Rainbow Vampire Kitten

Thanks to Soap for submitting the words for today's illustration!

Wednesday and Friday

Due to a death in the family there will be no illustration today or on Friday. Look for "Rainbow Vampire Kitten" on Monday!

Idiom Spewing Chicken

Farmer Tucker always boasted that he had the smartest chickens in the entire state. He said this as a joke mainly, because he used the hen house as a place to store all of the books he had collected over the years. Secretly, though, he thought that, just maybe, being around all of that literature did help the chickens win gold medals every year at the state fair, but he would never tell anyone that with any amount of seriousness in his voice.

It wasn't until the chickens ran amok and ate a good number of his stored books that Farmer Tucker noticed something strange. Late at night he would sometimes hear strange platitudes on the wind, like a whisper of advice about a fool and his money or getting up on the wrong side of the bed. He would dismiss it and turn over, thinking that he was just lonely out there on his huge farm with only his livestock for company. This went on for a few weeks and Farmer Tucker found himself thinking in idioms as he went about his daily chores. 

All the while, his chickens were acting strange; they would be clucking away madly while he was out in the cow pasture, but the moment he even looked in their direction, all of the chickens would go quiet, face the same direction, and stare. Farmer Tucker confessed to himself that it was a bit unsettling, but he thought, again, that it must just be his solitary lifestyle getting the better of him. Well, that and all of those strange whisperings and creepy novels he had been reading recently. 

The night before the state fair, Farmer Tucker was unable to sleep. Every time he found himself drifting off he would be awakened with a thought about a house divided that could not stand or blood that was thicker than water. He was starting to develop a cold sweat, a slight headache, and the shakes. He thought it was nerves, so he got up around two in the morning and thought he would get an early start on the chores, the first of which was to feed the chickens. As he made his way across the yard toward the hen house the words began to grow clearer and stronger in his mind; he had bitten off more than he could chew, he had looked a gift horse in the mouth, it was down to the wire, and drastic times call for drastic measures.

He scratched at the stubble on his chin, ignoring the words rebounding around the confines of his skull. He reached out for the door to the hen house, it was quiet except for a strange squishing noise. He thought, "I should go for broke and eighty-six the morning chores. I have a gut feeling that there is some chicken in here with an axe to grind and I should be head over heels with the idea of putting the pedal to the medal and going back to bed. He rubbed his eyes and thought he was being crazy, "Hold your horses old Tuck," he said to himself out loud without even knowing he had spoken, "no chicken would ever bite the hand that feeds it. Better get yourself together or the fair judges will think you aren't playing with a full deck." 

Farmer Tucker opened the door and the sight that met his eyes completely blanked his mind of all thought and identity. There were his chickens all in a circle with a single chicken standing in the center. Every few seconds there would be a violent "hurk!" and words, plain as day, would spill forth from the chicken's mouth and splatter on the floor. After one particularly messy one, all of the chickens looked up at Farmer Tucker in unison. Nodding, he stepped inside the hen house and closed the door.

Effervescent Political Shorts

The referendum passed with overwhelming support in every state of the country. A wizard was promptly hired and a spell was placed on all politicians that had some rather humorous, yet productive, results. The budget was fixed in a few short weeks, immigration law was agreed upon and put into action, education and jobs began to improve almost immediately, and social issues were given their time in the spotlight. All of this for fear of embarrassment.

The spell was simple: any finger pointing, name calling, or character attack aimed at another politician resulted in the immediate disappearance of the offending person's pants and the expulsion of copious amounts of brightly colored bubbles from their mouth...and their undershorts. This became particularly amusing in the earliest days after the "Embarrass Them Into Doing Their Jobs" referendum, when the presidential candidates stepped up to their respective podiums and decided to duke it out by debasing each other's character. The bubbles in the room were so thick that it was difficult to make out the hilariously colored undershorts that each candidate had decided to wear that day. Probably for luck.

