Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mull & Cull #15 - Cooking is more fun when you don an apron

 
I'm not afraid to admit that I like to put on an apron when I cook.  It's my uniform stating I am in control of my kitchen.  When it comes off it's time to eat!

Please note the "claw" hold the bear is using to cut the carrot to prevent cutting fingers.  Here are some tips.
http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/knifeskills/ss/knifegrips_3.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Chop-Food-Like-a-Pro

Also of note this was my first Words to Mull & Cull using a Pentel brush pen instead of a natural hair brush and India ink, which allowed me to ink it on my lunch hour.  I enjoy sketching with the brush pen but always felt it was a little finicky compared to a traditional brush and avoided doing "final" work with it.  At the end of the day it really looks about the same.

I picked up several brushes at Target last year where I found them on a clearance rack, but you can find them easily on-line.   Here is Pentel link.  The color brush is what I use.  I haven't tried the official brush pen and can't speak to the difference.
http://www.pentel.com/store/color-brushtm-pigment-ink

This was my first sketch that was going nowhere.  Apron. Check.  Stocked kitchen.  Check.  Fun?  Not so much.


Thursday, March 20, 2014

Gall bladder removal card


I enjoy making cards for family and friends and try to do it when I can. They're a fun challenge (most of the time) to make rather than slogging through stores for the right card.  I have been hesitant to post them because I've looked at them as a gift unique to the person I sent it to, but a lot of time has passed with most of them.  Maybe someone will find them inspiring.

In this case a family member was having his gall bladder taken out.  It was a good organ gone bad.  Who'll join the liver, pancreas and stomach?  One of the kidney twins?  The gloved hand would have come off better with the fingers facing out.

I thought about making a line of cards to dealing with serious illnesses and operations but never followed through.  Why not a card specific for a heart bypass or brain surgery?

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Mull & Cull #14 - Are you trapped? Find a screen to look through rather than at



I know people at work with that many devices and monitors.  ML and I use my porch nearly every weekend in the warmer months to enjoy a dinner and the fruits of our garden and landscaping efforts free of bugs and intense sun.  There are always birds taking a break in the pond.  In the mornings chipmunks stake out their territory with chirps.  Hopefully you can find a window that at least has a view of the sky or a patch of green wherever you're at. I'm fortunate to have cubicle at work that looks out at a marsh and trees that are just beyond the parking lot.