Merry with a Twist

Despite the fact that I haven't posted in quite awhile, please accept glad tidings from a very silly sketch.

Don't Wait Up

By now you've figured out that wordplay is a big part of how I get inspired, whether inspired to draw some all-too-literal take on a phrase (see the above and also Rabbit Rabbit) or to give my random sketch some cunning, punning name and then extrapolate from there.

Today I was thinking of the two divergent meanings of the phrase "don't wait up." Depending on context, the imperatives could not be more different. In the case where they are active, telling someone "don't wait up" means they are moving on without you. Or there is the opposite (more specific) case where you are active and the other person is told "don't wait up" so that they are content to fall asleep before you return. The only situation in which one could inhabit both contexts for the phrase? Being asleep on a horse (or, should the situation serve... a camel.)

I think about these things so you don't have to.

Rabbit Rabbit

Do you say some variation of "Rabbit, Rabbit" at the beginning of each month? I do! (err...when I remember.) For a brief history of the practice visit this link to Wikipedia (Wikipedia! When you don't need to know anything more than the other guy!) Apparently it's a British tradition that is especially common in Massachusetts. What I want to know is, who first told me about this, and more importantly why? It's kind of a fun idea but when you're five and six it's also pretty scary, especially since I always felt like it was an urgent talisman against bad luck as much as it was an easy-to-miss one-shot-chance at good luck; a lose/lose situation for a forgetful child.

My original idea was draw both a very cartoon-style rabbit and a more realistic one, but that didn't look right so I ended up with two fairly realistic rabbits of two seemingly different breeds. I didn't say "Rabbit Rabbit" this morning, so perhaps it's just my luck (and lack thereof.)

How It Works

Time Slip

A Bit Less Hazy

This is one of my first successful exploits using Adobe Photoshop.
I confess that I have spent nearly as much time ranting against Photoshop as I have using it. For someone who can work wonders with Microsoft Paint it seems deliberately, maniacally counter-intuitive. Lasso tool? History brush?? Dodge tool?!? ("Shall i just give up and go mad now, save you any more trouble?" )
The sketch itself is nothing much, and I almost didn't use it for today until I thought to google "create fog in photoshop." There, I got step-by-step instructions that included something called a Gaussian blur. Through my beginning with an end in mind, some of the program's logic revealed itself. In the end I had enough confidence to tweak a few things outside the realm of the instructions to get certain effects. The experience "shed a little light" on why some people love Photoshop.
I just assume they can't use Paint.

I'm Forever Drawing Circles