Week 27

Road Trip
Outsider Art Club, session 127

After a few weeks off, let's kick the OAC back into gear, this time focusing on your most memorable (or regrettable?) Road Trip! No matter where you go or who you go with, any journey in a car ends up with some kind of crazy story. Whether it was getting lost, meeting someone new, or getting chased by a bear, everyone's had an experience to tell.

If not, make up one more ridiculous than you could ever experience...

Let's get drawing!

Windy City Rollers T-Shirt Contest

If anyone's interested, Chicago's roller derby team is having a t-shirt design contest. Illustrator, 4 colors max. No money, but you get season tickets. The deadline is March 19.

More information here:

http://windycityrollers.com/contest.html

I went to the Roller Derby on Saturday, by the way. A Great Time. They clobbered Fort Wayne in every way except, I believe, graphic design. So good luck all.

Week 25

Draw That Song
Outsider Art Club, session 125

In the spirit of the Grammys, draw your favorite song and see if we can figure it out. I was listening to the radio this weekend, and they were playing the wacky DJ game where people call in and sing part of a song and the DJ tries to guess what song it is. This could be easy, or really tough depending on how obscure your pick is.

Get to drawing.

Week 24

Firemen In The Ice Age
Outsider Art Club, session 124

This week had some great work, especially with it being a bit of a swerve off the beaten path for Outsider themes. So this week, let's get back to the sweet spot of the OAC with Dave Pryor's idea:

Firmen In The Ice Age

Simple and wacky sounds good to me. Let's get drawing!

Week 23

Pimp My Ride
Outsider Art Club, session 123

This week's theme strays a bit away from the norm of our usual character design themes and ventures into the land of...vehicle design! Straight from the mind of member Rocky Vanoost, here's this week's theme:

Pimp my ride!

Draw your picture perfect ride, as pimped out as you want it to be. It does'nt even have to be a car, it can be any kind of outrageous mode of transportation as long as you modifiy it according to your wildest dreams.
Get to drawing!


Start your engines, and get to drawing!

Week 22

Sports Team Mascots
Outsider Art Club, session 122

Great job goes out this week to everyone on what was a very different theme then normal! Don't let those theme ideas stop making their way into Outsider HQ; we can always take more.

In honor of the OAC's official home team the Chicago Bears playing in the Division Championship game, we have this week's theme, by way of Jeffrey Vogel:

Sports Team Mascots!

Draw your favorite team's mascot in action: psoe them against their rival, or even their real-world counterparts! Could Brian Urlacher take on a Grizzly Bear? You decide.

Get to drawing!

Week 21

Playing Cards!
Outsider Art Club, session 121

It looks like the switch to 2.0 hasn't caused any major headaches so far. Besides the nice ability to label posts and filter through them, what other capabilities have people discovered?

This week's theme comes from Jeremy Hornik, game designer extraordinaire at WMS Gaming:

Playing Cards!

Playing cards. The court cards, Joker, and so forth.
Standard Poker card size is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches (62mm by 88mm.) Here is a link to a description of the standard faces, if anyone wants it:

http://www.madore.org/~david/misc/cards.html

If there’s enough interest, we could even get decks made up… it’s not cheap, so there’d have to be some real interest. If so, people should work 300 dpi.

Come up with as many in the set as you can!

Blogger 2.0 switchover

Hey outsiders, we've officially made the switch over to 2.0. One of the nice things about it is that you can add labels to a post that allows you to filter according to those labels. I went back through all 291 posts to date and labeled them by week; now you can actually see each week's entries without having to sift through the noise of previous weeks.

The only drawback to Blogger 2.0 is that you have to switch over to a Google account. The process is painless, if not a bit annoying.

Tomorrow will see a new theme, so keep your eyes peeled and your pencils sharpened!

Week 20

Bettie Page
Outsider Art Club, session 120

Happy New Year to everyone in the club! We've had some bumps and bruises along the way, but the first year of the OAC has been fun, and we've all gotten some cool artwork out of it. Sam Aquino's the first contributor of the year, and her theme is simple.

Bettie Page!

I haven't made the switch over to Blogger 2.0 yet. As Baron pointed out, if I make the switch under the main account, everyone else would have to as well in order to post up. So, I'll leave it to you, fellow Outsiders. Should we make the switch?

