Rob E. Boley's Blog, page 9

My Daughter: Special Operative Fairy Agent

My kid moonlights as a Special Operative Fairy Agent, or SOFA. Periodically she finds Animal Assignment Sheets (AAS’s) left under her pillow by the Tooth Fairy. To complete these sheets (as pictured), she has to research specific animal species both out in nature and online, and then provide information about the species, such as number of teeth, diet, and sleeping habits.

You see, in recent years, the Tooth Fairy has found that fewer and fewer children believe in her. That’s fine, except she still employs a lot of Fairy Agents. So, the Tooth Fairy is expanding her services into the animal kingdom. But first, she needs to know which animals would best be served by her fairies. So, my daughter’s job is to research various animals and provide the Fairy Guild with her recommendation. In the AAS pictured here, we sadly had to reject owls as a potential service population. As my daughter noted, “All birds have no teeth!

As a side note, we encountered a screech owl just a few weeks ago while camping at Englewood Metropark. They sound like a coyote possessed by a drunk hyena.

So, how did my girl get such a sweet gig? Well, a baboon named Adam lived with us for about a year (that’s a whole other story). After he moved out, the Tooth Fairy recruited him as a Deputy Fairy Agent. So, when this opening became available at the Fairy Guild, he put in the good word for my daughter.

For each of these Animal Assignment Sheets that she completes, she is supposed to earn $4.44 in coins under her pillow. Lately, though, Adam has been leaving her books instead of cash. She’s fine with that, though.

The first book he brought her was Because of Winn Dixie. When she saw it, she squealed with glee. She stood next to the bed clutching her new book. An adorable puppy, the improbably named Winn Dixie, stared back from the book’s cover. By the way she held it to her chest, you would have thought she was holding a real puppy.  She devoured it (the book, not a puppy) that morning by 9 am.

Trilogy of Novels to be Published

I am thrilled beyond the telling to announce that I’ve signed a deal with Stonehouse Ink to publish my debut trilogy of dark fantasy novels.

The first book, currently titled That Wicked Apple, is the zombie sequel to Snow White. It asks: What if Snow’s curse didn’t end with the Prince’s kiss? What if she woke up, but didn’t wake up right?

Big thanks to the talented author Les Edgerton for opening this door for me.

Best in Show – Sinclair Community College Creative Writing Contest!

This past Tuesday, I attended an awards dinner at Sinclair Community College and received the Best in Show award for my first creative non-fiction story, Me Am Dad, in the Sinclair Community College Creative Writing Contest. As Best in Show, I’ve won a full scholarship to the Antioch Writers Workshop – for the second year in a row! I’m humbled and honored.

Thanks so much to the faculty at Sinclair Community College, especially Rebecca Morean, for providing this great opportunity!

Daughter Dressed as Sally Part 2

So, I took the pencil sketch of my daughter as Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, and I add Jack Skellington standing beyond her – almost as if they were dancing. Then I inked it with some nifty artist markers. Turns out, inking is fun! Next step: color! This’ll eventually be a Christmas gift for the little one.

Daughter Dressed as Sally

Been awhile since I’ve posted anything, partly because I spent a couple weeks making my daughter’s Halloween costume, Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. This is a sketch of how it turned out.

Dancing With a Stick

I sketched these using as reference some pictures I took last weekend at the Cyclops Fest in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I went with my daughter, then we took a hike and ate some ice cream at the Corner Cone. Cyclops Fest was an event showcasing DIY crafts – a lot of really cool stuff, but nothing compared to the coolness of dancing with a stick.

Kings Yard Sketch

Sketched this a few days ago during a most lovely afternoon in Yellow Springs, Ohio. This is one of the shops in Kings Yard next to the Tavern. Only wanted to draw the mannequins, but things got out of hand. I couldn’t stop myself once I started.

That’s how I roll.

 

Solitude of the Soul

This is a sketch of Solitude of the Soul, the massive white sculpture at the far end of the Dayton Art Institute. The sculptor, Lorado Taft, explained the sculpture (and two others bearing the same name) as follows: “The thought is the eternally present fact that however closely we may be thrown together by circumstances . . . we are unknown to each other.”

For the sketch, I just ignored the background and drew the two people I could see from my vantage point. Wasn’t sure how it would go drawing something existing in three dimensions. I’ve had a hell of a time sketching my favorite piece at the museum, Joy of the Waters. But this sketch happened easily. I drew them in water because I was too lazy to draw feet. So, the human predicament: we are unknown to each other… and our feet are pruned.

Oceanic Masks

Doing some more sketching at Dayton Art Institute. Wanted something different tonight, so I wandered downstairs and found these awesome masks in the oceanic gallery.

Lots of interesting textures to scribble. Bummer these masks aren’t available in the gift shop. I’d totally rock out that baba mask at a costume ball.

Because I go to SO MANY costume balls.