Glowing Ballerina Hat

Growing up, Morgan told everyone that she wanted nothing more than to be a professional baseball player. She made sure she was better than every boy in Minor B, Minor A, and Little League. Then she made it the major leagues. Her mother and father were so proud of her for sticking to her dreams and not giving up though she was faced with many hurdles that would have tripped up a lesser woman. Morgan, however, had a secret; she wanted to be a ballerina. Sure, she really loved baseball and she was happy with where she was at professionally, but deep in the most secret portions of her heart, she wanted to dance. She wanted to wear beautiful outfits and glide gracefully across a lit stage with thousands of eyes watching her every move. She wanted this so badly that it began to manifest itself in the form of a tiny ballerina that grew brighter each day until it finally took form atop her baseball cap. Morgan didn't know how to explain it to people. She got stares wherever she went, but she didn't care. The ballerina was cute and when Morgan took off her hat at the end of a long day the ballerina would dance for her, gliding seamlessly across the bill as if on the world's most flawless stage. One day, when signing autographs at a local Girl's Club, Morgan found another person with a tiny, shiny figure upon her head. The girl was about twelve years old and looked like she had just come from dance class. Upon her perfectly pulled back bun sat the figure of a girl dressed in baseball pants and wearing a jersey with the number 44 embroidered on the back; Morgan's jersey number was 44. The little figure silently swung a bat and pointed at imaginary bleachers far in the distance. Morgan smiled at the girl, reached up, and touched her hat. The girl smiled back and touched her hair. They both laughed.

-Rob Signed Off

PS: Thanks to Cara Keyser for submitting the phrase for today's design!

Patriotic Carp Tunnel

A little known fact about the Revolutionary War is that George Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware River in December of 1776 was made possible by the bravery of a school of genetically modified, patriotic carp. These carp, created by a collaboration between Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, and Nikola Tesla, three time-traveling super scientist heroes bent on maintaining the proper flow of time and events for the good of all mankind. The carp were developed to hunt down enemy submersibles that Washington didn't even know existed. Plans for the submersibles made their way into enemy hands via an accidental time jump when a technician dropped his fish filet sandwich and hit his head on the "send" button as he bent down to pick it up. So, when you salute the flag or sing the National Anthem, remember all the patriotic carp that made it possible.

-Rob Signed Off

Anxiously Modern Furniture

I have been on sale at Ken's Current Furniture for four long years. I was a trade-in for a particle board entertainment stand. Ken decided to keep me out on the showroom floor as a joke, something for people to compare with their more modern purchases. I can't say its been easy. Nobody has an eye for the elegant anymore. I'm not kitschy enough, that is to say, I'm not kitschy at all, and people don't like that. My cherry finish can't compete with the bright, neon colors of these amorphous abominations that have the gall to call themselves furniture. Sure, my seat is a little faded and there are a few small scratches in my glossy coat, but I'm sturdy. I'll last forever. You'll be lucky if that porn-film knockoff doesn't dump you on your head after six months. I know when to admit defeat, though. If I want to be useful again I have to get with the times. I'm not going to spend my good years as a joke in overpriced furniture freak show. I already painted my seat a nice orange color, sure it's a little spotty, but I'm already getting more attention. Now I've got a bucket of neon green paint, a brush, and a holiday weekend over which I plan to lower myself into the cesspool of modernity. I hope this gets me out of here, because I can't stand another day of the smug look that orange chair keeps giving me.

Contagiously Sinking Elephant

The sign read "Caution: Delicious Peanut Butter." Mario wasn't scared though. Who would be afraid of peanut butter? What elephant in his right mind wouldn't just walk up to the edge and eat his or her fill of that smooth, savory peanut-buttery lake? Bruno was more of a cautious elephant, he remembered the tales, handed down through generations of giant land-walkers, about the tar pits; the peanut butter lake bubbled and shlorped in the manner he had always come to associate with the tar pits in his grandfather's stories. Bruno read the sign, heeded it, and stayed an elephant-length away from the gurgling mess. Mario, much to Bruno's dismay, jumped right in and started eating, his ears flapping happily in a single moment of utter satisfaction. It was apparent, almost immediately, that Mario was in trouble though. He managed to climb half out of the viscous peanut muck before it started to drag him down. Momentarily frozen by Mario's misfortune, Bruno turned to leave too late and was dragged backward as Mario grabbed his tail. Stupid little tail, Bruno thought, and stupid long nose.

