I'd draw and I saw this picture of Boba Fett, in my opinion easily the coolest Star Wars character there ever was, unfortunately George Lucas had a tendency of really quickly killing off his greatest characters and then allowing ridiculously stupid ones to survive, maybe it was like survival of the fittest in reverse?

Boba Fett - killed by a blind man hitting him on the back with a stick

Darth Maul - killed by a Jedi who was hanging down a shaft without a weapon

Jabba the Hutt - choked by his whore

General Grievous - shot in his heart (the only human part of him)

Jar Jar Binks - a hero

Ewoks - heroes

General Madine - Chuck Norris lookalike and hero

Other things, the only person to win and suffer no loss all throughout the series until the final scene was the Emperor.

The only character that saved the day in every movie was R2D2

the robots had more character than the humans.

I know certain people that will love this drawing but really I drew only thinking of two, Hawk and Ed.

Yet we love these shows religiously, what does that say about us?

Day #356 - Ronaldo McDonald

2011-05-15T00:03:00.002+10:00

on this day in 1940 McDonald's opened its first restaurant.

a billion burgers and a major contribution to childhood obesity later and we see this atrocity everywhere we go.

I remember when I was a child you got to eat McDonald's maybe once or twice a year, generally somebody's birthday or at after the end of season soccer match.

I was thinking about Ronald McDonald and probably because I'm sitting here watching Newcastle play Chelsea I thought of Ronaldo.

I put 2 and 2 together and came up with how they market to the kids in Brazil.

I had to include that ridiculous haircut he had for the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, an amazing finisher, one of the best I've ever seen.

Day #355 - the Final

2011-05-14T21:40:00.004+10:00

Tonight I'll be watching the FA Cup final with two of my closest friends.

None of us has a team in the final so it will be an interesting watch.

A David vs Goliath match and I can't help but to root for the David.

Pretty happy with how this turned out now I'm just looking forward to my guests Smith & Lesson.

Day #354 - the Nightmare

2011-05-13T10:47:00.003+10:00

blogger has been down for a day now, lost post 353 but they promise it will return......

Anyway, I thought to fit in with Friday the 13th I'd do a nightmare themed doodle.

once upon a time....

Laying in his bed, young Glen had a feeling that the dreaded T644 was lurking in his room about to pounce but he dare not open his eyes...

the T644 sprung above his bed with talons extended and about to strike when suddenly it jammed.

Only a maintenance kit could restore T644 to working order but they were rarer than common sense and dearer than a hundred lunches.

Glen knew from the annoying beep, the grinding of gears and the incandescent red glow from the front panel that he could only relax for a moment as somewhere in the near future the T654 would be bound to replace the T644 and it's venom is a relatively unknown quantity.

Day #353 - A great day

2011-05-12T21:56:00.002+10:00

Today is the birthday of my childhood pal Anthony, the man I named my son after and the introduction into the world of Marty's son/daughter.

How do I draw that?

I broke the picture into thirds;

the first is for Arty, he introduced me to Aerosol art and Hip Hop, especially Run DMC and then Public Enemy.

Arty was too cool for school, he knew stuff and had stuff that nobody else had.

He owned two of the most iconic decks ever, the Hosoi Hammerhead and the Hawk Iron Cross.

The second third is dedicated to the greatest skateboarder that has ever lived and the man the I named my first born after.

Lastly but definitely not leastly is the 3rd third, this is dedicated to Bryce Edward Keenlyside born today. If he takes after his father he'll have a great capacity for learning.

Day #352 - RIP Bob Marley

2011-05-11T21:54:00.004+10:00

Bob's eulogy delivered by the Prime Minister of Jamaica:

"His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His sharp features, majestic looks, and prancing style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation."

Very few people define their genre, Bob Marley is definitely amongst those few.

Day #351 - the Pro

2011-05-10T21:55:00.003+10:00

today I was in Dymocks looking for a certain book that I've been trying to find for some time, I can't write what it is because it's a planned gift. Anyway I didn't find it, but, I found a book for Vic's mum, wish I found it last week instead but I'm sure she'll get a kick out of it.

I then went looking in the graphic novel section to see if I could find the Judge Dredd complete case files, of course they weren't there, it seemed like I wasn't going to find what I was after but instead I think I was destined to find the books that I did..

Hidden away amongst the graphic novels was this little comic book, it was a little bit thicker but it was a full colour Image Comics book called the Pro, basically a story of a single mother prostitute whom becomes bestowed with super powers, she gets befriended by the 'good guy' super heroes but doesn't play by their rules. Basically she does what you wish all the superheroes would do.

want an example?

okay, a criminal breaks into her apartment and holds a gun to her son's head, one of her 'good guy' friends disarms him and "the Pro" punches the bad guy's jaw off.

What can I say, it's sick tongue in cheek humour just works for me.

Day #350 - Rejected Mr Men

2011-05-09T00:18:00.003+10:00

Today was Roger Hargreaves' birthday, not familiar with whom he is? he wrote and illustrated all of the Mr Men and Little Miss series of books in the 70s and early 80s.

I grew up on these books and Hawk and Mika have their own collection, they truly are timeless, great little books for kids and fun to boot.

I thought I'd have a bit of fun making some rejected ideas for Mr Men, I could have made about 50 of these but for a lack of paper and time.

Day #349 - happy mother's day mum!

2011-05-08T21:37:00.003+10:00

this one is for mum, this is a hilarious secret that we share!

Love ya mum.

you still crack me up!

Day #348 - Happy Birthday Ross Evans!

2011-05-07T22:38:00.003+10:00

I took some liberties here mate, as I know nothing of the AFL I assumed that the 'Cat' would be panther-like in appearance.

