sketches

IF - Forward

2012-01-28T12:21:00.000-06:00

The Juggernaut putting his best foot forward.

Why I Love Religion

2012-01-20T17:55:00.000-06:00

So this guy posted a spoken work piece on the topic of ‘hating religion but loving Jesus’ that has been fairly popular on the interwebs. Here is a link to it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY.

It is a symbol of everything that I find weak and shallow in American evangelical movement. In fact the amazing atheist points out its many shortcomings in his follow up video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBo7Z_abiLE&feature=related (a warning for his explicit language).

But the purpose of this post is to highlight another video response by a Catholic priest who offers up his own spoken word version of why religion, though broken as it is, has value for the followers of Christ. Plus how often do you get to hear a priest kindof sortof rap. Enjoy.

IF - Prepare

2012-01-18T13:20:00.003-06:00

I am in the middle of preparing for my last two ARE tests and it feels like a squirrel jamming too many acorns into its tree in preparation for winter.

Down the Middle Drop One More Grain of Sand

2012-01-17T11:59:00.000-06:00

A year ago today we lost Greg to cancer. This anniversary has made me a bit more reflective today – almost how I imagine the new year affects many. I am looking back over the year and I see

our travels and adventures. From looking out a plane window onto Alaska to exploring a beautiful steel structure that is only roof now in East Dallas with Laura to having a debate with good friends at a rest stop on the high plains between Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

our struggles and accomplishments. From Structures to buying our house to see St. Thomas bud and flourish.

the joy of new life. From Eli to Claire to my nephew Hudson. May they stir our resolve and strength to fight for the good in this world.

the passing and mourning of life in both my Great Uncle Pat and Greg Hewlett. You both are being missed and you both are loved. Your legacies are continuing - your great generosity and love that you sowed into this world is bearing fruit.

God has been gracious to me.

IF - Grounded

2012-01-06T13:00:00.000-06:00

Clayface might be Batman's most grounded rouge.

IF - Highlight

2011-12-30T10:54:00.000-06:00

Heros rendered in highlighter

SN - Robe of the heavens

2011-12-28T13:52:00.000-06:00

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment,

like a robe you will roll them up,

like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same,

and your years will have no end.”

-Hebrews 1:10-12

Cardboard Manger

2011-12-25T22:18:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas! A few images of the nativity set I built. It is just a few pieces of cardboard slotted together with a plex star.

IF - Messenger

2011-12-23T10:52:00.000-06:00

Hermes the Bike Messenger

SN - Mary and the Angel

2011-12-19T11:52:00.000-06:00

IF - Sink

2011-12-16T10:39:00.000-06:00

My recent illustration of the same passage definately set the groundwork for this version.

SN - Wolves and Lambs

2011-12-14T13:39:00.002-06:00

IF - Separated

2011-12-13T13:23:00.000-06:00

Moving In

2011-12-06T17:47:00.000-06:00

I realized the other day that we have not put up any pics of our new house (which we are greatly enjoying). So here is what we have been up to the last couple of months:

We got our tree trimmed and some numbers put up.

Laura and Theresa busy painting.

Laura excited about the wall color or her plant?

Bookshelves being assembled

Bookshelf in full glory

Living room entry.

Living room looking other direction

Hall with painting and wine

More bookshelves in the study

My really nerdy desk that I built (Laura has a similar one on the other wall)

The kitchen

Our awesome backyard

Built a firepit around the well

Building the desks on my deck

And finally a short vido on packing up our bookcase:

SN - John the Baptist

2011-12-06T11:55:00.000-06:00

I like to picture John the Baptist as this burly wild man – the very image of the crazy prophet.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-30T08:46:00.000-06:00

We traveled out to my parents’ house in Wink for Thanksgiving – the highlight of which was getting to meet my nephew (not that seeing the rest of my family was great as well).

Me and Elmo entertaining Hudson.

Mom and Hudson

Dad and Hudson (the resemblence is uncanny)

Corey and Hudson (see the pattern here)

Carra and Hudson

Trying to get Hudson to smile for the camera

We had some good Cajun food for thanksgiving then went to play in the park.

