Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Mi Madre

This is a redo of my mothers high school picture.
and I still want to redraw it one more time.
just not tonight.

Click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color

Skull Tank-O-Lanterns

Since Skull Appreciation Day is just days away we are going to start filling our blog with skully goodness in anticipation starting now.

These became instantly wildly popular. With that we are the kind of people to normally not keep the idea to ourselves but write a tutorial on how you can do it and empower yourself. We thought long and hard on this one and this time will not offer you the tutorial but an explanation why we think this is a bad idea for the average person. If you still have the tools and want to try it after that, more power to you just be aware of what you are getting yourself into.

At it's core the project is a simple one, I draw on the tank with a water based marker so it wipes off later and Scott cuts the designs out with a plasma torch, then we install a light. There really is not more to it than that on a work level

-BUT-

These tanks were filled with gas,
not the fun laughing kind but the kind that can kill you. 
We ALWAYS open the valves all the way when we get them then toss them out in the yard for weeks. Even doing this and trying to be careful Scott has pierced a few that still had not leaked all their gas out.
When putting flame to the gas in these tanks you create mustard gas. Now the problem with Mustard Gas is most people never initially realize it has effected them, it often takes 24 hours for signs of gas poisoning to start to take effect.
Trust me, you do not want to accidentally expose yourself to this stuff. 

Now when I go to design them Scott pulls a bunch for me first and quick pierces them with the torch them quickly tosses them back outside. I leave them a bit before I pick them up to draw on them just to make sure if there was any bit of gas left in it that it is now gone.


This is why we have never written a tutorial about this. 
If you are curious, have a torch and tanks and want to try it but have questions, just ask. We work but should be able to get back with you within a day and would rather feel good about you walking into a project with your eyes wide open as opposed to us accidentally getting you killed.

If you want to bag trying to make them at all we sell them rather reasonably and do take custom orders for no additional charge through Scott's Artfire Store.

Happy Skull Appreciation Day everyone, even if it is early.
and whatever your make, make it safely

you can click on any of the pics to enlarge them if you so desire.

Experiments in printing on rusted metal

I did one round of these the other day for fun and was pleased with the way they came out so today I thought it might be fun to stamp out a few with our blog banner on it which is an illustration of our place. And a few other things for fun.
Enjoy

Facebook deletions, fake accounts and my story.

I feel the need to write and get this out somewhere I I can speak openly without worrying about getting flagged or deleted since there are a few things going on over on facebook right now that have me seriously worried. Please humor my grammar and spelling as I am just going to free flow get this out.

 I had been using an account with the name Lois Carmen DeNominator for years over on facebook rather uneventfully. I joined a craft guild, started an art page and made myself a nice little home there.

  Friday - I am in the middle of a conversation when I am suddenly logged out of the system. When I go to log back in I get the your account has been disabled message. I think whaaaaa?
I click the link for more info which takes me to a page with a link that says I think my account has been accidentally disabled. I click it, they ask for very little info. I hit submit and within an hour get an automated response saying without your id we do not know who you are so you have to send it to us before we go further with this. Once again whaaaaa? but I know the account had a fake name so I let it go.
I start a new account like a good kid with real info my real name and go about trying to get my craft guild and groups back. I did have a second admin on my art page so I did not loose the page. I ask him to add my new account as an admin so I can go back to business as usual. Then he is forced to log out but instead of disabling him he sits at a screen forced to change his name since they have also deemed his name fake so now we are both disabled, I can not access my art page and it just sits there basically dead and headless. This makes me very very sad. I am unsure what to do about it currently as the customer service on facebook is nil and they make it really hard to even find anyone to talk to about anything. How does one reclaim a page or do they now delete it since they deleted the old admin. And me making a new account also goes against TOS so the fact I even did that could get me deleted but with my business there I was having too hard a time just waiting for that email from facebook.
So the weekend rolls by uneventfully.
Come monday more people are learning of the mass deletions going on. Some people act like this was something I was making up or I was over reacting http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/03/07/facebook-estimates-5-or-6-percent-of-total-users-are-fake-accounts/ so there is some reading for you. Not shocking this comes at the heels of http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/05/facebook-sued-15-billion-privacy/ the lawsuit and the ipo.