I also assumed that the best Cat would be Ablett Snr. so I used his number.

I could have copped out and drawn you the logo but I thought this would make you smile a lot more on your birthday, actually I think they played tonight? AND THEY WON!! just for you! (okay, I'm assuming this as well)

I simply wanted to say Happy Birthday mate! I hope that you have a wonderful day although knowing you you'd be paralytic by now so you'll see this when you wake up with a nice little hangover.

I hope it makes you smile!

Day #347 - MC Gusto

2011-05-06T00:32:00.003+10:00

I love movies that take the piss out of a chosen arena.

I loved "the Great White Hype" and what it showed of the boxing industry.

Well, in 1993 came CB4, totally taking the piss out of the recording industry and especially Gangster Rap.

MC Gusto was the lead of the group CB4 and he was played by Chris Rock.

one of my favourite quotes was this "I'm MC Gusto, but in prison, I'm known as 97-KY-LMNOP-14 to the third power"

It was a hilarious movie.

Special thanks to Ross for finding it again!

Day #346 - Del Griffith

2011-05-05T22:51:00.004+10:00

I recently watched the movie Due Date with Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifinakis, whilst I thought it very funny watching it all I could think of was Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

PTA is really one of those movies that sticks in your memory for life and you can share scenes from it with lots of people the have seen it.

The rental car scene.

The taxi nearly running Steve Martin over and then him being picked up by his crown jewels.

The falling asleep in the car

The driving the wrong way between trucks

The car burning

The cops pulling them over and John Candy trying to argue the road worthiness

The hocking the watch for a room and then the sleeping in the car

The curtain ring selling

The dead wife

the list goes on and on and on.

Del Griffith just wanted to help his pal Neil Page get home in time for thanksgiving.

The world really lost a special person when John Candy died, PTA, Stripes, Uncle Buck, Cool Runnings, Space Balls he wasn't just a funny fat man but he made you believe his emotion so much.

Day #345 - Luke Skywalker

2011-05-04T00:40:00.001+10:00

In the tradition of stupid one liners I decided to draw someone from Star Wars as today is May the 4th, so May the 4th be with you!

Star Wars is easily the most influential movie in my life, it's the earliest movie I ever remember watching, I was 5 and it just became my ultimate fantasy as a boy, when VHS players came out movies cost a mint, we could only afford one, so of course it was Star Wars. My brother and I watched it about 8 times on the first day that we had it.

I have probably seen the original Star Wars movie around 700-800 times at least.

I think I might pull out the trilogy this weekend.

Anyway, I tried to draw Luke from Return of the Jedi, when he had that terrible haircut and suddenly became this all powerful 'monkish' Jedi. At the end of Empire Luke was still cool although limbless but then he went all deep from the start of Jedi and once he flew off a saw Yoda die he turned into a bit of a tool.

Day #344 - Al Czervik

2011-05-03T20:47:00.004+10:00

in 1980 the best golf movie of all time was made.

Al Czervik was the obnoxious but loveable protagonist with his heart set on turning the lovely country club into a whole bunch of condos.

Caddyshack is still one of my favourite movies and easily my favourite golf movie.

Bill Murray's character as the greenskeeper is genius and of course Chevy Chase as the ultra pro was faultless with his coolness.

But nobody stole the show like Rodney Dangerfield though, in a role that should have been considered the villian he was instead the one you were rooting for.

Throw in the Kenny Loggins soundtrack and it's almost the perfect movie.

Nice and early posting tonight allows me some PS3 time :)

Day #343 - Royal Tenenbaum

2011-05-02T23:41:00.003+10:00

Wes Anderson in my mind is one of the most gifted writers/directors going around today, in fact Martin Scorsese said he was going to be the "next Martin Scorsese" in an interview for Esquire magazine.

His movies are brilliant,

the Royal Tenenbaums is my favourite, check this out for a killer cast;

Owen Wilson
Luke Wilson

Ben Stiller

Gwyneth Paltrow

Bill Murray

Angelica Houston

Danny Glover

and of course the immortal Royal Tenenbaum played perfectly by Gene Hackman

finally to top off the cast it's narrated by Alec Baldwin.

It's a movie about, hmm, let me think, family disfunction and a "dying" man's wish to keep his family together (well actually to keep his wife's money) and it has more smoking in it than any other movie I can think of, but it's not over indulgence it just seems to work.

Any Wes Anderson film in my mind is worth paying money to watch.

Day #342 - Walter Sobchak

2011-05-01T11:06:00.001+10:00

After watching Spies like us the other night and quite frankly struggling for ideas to finish out this little project I've decided to draw some of my favourite movie characters.

Whilst they may not look like the actor, it's not the actor that I'm drawing.

First up is Walter Sobchak for the Big Lebowski.

Never seen it? it's a movie about a Rug, Bowling, a toe and a case of mistaken identity, it's one of my all time favourite movies and easily my favourite Cohen Brothers movies.

The characters I draw this week will be from movies that I like, no matter how abstract they may be.

And on that note the 2nd half of Man U v Arsenal just began.....

Day #341 - Happy Birthday Amz!

2011-04-30T09:58:00.001+10:00

Today was Amelie's 2nd birthday party.

Vic had noticed how enamoured Amelie was with Mika's toy microwave that we decided to get her her own one for her birthday.

So, when it came to open her presents she happened to open the microwave first (I think it was Vic's doings?) and of course she was elated with it, so much so that she didn't want to open anything else.

It was funny how everyone would be saying to her "it could be another microwave" as every new present was opened and the disappointment on her face when it wasn't. I've never seen a kid get so excited about one present and not be interested in opening all the rest.

So of course I had to draw her toy microwave for her, not 100% sure if it looks like this but I do remember there being different foods on the buttons, so I made them up.