Laura with Blevin (my second cousin)

Heath demonstrating his pelican riding techniques

Uncle Mark demonstrating his defeating the fundemental laws of gravity

Bradon and Belvin demonstrating their cuteness

Olive demostrating "the sit"

Pretty awesome family

SN - Sheep and Goats

2011-11-21T12:09:00.000-06:00

IF - Vanity

2011-11-18T16:41:00.003-06:00

IF - Silent

2011-11-15T17:04:00.000-06:00

Fort Davis and Marfa

2011-11-14T16:29:00.000-06:00

We just got back from a trip out to the West Texas towns of Fort Davis and Marfa. Saw alot of mountains and got to visit with family as well. It provided some much needed rest.

View from our hotel (note the large radio antenna off to the right)

The Davis mountains

Ambling up some rocks

The Cottonwoods were in their full Fall glory

Framed view

Minor structural problems

Great Pizza place in Marfa

The Chinati foundation is an art museum in a old military fort on the outskirts of Marfa.

Some big concrete minimalist sculptures by Donald Judd

A telescope at the McDonald Observatory in which I saw Jupiter and four of its moons.

A telescope at the McDonald Observatory

Moon rise over the McDonald Observatory

IF - Stripes

2011-11-04T16:21:00.000-05:00

IF - Scary

2011-10-28T16:02:00.000-05:00

The scariest thing in my everyday life is the apathetic and prideful side of my heart.

Dallas in the Fog

2011-10-26T16:36:00.000-05:00

Monday morning it was really foggy in Dallas - very appropriate October weather.

Very out of focus shot of my bus picking me up.

Downtown Dallas in the fog.

SN - Survey the Cross

2011-10-24T12:02:00.000-05:00

IF - Fuel

2011-10-21T15:07:00.000-05:00

Quantum Levitation

2011-10-20T15:41:00.000-05:00

I feel like hover boards are almost here:

And for a more detailed video of the science behind it as well as some double levitation demonstrations go here to watch it.

(Via)

IF - Scattered

2011-10-17T13:00:00.000-05:00

This was an illustration of our opening hymn/prayer for our service every week. We sing “As the grains of wheat were scattered and gathered to be one, may Your body also be gathered from among all nations.” It is from an early church manuscript and presents a beautiful picture of the body of Christ.

SN - Be Thou My Vision

2011-10-10T12:03:00.000-05:00

While not technically a sermon sketch - I did sketch it during the sermon. Also - I apologize that this one turned out kind of creepy especially considering the beautiful source material...

The Power of the Doodle

2011-10-10T12:02:00.000-05:00

Short TED talk on the value of doodling. I have tried to explain this concept to people my entire life so it is immensely refreshing to hear someone else articulate it.

IF - Contraption

2011-10-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

Our bodies are pretty amazing contraptions - especially if you get below the skin.

The Need for a Good Church Architecture Book

2011-10-05T21:53:00.000-05:00

I'll write this one of these days:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/10/04/church-architecture-book/

Also:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/10/04/church-architecture-book/

SN - Dogs Beneath the Table

2011-10-05T12:43:00.000-05:00

IF - Hibernate

2011-09-30T13:07:00.002-05:00

SN - Peter Beneath the Waves

2011-09-30T07:41:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Timothy for the sermon recap and Brooke for the bullitin as I missed church this past Sunday.

Big Bend Video

2011-09-29T12:35:00.000-05:00

A video I made of some of my recent trips to Big Bend national Park. Music by The Decemberists, Fox and the Bird, and Ryan Bingham.

IF - Ferocious

2011-09-27T12:12:00.002-05:00

Ever get the feeling your cat imagines itself as a ferocious smilodon attacking a herd of platybelodons?

