Art In Progress: Tiny Sharpie Planets

Hey, look at this… I made something that doesn’t involve my drill or a bigass saw. Shocking, right? I don’t know what’s come over me.

Actually I do know what has come over me. Back when I started this big house adventure, I made a conscious effort to put all other creative efforts on the back burner. Not easy for someone who likes to have 15 23 47 a lot of projects going on at any given moment in time. I mean, there were more pressing matters, like needing walls and a roof… so if at some point in the last year I decided to stop building a house and spend time drawing tiny planets onto torn out pages of Huckleberry Finn, probably I would have ended up in a padded room somewhere with CRAZY tattooed on my forehead.

But now that the house does, in fact, have walls and a roof, I’ve given myself permission to let loose with a couple of just-for-fun projects.

Like this…

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"I'll take you with me," I said, but forgot to mention I have no idea where I'm going.

If you’re wondering what in the heck would compel someone to a.) tear the pages out of Huckleberry Fin, or b.) Make up one sentence stories and then turn them into itty-bitty planets… I have no idea, but I think I’m going to blame it on Pintrest.

I was inspired by these pictures of silhouettes printed on book pages (a really easy project that doesn’t involve a sharpie marker) and Brian Andreas’ Storypeople art.

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Those empty spaces give me the impression that people are watching me.

I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with these, other than just enjoy making them. I’ll probably cut them down into 3×3 squares and frame them individually.

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Walking in between raindrops is easier with an umbrella, but not nearly so much fun.

Originally I thought I would write the stories around the planets, but it ended up looking very cluttered with the words on top of words. I considered drawing the planets on plain white paper, but I really like the fact that it looks like a drawing on a book page.

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"It's a small world," she said, while standing on the moon playing with the stars.

I may find a way to put my stories on the frame, or the back of the picture,  or I may leave it off entirely.

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It's not what you think... unless you believe in purple elephants and cats with wings and all of the fantastical things.

Sharpie markers and I actually go way back. In college when my roommates and I would finish a new bottle of liquor I would memorialize it in sharpie. And then I did it with beer bottles. And now someone is going to suggest a 12 step program for me, but don’t worry, ever since moving out of the garage I mostly drink non-alcoholic beer. (Seriously, everything I love about beer without the extra calories and dehydration.)

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"Just a hop, skip, and a jump," they told me, but never said which part to skip.

They say admitting it is the first step. What can I say? I like sniffing Sharpies and drinking O’Douls. Seriously, it’s like a non-stop party around here.

15 Responses

  2. So very cool. I doodled my way through many a class and multitudes of meetings. You could frame them in shadow boxes and etch your stories onto the glass…

  3. You have a great talent! So can I buy a few of those? I can paint but my sharpie skills are limited to stick figures and smiley faces. 😉

    1. Maybe you can Christy! I need to figure out how to finish them off first. If I’m going to build frames or what… (you knew I was going to sneak some tool action in there).

      Although if you paint, I think you’d be surprised what you can do with a sharpie. It really is just glorified stick figures!

  4. When Mr. Man discovered super thin sharpies? We had enough of them around the house that they appeared to be multiplying. He’s an architect, who is particular about his pens.

    I love these and don’t care why you made them. The important thing is that you did.

  5. LOVE these! I love the sentence-stories almost as much as the drawings – hope you can incorporate them! Maybe write them around all four edges of the frames?

  7. These are REALLY neat!! You & your multiple talents never cease to amaze me. I also like the stories as well as the pics-they complete each other. BTW-what ever happened to all your bottle drawings?

    1. Thanks Dawn! The liquor bottle drawings are stashed at my mom’s house I think (SO hard to keep track of everything) but I never got very far on your brothers beer bottles!

  8. These are wonderful! Just got power back after 6 days – would’ve killed for a cold O’Douls – and couldn’t wait to check in and see what you’ve been up to! Great job!

  9. They remind me of the little prince too. At first glance, before I read the post I thought you had drawn on pages from the little prince.

  10. I love these! You should frame them, they are totally charming. They remind me of The Little Prince, a favorite book of mine. I would love to have one if you were ever to sell them. 🙂

  12. Nice drawings. Everyone should read “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I’m not sure which translation I read, but I think it was Katherine Woods.

  13. These….are….AWESOME!!!!
    The pictures alone are awesome, but add those little sayings….priceless.

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I'm not interested in a mediocre life. I'm here to kick ass or die.

(formerly DIYdiva.net)
THE STORYTELLER

Back in 2004 I started writing about my adventures in fixing up houses on the internet. A lot of things have changed since then, with me, with my houses, and with the internet. These days I am basically a cranky old man trapped in a slightly less old woman’s body. The internet has changed and I am staunchly refusing to change with it. You won’t find any algorithms here, or feeds, or ads, or social media. Just good old-fashioned stories about a woman drinking beer and building shit, and living an unexpected life.

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