In the meantime, get to drawing!

Happy Holidays

Since this week is loaded with holidays and the craziness that can come with them, we're going to extend the most reent topic into next week. Next Saturday we'll have Sam Aquino's theme to start us off into the new year!

I'll also be playing around with switching us over to the new blogger since everytime I sign in, they're telling us we should. I'll report back soon with any of the changes or improvements to the system.

Week 19

Animal Experimentation
Outsider Art Club, session 119

I happened to meet several OAC clumb members this week by accident, and it got me to thinking how it would be cool to meet as many of you guys in person. Maybe sometime soon we could organize a Sketchbook Sessions-like meetup and sit down and jam on some drawings? It could be cool, if not impossible to get organized. Let me know what you think.

This week's theme was curiously common amongst several people's theme submissions last week. The official description is courtesy of Shannah O'Meara"

Animal Experimentation

Write down some animals on some pieces of paper. Throw them in a pile and pick 2 or more. (the more you pick the more challengeing it will be) Compile those animals into one. and draw it. For example, a sabertoothed donkey blowfish. or sabertoothed blonkey fish. how ever you want to mix them is your choice.

Sam Aquino is up for next week's theme.

Start your pencils!

Week 18

Mother Goose: the Movie
Outsider Art Club, session 118

A big thank you goes out to everyone who responded to last week's e-mail request for more topics: we now have a huge library of inventive ideas to choose from! We'll still be going down the list week by week, but if someone no-shows we won't be in such a pickle. I'll also be sifting through the last month or so of posts and comments this week in order to edit down our clubmates list off to the side, so you still have some time to send something in!

As a further point of clarification, you'll still be a full-fledged member if you end up being pulled from the sidebar; anyone who joins the club will be able to sign in and post or comment until they request to be pulled. You just won't be listed as a contributing member until you, well, contribute!

This week's theme comes from the man known as KK2k6 (for at least 20 more days!), Kurt Kannellos:

Mother Goose: The Movie

Create a movie poster for a well-known nursery rhyme or children’s story as if it were being adapted into an epic, big-budget action/horror/sci-fi flick.

One more thing: I've been running behind a bit these last few weeks, and I have to apologize for that. From here on out, I'll be posting these here themes bright and early Saturday mornings. I'm gonna be teaching an 8:30 AM class on Saturday, so I can almost guarantee I'll be waking up before the rest of you. :)

What are ya waiting for: get to drawing!

Week 17

If I Only Had A...
Outsider Art Club, session 117

Sorry for the two week delay guys. There's been a shortage of themes for the last two weeks due to clubmates not sending in themes. (More on that further down.) I've been racking my brain for another theme and here's the best one I have. Sung to the tune of the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz:

If I Only Had A...

What ability, skill, or extra body part do wish you could have? The Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tinman wished for a heart; what would you wish for if you could have anything? This question has been the inspiration for countless classic stories over time,so maybe it can do the same for us. Always wanted to fly? Wish you could speak any language? Have you always wanted to be like Scott Baio in the classic 80's movie Zapped!? Now's the week to let the club know! Draw yourself using the power you always wished you had.

So there it is. It's basically a cheap ploy to try to put a face to the myriad of new names over to the right. Also, it's the only thing I could think of for another theme: I can only make up so many of these on my own! :) So I'm going to try a new tactic that will hopefully kill two problems with one e-mail. There's a lot of you on that there sidebar that haven't contributed in awhile. Whether it's posting a drawing, commenting on others work, or submitting a theme, the OAC is built on the clubmates contributing. With that in mind, I'll be sending out an e-mail tomorrow asking each of you to send in an idea or two so that we can build up a pool of themes to pick from each week. If I don't get a response and you haven't posted a drawing or commented in the last four themes, I'm yanking ya off the list. Not because I hate ya, but because I want everyone in the club to be contributing. Sound good?

Then get to drawing!

Week 16

Holiday Mashup!
Outsider Art Club, session 116

Well, Rocky has failed us all in getting a theme over to the clubhouse, so I'll make up an emergency theme in the meantime!

Holiday Mashup

Conjure up your inner Tim Burton and create an illustration that slams together the best of two holidays. Just like Nightmare Before Christmas made the perfect Halloween and X-mas stew, find two holidays and pitch them together.

Dan Rutter, you're next!