SN - Loaves and Fish

2011-09-20T08:01:00.002-05:00

Matthew 14:13-21

Darwinian Theory of Beauty

2011-09-19T17:58:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this presentation by Mr. Dutton. He is taking beauty seriously by recognizing the concept of beauty as being hardwired into the human heart (and dismissing the whole ‘eye of the beholder’ notion). Of course, we disagree about how that hardwiring came about…

IF - Mesmerizing

2011-09-19T12:02:00.000-05:00

We Own a House!

2011-09-16T18:05:00.000-05:00

After a long hot summer of fighting for it we are now proud owners of a great little house.

The Profound Recession

2011-09-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

When the 2008 housing bubble burst we started calling the economic fallout a ‘recession’. We used the term recession rather than depression because the last time we were in a big depression there were guys jumping out of windows and widespread woe and want in this country. We didn’t want to conjure a similar outcome with a slip of the tongue so we insisted that this time it was merely going to be a recession.

Well we are two years into this recession with things looking grimmer than ever. I just read an NPR article stating that we might be heading into a profound recession. Is there any economical distinction between a profound recession and a great depression? It makes me wonder if the next time our global economy is in the dumps that we will hesitate to call it a recession and revert back to the comfort of a great depression.

(I just realized that diction actually interested me for once)

Ways Different Christian Denominations See One Another

2011-09-15T16:55:00.000-05:00

So I made this chart after seeing the incredibly clever and funny one on people in higher education (link here). No disrespect or dissention intended – merely using humor to offer another viewpoint on our differences.

SN - Reaping Angel

2011-09-13T07:51:00.000-05:00

The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. - Matthew 13:39

Nice Videos on the Ground Zero Memorial

2011-09-12T13:02:00.000-05:00

Click here for a couple of videos explaining the architecture of the ground zero memorial as well as the other buildings in the area: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/30/us/sept-11-reckoning/ground-zero.html.

Also, here is a website showing all the major memorials for September 11th that have been completed so far: 9/11 memorials.

IF - Boundary

2011-09-09T15:44:00.000-05:00

It fascinates me what can constitute an urban boundaries. In a large number of cases the natural terrain influences the artificial development such as the mountains and ocean in Rio. But the artificial can bound the natural – a prime example being the parks in New York City. Here is an illustration I did of Bryant Square park from directly above:

Bryant Park in NYC

Move by Rick Mereki

2011-09-07T17:50:00.000-05:00

Great little film about the wonders of travel:

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

They made two others: LEARN and EAT.

via

SN - The Mustard Seed

2011-09-07T07:59:00.000-05:00

I have always had the (bad) habit of sketching during sermons so I thought I would try to make them a regular feature on my blog. Last week Saji preached on the mustard seed parable.

And a bonus one showing a watcher blowing his trumpet.

IF - Mysterious

2011-09-02T15:10:00.000-05:00

Anytime I read a great book or look upon a great work of art or study a great work of philosophy, I feel like I am getting just a glimpse of the mysteries of reality - as if looking through a keyhole into an expansive room.

IF - Disguise

2011-08-26T13:21:00.003-05:00

Jacob disguises himself as Esau to receive Issac's blessing.

IF - Swell

2011-08-12T12:09:00.000-05:00

A swell dirigible.

My Illustration Friday entry for the word swell. Illustration Friday is a collaborative website that provides a word for artists to illustrate every Friday. All skill levels welcome - give it a try.

Always liked the word dirigible.

What Teachers Make

2011-08-12T09:11:00.001-05:00

For all the awesome teachers out there:

IF - Imperfect

2011-08-10T16:53:00.001-05:00

I am realizing how much your medium can affect your inner need for perfection. I am not a perfectionist by nature but I realize that with pen and pencil I have achieved a tight control of the line. This can be a good thing but if I ever want to shake off my need to exercise complete control over my instrument – I turn to watercolor. It is a messy – imperfect tool and being such you have to bring a measure of devil-may-care attitude to the table if you want to create beautiful thing with it.

Also the scan is definately imperfect. Got to find a way to get watercolors in digitally.

