Sketch Card #18 - Mascot Edition

Ok, time for more sketch cards. I'd like to get into 2012 before Opening day (the real one, not the thing going on in Japan) at least. PROBLEM: I still need to get more packages out and to do so I need to draw more sketch cards and right now I don't feel like drawing anything so thing are getting backed up in here so I'm procrastinating by actually writing a post for my now completely-off-the-rails blog. Must be something about February and March. As I recall the blog went off the rails at this time last year too. I'm hitting the Braves Open House this weekend so maybe that'll snap me out of my baseball doldrums.

Ok, so onto the sketch card. One thing I like doing now that I'm all artistic and sh!t is experimenting with stuff I haven't done before. Sometimes it works out well, like this future sketch card post I did for Long Fly Ball to Because. Sometimes it's an abject disaster like when I tried using oil pastels for the first time. Note that both pieces have a black background. I'm somewhat obsessed with black right now for some reason. I've switched from graphite to charcoal for quick sketches recently. I really like the deep black color of the charcoal and it forces me to be very decisive where I put a line. With graphite (that's pencils for the non-pretentious) I get all fiddly and uncertain and I erase things 27 times and try to make things perfect and get frustrated when it isn't. Charcoal lines? You draw it and it's there. Ain't no getting rid of it. You screw it up, you work around it.

Sometimes it's a trainwreck,

Sometimes it turns out pretty ok.

Either way I can knock out a quick drawing or sketch without having to sweep away a pile of eraser crumbs.

So now that I've established that I am obsessed with the color black (and Pinkie Pie, but you already knew that) and like to experiment we can discuss today's sketch card. This nightmare version of the '60's style Mr. Met that heads up this post.

Dem eyes just burn away your soul, don't they? So basically what happened is between the last Sharpie Sketch card and this one I finally got brave enough to start painting with acrylics. Like everything else I've ever done while learning art, I didn't just check out a nice "how to paint with acrylics" book from the library and do a nice simple painting of a vase or some strawberries or something, I have to do something weird like paint ponies into baseball cards and spraypaint decoy cards black to use as a canvas. Important safety tip: Painting on glossy cards with acrylic is a gigantic pain in the butt. The paint slides around and doesn't cover properly and you have to use a ton of coats to make it look even kinda right. So what happened when I spraypainted a bunch of decoy cards black so I could paint on them?

That's right, I used glossy paint.

I have since bought a can of flat black spraypaint for spritzing decoy cards. I also bought the crappy cheap paint so I have to use 7 coats just to make the card grayish but every failure is a learning experience and at this rate I'll be Albert Einsten by the end of the year.

Ok, so onto this sketch card right here. This was painted for Jacobmrly. I have a second project in mind for him but I'm having trouble getting it down onto paper. A little fear combined with a lot of lazy. Just need to do it. Digressing again. So, Mr. Marley has a habit of sending me Chippers unannounced so I wanted to repay the Met fan with something nice.  He got this. Seeing as how this was my third painting since I started back up again all I can see is where I screwed up. Lines are really uneven. Paint sliding everywhere on the glossy surface. The stitches on Mr. Met's head look like a giant flesh wound. There's a definite creepiness in the face that was actually a lot worse before I repainted it almost completely. Not happy with the bat. The body is kinda cartoonish, but I actually kinda like how that turned out. In other words I see this work as a hot mess.

So, I think it's a disaster. What does Jacobmrly, the guy who actually received the card, think about it? Well, it's now on his Mets binder and has become the header and favicon of his new blog.

I really need to relax, quit being so critical and just draw.

GET TO DA CHOPPER

Nothing says "Minor League Baseball" like a good mascot. The Gwinnett Braves have that mascot:

Chopper the Groundhog. Why a groundhog? There's a southern version of Punxsutawney Phil that lives in Lilburn named General Beauregard Lee. Yep, this is Georgia all right. As for the name Chopper, substitute a vowel and you'll figure it out. As you can see, Chopper rides around on an ATV, bangs on a drum to lead the croud in claps and engages in typical mascot shenanigans often involving hassling umps and the opposing team coaches.

Here's a YooToob viddy of Chopper in action:



He is much funnier when doing skits. Chopper has excellent comedic timing. One involved a pink feather boa, a pretty girl and a hapless player in an opposing uniform. Another featured a metal trash can that bounced on top of the opposing team's dugout several times. A kid ended up in the trash can at one point which seemed a suitable place at the time. I don't know why I'm writing this paragraph like I'm doing a 3rd grade theme paper. It just seems to fit. Chopper has a goatee and I think that's cool.

Chopper's a cool mascot, but he's slack as hell about updating his blog. Maybe I should get in touch and offer to be a ghost writer?

What the...

The Gwinnett Braves have their mascot for the 2009 season. His name is Chopper. Here's a picture of the critter:


Yep, That's a groundhog. I was initially taken aback when I first saw it. However, it does have a few things going for it:

a) It's cute.
2) Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania has had a free ride for too goddamn long.
Σ) It makes no sense.
four) It's a hell of a lot better than the stupid mascots the parent club employs.

So basically what I'm saying is, I approve. I'd prefer a surreal rodent over a Mr. Met ripoff any day. And guess what? YOU can be the mascot! You have less than two hours to make up a skit and drive out to Lawrenceville, GA... But c'mon! It's totally worth it to be able to don that majestic costume AND GET PAID FOR IT!

BONUS TRIVIA!

Did you know that the groundhog is actually a marmot? I totally love this mascot now!