Monday, I am once again talking to people when I suddenly am logged out to have my new real account disabled. I go through the steps like last time not worrying so much since this is the name on my drivers licence it is me to find this time I was sent to a link saying I was deleted for harassment. This is super confusing because I have done no such thing and do not understand at all what I did to have that one come up. So I go through the motions, send them my id and once again here I sit waiting to hear back from facebook. Mind you I still have had no response from them all the way back on friday. I find this infuriating as someone running a business there. DAYS? I was disabled once on google plus, fixed it and was going again in I believe about an hour and a half.

So I reset my ip address and make one final account because at this point I think I am just mindlessly making it worse out of anger, frustration and not knowing what to do. I start this account and I start a new status and I write "This is wenchkin aka lois carmen denominator aka carolyn curtis. Please do not tell people to find me, I was deleted again this time for harrassment and I think I am being trolled and flagged and I do not know why."
within a few minutes a window popped up saying you have posted content that is consider harrassment you must go and delete it now, this was a grey window with only one check box for go to delete it. It took me straight to that status message and yes I deleted it. I wish I had screen capped it because it made my heart sink. Why would someone flag that? wth? and me being made to delete it make me feel like my first amendment rights had just been ripped away by facebook. I do not like it at all not one bit.
Now I currently sit thinking hard on if I just want to delete facebook all together since it keeps deleting me without warning based of being flagged by who I do now know and for what? I feel like facebook currently backs the flagger without even looking into it. I feel they can not protect me and more importantly they do not care to as all my cries have gone unheeded.
I have done nothing wrong to deserve this and I did not harrass anyone. I draw, I paint, I have a tacky sense of humor and I like bad movies but I keep to myself and try to put happiness out in the world just to have it constantly wrecked by others for fun and I feel like I have been left an apathetic exhausted shell of what I was four days ago with still no real answers.

***update***

so here is the answer to my appeal that basically drives home they did expect me to sit there san account while they decide to do with me. Now I am supposed to stay off facebook and never make another account?? I wrote them back again just to see what they say but I hold no hope anymore at this point.

Hi Carolyn,

It is a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to create and maintain multiple accounts on the site. Additionally, if your account was disabled in the past for misconduct and violations of the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, you are prohibited from creating another account on Facebook. This includes registering a second account with this or any other email address. 

For more information about our policies, please review the Facebook Community Standards: https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards

Thanks,

Astrid
User Operations
Facebook

Coloring contest winners

I have had one heck of a day. I think I am being targeted on facebook. My account was deleted for harassment which is completely beyond me why that would happen. I am trying to fight to get it back but I do not hold out much luck. In my sadness at having lost an account and with it possibly my facebook art page I do not feel like drawing numbers.
I had two coloring contest entries.
One from April, One from Marcin. I am calling you both winners and will draw you both.
Pick a head shot you would like me to illustrate and email it to wenchkin@gmail.com and give me at least a few days to finish it.
Thanks to you both for playing it was a bright point in my otherwise bleak day.

Coloring contest entry -

This entry comes from April ~ Enchanted Dandelions
medium: broken bits of crayons as my 7yo artist has pilfered all the good art supplies


I love it!

Skull Appreciation Day blog hop June 4th info

So Scott and I are large supporters of skull-a-day and every year they celebrate June 4th as Skull Appreciation Day. Go check their site for all the fun they have going on. We REALLY wish we could be there for this year's event held at the Mutter Museum. Since we are not we thought it might be fun to jump onboard for the ndustrial lemon blog hop

Scott and I will be having an amazing sale, we will be uploading a photo blog with the new skull themed tank-o-laterns we are designing this year, and I will have a new fun Skull Appreciation themed coloring page for you to all play with.
-AND-
I will be giving away a small 4x5 inch dia de los poe panel.
This one to be exact.