IF - Obsession

2011-07-29T12:09:00.000-05:00

I have had an obsession (if one could call it that) with transformers since elementary school. My latest transformers related project was a competition for a transformers website to design them a mascot. Here he is:

Also I compiled the process images:

Bugs Bunny Drawing

2011-07-26T13:46:00.000-05:00

I was never a fan of those drawing exercises that involved breaking down the subject into sketchy circles. Today Abraham Piper posted one over at his blog that involved Bugs Bunny. Since I asked him to submit his attempt (which he graciously did) I find it only fair that I submit my attempt. I also wanted to test the method to see how well it works.

My first attempt not looking directly at the tutorial.

My second attempt referencing the tutorial. I guess there is some value in it after all.

New House

2011-07-22T13:56:00.002-05:00

So we are buying a house. Who knew a major life decision could sneak up on you so stealthy? Saturday July 2nd we decided to check out a house in the neighborhood that was being posted – by Wednesday we had a purchase contract signed – the next week we have an inspection – and now this week we have financing under way and a closing date for late August.

Buying a house meant coming to a lot of decisions quickly. We will be tied to the Dallas area for awhile and we found out that we were okay with that. More than okay, we are excited about planting ourselves in the Junius Heights neighborhood. We both have really good jobs, we have family relatively close by, a lot of good friends, a great church, and both have really enjoyed living in East Dallas this past year.

It is a 3 bedroom 1 bath Arts and Crafts house built in the year 1924. Beautiful front porch with a mammoth Bodock tree on the east side. We are excited about moving at the end of August (providing everything goes smoothly in the meantime) and looking forward to having people over.

Some pics (more to come later this month):

Backyard is huge and a bit wild.

The Beaten Sea: Hard Way

2011-07-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

The Beaten Sea is a Dallas based folk band that we have had the privilege of seeing on multiple occasions. If you like them their CD is available here: http://purchase.thebeatensea.com/

IF - Gesture

2011-07-15T15:52:00.000-05:00

Hand Gestures (left out the offensive ones)

Arrietty Trailer - New Ghibli Movie!

2011-07-15T11:41:00.001-05:00

Obi Wan Hope Poster

2011-07-12T13:26:00.000-05:00

Just nerding up a now classic poster.

And I thought it should also come in 'Jedi Spirit' blue.

IF - Stay

2011-07-08T10:00:00.002-05:00

IF - Midsummer Night

2011-06-29T14:49:00.000-05:00

Lightning Bugs sum up a good summer night here in Dallas.

Up the Coast and Through the Trees - Roadtrip Part 2

2011-06-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to say in general about this leg of our trip other than after a second go around it is still my favorite drive in the country.

San Francisco City Hall

Alcatraz in the background

Some great food in Chinatown

Finally to the coast

I love the coastal vegetation - great smells and color palette

And the succulants are awesome

A typical Hwy 1 bend

Point Arena Lighthouse

Experiencing the bitter cold of the Pacific

And the Redwoods!

Humbolt Redwood State Park

Paul and Babe themselves

Howland Hill Road (Best Redwood drive)

Jedediah Smith State Park

First Presbyterian of Portland

Kenny and Zuke's

Powell's Books

IF - Launch

2011-06-17T13:27:00.000-05:00

Dallas Mavericks Victory Parade

2011-06-16T12:56:00.001-05:00

For a momentary break in my Road Trip Posts here are some pictures from todays Dallas Maverick Victory Parade in downtown Dallas. Our office was right on the parade route. There were alot of Mavs fans out to cheer on Dirk and the rest of the boys after the winning of the NBA championship this last Sunday.

Panoramic of Houston Street before the parade started. Click on picture for a bigger view.

Cuban with the trophy.

Dirk and Kidd.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man...

As close as I was going to get to Victory Plaza.

And the trash.

Through the Canyons and Valleys - Roadtrip Part 1

2011-06-15T15:04:00.001-05:00

On the first half of our trip we meandered our way westward to California. Lots of sheer cliff faces for me to peer over. Lots of big skys and open roads. My first taste of Arizona and Utah – definitely will be returning to give them the time they deserve. 45 minutes is a heartwrechingly short time to spend at the edge of the Grand Canyon.

