by Mike Worley
Will have some pics and a post tomorrow. Just got back from taking a "road trip" to Iowa to attend I-CON. Took the wife with me. We had a good time. But I had to have her home tonight to watch the "Mad Men" season finale.
'Bye now!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
All over, but the cryin'...and the counting, sorting, and puttin' stuff away...
by Mike Worley
I understand it is supposed to be a really good weekend, weather-wise, this upcoming weekend. And my wife and I will be traveling to Iowa. Kind of a "mini-vacation." I will spend Saturday doin' the "guest/professional" thang at I-Con, a comic book show put on by the Iowa Comic Book Club. It should be fun.
And it is ironic that the first weekend in November is to be mild as all the weekends in October sucked to a degree. Some more than others as it was downright cold, and killed business at the park for a greater part of that month. The last weekend came and went, and this post is to chronicle some of the shenanigans.
I'll guess I'll start at the Wood 'n' Leather shop. Jessica Duncan, the shop lead and my assistant manager's wife, did a really good job there this season. And she always comes up with some good stuff. Here's a Halloween decoration she designed...
We did one last caricature contest. There were a lot of good ones started, and I even started one too, but only three were finished. As it turned out, Marietta's "Marilyn" won...
...and Ryan's came in second...
I finished my hairbrained idea of putting "moons" in a "Twilight" type rice jewelry necklace. They really do glow in the dark, but I still chuckle at them being nothing more than mini-Sculpy boogers. This is the "werewolf essence" necklace with Jacob's name, and the moon, in a clear vial modeled by Maren...
...and I took some snapshots of the kids. I was out all day there figuring if they had to tough out the cold then so would I. They were a great bunch this season and I had a good time. I caught Maren when she saw I had my camera, and did the "don't take my picture" dodge to no avail...
...and that picture had her rather wild-eyed, so it just seemed natural to do some photoshopping for Halloween...
...just goes to show what an idiot with Photoshop can do.
I tried to think I was going down swinging instead of coasting. I cut another "celeb" stencil for the Airbrush shop. Thought it turned out well...
...and I'll see if anyone out there can name all the celeb designs in this one...
And I finally cracked, giving in to the hype and the movie. Sold some of these too. I cut the stencil, but one of my artists, Stacie, did the painting. It turned out really well, getting a compliment from "da boss lady," Barb. She's quite an airbrush jockey, so it was a great kudo. Anyhoo, here it is...
I figured if I was going to do one of those, I'd rather do one in commemoration of when Jackson was at his height of cool.
Sunday, we were going to come up with some sort of "end of the season" prank. I heard the security guards were going to toss the leftover pumpkins off the top of the Mamba. Don't think they did, but it would've been awesome to watch. At 7:30pm on that Sunday, though, we all tired and everyone just wanted to go home. I can't blame them. It was a grueling season. Here's some of the "last ones left standing"...
They weren't, by any means, the only ones. There were others who would've stayed, such as Taryn and Kim, if it had been busier. But it wasn't, and I needed to cut some payroll. A familiar drill everywhere nowadays. I shared an "end of season" cigar with one of my leads, Jessica Bloom, and my assistant manager, Jacob Duncan. I took one last picture. And while there will be those offended by the "vulgar gesture," it was given more out of a defiant sense of fun reflecting my own sense of warm, warped humor...
I wish I could say that I influenced some young lives, hopefully making them better and happier people. In truth, I got more from each of the employees I worked with than they ever got from me. Knowing them has made my life better. Richer.
And while I'm relieved and happy this most trying of seasons is finally over, there is also a sense of sadness that a wonderful time for me has come to an end. It can't be reclaimed or relived, only remembered. Maybe this quote sums it all up better...
"Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot"...
I understand it is supposed to be a really good weekend, weather-wise, this upcoming weekend. And my wife and I will be traveling to Iowa. Kind of a "mini-vacation." I will spend Saturday doin' the "guest/professional" thang at I-Con, a comic book show put on by the Iowa Comic Book Club. It should be fun.
And it is ironic that the first weekend in November is to be mild as all the weekends in October sucked to a degree. Some more than others as it was downright cold, and killed business at the park for a greater part of that month. The last weekend came and went, and this post is to chronicle some of the shenanigans.
