The US government has always been full of colorful characters. J. Edgar Hoover was no exception. Hoover was the founder of the present form of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was its director for an unprecedented 48 years. Hoover’s leadership spanned eight presidential administrations, encompassed Prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean …
The challenge word this week at illustrationfriday.com is “grow“. The story of “Jack and The Beanstalk” dates back to the oldest known version from 1807. But, the most popular version is the one told by noted historian and folklorist Joseph Jacobs. His story was published as part of English Fairy Tales in 1890. If I …
The theme for this week’s illustration on sugarfrostedgoodness.com is “blue” Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso is one of the most recognized figures in 20th century art. He is best known as the co-founder, along with Georges Braque, of cubism. …
The challenge over at Monday Artday this week is “retro“. I love old television shows. Mostly, I love shows from the late 1950s through the 1970s. Shows like Leave It To Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Munsters and many others. These were true situation comedies. Totally unreal, far-fetched and implausible. These shows usually depicted …
The challenge on illustrationfriday.com this week is “extreme“. Here is the thought process for how I arrived at this illustration. When I first saw the word “extreme“, I thought “skateboarding“. I have never been on a skateboard and I am only familiar with it from seeing kids in the neighborhood, Tony Hawk on TV and …
The sugarfrostedgoodness.com challange this week is “video games“. The elusive Polybius may have been a real arcade game. However, it is more likely an urban legend. According to the story, the game was released to the public in 1981, but caused trauma for its players and disappeared shortly after. A new arcade game appeared in …
I always hated Lucille Ball. I hated “The Lucy Show.” I hated “Here’s Lucy.” And I especially hated “I Love Lucy”. Except I loved William Frawley. I have always been fascinated by William Frawley. Well, maybe not fascinated, but intrigued. Look at him. How did this guy become an actor? And not only was he …
The challenge word this week on Monday Artday is “bird”. Tall, lanky Mark Fidrych was a certified flake. “The Bird”, as he was affectionately known because of his resemblance to Sesame Street’s Big Bird, pitched for the Detroit Tigers from 1976 until 1980. That tumultuous five year run began with Fidrych being named Rookie of …
The illustrationfriday.com word this week is “open” According to government statistics, 80% percent of new restaurants fail within the first three years of opening. There is no real reason for this, but it may have to do with menu item choice, overall atmosphere of the restaurant or even choice of name for the establishment. Or …
The challenge this week on Monday Artday is “the zoo” I thought of so many ideas for this topic, but none of them seemed like the right choice. Then, it hit me. This is the punchline to one of my favorite jokes… and here’s the joke… (WARNING! CONTAINS QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE! NOT FOR THE EASILY OFFENDED! …
