As we’ve seen with past posts like this, blog readers, this post is fun on at least two different levels:
1) It’s a sneak peek at the April edition of the popular “Alex and Charlie” comic; and
2) It’s a fill-in-the-blank type thing à la the monthly “Photo Fun” feature in OWL.
So, that said, what do you Charlie is shouting in the panel above? Why is he throwing his arms around? Also, based on this panel alone, what do you think the comic is about? Post your theories in the comments below!
Talk to you soon.
Craig, owlblog@owlkids.com
P.S. Thanks to Caroline, OWL’s awesome designer, for cropping out this panel for me!
Hey all. What a weekday morning! I don’t know about you, but I could use a little Reader Art of the Week to get me firing on all cylinders. Luckily, that’s just what we have in store!
This week’s art comes to us in the form of a painting from OWL reader Kylie. Check it out:
Here’s what Kylie has to say about her awesome oil painting:
To me this is a picture of flowers, but to make it more interesting I also added dark figures in the back to represent shadows. I created it by lapping over my colors seven times to make it look more like shades.
It’s always interesting to hear about an artist’s process and his or her own interpretation of the artwork. I think the shadowy figures Kylie created in the background add a level of mystery to the image. What, if anything, is lurking back there? Only the artist knows for sure, but it can be fun for us to guess.
Hi all! This week marks a new medium for Reader Art of the Week: clay art! Check out OWL reader Jenna’s clay creation below:
About her creation, Jenna had this to say:
This is a picture of one of my clay creations — a woman picking carrots for her most delicious carrot soup. I have created several clay people and had a difficult time picking which one to send in, but decided on this one because I thought it would be most interesting to OWL readers. I love working with clay, and spend many hours creating characters, scenes, animals, and miniature turtle houses.
Cool! I love the details here: the dirt on her arms and face, the water bottle, the wheel barrow, etc. I also like how everything in the foreground of the image is sharp and everything in the background is fuzzed out. It keeps our focus on the important things.
Many thanks to Jenna for sending in her art. Please send YOUR art — whether it be clay or something else — to me at owlblog@owlkids.com.
Okay, hands up: who here read a ton of Dr. Seuss books when you were younger? Everyone? I thought so! In recent years, we’ve been able to relive some of those books on the big screen, and now Hollywood has decided to make a blockbuster flick out of another of Seuss’s classics: The Lorax. I got a chance to see the new movie at a preview screening last weekend, and I’m here to share some thoughts.
The movie centres around 12-year-old Ted, a boy living in a plastic, processed town called Thneedville. When Ted’s crush tells him all she really wants out of life is to see a real live tree (Thneedville’s trees are all fake), he embarks on a big adventure to leave Thneedville and find The Once-ler, the one person who knows what happened to all the trees.
But who is the mysterious orange being known as The Lorax? And can Ted turn the tide and return trees to Thneedville? You’ll have to catch this flick in theatres to find out!
In the meantime, here are a few observations I had about the movie:
1) It looks great. As you may have noticed on the posters or trailers for this movie, it’s brought to you by the people who made Despicable Me, and it shows. The animated landscape is bright and lush (well, some of the landscape, anyway…), and the 3-D helps to add depth and a sense of realism.
2) It has a good message. This movie, while it has lots of musical numbers and some goofy chase scenes, is all about the environment. It asks us to look at ourselves and the way we live in the world and how we treat it. Always a good reminder!
3) It’s strangely structured. In most movies, flashbacks take up a small portion of the runtime, if they’re present at all. In The Lorax, however, flashbacks make up the bulk of the movie as The Once-ler explains what happened to all the trees. This means we don’t spend a whole lot of time — in comparison — with Ted or any of the characters in the present. Just felt a little odd.
Overall, I thought The Lorax was pretty good. Some of it will appeal most to the younger end of the OWL readership (the Lorax is fuzzy and funny, and there are some super-cute animals), while the pro-conversation message will appeal to the older end.
Do you think you’ll see this movie, OWL readers? Let me know in the comments below!
Hey bloggers! As many of you will know by now, OWL’s March issue (our eighth annual Comic Issue) has hit newsstands. So now seems like a perfect time to share with you a reader-created comic in this week’s edition of Reader Art of the Week.
The comic comes to us from OWL reader Sage. Check it out:
Nice! There’s a lot to like about this comic, but my favourite thing is the dog inside the doghouse’s expression. Sage has exaggerated its closed eyes for comic effect, and she’s done a great job. It makes me want to read/see more comics about these two dogs and their interactions.
Many thanks to Sage for sending in her artwork. If you would like to see YOUR artwork on the blog, email it to me at owlblog@owlkids.com!