I'll guess I'll start at the Wood 'n' Leather shop. Jessica Duncan, the shop lead and my assistant manager's wife, did a really good job there this season. And she always comes up with some good stuff. Here's a Halloween decoration she designed...
We did one last caricature contest. There were a lot of good ones started, and I even started one too, but only three were finished. As it turned out, Marietta's "Marilyn" won...
...and Ryan's came in second...
I finished my hairbrained idea of putting "moons" in a "Twilight" type rice jewelry necklace. They really do glow in the dark, but I still chuckle at them being nothing more than mini-Sculpy boogers. This is the "werewolf essence" necklace with Jacob's name, and the moon, in a clear vial modeled by Maren...
...and I took some snapshots of the kids. I was out all day there figuring if they had to tough out the cold then so would I. They were a great bunch this season and I had a good time. I caught Maren when she saw I had my camera, and did the "don't take my picture" dodge to no avail...
...and that picture had her rather wild-eyed, so it just seemed natural to do some photoshopping for Halloween...
...just goes to show what an idiot with Photoshop can do.
I tried to think I was going down swinging instead of coasting. I cut another "celeb" stencil for the Airbrush shop. Thought it turned out well...
...and I'll see if anyone out there can name all the celeb designs in this one...
And I finally cracked, giving in to the hype and the movie. Sold some of these too. I cut the stencil, but one of my artists, Stacie, did the painting. It turned out really well, getting a compliment from "da boss lady," Barb. She's quite an airbrush jockey, so it was a great kudo. Anyhoo, here it is...
I figured if I was going to do one of those, I'd rather do one in commemoration of when Jackson was at his height of cool.
Sunday, we were going to come up with some sort of "end of the season" prank. I heard the security guards were going to toss the leftover pumpkins off the top of the Mamba. Don't think they did, but it would've been awesome to watch. At 7:30pm on that Sunday, though, we all tired and everyone just wanted to go home. I can't blame them. It was a grueling season. Here's some of the "last ones left standing"...
They weren't, by any means, the only ones. There were others who would've stayed, such as Taryn and Kim, if it had been busier. But it wasn't, and I needed to cut some payroll. A familiar drill everywhere nowadays. I shared an "end of season" cigar with one of my leads, Jessica Bloom, and my assistant manager, Jacob Duncan. I took one last picture. And while there will be those offended by the "vulgar gesture," it was given more out of a defiant sense of fun reflecting my own sense of warm, warped humor...
I wish I could say that I influenced some young lives, hopefully making them better and happier people. In truth, I got more from each of the employees I worked with than they ever got from me. Knowing them has made my life better. Richer.
And while I'm relieved and happy this most trying of seasons is finally over, there is also a sense of sadness that a wonderful time for me has come to an end. It can't be reclaimed or relived, only remembered. Maybe this quote sums it all up better...
"Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot"...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Happy Birthday to me, I'm no longer 53...
by Mike Worley
Depending on how you count time, and how blogspot marks time, 10/28 would actually mark my last day of my 54th year and my "54th birthday anniversary" would be the beginning of my 55th year on the planet. Either way, legally I can't take advantage of the senior discount at Denny's for another year. Don't know if I want to.
I'll be working at the park my birthday evening. Worlds of Fun wants to squeeze more out of their Halloween Haunts. Not looking forward to it.
And I've found myself really anxious this week--more crabby, bitchy and moody than usual. I've been haunted the past few years with the knowledge that my grandfather passed away at 55. Guess I feel like all my sins have come back to torment me. Kind of a feeling of morose futility. Jeez! I sound like an Emo kid!!!
My wife and I once played the "if you knew this was your last day on earth, what would you do?" game. She asked me what I'd eat. My answer was what ever she "scooped on a shingle," or what ever we would normally get from a drive thru. Probably a double hamburger from McDonald's. Maybe a taco salad from In-A-Tub-Tacos. At that point wouldn't eating something exotic, expensive, and grossly over priced be rather stupid?
I finished up the drawing for my niece, and did it in color. Like a dope, I framed it before making a scan of it, so I took a picture of it instead. I may need to do an electronic version later on, but I can do the color in Illustrator. Here it is...
...and yes, you can see my shadow with the camera.
Some sketching, and then to bed.
