Heart of America

This is the last of the Kansas City series that I will post.  That project is now  in the loving hands of its mama.  Idea mama that is.  If a project is someones baby then the person with the idea is the project mama or daddy right?  Hmm I'm onto something here.  I need to make new business cards.  John Hare: Project Daddy.  Wait...when I think about that for two seconds I suddenly feel like it sounds more like an on-the-market divorced dad who's somewhat likeable but has some issues.  See this is why I don't tweet much.  Everything I type I feel like can be read a thousand ways.  Probably because it can be!  

So anyways I think this heart may be closer to where Topeka is then KC...but its close.

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Hayloft Daydreaming

This is the first illustration for the Notable Missourian (Truman State University Press) book on Jean Bartik written by Kim Todd. Here a young jean is shown looking out of her family barn's hayloft and doing a bit of daydreaming about her potential future.  If that was me in that loft I would be daydreaming about hitching a ride to town and getting a box of Claritin.

Busy Artsy City

I need to make a fun illustration about how Kansas City is a town of arts and big ideas. Should I focus on the visual arts? performing arts? First Fridays? architecture? the loved/loathed shuttlecocks and sky stations?  Yes.  

So this one is a bit busy, but I like to think its fun and vibrant too.  That's what I tell myself anyways.

Jean Bartik Rough Sketches

Work has begun on illustrations for the 2015 Notable Missourian series published by Truman State University Press.  First up is the story of Jean Bartik, written by Kim Todd. Jean was an early pioneer in computing. In fact, for awhile she was literally a computer. Yes I said that right. It's weird to think now, but in the middle of last century a computer or calculator was a job description, not a device. One of her many notable accomplishments was her work programming the ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic computer. I really want to emphasize how important those early room sized, vacuum tube laden, punch card programmed computers were in getting to where we are today, but I would be in way over my head.  I'm just glad I don't have to replace vacuum tubes and patch cables into switch boards to use my iMac.  

Speaking of vacuum tubes, when I was a kid I found an old box full of them and thought they were incredibly cool. Not for any practical purpose...I had no idea what they actually did.  I just thought they made great doomsday weapons for my toy GI Joes. If you came across  my Cobra Commander action figure holding a vacuum tube, some bad stuff was about to go down and GI Joe had some work to do.  

Back on topic, here are some rough sketches for Notable Missourian Jean Bartik

Jean as a teen daydreaming in the hayloft

Jean as a teen daydreaming in the hayloft

Jean and friends learning about the attack on Pearl Harbor

Jean and friends learning about the attack on Pearl Harbor

Working on aircraft during WWII

Working on aircraft during WWII

Small town girl in the big city of Philly

Small town girl in the big city of Philly

Jean working as a human computer

Jean working as a human computer

Jean and another woman working on the ENIAC

Jean and another woman working on the ENIAC

Jean up against the glass ceiling

Jean up against the glass ceiling

Pride in the Home Team

When I think baseball, I think cheap seats but a great time!  The seats here don't look terrible, but while painting it I was thinking of the angle I'm most used to seeing at Kauffman Stadium while watching a Royals game.  The view from around section 403.  High up and left field.  Still for some reason its one of my favorite places to sit.  All that said this is not necessarily the Royals or Kauffman.  Cough.  We contacted the Royals about what we were allowed to do without having to pay royalties.  They said we could use the colors, but we had to make the ball park indistinct (couldn't show the big crown or fountains) and we couldn't show the Royals logo anywhere.  That may sound harsh to some but in reality that was very generous of them and awesome news!  I do wonder if the numbers are pushing it.  We are passing this back by them to get approval so the numbers may go away and this post may be different soon.  I do like how the numbers together are 85.  That was not intended at all but is a happy accident as the late great Bob Ross would say.


Lunch at the fountain

The boy before being asked to vacate the premises.

The boy before being asked to vacate the premises.

Originally there was a boy walking on the ledge of the fountain in this illustration. After awhile I began to feel like he was paintingbombing (like photobombing but more 14th century). The copy is about the fountain and he was right in front of it breaking up the lines so I removed him.  Poor kid. I feel like I ran him off. I should make another illustration showing him sulking away carrying a skateboard and giving me the finger.


Paris of the Plains and KC Cable Cars

This look like a loud and smelly place to have tea.

This look like a loud and smelly place to have tea.

So this illustration plays off the idea of Kansas City being a Paris of the Plains.  I always thought Paris of the Plains referred to KC in its youth being a cultural hub and bustling city on the plains. Then I read it referred to the fact that KC is second only to Paris in miles of boulevards and parkways.  Next I read it referred to the decadent prohibition era of Boss Tom Pendergast, when KC was a city that never slept.  Well I've come to realize its all those things so it doesn't really matter.  Also with all the recent Cuba hubub I heard Havana being referred to as the Paris of the Western Hemisphere it became clear that its  just one of those phrases people like to throw around to classy something up.  It must be good to be Paris!  

So anyways for this illustration we opted to go with a bustling downtown scene from the turn of the last century.  The centerpiece is a cable car running down 9th street. I knew Kansas City had a huge network of street cars but until recently I had no idea about the cable cars!  What's the difference you ask?  Well, cable cars get their locomotion by gripping an always-moving cable located in a slot centered between the rails (think San Francisco trolleys).  Street Cars are powered by electric motors which get their electricity from a grid of wires suspended above the road.  The cable lines had a short, but extensive run here in town.  In fact, at one time KC had the 3rd biggest network of cable cars in the country.  Its like we were the San Francisco of the Midwest!  See, I don't know about that kind of phrasing.  Its like saying "Hey!  You're like that other guy who does that thing better!"

