I had trouble with this one! All Illustration Friday topics are good, is my general belief, and if I cannot come up with an illustration, that is not the fault of the word! But all I could come up with for “PREPARE” was an elaborately prepared birthday cake. So I started a 4-tier fancy cake, but couldn’t decide on a decorating scheme for it. I finally hit upon Minas Tirith* but couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm to do it right.
Then last night the boyfriend’s new alt-country band Honeysuckle Road was playing at a bar, and I brought drawing paper (8″x5″ Bristol paper from a small drawing journal, folded in half to fit in my tiny purse), a pencil and my favorite Staedtler eraser. Oh, and a pencil sharpener. Over the course of the evening (after several false starts), I came up with the following:
Magic Preparedness Kits, Display and "Actual" Versions
It’s a pretty rough sketch with many eraser marks, but I like the sketchy style. I also left the scanned version in “color” because it seems to give an old-fashioned kind of sepia tone (not sure why, actually, since it was all regular pencil!) Also, it is probably pretty clear I had no reference objects so some of the items are sketchy in more ways than one.
The Display Version of this wizard preparedness kit includes: Magic 8-Ball, witch hazel, candles, “spirits”, jar of newt eyes, tuning fork, genie lamp, Swiss Army Wand gadget. The “Real” Version includes: change for laundry, Sham Wow, spork, sharpie marker, nail clippers, Neosporin, Snickers bar, duct tape, cow bell, toothbrush, bifocals.
Some items that didn’t make the cut: extra straw for brooms, calligraphy pen, snakebite kit, Mag light, matches, flare gun, sticks of dynamite, fishing hook, ace bandage, rope, salt and pepper shakers, sewing kit. I think I will do a full color version in the next couple days, so we’ll see what ends up in there!
Can you think of any items I should have added? How about for your own emergency kit? Thank you for visiting!
*Minas Tirith is the White City from Lord of the Rings. Built in the side of a mountain, with terraces and levels going all the way up to a castle at the top (and the courtyard with the white tree). Apologies for the rampant geekery. But anyway, great tiered cake idea, right!? So great it’s probably been done, now that I think of it. ;)
Wonderful :)
Fun take on the prompt! And this is different from your usual stuff, it’s great to see your sketchings!
Living in an earthquake-prone country, I think about preparedness a lot, especially since the March 11 multiple-disasters in Japan. A bit of whimsy takes the heaviness out of preparing for such inevitable events. I like the way your mind works. Thank you. :)
Thank you for the nice comments!
A snickers bar would be in my preparedness kit too…mmmmm! This is so funny!
This is a fun work! Also love the story behind it, great how inspiration works!
Hahaha! So good– the Swiss Army Wand especially! I’d really like one of those.
You ARE prepared! …And it’s always good to have a tuning fork ;)
Super fun sketches !!+
I do love your kits. Im with Sarah, something chocolate is a must.
i love the swiss magic knife, really nice idea.
Thanks so much for your kind comments! I love your kit…I think your Swiss army magic will cover all your bases!
Baking a cake takes a lot of preparation! Loving your imagination with the magic preparedness kit. Everyone needs a cowbell.
Agreed, more cowbell! And magic wands. Thank you for the comments!
Uuu I definitely need one of these! I love the paper feeling of your sketches, gives them a great touch. :) thanks for visiting my blog.
Cindy D.,
I like the Swiss magic knife and one can always use some eyes of newt. However, a good role of duct tape will get you out of most difficult situations.
Great ideas, love the swiss army wand!:)
I love seeing your sketches! This makes me want to post more of my sketchy work!
Very clever idea for the theme! I really like it! I was totally stuck for ideas when I did mine too!
Thank you so much for the comments!
The spork! The cow bell! This is too cool. I’m curious to see how this will look in color, although I very much like your sketchy style!
Eyes of Newt!!! I want some of those! Great ideas, Cindy!
I think you’re drawing is very nice allready and I am very curious how you put it in color. Thanks for your comment on my drawing
Hehe this is funny. The sepia maybe stems from beer stains ;-)
My kit would definitely have something to fly. Maybe that is what the 8-ball is for?
I likethe sketchy quality of the work, also. The thing that really comes forward, however, is your individual take on a preparedness kit and where you took this. Sign of a true and dedicated artist! I need to do more of this in my exploring. Good post!
Thanks, Leslie! I was very pleased with this crazy/silly idea, and still have every intention of doing a colored/more completed version. And, I should note, I am slightly mortified that I *said* I was going to do that soon and haven’t yet. But we can only manage what we can manage, and being motivated in winter is not my strong suit!
Fantastic! I love the way your mind works! Not sure what a cow bell would be handy for or what Sham Wow is but sounds very important. I think you left out dark chocolate and a tea bag? …I couldn’t survive a day anywhere without either. ;)
Hee hee, I love it! A Sham Wow is invaluable, for sure. Also, Staedtler erasers, thumbs up!