Depending on how you count time, and how blogspot marks time, 10/28 would actually mark my last day of my 54th year and my "54th birthday anniversary" would be the beginning of my 55th year on the planet. Either way, legally I can't take advantage of the senior discount at Denny's for another year. Don't know if I want to.
I'll be working at the park my birthday evening. Worlds of Fun wants to squeeze more out of their Halloween Haunts. Not looking forward to it.
And I've found myself really anxious this week--more crabby, bitchy and moody than usual. I've been haunted the past few years with the knowledge that my grandfather passed away at 55. Guess I feel like all my sins have come back to torment me. Kind of a feeling of morose futility. Jeez! I sound like an Emo kid!!!
My wife and I once played the "if you knew this was your last day on earth, what would you do?" game. She asked me what I'd eat. My answer was what ever she "scooped on a shingle," or what ever we would normally get from a drive thru. Probably a double hamburger from McDonald's. Maybe a taco salad from In-A-Tub-Tacos. At that point wouldn't eating something exotic, expensive, and grossly over priced be rather stupid?
I finished up the drawing for my niece, and did it in color. Like a dope, I framed it before making a scan of it, so I took a picture of it instead. I may need to do an electronic version later on, but I can do the color in Illustrator. Here it is...
...and yes, you can see my shadow with the camera.
Some sketching, and then to bed.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Anatomy of a stencil, with apologies to airbrush artistes...
by Mike Worley
Most airbrush artists I've run into, at least those doing airbrush t-shirts and such, have a bit of distain for stencils. The feeling seems to be that stencil useage takes away from the "skill" or artistry involved in painting with an airbrush. I guess like anything, they can be overused, or become too much of a crutch. But I also feel that, when used properly, some really good things can be accomplished.
I think like any good use of media, playing to the strengths of a particular medium is imperative. My opinion. But equally important is the drawing in the early steps. Finding a balance of black and white to achieve likeness, structure, and dynamics needs to be incorporated, too. Hey, it worked for Alex Toth!
Since it's "Halloween," and we've been highlighting monsters, I chose as the subject matter the delightful monster who kills killers, Dexter Morgan as portrayed by actor, Michael C. Hall. Here's my initial stencil tracing, which was refined more by comparing it to the original source and photo, before putting the knife to it...
Here's what the stencil looks like after refining the sketch and then doing all the finished cutting...
The way I was shown by another artist, to get the stencil to work on shirts and so that it won't fray, is to build up layers of paint gradually...
Eventually, the color is built up enough, and at that point the paint is heat pressed into the fabric. The material for this is Pellon...
After which, it is wise to do the same thing to the reverse side...
Here's my first attempt at using the stencil on a shirt. My original concept for this is to try and do "blood spatter" since "Dexter" is both a forensic blood analyst and a serial killer...
Add a name, and maybe the thing is sell-able. If not, I made it for my daughter, any way, because she's a big "Dexter" fan. Nothing like making cheap Christmas gifts, eh?
And I tried it on a display square. Will it sell? I don't know. It's the last weekend at the park, and if the weather holds up, we might sell a few. After all, the idea IS to make some money. I just want to give things a different look...
I never did show how the "Edward Cullen" stencil could be used differently. Strangely, this past weekend, it was the "Jacob" image that sold better. Fans can be fickle...
And here's a sketch I dusted off to finish. It's for one of the girls I work with, and she's getting married sometime next year. She also wants a "nicer" one, more wedding like. And I've thought about doing it, but adding some Springfield denizens to fill out her wedding party. Maybe Duff-Man and Disco Stu for groomsmen. Maybe Patty and Titania for brides' maids. We'll see...
'Bye now, all ten of you who read this!
Most airbrush artists I've run into, at least those doing airbrush t-shirts and such, have a bit of distain for stencils. The feeling seems to be that stencil useage takes away from the "skill" or artistry involved in painting with an airbrush. I guess like anything, they can be overused, or become too much of a crutch. But I also feel that, when used properly, some really good things can be accomplished.
I think like any good use of media, playing to the strengths of a particular medium is imperative. My opinion. But equally important is the drawing in the early steps. Finding a balance of black and white to achieve likeness, structure, and dynamics needs to be incorporated, too. Hey, it worked for Alex Toth!
Since it's "Halloween," and we've been highlighting monsters, I chose as the subject matter the delightful monster who kills killers, Dexter Morgan as portrayed by actor, Michael C. Hall. Here's my initial stencil tracing, which was refined more by comparing it to the original source and photo, before putting the knife to it...
