The Street Family Cooperative

Illustration by Me ~ of Griffin ~ 2014

Illustration by Griffin Street ~ of me ~ 2014

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Georgia In Space

This is a follow up of sorts to "Brady Bunch on Acid". It is part of the never-ending saga that is my family. This piece entitled "Georgia in Space" is an idea I've had for months and months. I even drew it on a Post-it note and carried it around in my wallet for awhile.

In this episode our girl finds herself lost in tall-tall grass in her front yard, pulling a humongous chawahwah,  wearing a pink tutu, riding in a tiny red wagon...That's it! I got nuthin' else. No parable. No deep meaning. No political overtones. Just what you see in front of you. Sometimes a chawahwah wearing a pink tutu is just a chawahwah wearing a pink tutu!

SoulFireBang and DavidStreetART on DeviantART

I’m starting another project. I know what you’re going to say, but I keep waiting for that burned out feeling too. You know, like a piece of paper that has had an eraser rubbed over it too many times, but nope, nothing yet. So I’m just going to roll with it, and keep doing as many projects as I can until I poop out. 

Wait till you here what it is though. I’m teaming up with my son Griffin to do some art! 

Cool huh?! 

I have him doing a portrait of me in his style, and I get to do anything I want with his series “The 4^th” in my style. He even said he was excited to see what I can do with it. How many Dads’ get to hear that from their kid? 

All this is going on DeviantART. What a great place for an artist to be seen. I’m on there because I can put my large pieces on there and have them printed for cheap. So go check it out and buy something. Search DavidStreetArt and SoulFireBang. Tell me what you think. 

I’ll post when we get the project stuff done. Peace.

May I Introduce To You, My Sixteen Year Old Self

Funny I remember looking a lot cooler than I look here ~ rockin' my handmade "Rainbow" shirt. Funnier still, I remember those girls on the bench looking a lot more feminine. Oh, to be sixteen and immortal again...Nah!

The Internal Sunshine of the Artistic Mind

Pay attention, because there will be a test; Do you have to be in love to write a love song? Do you have to be depressed to paint a sad painting?  Is a story better when it really happened to you? You catch my drift? The pieces above were created the year while my Dad was dieing, and they don't look anywhere near dark and dreary. So I say "No".

I think art is best when you get what you get .

Everyone says that I'm a "happy" painter, something in all my stuff has "internal sunshine". I'm OK  with that, In fact, I'm grateful for it. However, I would like to think if I were sad, I could squeeze a cloudy day out on my canvus. Things as they are. These guys coming through when they did were sheer joy!  They're like my babies! Over the course of a few months, from conception to delivery, it proved to me that art could be theropy, and in spite of a drepressed mood joyful art could come out.

I LOVE ART!

Griffin's Sketchbook Art

Griffin is my fifteen year old that I’ve told you about; he’s the one that could draw since forever. When I heard he was giving away sketchbook art, I made sure I got some. He’s going to be the guy his friends hold on to his stuff waiting for him to be famous. Well I’ve got one in my pile of kid’s stuff that he did when he was three! I’ll have to show you later, because I don’t know how to explain it now. Here is some of that sketchbook work; great storytelling and character development. Go see more of his finished stuff at two of his websites. Cheers.

http://soulfirebang.deviantart.com/
http://fourth.covenantunderground.com/

Ian's Penguin Poster

I was talking to my son Ian on Monday. You know him; he’s my son with the 3D glasses in May 10ths post. He loves Penguins! I get messages on my phone, “Hi dad, it’s me Ian. How’s the penguin book coming?” On Monday he said, “I wish you would draw some more penguins, maybe one playing the flute or piano.”

Immediately an image popped into my brain!

Quick back story;

Every time we were going to have a child, Jennifer would bring me her proverbial hat full of names. Some times I could tell you from the get go what I thought, Ian was one of those. Up until that time, I only knew one person named Ian, Ian Anderson; he was the flute playing leader of Jethro Tull.

So when that was one of my picks I thought, “Great name. I want a son named Ian.” And now I do. So the picture I saw in my head is what you see in front of you. I had my backgrounds done. I knew I wanted a rock hopper penguin, and he was already standing the way he should, so it was just a matter of getting the image out. I’ll show you the process.

This is what Ian Anderson and a Rock Hooper penguin look like. Finally, the steps I took to render Ian’s penguin. Note: I generally don’t draw with pencil, but for this time, because I was extra shaky, it was easier to ink then paint.

So without further delay, Ian here is your flute playing penguin [also named Ian] love, Dad.

[Self] Promotion Poster

I created this { self }promotion poster as an exercise in butt kicking. I took this picture of Ian for a photography class some time ago. It was always one of my favorites. I decided to make it a concert poster with a future date to help me visualize myself playing the gig. I'll let you know how well it worked.

Sun On The Moon

Reflecting on the time I created this sun design from the hand prints of my six sons , I realized I put a lot of time and love into this. Their names are over each of their hand prints in elvish text. As the fingers reach towards the circles and the circles reach towards their names, all of it becoming one enormously large ball of light; or something like that :)

Thank you; Spencer, Griffin, Harrison, Cooper, Ian & Leo.

Looking forward to seeing the kids, and starting a new design with new hand prints [ including Georgia's]

Stripped

I was inspired after looking at my son Griffin's comic strips to start my own. Though are influences are way different, the way we think about things, put things together, is dead on the same.

Georgia Fairy Princess

Tomorrow is Georgia’s birthday! I like making birthday cards, more than I like buying them, and this is hers this year. The image is a borrowed piece from another project. In both instances, it’s still Georgia, my fairy princess. Barely touching the ground, she’s almost floating away. Her snow globe is her only anchor! This pen and ink is taken from the original sketch. Some lines can not be improved a pond, and I didn’t want this one to get away. This rough draft of Georgia is part of a long precession, made up of her brothers and her Dad. In the picture, it’s noticeable that she is the only one that is free of earthly care, and quite ready to be airborne at a moments notice. The rest of the caravan, however, has heavy coats, and heavy objects that keep them earthbound. It’s a great idea. Everyone, eventually, floats and flies, and looses their cares. ~ Happy Birthday Georgia!

"...no Dad, REALLY!"

L's gift to me this Christmas. A Masterpiece! The words to the right side of the man are dialog. L. tells me "he's saying 'kfdb@gi&uh!g$ruhlku', Dad!" I laughed ~ and he was quick to respond, "...no Dad, REALLY!"

The Brady Bunch On Acid

This one is my favorite. It started as a project with just the kids in a straight line, and ended up with the nine grid. Truth is, these days we’re more like the Brady Bunch on acid. G.[First Square, Second Row], and I worked very close together on his. All the kids where pretty vocal about their renderings, and gave some good feedback. H. [Second Square, Second Row], said “You made me look like a chipmunk!” S. [First Square, First Row], is the first born, and the first drawn. His success promised everyone after him success. I. [Second Square, First Row], always has a smile on, teeth optional. C. [Third Square, Second Row], like the flame red backdrop,he always has something cooking on the back burner, and when it’s ready, it's guaranteed to be mind blowing. L. [Third Square, Third Row], is the youngest of the boys, and there is no doubt, he can hold his own. Youngest of the seven kids, and the only girl, G-G. [Second Square, Third Row] Well, she's everybody’s favorite, and you can see why. Blessed vessel of all these beautiful cherubs is J. [First Square, Third Row] I know, because I was there to see every single one come out of her. [Third Square, First Row]That's me.