As I blogged about previously, I am going out on an Artist Date every week for a total of twelve weeks.  The idea is to spend at least two hours with your creative self and nobody else.  This week I have a very busy schedule, as I’m going to be spending the weekend in Kentucky with a friend at a festival.

I had to make the Date happen, and time was short.  Much as I loved the Kitchen Door Project, I was not going to be able to indulge an entire weekend day on this one.  Minor sadness there at feeling rushed, but I got through it, thanks.

I was thinking about what I’d conceived of the first time: doing some sort of drawing out at a coffee shop.  It would be the perfect excuse to get out of the house, and just sit at a table and scribble and scrawl just for the fun of it.  (I’ve noticed “fun” keeps coming up in regards to this stuff…hmmm…)

I thought I had some markers that I’d bought a while ago.  A long while ago.  Like so long ago that they probably wouldn’t work anymore.  Probably not, but I looked in my desk, and lo and behold I found this:

Jackpot!  Apparently, I have such a latent desire for things Crayola, that I’d bought markers on two separate occasions and not even remembered doing so.  In addition, there was a whole box of nearly new crayons in there as well!  It was kind of a creepy sign about how I’ve hidden all these little desires of mine away and forgotten about them.  They’re out now, though, and as you can tell from the piece of paper beneath them, I’d have no trouble ruining a perfectly good piece of writing paper with them.  Sweet.

Strolling down to the local ‘bucks, I ordered up a chai latte (how non-edgy of me, it was even iced…and it was good!), and grabbed the one free low table sitting in the corner.  It had two sitting chairs near it, but I figured no one was likely to sit there once my work was spread out, which it likely would be soon enough.

Realizing I only had two or three hours to pull this off, I set right to work:

I two nephews that live far, far away, in a land called Kal-E-Forn-Ya.  I don’t get to see them often, and their birthdays are both next week (not twins, just uncanny timing by mom and dad).  I decided I’d make them both little name signs for their bedroom doors, even if one of them is far too young to even read the thing.  They’re colorful enough that I’m hoping they just stand as a little visual diversion.

Jack’s had progressed pretty far by this point, and I was considering it pretty close to being done, seeing as how I’d already spent a lot of time on it, (over an hour) and I had to move on.  You’ll note that, in my color-iffic enthusiasm I was losing some definition in the characters themselves.  The “k” in particular seems to be getting lost in the background.  Okay for today!

Here’s the start of Ryan’s sign.  I had fun just drawing those great big letters all over the page.  Don’t you remember how fun it was when you were a kid and you didn’t have to color or draw within the lines?  All I do at work all day is write things within lines.  This was the antithesis of that, and I loved it.

“The Ryan,” as I like to think of it, is looking pretty spanky by now.  It occurs to me at this point that my rabid enthusiasm for pigmentary variety is sort of diffusing everything, but what a good time it was!  It’s kind of challenging to try and come up with variation after variation of design and color.  I kept doing that thing where I’d put everything down and kind of hover my hand over the table like I was about to pick something up, just thinking, “Um…what does this need?  What goes here next?  Help!”

I admit I had this idea that some sweet little thing might wander over and go, “What are you doing?  Oh, that’ is so CUTE!  Aren’t you the sweetest thing in the whole world!  I think you’re stunningly amazing and we should start dating yesterday.”

Hey, it’s a coffee shop.  All that caffeine makes you think weird stuff.

What I got instead was some 20-ish guy who came and sat at the other chair I thought no one was going to use.  He was quiet and didn’t bother me, but then his friend showed up.  Then the talking started.  And while it wasn’t an obnoxious volume or anything it was, how shall we say, kind of dumb-sounding.  Intellectually these guys were on the ball, but emotionally they were on the make.  It was all talk about how “That blond chick likes me, but I’m trying to start something with her roommate, right?  And, like, this girl I work with wanted to set me up with her friend, and it turns out the friend is the same roommate!  Yeah!  But, like, this blond chick is all acting like there’s something or whatever and I think I’m gonna have to be, like, ‘Yeah, no.'”

There was also talk of partying at some primo hotel in Chicago that was a suite and who was going to get who to get what girls to bring who and…it kind of sucked.  I used my amazing powers for concentration to largely tune them out and do everything within the Powers of Crayola to create some colorful signage.  Finally, they third Stooge showed up and they left.

It was getting close to closing time and I had to finish.  I had Ryan’s largely done, and now Jack’s was looking a little absent in the background colors, so I went back to it and added in a bit.

Right as I’m spreading this out I get the word, “We’ll be closing in a few minutes, sir.”  Done!

It was about three hours worth of work, but I thought they turned out pretty nicely.  I hope they like them.  Jack’s is based more on design elements, while Ryan’s has a lot more solid colors, but I like those differences.  I’m wondering how this sort of expression will change for me in the coming weeks.  I’m already starting to see things that I like more than others, or ways I’d like to approach a particular design.  Interesting fun stuff!

I packed these off with a couple of Hot Wheels for the boys and mailed them out yesterday.  Happy birthday, little dudes!

I may do some more of these, some small ones.  Want one?  Leave a comment, get a sign!