So make sure to come back for all the fun and giveaways happening at each blog on the hop this coming June 4th. You can also click the button below for info on how you can get involved.

Eclipse Power Tube 2012

We tend to do stuff on the weekend.  The coming eclipse has got us excited, especially since Yucca Flats is in optimal viewing zone.  Clouds need to stay away.

I decided I needed to use some foil tape and seal up this tube.

Big hole is for viewing, the small pin hole allows the sun to project toward the bottom of the tube.  Put some fancy white paper down there to make it prettier.

This the view from the eyehole.  Weird to line up with your eye super close, so keep your head away until you ge the image on the bottom of the tube.  We also added some pimping red duct tape to get rid of the blinding glare from the foil tape.  Remember, looking at the sun for any length of time is stupid, no matter how many filters or the whatnot you use.  Be safe.

Coloring contest entry - Marcin Kuligowski

I received this entry almost right away and just now got a minute to post it. It is the first to roll in so far and one of the most interesting pieces I have gotten during my time running coloring contests. I can hardly wait to see what else others come up with. I will continue to post them as they roll in. 

as usual, click the pic to enlarge

Thanks again to Marcin Kuligowski

Coloring Contest time!

This will be a super fast and dirty contest, you have 3 days to color and get your entry in to me, contest ends
Monday night May 21st at 5pm 
You can use any of the coloring pages I have created and posted to the blog here.

This "contest" I wanted to have be something anyone could play along in skilled or not so there is no real skill required and it will be based only on participation. Each entry will be assigned a number in the order they are received. Entries will be counted on the final date and the numbers will be run into random.org to decide a winner. We will take a small video of the process so people understand it is as fair as we can be.

What do you win? An 8x10 coloring page head shot of yourself or a loved one both uploaded to the blog and the original will be mailed to your house. Please allow me a week after receiving the photo you want the illustration based off for me to complete it then an additional week for it to arrive at your door. People outside the US it may take up to 4 weeks to arrive.

Every morning I will post all of the entries I have collected from the previous day and post them here to the blog. To do so you need to email them to me at wenchkin@gmail.com. label it so I know what it is. I need to know the name you would like it posted as being from if it differs from your email. I would be happy to link you if you provide me with that info.
i.e. write me something like - here is my coloring contest entry I know my email says carolyn curtis but would you please list is as colored by wenchkin and hot link my name to my facebook/google+page/blog/website.
If you would like to add additional info about mediums used you are more then welcome to but it is not required.

Rules or stuff you need to know

• 18+ only - I work for big kids. I will still draw your kid if you win if that is what you want but this is adult play time. 
• open to all countries, why the hell not. 
• open to all mediums
• I will not post anything obviously done in straight bad taste art or not
• ends  Monday night May 21st at 5pm   winner will be announced that same day 
• e-mail all entries to wenchkin@gmail.com attn: coloring 

If you have questions/comments/need clarification feel free to ask.
short of that

Happy Coloring. 

Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Skeletal American Gothic

Something scott asked me to paint for him awhile back. Today organizing the studio I came across the original sketch for the painting so I finished up the line work and scanned it for fun. 

Click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color 

Coloring contest winner

OK so people keep asking who won the coloring contest I added awhile back.
No one. I have hosted numerous coloring contests and this was the first time not one person remembered to email be their submissions on time.
So people keep asking if I am going to run another one.
I am game but I need to know what works best with everyone. I left a two week time period last time which may have been too long and just made people forget. Should I do it weekly?
Any input would be helpful.

Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Skele Zappa

OK so over on G+ Moan Lisa has a daily theme they trend over on MLTV today they are working on #FrankZappa so I thought I would jump in with a coloring page. The assignment details and original picture they chose to use to ask people to riff off can be found here

click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color

Monday Night at the Flats

They just keep driving by.

Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Dia de los Shaggy

Someone left a comment on my Scooby Doo page asking why I did not have Shaggy. I thought YES I do, I drew them all at the same time. So I go back through old blog posts and sure enough I did draw it but I never uploaded it so here it is.

click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color

The other coloring pages can be found here
Fred
Scooby
Velma
Daphne

Pabst needs a sponsor

Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Dia de los Wild Things 2

If you missed the first page it is here...

click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color

Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Dia de los Wild Things

Maurice Sendak - RIP. Thank you for Where the wild things are. A classic timeless tale that was read to me by my mother and I read it to my nephew. There was a time in my life where I would go to book signings all the time. Once I misread an ad that stated they were having a children's where the wild things are day that was listed in the book signing events. My dumb ass shows up wanting to get the book signed for my nephew. I wander around the mad house for a few minutes before I realize the error of my ways. In my frustration I did manage to get the guy in the striped wild thing costume to sign my book anyway.
We both laughed.

click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color.

Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Dia de los Pee Wee

The other night I could not sleep and True Hollywood Story came on. They profiled Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman. In the middle of my insomnia I told myself to remember that I really should draw him as much as he used to entertain me.
So here it is.
Click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color

Pabst Hates - The Hose

I usually have to water the yard when the dog is not around for this reason.
He keeps biting at the water coming out of the house and it always cracks me up 

Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Sugar Skull

In all the coloring pages I have ever made I just realized I have never done a regular sugar skull. I needed to fix that stat.
click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color

Cactus in bloom, with bees

I looked over a minute ago to see the cactus blooms fully open so I ran over with my camera.
To find bees so I set the camera on timer, snapped a few shots and ran.
Enjoy


you can always click the pics to enlarge them as well

Plants in the yard

We got some Honeysuckle growing in the back fence line.  It smells great and covers up the chain link fence.

Pampus grass is looking pretty bad at the moment.   Most of the stuff will be blooming in the coming weeks.  This guy was over 8 feet tall, but he got trimmed when we put in the new windows.

Red tip Yuccas are super easy to take care of.  Water when you remember, if you forget, they'll probably be just fine.

You can apparently make some pretty good tea from the petals.

This cactus nightmare started out with two ears and a small stem of Cholla.  The Cholla will have some great purple flowers, the lower cactus will have bright yellow blooms.

This is an Ocotillo, not a cactus.  It's considered a woody shrub, but usually doesn't thrive this far north, but I've had great success.  In the next couple weeks these super bright orange flowers will appear on the tips.  Then the Hummingbirds start to show up.

 I will shoot some new pics when everything blooms.  

introducing doggie play land

So by now you should all know we have a neurotic jack russel terrier that hates just about everything. Recently we rented the upstairs apartment to a friend we knew with two small female dogs. Thank dog they get along. I want my dog to not be a crazy jerk and have fun social time and play and be active.

So now that he has friends I was in a scramble to try to find them a safe place to play. My dog alone I have a really long lead for, with three dogs it quickly becomes a tangled nightmare. So I kept going out back and shivering at the idea that there was a stretch of land back there piled up with dead leaves and things we did not want to get rid of but mostly had forgotten about.

I spent the next three days organizing, cleaning, raking, and trying to make a pseduo urban oasis back there where I could let the dogs play without worrying about them running out into the busy street. Humor my gate system as I do plan on installing a proper one when I have money this was just something I did in a pinch so my dog could have some play time. I should have taken before shots and you have to understand some of the stuff we still need and has to stay so it is what it is but my honeysuckle are in full bloom and it smells wonderful out there.

Just past the chimineas lies doggie land

Wenchkin's Coloring Pages - Dia de los MCA

He entertained me for more than half my life and for that I am grateful.
Just a quickie so not the best coloring page I have ever put out.

Click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color

Lunch

When I go out of town, I eat out. I miss ordered, but the shrimp pizza was awesome,

Wenchkin's coloring pages - Dia de los Jem

click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color