Our trusty Ford Edge Rental Car. We put 3875 miles on this trooper.

Better than walking there. Three white people and an Indian trespassing on Navajo land (got to be a set up for a good joke).

The view was worth it.

Canyon de Chelly - can you pick out the cliff dwellings?

Laura and Spider Rock.

Antelope House ruins.

Monument Valley - somehow this was not as impressive as I imagined it to be. Still it was a great drive.

The burro of the Valley.

The start of the hike in Waterhole Canyons (a slot canyon about 5 miles south of Page Arizona).

The light produced a nice spctrum of color off the otherwise uniformly brown rock.

Horseshoe bend. Totally worth the short hike.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon at Bright Angel Point. Not a bad view.

Fabulous might be an overstatement but that might be because we had just been to the Grand Canyon.

The new Aria Casino and hotel at the City Center development.

The self explanitory New York casino.

Crystals at the City Center.

The Bellagio

Yosemite Valley

Got up early to get this shot. Yosemite photo tip: drive around until you see the guys with the big tripods all clutered up - there will be a good photo moment.

El Capitan

A meadow in the morning light.

Curry village - our lodging for Yosemite

Our entire group at the top of Vernal Falls.

The mist trial - don't forget your rain slicker.

The little chapel in the Valley.

Laura found a hollow log.

IF - Swept

2011-06-10T13:16:00.000-05:00

She was a bit windswept...

IF - Shadows

2011-06-08T08:20:00.002-05:00

Roadtrip West 2011

2011-05-19T09:57:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow we leave for an epic roadtrip to Seattle. We are renting a car in Dallas and flying back from Seattle on May 31^st. Pictures and stories to come in June.

IF - Safari

2011-05-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

IF - Beginner

2011-05-06T12:22:00.000-05:00

My take on a beginner's versus an advanced’s illustration of the Frankenstein monster. Surprisingly it was much harder for me to get the kid style looking right.

IF - Bicycle

2011-04-27T15:44:00.000-05:00

Hudson Wynn Haynes

2011-04-25T12:39:00.000-05:00

Heath and Christina welcomed Hudson into the world on Friday. We are all excited that he came healthy and that Christina is doing better. Looking forward to being a good uncle for this little one.

The New Love Field

2011-04-19T16:42:00.000-05:00

I usually can’t reveal too many details of the projects I am working on at my job on a public forum like a blog (airport design tends to have a lot of security issues). However when the airports put forth public websites or news stories I can certainly link to those. So below are two links to the Terminal renovation currently underway at Love Field. So go take a look at what will be the new Love Field:

http://www.lovefieldmodernizationprogram.com/

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/business/Love-Field-Makeover-Taking-Off-120153909.html

I have greatly enjoyed working on this project and am excited to see it finally going up. I'll leave you with some images of the terminal as it has changed throughout the years.

1940s Lemon Ave Building

1950s Terminal

1980s Renovation

2014 Renovation

IF - Bottled

2011-04-13T13:18:00.000-05:00

IF - Duet

2011-04-01T16:37:00.002-05:00

IF - Toy

2011-03-30T16:44:00.000-05:00

Toying with one's heart.
Companion piece to IF - Stir.

Korea - Malls and Markets

2011-03-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

I visited a couple of malls because you can't go walking down the street in Seoul without bumping into a mall.

Found a Miyazaki store. Got Laura a stuffed Teto - the fox squirrel from Nausicaa.

An insane toy store.

While walking around a mall I found an aquarium.

The ever dreaded, ever spotted Moray Eel.

Attack of the Giant Spider Crabs! (I don't know why these guys could be mad - it was either this or the market which I'll get to in a minute)

I also visited serval markets - which I found more interesting than the malls. This one was a fish market - which wasn't that different than the Aquarium - in fact it had a better selection of octopi.

Wanted to get one as a pet - didn't think US customs would find that very funny.

I also went to a couple of street markets.