Here's what the stencil looks like after refining the sketch and then doing all the finished cutting...
The way I was shown by another artist, to get the stencil to work on shirts and so that it won't fray, is to build up layers of paint gradually...
Eventually, the color is built up enough, and at that point the paint is heat pressed into the fabric. The material for this is Pellon...
After which, it is wise to do the same thing to the reverse side...
Here's my first attempt at using the stencil on a shirt. My original concept for this is to try and do "blood spatter" since "Dexter" is both a forensic blood analyst and a serial killer...
Add a name, and maybe the thing is sell-able. If not, I made it for my daughter, any way, because she's a big "Dexter" fan. Nothing like making cheap Christmas gifts, eh?
And I tried it on a display square. Will it sell? I don't know. It's the last weekend at the park, and if the weather holds up, we might sell a few. After all, the idea IS to make some money. I just want to give things a different look...
I never did show how the "Edward Cullen" stencil could be used differently. Strangely, this past weekend, it was the "Jacob" image that sold better. Fans can be fickle...
And here's a sketch I dusted off to finish. It's for one of the girls I work with, and she's getting married sometime next year. She also wants a "nicer" one, more wedding like. And I've thought about doing it, but adding some Springfield denizens to fill out her wedding party. Maybe Duff-Man and Disco Stu for groomsmen. Maybe Patty and Titania for brides' maids. We'll see...
'Bye now, all ten of you who read this!
doin' what comes naturally...
by Mike Worley
I've been showing stuff that we've been doing at the park to bolster sales. At this point, it's all been about the Airbrush T-shirt shop. But one of my favorite operations happens to be the Rice jewelry we do. It's attached to our body art operations, and contrary to popular opinion, I don't really like drawing on people, especially scantly clad teeny boppers wanting henna tattoos on their stomachs or backsides, nor the little kids wanting facepaints. Not my thang! But the Rice jewelry appeals to me because it's an actual object. A trinket. But like everything else, sales have been down. So I came up with a sale with my body art lead to goose sales. To cash in on the "Twilight" craze, here's what we have...
I got the wild idea to add "moons" to the jewelry. Glow-in-the-dark moons. I searched Michael's and Hobby Lobby, but could not come up with a glow-in-the-dark bead. So I came up with the lame idea of using flourescent Sculpy and making them myself. Needless to say, it was little more than rolling boogers, something my wife commented on as finally putting something I'm good at to good use. She also said I took waaaaaayyyy too much time on each little moon. And they had to fit inside the rice vials, so they couldn't be very big. Here's the before...
...and here's my glow-in-the-dark booger/moons baked...
The only thing missing was the joy of flicking the boogers, and the feeling of projecting a snot rocket. But I can do that without Sculpy.
I did do some drawing, which was fun. Here's a Simpson-ized version of my Body Art lead, Jessica, first in black and white, then in color...
And lastly, an homage to the great William Campbell, creator of the "Weird-Ohs!" My own Wade A Sekund, based on his Wade A. Minute for the Hawk model company...
Be good!
I've been showing stuff that we've been doing at the park to bolster sales. At this point, it's all been about the Airbrush T-shirt shop. But one of my favorite operations happens to be the Rice jewelry we do. It's attached to our body art operations, and contrary to popular opinion, I don't really like drawing on people, especially scantly clad teeny boppers wanting henna tattoos on their stomachs or backsides, nor the little kids wanting facepaints. Not my thang! But the Rice jewelry appeals to me because it's an actual object. A trinket. But like everything else, sales have been down. So I came up with a sale with my body art lead to goose sales. To cash in on the "Twilight" craze, here's what we have...
I got the wild idea to add "moons" to the jewelry. Glow-in-the-dark moons. I searched Michael's and Hobby Lobby, but could not come up with a glow-in-the-dark bead. So I came up with the lame idea of using flourescent Sculpy and making them myself. Needless to say, it was little more than rolling boogers, something my wife commented on as finally putting something I'm good at to good use. She also said I took waaaaaayyyy too much time on each little moon. And they had to fit inside the rice vials, so they couldn't be very big. Here's the before...
...and here's my glow-in-the-dark booger/moons baked...
