silly

Week of Lincoln: Day Three

| Erika Schnatz

Here’s another Lincoln drawing from a few years ago:

If you can’t read my tiny handwriting, it says:

Abe Lincoln actually looked a lot like this. Who else would be able to free the slaves single handed-ly and wrestle a 7 foot bear at the same time? Damn straight.

America has never been a place for sissies.

Fabulous. If you think this is weird, just wait until tomorrow!

Friday Afternoon Comics: Your Brain on Jazz

| Erika Schnatz

So I’ve been a major slacker on the art front this week – my apologies, loyal followers.

The Year of Gnomes project is going on a bit of a hiatus, so I have more time to make comics. However, there will definitely be gnomes in some of my comics. So don’t despair, gnome fans.

Without further ado:

This is based on a silly idea I wrote down on a Post-it note months and months ago.
Enjoy.
More comics on the way next week!

A Week of Gnomes: Day Eight

| Erika Schnatz
Day Eight: Turn an old book into something new
I am always on the lookout for old books that I can mess around with, so I had lots of choices for this one. I thought it would be fun to make the gnome visit a Mayan pyramid, so I got out my Exacto knife again and cut up an image to make it a pop up picture.
 
I believe this is a Reader’s Digest book about World Mysteries (or something of that nature). I bought it at Goodwill for a dollar.
 
I cut around different parts of the image and folded them up to make it pop up – there are four different levels to this picture.
 
You may also notice the tiny gnome I made on the right hand side of the picture, approaching the pyramid. Not correctly proportioned, but if I made it the “right” size he’d be practically invisible.
An additional view.
Materials: Book, Exacto knife, paper, pen, and markers (to make the tiny gnome), tape
This took very little time and turned out way better than I anticipated. Fun times!

A Week of Gnomes: Day Seven

| Erika Schnatz
Day Seven: Make something with your breakfast
My normal breakfast consists of a Nutrigrain bar and some yogurt, not terribly exciting or inspiring, so I waited until the weekend for this one. My wonderful boyfriend made the pancakes and I decorated. The first one turned out to be the perfect shape for a gnome’s head.
 
My workstation (the kitchen counter)
 
I added some powdered sugar to create some sideburns of some sort. It may have made him more Santa Claus-esque.
 
Ready to eat!
It was one of the tastiest pancakes I have ever eaten. It took me about two minutes to scarf down. Then I had some non-gnome pancakes that were also very delicious.
Materials: Pancakes, Reddi-Whip, strawberry topping, chocolate chips, powdered sugar
Tomorrow: fun with books!

A Week of Gnomes: Day Six

| Erika Schnatz
Day Six: Make something using a stencil.
My initial thought was to make something sort of like a chalk outline of a body, like what you might find at a crime scene, but I went with something a bit lighter. Gnome crossing sign!
 
First I had to use my Exacto knife skills on a piece of Bristol board.
 
Here’s the finished product! Stencil, cut out, and sign.
 
Another view.
Make way for gnomes!!
Materials used: Bristol board, acrylic paint, artists tape (to create lines around edge and underneath gnome), cardboard (for backing)
I kind of want to make a bunch of these and hang them up in parks at a kid’s eye level. Make a little mischief and spread some fun.
However, due to the Portland weather it’s going to be a few months before the sun comes back out. For now I’ll just hang it up in my room.
Tomorrow: gnome + food (again!)

A Week of Gnomes: Day Five

| Erika Schnatz
Day Five: Make something using fruits or vegetables.
This worked out well because I had some fruit that was about to spoil. I turned it into a little gnome sculpture before putting it in the compost bin.
 
 
 
Materials: apple (for body), orange (for head, beard, and eyebrows), raisins (for eyes), scrapbook paper (for hat and shoes), Sharpie marker (to draw on a little smile), hot glue gun (to put it all together)
It was fun setting up a photo shoot for him on my desk. Very happy I didn’t injure myself with the hot glue gun (I have burnt myself badly in the past, glad that didn’t happen this time!)
Tomorrow: another gnome, in a different form

A Week of Gnomes: Day Four

| Erika Schnatz
Day Four: Work with a collection (I skipped over the challenge for Day Four, but I will come back to it! This is technically the challenge from Day Five. Forgive me)
Since I am a gnome aficionado, I obviously have amassed a few:
 
The gnome in the Hawaiian shirt has come with me on a number of trips and vacations.
 
 
$3 gnome from Goodwill. I had to buy it. I keep meaning to give him a Portland makeover, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe I’ll be able to do that in a future challenge.
A page of gnome doodles. Some of these are super weird. 
Materials: Nikon SLR camera, pen
Tune in next week for some more gnome-y goodness.

A Week of Gnomes: Day Three

| Erika Schnatz
Day three: Make something with paper, but don’t draw, cut, or paste anything. 
I am not an origami expert at all, because I have a really hard time figuring out the folds based on written instructions. I first tried following the instructions here, but I had a tough time and gave up on that.
Thankfully I found this video on YouTube, and did a pretty good job of following the instructions:

 
The resulting origami gnome bookmark. It sorta looks gnomish.
Once it’s placed in a book, it does look sort of like you’re smooshing a gnome within the pages.
Here is a way cooler gnome, designed by Eric Joisel:

Materials used: scrapbook paper

One more gnome post tomorrow to round out the week!