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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Felix Navidad, Merii Kurisumasa, Frohe Weihnachten, Nollaig Shona Dhuit, Glaedelig Jul, Joyeux Noel.

Burning Down the House

Took down my art show from the University of Phoenix today. It was up for 17 months. Great experience. Sold some pieces, but even better, it bolstered my self convenience. I tell my kids, with every new challenge you are going to feel a little insecure, it's normal, but give it sometime, after awhile you're going to feel like you were born there!
Thanks to everybody who bought some art.

You can still get all of the shows pieces at the website.
www.davidstreetart.com

Lucky No. 7

Last of the penguins. My kids and friend Debbie nudged this one out of me, otherwise I was feeling I was near the end. It is time to go forward with other projects ~ hopefully they will bring as much joy to all of us as these guys did. Big smile!

Love It So Much, I Think I'll Marry It!

It's been said ~

"Good Artists Copy ~ Great Artists Steal"


That quote has been attributed to Picasso, Steve Jobs, T.S. Eliot just to mention a few ~ Well I do not know who to believe, but I do know a lot of heavy lifting has been going on for centuries by both sorts. I have been eyeballing my own subject for years, only to have found I am about 100 years too late.

I posted a story about Sherlock Holmes's creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle last year. Use the link provided and have a look see. Remind yourself that there were some girls that had everybody in a whirl about photographs they took of fairies. Now I'm not here to step on any fairies or anyone's belief in them ~ I did however love the illustrations by Claude Shepperson that others have said were the bases of the girls fairies.

This comparison would not have been possible if someone hadn't been poking around old children's books. So, thanks to them, I have been doing some heavy lifting of my own this weekend. Again the target is Claude's wonderful ladies from 1913. Most especially the one in the middle. (See illustrations below)

I've tried to keep his lines and the flow of the figure. What sparked my imagination was how light and airy she is. My contribution was to make mine feel even lighter, almost as if she were in flight. And of course color. I really nailed it there. If I'm allowed to say so myself. This figure is earmarked for an up coming job, but if that doesn't happen, I will surly do something grand with her!

Illustration for Alfred Noyes' poem "A Spell for a Fairy" in Princess Mary's Gift Book by Claude Shepperson. (Hodder and Stoughton, no date, c. 1914, p. 101ff). Compare the poses of these figures with those of three of the fairies in Photo No. 1. The figures have been rearranged and details of dress have been altered, but the origin of the poses is unmistakable.

Photo No 1. July 1917

Read Full Story of Sherlock Holmes and The Fairies

"Kathrine the Great"

This is the Batman costume my sister bought for me! I love the internet.

"Kathrine the Great"  ~ 2014

This is one of my favorite stories: I was four if I remember right. It has been over forty five years now; funny how something’s just stick with you. I was four and my sister Kathy was sixteen. When she was at school I would sneak into her bed room and steal the black leotards off this big doll she owned. I would then put them on with my “tighty whiteys” on the outside. After all, Batman wore his underwear on the outside didn’t he?! ~

I was happy to play that way all day, leotards, underwear on the outside, bath towel around my neck, and white hi-top tennis shoes, or at least till she got home! As I look back on it, why didn’t someone get me my own pair of tights? I remember Kathy getting mad at me, probably yelling and getting my Mom involved. Hey! That’s right, where was my Mom when I was getting into my sister’s room?! I remember one time; I was climbing up on one of my sister’s doll’s baby hi-chairs to turn on the lights and taking a header. That was probably the last time I tried that.  I ended up with a big goose egg on head that time.

To my sister’s credit she bought me a Batman helmet and cape for Christmas thinking it would keep her dolly’s nickers on! Can you imagine her frustration the first time she came home from school and there I was in the front yard with my Christmas present and her doll’s tights on! 

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Always wanted to be a "dot~com"! Go to the page itself and then come back and tell me what you think!

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Hyde Street Records

Legend of the Indian Wrapper

Always a big fan of the Star on the Tootsie Pop wrapper. I didn't find my first one until I was 30 believe it or not!  What can I say I just love it. It's suppose to be good luck. Who can't use a little bit of that these days?!

This is not the first time I've used the Indian theme on a logo. I'll post the Hyde Street Records logos later.

Legend of the Indian Wrapper:

The Indian Wrapper legend has circulated for decades from generation to generation. But once and for all, here is the meaning of the special Indian wrappers that occasionally appear on a Tootsie Pop.

Long, long ago, when all lollipops were made alike, a man one day decided to make a different kind of lollipop for people. He already had a lollipop that looked different than other lollipops because they were flat and he made his in the shape of a star. But he had an idea to make his even better. All he had to do was figure out a way to put a chewy candy center inside his star shaped pops. That way, his lollipops would really be different, and many more people would enjoy them.

He tried everything to get a chewy candy center inside his lollipops but he always failed. Then, one night while the man was asleep, a flash of light appeared in the center of the man's room. The man awoke to find a grand Indian chief smiling at him. The chief told the man that he would help him make a lollipop with a chewy candy center, if the man promised the chief that he would never, ever, stop making them for people.