Get to drawing!

Week 15

Spaghetti Symphony
Outsider Art Club, session 115

Here's Ian's theme for the next week:

Spaghetti Symphony

I call this one “Spaghetti Symphony”, and unlike previous assignments, this one has executable instructions. Pick a song that might inspire you to create; it could be a favorite song or a song you actively dislike. Play this song once while sitting in front of your drawing board or computer or whatever. While it is playing, close your eyes and scribble across your drawing surface, hurriedly or deliberately, to whatever degree you feel compelled. Once the music has stopped, look at what you’ve set down and try to find a picture inside of it. The main rule is this: your finished image must be comprised only of elements found within your scribbles; also, the finished piece must show evidence of the unused lines. The drawings may be loose, even abstract, and they might end up just being colorful nonsense mosaics: this one’s about the journey, not the idea.

Rocky is next on the theme list: e-mail the club hotline by next Friday with your theme!

Get to drawing!

Week 14

Ghetto Star Wars
Outsider Art Club, session 114

Three little words form Don's theme this week:

Ghetto Star Wars!

The incomparable Ian Simmons conjures up next week's theme.

Get to drawing!

Week 13

Fairy Tales and Nursery Themes
Outsider Art Club, session 113

This one's a bit late on my part, but here's Shannah's theme:

Fairy tales and Nursery rhymes:

I was looking through my books to find an idea for a theme and I came across my grim's fairytales book and a nursery rhyme book. I read a couple of them and thought it would be cool to draw some scenes or twist up the characters. Make Hansel and Gretel fat greedy leiterhousened brats that go around eating peoples houses. Or even take a Nursery rhyme and draw that in all its oddness. (Rock-a-bye-baby, in a TREE TOP!) Babies don’t go in trees.

Don Dixon, you're next!

Get to drawing!

Week 12

Bully for Vintage Advertising!
Outsider Art Club, session 112

Nice job this week with Kurt's theme, everybody. Here's Mandy's theme:

Bully for Vintage Advertising!

It’s the 1900’s. The Art Nouveau style was at its peak, the industrial age was in full swing with a culture of consumerism, and advertisements were popping up everywhere.

But how would our modern-day electronics and fads be represented back then? How would an i-pod or “MacIntosh’s Isotope Podding Device “ be advertised in the 1900’s? Feel free to design these things true to the era, y’know made of wood or having turning cranks, iron knobs, moustaches….

Ladies and Gentlemen, retrieve your graphites and get to drafting!

Shannah O'Meara, you're next!

Get to drawing!

Week 11

Worlds Collide!
Outsider Art Club, session 111

Kurt brings the theme this week and it's a doozy! I have a feeling this will be as popular as the I Love The 80's a few weeks back:

Worlds Collide!

What would Charlie Brown look like in the world of He-Man? How about Cobra Commander in the Ren & Stimpy universe? Take one of your favorite animated characters (or comic book, manga, etc.) and draw them in the style of another cartoon. Try for real contrast here - obviously, Samurai Jack drawn in the style of Dexter's Lab would not be particularly interesting.

Magical Mandy Napper, you're next.

Get to drawing!

Week 10

Kiddie CageFight!
Outsider Art Club, session 110

This one's not for the weak of heart! From the mind of Micheal Stadler, here's the theme for this week:

Kiddie CageFight!

Here are the official rules, which are as follows:
1. You are in an enclosed area, roughly the size of a basketball court. There are no foreign objects.
2. You are not allowed to touch a wall.
3. When you are knocked unconscious, you lose. When they are all knocked unconscious, they lose. Once a kid is knocked unconscious, that kid is "out."
4. The kid pool will be 50/50 in terms of gender and will have no discernible abnormalities in terms of physical or mental, they are all healthy 5-year old children.
5. The kids receive one day of training from hand-to-hand combat experts who will train them specifically to team up to take down one adult. You will receive one hour of "counter-tactics" training.
6. There is no protective padding for any combatant other than the standard-issue cup.
7. The kids are motivated enough to not get scared, regardless of the bloodshed. Even the very last one will give it his/her best to take you down.
so Pretend that this is a Japanese game show or a crazy American gladiators and come up with the character design of the coolest 5 year old you think can take you out.

Kurt Kanellos, you're next.

Get to drawing!