A few of you may have noticed that I’ve been inexplicably missing the last few days. In part, that’s because my sensational team and I have been working late into the night getting Adobe Photoshop CS5 One-on-One (the book) to press. It boasts a revamped outline, gobs of new sample files and exercises, and just shy of 5 hours of video (4 hours and 50 minutes to be exact). Colleen, my industrious editor on these projects, will provide more details on Monday.
Meanwhile, when not working on the book, I’ve been altogether preoccupied with my personal life. Specifically—and very much in keeping with Father’s Day—the one involving my powerful sons, Max and Sam. Saturday, for example, the two engaged in a swim meet. (Swimming was the only sport I lettered in, so the apples remain close to the tree.) My contribution was to cheer them on and draw Marks Of The Warriors on their backs, as pictured below. That’s Max on the left and Sam on the right.
CGI: 0. Sharpie and freehand fumbling: 100.
I will attempt to keep you better informed as the days grow long.
swim meets
deke,
i wish i had your freehand talent. my son’s back never looks that cool at swim meets. i’ve had to stop his mom from drawing the waaaaaay overdone bubbles with “eat my bubbles” across his shoulders. i’ll show her this and maybe we can come up with something half as cool.
phil
I see a market for non-toxic Sharpies
And dragon stencils.
How Cool!
The one on the left look so real!
It’s only when I looked closer at the on on the right that I realised they weren’t the real deal.
I think a future as a tatooist beckons, what do you think?
Writing with a sharpie on children..big no-no
Kids please don’t try this at home:
Sharpies (from Wiki)
“They are considered non-toxic for “normal uses,” meaning writing on posters, soccer balls, and such. However, they are not meant for use on skin or fingernails. It might take over an ounce (about 29 milliliters) of ink from a Sharpie to cause a lethal reaction, and if a Sharpie is used on the skin it generally won’t cause an immediate or obvious health effect. However, according to the manufacturer [6], various Sharpies contain: n-propanol, n-butanol, diacetone alcohol and cresol. The first of these, n-propanol, is commonly used in cosmetics. The other three, however, are industrial solvents, chemicals that should not be sniffed, eaten, or put on the skin. As solvents, they penetrate the skin and fingernails and can enter the bloodstream.
Magnum Sharpie, King Size Sharpie, and Touch-up Sharpie products contain xylene. The Magnum and King Size Sharpies also contain cresol. However, all other products in the Sharpie line do not contain either of these chemicals, and are considered safe under “normal use”.
These chemicals are not tested for human consumption, only incidental environmental exposure. So the chemical manufacturers’ technical data sheets on these chemicals are ambiguous with respect to how much should be considered a hazardous dosage, but do warn of kidney, liver, and brain damage, other nervous disorders, and DNA effects resulting in birth defects. OSHA has set permissible exposure limits (PEL) at 100ppm for n-butanol, 50ppm for diacetone alcohol, and 5ppm for cresol.
Some products have been reported to be able to remove this product from the skin, such as rubbing alcohol, denatured alcohol, hand sanitizer, sunscreen lotion (generally of the spray-on variety), nail polish remover, shaving cream, and facial cleaning pads, and also toothpaste.[7] Tabasco sauce or any Vinegar based product are also particularly effective at removing the ink from skin. However, the ink wears off on its own within two days or so, since the ink is on skin cells that are constantly being shed.”
Relax Lady
Relax lady… he really had the kids tattoed but didn’t want to tell anyone.
So you see… no harm done.
I’m quite relaxed, thank you
And I’ll be gracious in my reply since you refer to yourself in your profile as “Older than (or at least as old as) dirt.” Your words.
I was brought up to respect my elders and to be respectful of all peoples ideas thoughts and input and not respond with a snarky remark or rebuke. A kid seeing this photo might think it’s a neat idea to make a “sharpie tattoo” and think that its real. Its quite a bad idea, actually.
Um, actually, that sounds horrible
Thanks for this. I’m going to read it again the next time I think of drawing on my children. It might take over an ounce to be lethal?!! Yoiks. Lethal is bad, right?
(semi)Snarky remark #2
re: “a kid seeing this photo”....
just how many “kids” do you think frequent this site??
Would you have found the photo more palatable had the pen/ink type not been mentioned ?
Sharpie
Yes. And don’t underestimate the interest of kids in graphic arts. As to the number of kids visiting this site it takes just one to be looking over the shoulder of their parent or babysitter while he/she is perusing Dekes excellent web site and catching a view of those very lovely dragons drawn with a chemical marker. And idea like that can that go viral with kids and I can just see a couple of kids inking up their baby brother or sister. Baby skin…handle with care.
As to “lethal” being bad..it entirely depends on what kind of day you are having ;)