The man promised. As the legend goes, the chief smiled, and walked over to the window where the twinkling of a bright solitary star appeared in the sky. The chief opened the window and reached for his magical bow and arrow. He pointed the arrow directly at the star in the sky and let it fly. The man watched the chief continue to smile as he kept watching the flight of the arrow. Then suddenly, there was another flash of light that came through the window which completely covered the chief. The man covered his eyes but when he quickly regained his sight, he found the Indian chief had vanished.

Still stunned over his remarkable experience, the man went over to the window to close it, only to find that the star was gone. In its place shone the fullness of the round moon. The man was very confused, but he knew that all of these events had to do with the promise he and the chief had made to each other. Sensing this, the man dashed over to his lollipop shop only to find that all of the star shaped lollipops were gone. In their place the man found round lollipops instead. Inside the shop he grabbed the first round lollipop he could reach and quickly bit into it.

A great big smile covered his face because he could taste the chewy candy center that the chief had magically placed in it. That's when the man knew that the chief had kept his promise. Well, from that day on, the man has always had lollipops with a chewy candy center. But legend has it, that once in a while, the grand chief goes to the man's shop to check and see if the man has continued to keep his promise. The "Indian Wrapper" is supposedly a sign that the grand chief has personally checked that particular lollipop for the chewy candy center.

Well, how Tootsie Pops get their chewy candy center is still a secret. Some say it's magic, but however it is done, you can be sure of one thing, the grand Indian chief, "Shooting Star," will always make sure that the man continues to make Tootsie Roll Pops with their chewy candy centers. Since we enjoy them so much, aren't we all kind of lucky that the chief still cares?


Copyright 1999 Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.

Why Don't You Go Ask Mr. Owl?

I was just a kid when this commercial was ran ever 5 minutes during my Saturday Morning Cartoons in the 60's. The images stuck in my head clear up till my Junior year of college in 2006. The marriage of watercolor splotches and my pen & ink drawings  fit together effortlessly. Oh ~ and I am a big fan of the candy too!

Here is a piece inspired by the commercial. My kids told me the guy in the commercial was naked! I had never noticed. I think they are all on Crack! Still, it was a funny thought, so I hope you don't mind that my guy is naked too.

Fun Facts From Wikipedia  (So you know it's true!)

Rumors and set attempts for Tootsie Pop

At some point, a rumor began that the lollipop wrappers which bore three unbroken circles were redeemable for free candy or even free items like shirts and other items. The rumor was untrue, but some shops have honored the wrapper offer over the years, allowing people to "win" a free pop.
Some stores redeemed lollipop wrappers with the "shooting star" (bearing an image of a child dressed as a Native American aiming a bow and arrow at a star) for a free sucker. This was clearly up to the store owner and not driven by the lollipop manufacturer.

One convenience store in Iowa City, Iowa, for example, gave candy away when the children asked. In 1994, the owner of Dan’s Shortstop told a reporter that when he first opened children came by often, but after a while, he said, he had to stop giving stuff away…. Giveaways also occurred in Chico, California, where a 7-Eleven store manager in the Pleasant Valley area, said she had to stop because it had become too expensive.

Since 1982, Tootsie Roll Industries has been distributing a short story, The Legend of the Indian Wrapper, to children who mail in their Indian star wrappers as a "consolation prize". A superstition of the same wrapper is that it gives the bearer good luck for the rest of the day.

A student study at the University of Cambridge concluded that it takes 3,481 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

Another study by Purdue University concluded that it takes an average of 364 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop using a "licking machine", while it takes an average of 252 licks when tried by 20 volunteers. Yet another study by the University of Michigan concluded that it takes 411 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

A 1996 study by undergraduate students at Swarthmore College concluded that it takes a median of 144 licks (range 70–222) to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Harvard Grad students created a rotating mechanical tongue and concluded it took 2255 licks. It took 2256 licks on one attempt for a normal raspberry Tootsie Pop to get the center showing.

Codex Seraphinianus

[Dave's Notes] This is amazing. Strange. Still amazing. Posted it mostly for my needs.

In the late 70s italian architect, illustrator and industrial designer luigi serafini made a book, an encyclopedia of unknown, parallel world. it’s about 360-380 pages. It is written in an unknown language, using an unknown alphabet. It took him 30 month to complete that masterpiece that many might call “the strangest book on earth”. Codex Seraphinianus is divided to 11 chapters and two parts - first one is about nature and the second one is about people.

Five hundred years ago there was another book somewhat like that - voynich manuscript.

Page from Codex Seraphinianus

See the Codex Seraphinianus

Red Umbrella...

It's exactly like the singer sings it ~

~ Do I have to tell the story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met
It's a big enough umbrella
But it's always me that ends up getting wet ~

Now I didn't write the song or draw the pictures or direct the video, but each of them use the umbrella to say what they want to, and it spoke to the same place in me each time.

The emotion I think that is represented with a simple umbrella transcends into something  bigger, something spiritual 
~ like love or selflessness or courage.

I thought I was going to get all wordy, but I think that's passed now.


The piece Regina of the Condor is a play on words. You probably got it, but I know my spelling is pretty bad. I just wanted to make sure you knew I meant to do it.