Partially Incapacitated Moth

Life is too short to spend half the day hiding from the evil day star. It feels like just yesterday I had more legs than I knew what to do with and here I am today, windswept and awestruck, fairly certain that I am the only moth to ever have flown so high or so fast. It was...I don't even have words for it. Everyone said, "Larry, listen, you need to hide when everything gets so bright and you need to eat and further the Mothian Empire when it gets dark." All I wanted to do was fly. I got my chance this morning when the world turned bright. I was cooling my feet on this giant bird–they aren't all that bad, despite what all the other moths say–when it suddenly clamped itself on one of my wings, roared this piercing denial of being earthbound, and screeched into the sky. Yes, my wing may be unusable for the rest of my short time, but I don't care. I lived and that's all that matters.

Airborne Castle Goalkeeper

Nobody thought that Castle would ever be a successful soccer player. Aside from his checkered past and allegations that he bumped off a pawn or two in his youth, Castle was no good in tryouts for the forward, midfielder, or fullback positions. The coach gave him every opportunity to improve, but Castle was rigid, unable to move freely. Then the coach stuck him in goal and Castle thrived. He slid from left to right with an ease that made him the envy of every coach in the league. Castle knows that his mother and father disapprove, but he doesn't care, they couldn't keep him in check forever. This was a strategic move for him and he loves the game.

Intensely Interested Samurai

The arrow bounces off of his helmet with a barely audible ping, and yet Ichiro pays it no mind. Moments later when the flash of a sword ripping through the air ends abruptly with the sound of shattering metal, Ichiro doesn't even register that his armor deflected and destroyed another Samurai's sword without taking on so much as a scratch. All he knows is that this clover, with its four luscious leaves, needs to be admired. He must stare at it, his sword and bow forgotten, or risk a fate more horrible than disgrace. He smells fresh grass and grains, the salt of the sea, and he has an almost insatiable urge to dance in place.

Acutely Aware Sunglasses

Good morning Random People! Before I get into today's new design, I would like to thank everyone who has "Liked" the Facebook Page. Why do I want to do this? Because last night, around 10pm, the page received its 100th Like! I know, I know, 100 likes is a drop in the bucket, but it feel like an important drop in the bucket to me, so, thank you to everyone who has clicked the "like" button, and a future thank you to those who click it in the future.

Scrumptiously Unattractive Skeleton - Guest Design!

Hello Random People! Surprise! It's a Tuesday/Monday evening Three Random Words guest design. Scrumptiously Unattractive Skeleton was designed by the Wifelette in response to a phrase submitted by her brother Nate. When he submitted the design, I really had no idea how I was going to express the words scrumptiously and unattractive at the same time in the same design. I brought it up to the Wifelette and she came up with something immediately. She remembered this old waitress we had at a Denny's one time who had the most disgustingly ugly make-up job. She had this blue eye shadow that was caked on so thick that the skin above her eyes looked like a dried out stream bed under a blue filter (that was funnier in my head and involved salt flats...which are quite flat and not cracked). She then said it would be hilarious to have the skeleton with that same make-up laying on a serving dish. I loved the idea and asked her to do it as a guest design. Details on her process after the jump.

Sadly Fanged Coconut

Hello Random People! What a wonderful Monday morn...I can't even finish that sentence. The weekend never seems to last long enough. Either the Wifelette and I are travelling all over the place to see not-so-random people, or we have some event to attend that whisks time away from us like some sort of temporal anomaly. But hey, new design! Sadly, I don't even like coconuts, I think it has something to do with the texture. However, I can't help but feel a little twinge for this poor guy. Not only is he badly drawn, colored, and shaded (fishing for comments?), but he's got such bad teeth. Read more about the random phrase and the design after the jump.

Kitten Decoy Squid

Hello Random People! This design is part of a bonus two-design day. Yesterday I hosted a poll on the Facebook Page to decide which of five different random phrases I should use for today's design. With 7 votes apiece when I sat down to draw last night at 8:30pm, both Cautiously Folding Penguin and Kitten Decoy Squid won. Instead of using my own vote as a tie breaker, I decided to treat (I hope it's a treat anyway) everyone to a double dose of Three Random Words designs today. More information on this design after the jump.

Cautiously Folding Penguin

Hello Random People! This design is part of a bonus two-design day. Yesterday I hosted a poll on the Facebook Page to decide which of five different random phrases I should use for today's design. With 7 votes apiece when I sat down to draw last night at 8:30pm, both Cautiously Folding Penguin and Kitten Decoy Squid won. Instead of using my own vote as a tie breaker, I decided to treat (I hope it's a treat anyway) everyone to a double dose of Three Random Words designs today. More information on this design after the jump.

Vote for Friday's Design!

