Birthday Presents

Another post that should have gone out a long time ago.
I know it doesn't sound good, but that's where I'm at. Ironically the pieces I made are meant to be motivating, but I have trouble motivating myself when it seems my efforts are overlooked or flat out ignored - in my artwork and my life.

My best friends and I didn't normally get each other birthday presents. We all mutually agreed way back that none of us made enough to get each other something we'd really want or would be useful, so we all just hang out together and drink on our birthdays.

The year I started making these I wanted to finally give them something. I still didn't make that much money, so I couldn't buy them anything super cool. I decided I would draw them something. They've each asked me to draw them some tattoo designs, but I wanted to draw them something they wouldn't be expecting.

I wanted each of the concepts to be positive overall; something that might motivate them to get up and take on the day.

A little bit of the process.

For the record, I didn't just copy the image I was drawing. The picture is made up of several different images I saw online, and I combined them in my head before putting them to paper.
The kind of energy ball Gohan is forming to attack is something I came up with without any reference. I figured it looked the part, and could be some cool, new move you haven't heard of yet.

King Gohan   18 x 24"

pencil & colored pencil

collection of Robert Hough

The round symbol in the background is a Japanese character called a kanji, and there are different ones featured on the uniforms of different characters. This particular kanji belongs to King Kai, and is also worn by Goku, Gohan's father. I used this kanji because it stands for "world king," which is more appropriate in the context of the image. The kanji on Gohan's uniform stands for "meal" or "boiled rice" - not very empowering or motivating. I could have just drawn Goku as the figure, but Gohan is Butters' favorite Super Saiyan.

The little guy at the bottom is Zeno, the Omni King. From what I've read and been told, he's the most powerful and revered being in all of the universes on Dragonball Z.
In this depiction, it's supposed to look like he's giving his power to Super Saiyan Gohan, which Gohan has acquired by wishing for it after collecting all seven Dragon Balls and bringing them to Shenron, the giant dragon.

He recently bought this shirt that I also felt was relevant. The girl, Bulma, is also from Dragon Ball Z. If you've seen it, you know she's not like how she's depicted there, and I'm pretty sure they don't have scenes like this, but she clearly represented one of the better-looking females on the show.

I decided I would leave them each a different message related to the imagery on the backs of their drawings as part of building up that motivating concept that the drawing is meant to convey.

He gave me a drawing in return. Being the one who's usually giving away the work, it means a lot to get drawings from friends and admirers.

Megin's birthday is a month after Butters'. So pretty soon I was working on her present too.

It was a challenge trying to figure out what to draw Megin that would include things she likes but could also be positive and motivating. That's not to say that she only likes dark stuff, but she'll tell you herself a fair bit of the stuff she likes is dark. I didn't want to repeat the same process of picking her favorite character from her favorite cartoon. I'm not even sure there's a cartoon she likes as much as Butters likes Dragonball Z.

I decided the piece would be transformative. Something dark that would be brightened and eased up. Megin has always liked horror films - especially the classics. Freddy Krueger is her all-time favorite horror flick killer. I decided this is where I would start from.
The idea grew and became more funny as I went along. The sick, twisted Freddy would be a harmless, pot-smoking, cat-collecting hippy getting over his past ways.

Friendly Freddy   18 x 24"

pencil & colored pencil

collection of Megin Bradford

If you're familiar with the original Nightmare on Elm Street, you might remember Johnny Depp being in it. While laying on his bed, he is sucked into it, only to shot back out and upward towards the ceiling in a gruesome, bloody display. That's what you see in the background there. I figured this could represent the darkness he is moving away from. It is literally and metaphorically behind him.

His expression isn't the friendliest, but I found the reference picture for this expression and I just pictured him hissing like a cat and holding his gloved hand up like a paw with talons.

 Following that concept, the stairs are meant to be symbolic of moving onward and upward in life. Moving towards brighter, better things.

All the cats in the picture are real cats Megin and Butters have, except two. The little black on the stairs is the back is Megin's girlfriend's cat, and the white one on Freddy's lap is supposed to be the cat-version of the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

"A húgomnak" is Hungarian for "To my sister."
I wrote it this way because Megin and I are both mostly Hungarian, and I would like to start learning and using our ancestral language more.
It would be nice if others wanted to learn and use it as well, but even if they don't, I'll continue on like I do. I'm sure they'll change their minds when I start saying things they can't understand about them.

They both really seemed to like them a lot despite how long it took for me to hand them over, which is good. They were also pretty quick to get them framed right away which I appreciate immensely.

These two have stuck by me through recent years when others have left, moved on, or stopped speaking to me. A lot of it has been fun, but the years also included a lot of struggle. It's during those times of struggle and hardship that you find out who is really there for you, and I just want them to know how much it means to me that they're still there. They have my back, and I have theirs.

