Matchstick Mystery

Previously I posted about the iconic Danish matchsticks with a flowery historical background. Another omnipresent matchstick contender in neighboring countries got the pen and ink at a creative night gathering recently – Sweden’s Säkerhets Tändstickor.

sakerhets-tandstickor

If you’ve ever seen them, you know they are everywhere in the northern European countries. Unfortunately, unlike the Tordenskjold story I wasn’t able to find any dirt on these fire sticks. Maybe they just feel so secure in their fire starting ability that there is no need for marketing, or perhaps my google skills in Swedish are sub-par. To satisfy my curiosity, I ask my Swedish friends and neighbors – tell me what you know!

Tandem Activity Book: Designing Money, Tent Guess, and Food Memories

Here are even more spreads from the Tandem Activity Book I worked on for Lea Redmond through Chronicle Books. You can order it online or read more about the project, or see more pages from the book here, here, and here.

There is also a new review pairing a man and a woman who haven’t met before to do some of the activities in the book.

Design some money. Who or what would you commemorate on these coins and bills?
Design some money. Who or what would you commemorate on these coins and bills?
Pick up the book and stand it up like a tent, with space between the two covers. Take turns hiding a small object inside the space. Ask "yes" or "no" questions until you can guess the mystery object.
Pick up the book and stand it up like a tent, with space between the two covers. Take turns hiding a small object inside the space. Ask “yes” or “no” questions until you can guess the mystery object.
Jot down any memories you have associated with each of these foods. Then rotate and compare notes.
Jot down any memories you have associated with each of these foods. Then rotate and compare notes.

Tandem Activity Book: Bucket List, Friendship Bracelets, and Flower Shop

Here are some more spreads from the Tandem Activity Book I worked on for Lea Redmond through Chronicle Books. You can order it online or read more about the project.

What's on your bucket list? Take turns listing 10 things you each want to do in your lifetime. Share and compare. Then, on the next page, list 10 things you want to do together.
What’s on your bucket list? Take turns listing 10 things you each want to do in your lifetime. Share and compare. Then, on the next page, list 10 things you want to do together.

This illustration was especially fun as I spent many hours as a pre-teen making friendship bracelets and working on the cache-building skill of macramé. If only I had had this handy diagram back then, I could have planned my color ways more diligently.

Color in a friendship bracelet for your friend. Inquire about his or her favorite colors before you begin.
Color in a friendship bracelet for your friend. Inquire about his or her favorite colors before you begin.

I don’t own flowers or plants because they die in my presence, despite watering them as per their instructions. So this is probably the only type of flower shop I will ever be involved with.

At your own personal flower shop, what flowers would you offer? Draw, color, and compare.
At your own personal flower shop, what flowers would you offer? Draw, color, and compare.

Tandem Activity Book: Campfire Stories, Compass Game, and a Maze

Here are some more spreads from the Tandem Activity Book I worked on for Lea Redmond through Chronicle Books. You can order it online or read more about the project.

Trade stories, any stories. Optional: start with one of these sparks.
Trade stories, any stories. Optional: start with one of these sparks.
With the other half of the book folded under this half, rotate the book so the compass points north. Take turns sharing stories of being lost, found, or both on the next page.
With the other half of the book folded under this half, rotate the book so the compass points north. Take turns sharing stories of being lost, found, or both on the next page.
Find your way to the picnic, picking up useful items along the way.
Find your way to the picnic, picking up useful items along the way.

Monster Drawing Rally

Recently I participated in a Monster Drawing Rally at the Portland Art Museum as a fundraiser for kids arts programs. Seventy-five artists donated their time and art in three 1-hour drawing bouts. After each drawing was completed it went up for auction for a flat $35. I was on shift #3 and it was a test of speed and dexterity to draw in the dusk while passerby and other ambitious artists made the table jiggle from bumping it or vigorously erasing.

My friend Nathan making india ink figures - his work is online at www.nathanpaulrice.com
My friend Nathan making india ink figures – his work is online at www.nathanpaulrice.com
Illustrators hard at work while the audience bellies up.
Illustrators hard at work while the audience bellies up.

I surprised myself and cranked out two typographic pattern pieces. The first one was from my daughter’s favorite word du jour (uh oh) took 35 minutes plus the set up time of getting my materials out (Office Depot printer paper on a clipboard and a.01 micron pen). The second (oh my) was completed in 20, the last 5 being used to quickly decide on how to most efficiently fill up the type sections (big dots and sub par stippling).

Drawing number 1.
Drawing number 1 – uh oh.
Drawing number 2.
Drawing number 2 – oh my.

Kids had fun giving suggestions on the patterns to fill the sections with (hearts, zig zags, leopard print, stars). Usually these typographic terrain pieces are two to three times bigger and take at least a few hours to complete, or more, if I plan them out in advance. It was fun to see that I could do this type of drawing without planning it at all, although the results also showed the haste and split second decision making that took place. While not super pro, it was super fun, and I hope more of these kinds of events happen.

Event Documentation
Photo set by Cody Maxwell | Video by Paul Searle

Tandem Activity Book: Snap Doodle, Clocks, and Wishing Well

Here are some more spreads from the illustrated book I worked on for Lea Redmond through Chronicle that is coming out this September. It’s a Tandem Activity Book – a journal you complete with other people.

Find someone to make a quick sketch of the two of you together.
Find someone to make a quick sketch of the two of you together.
Guess what time it is right now. (No peeking!) Block your friend's view of an empty clock on your page, fill in the time to show your best guess. Reveal your guesses to determine who has the best sense of time (at least at this time today).
Guess what time it is right now. (No peeking!) Block your friend’s view of an empty clock on your page, fill in the time to show your best guess. Reveal your guesses to determine who has the best sense of time (at least at this time today).
Toss a penny into this wishing well and silently make a wish. Write your wish at the bottom of this page, tear it off, and tuck it in your pocket. Keep it a secret.
Toss a penny into this wishing well and silently make a wish. Write your wish at the bottom of this page, tear it off, and tuck it in your pocket. Keep it a secret.

It’s good for just about anybody who can read and like to be creative, although I’ve had reports of non-reading children enjoying looking at the pictures and having the prompts read aloud to them. Pre-order the Tandem Activity Book.