Strret food Korean style. Notice the tentacles.

Some sort of magical roots.

Caligraphy shop.

Korea - Built Enviroment

2011-03-29T13:05:00.001-05:00

You've got to click on this picture to really take it in.

Seoul's greater metropolitan area has a population of 24.5 million people making it the second biggest city in the world (after Tokyo). Despite this it was a beautiful city - clean streets, nestled in mountains, felt safe - and had a human scale due to most of the fuctionality (shops, restaurants, services) being spread across the first two stories of all the buildings across the city. It felt like a very new city even though people have lived here for at least 2000 years and some of the architecture was pretty out there.

New Condos in the middle of older housing.

An interesting mall with the circulation spiraling up like the Guggenheim in New York.

The Campus center at EWHA Womans University.

The transportation center at Incheon Airport. Looked like an alien spaceship.

The inside of the transportation center.

One of the old neighborhoods that has not been torn down for new condos. The steps were insane.

A park along the river.

View from our hotel.

The Teheranno buisness district - it was close to where we were working.

The Galleria - the facade was animated.

Korea - Food

2011-03-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

I must admit to being a little worried about the food in Korea. But thanks to usually having someone who spoke Korean and English with our group on most of our dinners we could order accurately and could receive recommendations - which is a small things that really made a difference. I really liked most of the food I had (and was complemeted several times on how well I rendered the chopsticks).

Korean restaurants are a mixture of western style seating (with chairs) and eastern style sitting (on the floor). This is one of the floor ones - and if it was had floor seating the floor was heated.

Every meal came with side dishes - usually side dishes of Kimchi (pickled cabbage). Kimchi was the only thing I didn't try because I don't like pickled things.

Steak being cooked on the table over coals surrounded by side dishes.

A spicy pork dish.

Barbeque octopus - which was surprizingly tasty. Also you can see cooked jellyfish tentacles over to the side - which were alot like pasta.

Grilled eel. Didn't really care of it.

Large pork dumplings. Yummy.

A plethora of side dishes.

Ingredients for our soup.

They heated up a boiling soup and then you dipped thinly sliced beef into it to cook the beef.

They had these bakeries on almost every corner.

The raw dough for making dumplings.

You had to be careful with the 'American' food. Here is a Dunkin Donuts offering Broccoli, Carrot, and Spinach Donuts.

Korea - Changdeokgung

2011-03-22T02:16:00.000-05:00

Changdeokgung was constructed in 1412 primarily to be the Queen's palace and the Royalty's summer residence - complete with many landscaped garden's. I would really like to see this place in summer or fall - but it was beautiful even in winter. Most of the palaces and pavilions were elaborately painted - though we did get to tour some of the 'plain' quarters as well.

PS It took alot of un-needed work to put together a post from over here - so there will likely be no more travel posts until I get back to the States. Rest assured that I am doing well, working hard, and enjoying myself. Onto Pictures:

Made it to Korea

2011-03-16T15:45:00.002-05:00

Pictures to come soon.

Undercity

2011-03-12T18:51:00.000-06:00

Urban historian and explorer Steve Duncan, takes us through abandonded Subway stations, New York's earliest sewers, and to the top of Williamsburg Bridge.

UNDERCITY from Andrew Wonder on Vimeo.

Also if you were wanting more info here is his website: http://www.undercity.org/

and here is an NPR story: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/02/132482428/into-the-tunnels-exploring-the-underside-of-nyc

IF - Stir

2011-03-11T13:46:00.000-06:00

The Stirrer of the Heart.

The Juxaposition of Construction and Cooking

2011-03-11T13:00:00.000-06:00

Two creative and collaborative fields nicely superimposed.

architecture et nourriture from oskar alegria on Vimeo.

Day Made of Glass

2011-03-09T15:01:00.000-06:00

IF - Warning

2011-03-06T09:25:00.000-06:00

Korea

2011-03-04T09:02:00.002-06:00

I don’t think my job could get more interesting than it has been in the past couple of years. In addition to some really creative design opportunities both here in Dallas and abroad – I’ve gotten to go to Brazil, to have free reign with the laser cutter, and to had the chance build a Japanese pavilion.