Kells

Sunday was Detroit's 59th St. Patrick's Day Parade!

Last year was my first time attending. I watched a local Irish punk band, Stone Clover, play at PJ's after the parade went by and ate at Mudgie's after that. I had also ran into someone I hadn't seen in a while, and was able to get pretty drunk since I wasn't driving.

This year I wanted to do something a little extra weird.
I wanted to dress up as bushmaster and outlaw Ned Kelly

If you know a thing or two about Irish lawlessness abroad, you might have heard of Ned Kelly. Not originally from Ireland, he was part of the first generation of Irish-Australians to colonize the island continent back in the mid- to late-1800s.
Ned's adolescent life included crime here and there. It was common in the impoverished communities trying to colonize the area. Despite trying to walk the straight-and-narrow path after several incarcerations, local authorities already had him labeled as a criminal and pinned crimes on him that weren't of his doing. They would also go out of their way to make his life and life of his family hell. They didn't like him, so they tried to make him and his family their whipping boy. His father was a criminal convicted of stealing livestock to resell in other markets and was sentenced to "transportation" to Australia from Ireland, so the likelihood of his criminal involvement increased and the prejudice was passed down. Ned ends up becoming more of an outlaw later on, but they really didn't leave him with much choice.

There's been many films, a few songs, as well as some paintings dedicated to and telling of his exploits.

Ned Portrayed by Mick Jagger. Directed by Tony Richardson, 1970. Source: IMP Awards

Ned Kelly, painted by Sidney Nolan, 1975. Source: Nicole Alexander

Here's a photo of the man himself.

Taken the day before his execution. From Wikipedia.

Heath Ledger as Ned Kelly in the 2003 film adaptation, directed by Gregor Jordan.

Heath with Orlando Bloom, who plays Joe Byrne. Source: Rotten Tomatoes 

Source: Motion Picture Armourer

 Source: Buried Cinema

The armor you see in the movie poster, the Sidney Nolan painting, and the still frame above is the icon of the story. It was one of the earlier examples of body armor, and the policemen he faced with his gang (who were also armored) were not prepared for it.
In the Gregor Jordan's 2003 adaptation, it is alluded that Ned was inspired by pictures of Japanese Samurai armor.

Ned's armor, preserved at the State Library in Victoria. Source: NFSA National Treasures

I decided I would make some fake armor in the same style out of painted cardboard to help celebrate the Irish occasion, as well as stand out so I could get noticed and start talking to people about my available creative talents, my different social networks, or other more Irish things.
The idea is pretty much the same as sign carriers they have outside stores except that I was promoting myself, and I was able to pick (or in this case make) my costume.

I made a couple changes to make it a little more personalized.

THUG LIFE painted on there like 2pac's tattoo is really more of a joke. I knew people would recognize and get a kick out of it, but in seriousness, a lot of what Ned Kelly did after the police came after him would be considered very thug life-like.

The D and clovers shouldn't really need explanation.

I added a dryer sheet mouthpiece so I wouldn't have to smell the paint fumes. The base coat of gray and several of the designs were done with spray paint.

When you feel like your online game is underrated...

I don't really feel as bad as some people do about self advertising. Any time you see an advertisement, it's paid for by whatever company the ad is for. So all ads are self-advertised all the time. It's just how the game works, and it's how you get your name out there. I felt like this was an opportunity, so I took it.
It wasn't the best time for this particular idea just because of how cold it was. While I was outside my coat was on most of the time. Ned is also usually shown wearing a coat over his armor.

photo credit: Megin Bradford

People really got a kick out of it. Most of them didn't know who Ned was, but now they're going to go look him up.

photo credit: Megin Bradford

photo credit: Megin Bradford

photo credit: Megin Bradford

My best friend Megin (Instagram: @killinthekat) who was my entourage and photographer.

We spent a good portion of time at McShane's, on the corner of Michigan Ave and Trumbull.

The parade:

Family goals:

Irish step-dancing

Afterward we stopped into several places off of Michigan Ave downtown. There were tents with music, bars and booths with beer and liquor, and food available to absorb it.

I, again, ran into another person I haven't seen in a long time. Megin saw a former coworker she doesn't see as often, but we had both seen him not that long ago where he works at.

These guys had ladies of all ages dancing. 

photo credit: Megin Bradford

The armor eventually grew to be more uncomfortable, especially trying to sit. I eventually took it off. I still stuck to my costume persona though. I thought I looked a bit more English with the hat, but it went with the vest so well.

Now that I've been Ned, the beard is coming off soon.
I haven't had a completely clean-shaven face in a few years. I haven't really needed to have one. I'm looking for new day jobs though, and I like changing things up after a certain point.

Here is my Daily Sketch for that day:

From the Irish Book of Kells