The only thing missing was the joy of flicking the boogers, and the feeling of projecting a snot rocket. But I can do that without Sculpy.
I did do some drawing, which was fun. Here's a Simpson-ized version of my Body Art lead, Jessica, first in black and white, then in color...
And lastly, an homage to the great William Campbell, creator of the "Weird-Ohs!" My own Wade A Sekund, based on his Wade A. Minute for the Hawk model company...
Be good!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Finally!...now if we could only get some good weather...
Jacob, my assistant manager, did all the "hard" stuff. The painting and such. Me? I just wanted the Airbrush shop to look drop-dead awesome. And I have some other plans for the other operations in my charge, too. They just aren't, necessarily, art/visually related. BID.
While monsters have been the theme, I remember as a kid, that "Captain Company" used to run superhero stuff right along side the monster merchandise in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. And superhero merchandise is very much a part of the Halloween scene, including all the Halloween costumes. We get requests for some "superhero" type stuff to paint on shirts, so it seems fitting to include them on the "Halloween" displays...
Here are some examples of some Halloween specific designs. Maybe they'll work. Maybe not. The "skull/bleeding black heart" is our own spin on a design used at another park...
I wanted something with a bit of a glamour spin, yet with some unsettling overtones...
I introduced Jacob to the wacky world of Basil Wolverton. At least it looks different...
Worlds of Fun is running the slogan, "All You Fear Is Here," as part of this year's campaign. So we incorporated our own version...
...and here's how this looks over our first monster wall...
With the remaining "monster" portraits Jacob painted, plus the Twilight stuff and other designs, here's how the east wall of the Airbrush shop looks...
And finally, what that certain corner of our universe looks like...
If you're in the area, you ought to come out to Worlds of Fun for the Halloween Haunts. You could see our stuff for real.
While monsters have been the theme, I remember as a kid, that "Captain Company" used to run superhero stuff right along side the monster merchandise in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. And superhero merchandise is very much a part of the Halloween scene, including all the Halloween costumes. We get requests for some "superhero" type stuff to paint on shirts, so it seems fitting to include them on the "Halloween" displays...
Here are some examples of some Halloween specific designs. Maybe they'll work. Maybe not. The "skull/bleeding black heart" is our own spin on a design used at another park...
I wanted something with a bit of a glamour spin, yet with some unsettling overtones...
I introduced Jacob to the wacky world of Basil Wolverton. At least it looks different...
Worlds of Fun is running the slogan, "All You Fear Is Here," as part of this year's campaign. So we incorporated our own version...
...and here's how this looks over our first monster wall...
With the remaining "monster" portraits Jacob painted, plus the Twilight stuff and other designs, here's how the east wall of the Airbrush shop looks...
And finally, what that certain corner of our universe looks like...
If you're in the area, you ought to come out to Worlds of Fun for the Halloween Haunts. You could see our stuff for real.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
...drinkin' homebrew from a wooden cup, the folks dancin' got all shook up!...
by Mike Worley
Nothin' like the lyrics to an old Chuck Berry song to start off! And to show off my purchase from this year's Renaissance Festival...MY OWN WOODEN MUG! WOO HOO!!!
My niece is getting married this weekend, and asked me to do a caricature of her and her fiance. Here they are...
Since they are going to be "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," they wanted something of an homage to the Brangelina movie from a few years back. To see the entire image, just click on it...
I guess I can't help channeling Ed Benedict.
Since "Twilight" is all the rage and the new movie is close to release, here's a shirt I did for my wife about a month ago...
Next, I hope to show the finalized version of the Airbrush shop's "last gasp" for the season. And my Halloween caricature for this year.
Leilah tov!
Nothin' like the lyrics to an old Chuck Berry song to start off! And to show off my purchase from this year's Renaissance Festival...MY OWN WOODEN MUG! WOO HOO!!!
My niece is getting married this weekend, and asked me to do a caricature of her and her fiance. Here they are...
Since they are going to be "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," they wanted something of an homage to the Brangelina movie from a few years back. To see the entire image, just click on it...
I guess I can't help channeling Ed Benedict.
Since "Twilight" is all the rage and the new movie is close to release, here's a shirt I did for my wife about a month ago...
Next, I hope to show the finalized version of the Airbrush shop's "last gasp" for the season. And my Halloween caricature for this year.
Leilah tov!
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