Friday, July 6, 2012

Illustration Friday: Suspend

Click to make bigger.  You can almost taste the energy.
Here's my entry for this week's Illustration Friday theme: Suspend.  This was a fun memory from elementary school.  Every recess we would run out to the monkey bars and play the game of "chicken" until some kid lost an eye.  I remember the bars being red hot from the sun and that most of the time kids would give up from their hands burning before the kicking could even start.  One of the techniques we would use would be to get a fist full of sand and rub our hands together to really rough 'em up and give us extra grip on the bars.  Good times.  I bet more people would be involved in presidential debates if this is how they were handled.

12 comments:

  1. Haha, great story. This is not a pastime I would enjoy! The expressions of the kids on the ground are hilarious. So fun! Lovely drawing style.

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    1. Thanks. I tried to keep the kids on the ground as plain as I could to not distract from the school yard gladiators. It just seemed too empty without them.

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  2. OK so after seeing this I'm having a little PTSD from when my boys were little :)
    Fun and cute illo Mr. Matt!

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    1. I know what you mean. My son has tried this with me a few times and I'm sad to say I just don't have the same energy the kids in the picture have. That and my feet touch the ground now. Bars are still hot though.

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  3. This captures the mood and energy of your memory so well! I love the concentration in their expressions. The black and white adds to the air of reminiscence about it, and the inverted triangle composition of the central figures is very strong. Excellent work!

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    1. Thanks. I actually did it in black and white 'cause I only had time on my lunch break to work on it. I'm glad it worked out that way.

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  4. I have similar memories apart from the burning bars as I live in England and we don't see the sun that often. Rain, rain and more rain! Great work!

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    1. Rain sounds very nice right now. It's about 109 degrees fahrenheit outside, in the shade. Thanks for the comment.

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  5. Love this! I cannot wait to have kids of my own to enjoy this! haha NOT! :)

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  6. Ha... brings back some memories! We used to do this as well, but the bars weren't hot since they were wooden. We did, however, constantly have some pretty serious callouses on our hands!

    Sadly, I don't think my arms are strong enough to get across the bars now - even if my legs didn't drag on the ground when I tried to hang....

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