Mostly I Do Art...

It's almost September, and it's back to the good old sketchbook. I'm trying to get in some practice on my portrait expressions, so I've been playing around with anime, trying to convey difficult expressions like anticipation, inquisitiveness, and paranoia. Here we have a young girl who seems to be hanging on your every word. One might imagine she had just asked some life-altering question and is anxiously awaiting your reply.  She almost seems to be pleading, wanting something from you. #sketching #pencildrawing #portraitdrawing

I was talking about illustrating what the real effects of #climatechange would look like. In my last blog entry (see it here ), I created a digital painting that showed widespread flooding caused by melting arctic ice. This image shows the opposite - a drought. While future flooding may be difficult to imagine, the effects of drought and unchecked water use can be seen right now in California, where once deep reservoirs like Lake Folsom and Lake Oroville stand empty. Scientists predict that a similar fate awaits Lake Mead, the reservoir behind the famous Hoover Dam. Water levels at the dam are at the lowest they've ever been, and while recent rains bring some relief, it isn't enough. At the current rate, Lake Mead will be empty by 2021. Hoover Dam, Upstream Face, 2050 You probably recognize the familiar Hoover Dam and its castle-like intake towers, but something seems odd here, doesn't it? The intake towers aren't even in the water, and they seem to be sitti

In spite of everything #Trump has done to discredit #climatescience denial of the consequences of our rampant consumption does not make them go away. Flooding, droughts, and monster storms are just some of the signs that the planet is poised to reject us. Climate scientists have done their best to convince us that unless we do something soon, our way of life is in peril. But when we talk about #climatechange, it's easy to get bogged down in charts and numbers without really understanding what those statistics actually mean. A lack of understanding breeds a lack of interest, and as a result, a lack of #action. The problem then becomes, how can we put #climate information into a form that the average consumer can understand? What expression of this data can we use to motivate the common citizen to be concerned about climate statistics? To me, the answer to this question was obvious. Nothing motivates the masses to #actonclimate than being faced with a physical representation of

After witnessing the outrageous acts of scalping going on where these eclipse glasses are concerned, I thought I would demonstrate just how easy and inexpensive it is to make your own "pinhole projector" to watch the eclipse safely. In fact, it's so simple and easy that your kids can make one. Here's how. What you will need: A box, like a cereal, pancake mix, or flour box. Scissors Tape Foil A piece of white paper A pen or pencil Using the pen or pencil, trace the bottom of the box onto the piece of white paper and cut it out. Place tape on the back of the paper rectangle and tape onto the inside of the box bottom as shown above. Using the scissors, cut off the two short flaps from the top of the box, then trim the center flaps to leave the tab that holds it closed, as shown. Using the tape (masking tape works great, but scorch tape or duct tape will do), tape the tab closed so that the top of the box looks like the picture. If your projec