For the final I went with a grip car pulling a trailer.  The grip car is the open car.

For the final I went with a grip car pulling a trailer.  The grip car is the open car.

KC - Town of arts and big ideas

Here is another rough sketch for the KC project. Deciding the best way to illustrate how KC is a town of arts and big ideas was a bit of a challenge. In this sketch I wanted to try out a bustling First Friday feel with the Kauffman Center for the Performing arts in the background.  I always want to call it the Kauffman Performing Arts Center.  Seems like better economy of words. Haha me talking about economy of words! 

Anyways I'm excited.  I think I'm caught up enough on projects to get some make up sleep tonight.  Hmm, I'm realizing that my make up sleep is still less than most peoples normal sleep. But I'll take it! 

Fundamental misunderstanding of cow anatomy

So apparently when I was about 5 and was visiting my uncles dairy farm in Wisconsin, I drew him a picture to commemorate the trip.  Wow.  Now either 5 year old me had a fundamental misunderstanding of cow anatomy, or my dear uncle John was raising mutant, serpent like cows with never ending udders.  Hey, its real easy to blame the artist here.  I'm just saying lets keep an open mind.  

I especially like that my uncle took the time to label what was what.  I would have never guessed that was a "back of cow".

Rooting for the home team - Rough sketch examples

Here's a couple more illustrations for this Kansas City project. If there's one thing KC has in spades, its passion for our teams.  I shouldn't phrase it like that.  There's certainly more than one thing we have. Did I ever mention we have Tacos In A Tub? Tacos. In a tub. That's right. SO let me start over.  

PROMINENT in the long list of awesome things about Kansas City (including tubs full of tacos) is our passion for our sports teams. We have some of the best fans in the country - be it football, baseball, soccer, or college basketball - people here can't get enough. And they're good fans too. Go to a Chiefs game wearing a Raiders jersey and you'll still get offered brats, beer and ribs in the parking lot.  Then again if you're a Raiders fan you might want to keep an eye on that Brat during its journey from the grill to your hand.  Just saying I can't speak for everyone.

The point of this sketch was to put the emphasis on the excitement and experience of the crowd more so then the teams.  I love our major teams, but I swear you could go to a chess tournament or a curling match in this town and still find people tailgating in the parking lot and lovingly yelling expletives inside.  Its an awesome place to be a fan and we're always ready to root for the home team.


City of Fountains

So what is the best fountain to capture the spirit of this "City of Fountains?"  Is it the epic, classical JC Nichols fountain so often seen in file footage used by the local news?  Or is it a more modest and personable fountain? Perhaps something you pass on your walk to work where you can stop and eat a sandwich?  Maybe it's that fountain the kids can play in without getting yelled at?....while you eat a sandwich. I guess in the end I just wanted to sketch a place for some lady to eat a sandwich.

Kansas City BBQ and the Meat Sweats

Kansas City is famous for its BBQ which is often associated with a sweet, spicy sauce. For me its associated with the meat sweats.  What are the meat sweats you ask?  Well, the meat sweats are a phenomena  experienced when one consumes way too much meat.  Its not a typical sweat like you'd have on a hot day after running a few miles.  Oh no.  Its a clammy, gross, strange protest of the body.   Meat sweats are like an indication of my primal instincts gone wrong.  If I lived ten thousand years ago and successfully hunted a wooly mammoth, I'd think, "I'm going to eat as much as I can because who knows when the next successful hunt will be!"  Well my barely evolved brain still thinks that way despite the fact that I don't have to don a loin cloth and have badass atlatl skills in order to assure my next dose of protein.  So now when I get that strange  perspiration of gluttony, I remind myself that I don't need to eat the whole animal and  Its okay to take a break and eat some celery.  Now where's the ranch dressing?

Next time: Ranch Dressing Seizures

I really should have used this space to talk about the awesomeness of KC BBQ instead of my perspiration issues.  Ah well.

Here is a rough sketch of a Kansas City BBQ scene based on the atmosphere of the American Royal BBQ Competition.


KC Jazz rough sketches and a music ramble

Here are a few rough sketch examples for an illustration on Kansas City jazz.  This too is for the aforementioned mystery project about KC. 

I'll admit it. I've always loved Jazz. Not the shirt shopping muzak or 80s saxophone make-out tunes people associate the word with.  I'm talking old school jazz like the works of Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus and of course KC's own Charlie Parker. When I first was exposed to that kind of music my brain thought "Yes...of course". I feel the same way about the Blues, but it also has a modern day image crisis. Seriously. Go type blues into Pandora and prepare yourself to hear a thousand soulless viagra commercial theme songs for every "Hell yes, thats it" song that strikes a chord. But almost always that one song is worth it.

Anyways I shouldn't sound so judgy. What do I know? Well actually I do know one thing: I played an instrument just long enough (ironically, in a heavy metal band) to know that getting together with some buddies, finding a groove and locking in a crappy song is better than passively listening to a great song any day. So all you people making elevator jazz and things-are-just-fine blues, keep on keepin' on cause its awesome that you're doing it, and I'm sure its just what someone needs! There, I've said my piece. Now back to making art that a kid could draw.