My next project has me traveling to Seoul here in a couple of weeks to work with a really brilliant Korean design firm for an airport competition. I know that there will be many really difficult or tedious time during the course of my career but I cannot complain at the moment.

QuaDror

2011-03-02T08:35:00.000-06:00

A cool inovative modular structure:

QuaDror from Dror on Vimeo.

Oscar Animated Shorts

2011-02-25T13:12:00.000-06:00

Watched the Oscar nominated animated shorts last night. They were really enjoyable and my pick to win is the film ‘Madagascar’. It truly felt like a travel sketchbook come to life.

My other favorites were Shawn Tan’s ‘Lost Thing’ and Pixar’s ‘Night and Day’. Shawn Tan has drawn a couple of children’s books that I really like and it was a great surprise to see a movie by him.

I think ‘Night and Day’ is one of Pixar’s most creative efforts in the short film department (and that is saying a lot), not to mention the tremendous homage to Chuck Jones. Also while on the subject I am also rooting against Pixar in the full length animated file department. ‘Toy Story 3’ was great but ‘The Illusionist’ was sublime.

IF - Swarm

2011-02-25T12:06:00.000-06:00

So I came up with a ‘Sand’mobile based on a grasshopper. I wanted to come up with a clever acronym for it then I remembered that I am horrible at coming up with acronyms. So if coming up with phrases from letters is your thing – give it a shot.

Modular Slotted Toys

2011-02-24T16:02:00.000-06:00

At work I am in a small lull between big projects and I was asked to help out on a design for a modular display system for our firm’s work. So with the help of the ever handy laser cutter I ended up making what amounted to several fun, tinker-toy-esque models. Once we complete the finished display I'll put up pictures (will be ready in early April).

The circular module.

Ended up being rather organic - almost leaf like.

The diamond module.

Ended up being crystaline with a complex spatial quality.

The square module.

This is the one we'll go with as it provides the most stability with the most display type of areas.

IF - Layer

2011-02-23T09:34:00.000-06:00

Michael Pawlyn on Biomimicry

2011-02-22T12:51:00.000-06:00

An architect talking about the benifits of learning form nature in building technology. (long video but worth it)

Noteslate

2011-02-15T18:27:00.000-06:00

I have yet to get really excited about the Ipad. Most everything it offered was already available to me in my home computer – and it seemed to have many drawbacks: closed software and input being the most looming. Also I was waiting for someone to come up with a really slick drawing app for it.

And then I stumbled onto this today: http://www.noteslate.com/

I really didn’t expect to see a really good digital sketchpad come out anytime soon yet this looks to be it. And almost everything else about this guy appeals to me: you draw directly on the screen, it tries to excel simply at what it is, it doesn’t try to do everything or connect to everything, has USB and SD inputs, it is relatively cheap, and looks great. Probably will get one when they come out this summer, depending on reviews and such.

If - Sweater

2011-02-15T14:21:00.000-06:00

Josh Ritter - The Curse

2011-02-14T12:44:00.000-06:00

A music video of one of my favorite Josh Ritter songs:

IF - Reverse

2011-02-09T11:26:00.001-06:00

Snow in Dallas (just in time for the superbowl)

2011-02-04T10:16:00.000-06:00

I wasn't expecting 6" of snow when I stepped outside today. Been a crazy week in Dallas due to an ice storm on Monday night and below freezing temperatures throughout the week. And today we get snow - which is fun.

Our house this morning.

Waiting for the bus.

The DART in the west end.

Hopefully the superbowl fans enjoy the snow.

The Passover

2011-02-02T12:04:00.000-06:00

Drawing of the tenth plague of Egypt – otherwise known as the Passover. (and before anyone comments on it, I am aware that an ‘angel of death’ is not specifically noted in Exodus)

IF - Dusty

2011-01-26T16:32:00.002-06:00