Just a little art to help me work out those flesh eating birds that live in my mind.

Peace!

I Can't Seem to Find the Words

I went to go add her words last night. Just so I could say I had this done
~ and the whole two years were a blur.

"You look like you're having a bad day Dave ~ are you having a bad day?"
"Do you need to pet me? Go on. I know how that makes you feel better!"

*Wooof* ~ *Wooof* ~ "Come back here, and I'll slap you like a cat!"

"I don't know what you've got there Dave ~ but it smells sooo gooood ~
No. I don't need to taste it. Just stick it down my throat!"

"Really Dude?! ~  I don't know why I put up with you Dave"

She was an early graduation gift that ended up riding shot gun on my trip to the end of the world and back. The year before and after my Dad died, Daisy was the comic relief I needed. Wherever she went she put a smile on every bodies face. No one knew it or appreciated it more than I did. We had an on going joke that she could talk, and no one could convince her she couldn't ;)

As I write this, I can't remember all the times I was in need of a laugh, and she had some smart ass thing to say. She meant well, and she really did have a great sense of humor. However it got to where when I told others the jokes, they started to think I was becoming unhinged.

Here was the bud of a project I came up with in Barstow in 2009. I started to write down the stuff, but for the life of me, I can't finish it. All of it had its time and place. I wish you all could have been there in my head when it was going on...

...'cause it was FUNNY!

My Art Is Like a Three-Legged Dog

 

Illustration 400 project The seed for "Brady Bunch on Acid" (2006)

Updated Georgia! (2013)

Promotion postcard for David Street Art Facebook page (2013)

To paraphrase Dave Matthews:
"My Art is like a three-legged dog –
you have to get to know it to love it."

One Of My Favorite Anythings

Griffin James Street ~ Pin & Ink (2007)

My kids are what get me through the day most days. I'm so lucky to be their Dad. Griffin asked the other night which one of the kids was my favorite. He quickly folded up with, “It’s me, huh, Dad?!” I told him each of you guys were my favorite in different ways, and I can’t imagine not having all of you.

Griffin has always been my favorite for his ability to communicate his thoughts well. I would send him to his room when he was little and shut the door. He would be crying and talking to himself. I would listen to what he would say at these times, because he would say what’s on his mind. It would be my time to cool down, take it all in, and every time ~ I mean every time~  I would get something out of it. Plus it was so cute!I still say to this day that I want to be like him. I’m not there, but I have made some progress.

I tell you this, because the picture I’ve posted is one of my all-time favorites. I’ll put it up there above any of the Masters. Not because I’m all that, but this piece reminds me of working with him on his panel for “Brady Bunch on Acid”. It also reminds me of what a fantastic talent Heavenly Father has given him. I am blessed to have a kid that we have a bond like this.

So now I get to my point. I was with him the other night. We were getting a soda, and I lost it. I mean really lost it. I was in the gas station yelling at him ~ I said some terrible things including I never want to talk to you again! No son should ever here that from his Dad.

I was diagnosed with Bi-polar Disorder when he was little. I’ve remained on my meds all this time, seen counselors, and have been in and out of hospitals. It’s really hard on those around me. I tell you this because shear will alone doesn’t work. It's not like I can stop this from ever happening again. At best I can lessen the severity and frequency. It's just something we all have to live with. Griffin was more worried about my safety that night than being mad at me. Yet one more way I hope I can be like him.

Take a look at the link I’ve included this time. I think you’ll get a lot out of it.

Read 10 Key Facts About Bi-Polar

Faith + Hope + Charity

Here is an idea that has been around since 1990. It's been drawn more than once, and until recently, I had lost it and almost had to draw it again. This idea has for some reason stuck with me for all this years. However, I can't take it any further than this. I think the reason I have a soft spot for it is I see the beginnings of my fascination with drawing Big & Beautiful woman.

I had this thought, "What if Faith and Hope and Charity were people?" Maybe it wasn't much of a stretch to make them woman, but then it occurred to me "What if I had a LOT of Faith?" So then things started to take shape that way. Believe it or not my Ex was somewhat of an inspiration for Hope in the middle there. When I met her she was 20 and curvy, and verbose, and an electric young woman. She had this air about her of "anything was possible". I was attracted to her immediately. Now a days she looks like the life has been sucked all out of her. Sad really.

Maybe I'll find that thing this picture is looking for someday, but for now at least it's safe at home.

Zombie Free Since 1962

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Wish I Dunnit!

My friend Dion Dewald did this drawing years ago. The lines move in there own unique way... Oh, I don't know, what can I say, it just speaks to me. I wish I had drawn it. But, hey at least I know the guy that did!

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Zombies Ahead

This design is for a shirt for Cooper; the one who is into zombies! I start with an original design, and on a black t shirt I apply bleach with an eye dropper. I've made a few of these. They come out nice. I think I have a picture of an Emerson, Lake & Palmer I made for a great friend. That's it. I'll post a picture of it when it's done. The coolest part of this, is Cooper, a Sophomore in High School, is existed to wear it to school! I'll take my being cool moment whenever I can get them.