Hello Random People! Head over to the Three Random Words Facebook Page and cast your vote for Friday's design!

The random phrases, submitted by Random Followers, are:

• Sporadically Nautical Fowl
• Cautiously Folding Penguin
• Slowly Flying Computer
• Kitten Decoy Squid
• Scrumptiously Unattractive Skeleton

While you're on the Facebook Page, don't forget to hit the "Like" button!

-Rob Signed Off

Rapidly Enlarge Pretzel

Hello Random People. It is Wednesday, that means its time to unveil the new design, which you can see above these very words! Thanks go to Jason for supplying the random phrase for today's illustration. He originally had said that we should use some of the phrases from his junk mail in order to make an illustration. I told him that if he replaced any references to male genitalia with "pretzel" and any references to female genitalia with "donut" (donut ask me why I chose these words...or made that pun), then I would consider it. He quickly came back with Rapidly Enlarge "Pretzel," the phrase for today's illustration, which I have already said, and will not say again.

When I finished the sketch for this I looked down at it and went "OMG! This is crap!" (I don't think I actually said OMG, I'm not the type of person who says OMG, alot of people say OMG better than I do.) Ahem...anyway, I thought it was going to end up fairly awful. But, it was late, and I didn't want to redraw it or draw something else, so I inked it, scanned it, and moved forward with coloration and shadification (new word!). Want to know how it turned out?

Tattered Old Bear

Hello Random People. As you can see, yesterday's design was "Tattered Old Bear." You may be thinking to yourself, "But, Rob, that's really...not all that random." I would agree with yourself, it really isn't, and here's the reason why. You can't really argue semantics with the person who gave birth to you. It is really that simple. If she says that she randomly came up with the words Tattered Old Bear (even though she has a thing for Teddy Bears...and by a thing, I mean a house full of them) then you just have to nod your head an believe it. Well, you don't have to, but you probably should.

If you hadn't figured it out, my mother submitted this phrase to me and, with a lack of votes on last night's poll, I decided to go ahead and draw it, even though it kind of breaks tradition with the work that I've done for Three Random Words thus far. That being said, I'm happy with how it turned out. With THAT being said, I am going to implement some regulations for submitting random phrases for consideration; look for these soon. I love that people are interested in seeing their phrases come to life as Three Random Words designs, but I think I want to keep them a bit more quirky.

T-Shirt Sighted

A wild t-shirt appears! Okay, maybe not so wild. Thanks to Josh for purchasing, and wearing, the very first Three Random Words T-Shirt!

Check back tomorrow for a new design!

-Rob Signed Off

Psychologically Destabilize Substance

Hello Random People. This is a grand day! Not only is it Friday, but I managed to produce three designs that were each released on the day they were scheduled to be released! Alright, so Monday's went up 9:30pm, but hey, it still went up on Monday.

Today's design, Psychologically Destabilize Substance, included a few elements that I find the hardest to draw/illustrate/color (artistically represent?). Those elements would be glass, liquids, reflections, and faces. The faces I feel like I did an okay job on. The glass...not so much. Don't get me wrong, I love this design because it comes close to the image I had in my head, but I don't think its as well put together as Well Fed Skater or Pickax Ethical Melon.

The idea behind the design here is that Green Beaker has wandered onto a private moment between Pink Beaker and, for lack of a better name, Dipstick. You can decide for yourself if the destabilizing part of this comes from Pink Beaker being the mother of Green Beaker or the spouse of Green Beaker. I think Dipsticks mustache and wild eyes and smile really make this design lewd. The Wifelette said she didn't think the design really went with the words. I still think its funny though.

Pickax Ethical Melon

Following the blog yet? Why!? The Facebook Page? Really?! Subscribed to the YouTube Channel? Why not do it today? Guaranteed to cost you nothing more than a few seconds of your time!

Hello Random People. Crap! I used it again. Maybe it'll stick, who knows?  I have to admit that I rearranged the words on this design a little bit. The random phrase generator came up with "Ethically Pickax Melon" and I couldn't think of a way to ethically pickax a melon. So, because I'm kind of a rebel (pffft!) I switched the words around to what you see. I was still a little stumped on how to make the melon look like it was ethical, so I searched images.google.com (keyword: ethical) and found a lot of images where a halo was used. So I thought, "Why not?" A little drawing, inking, and coloring later and you have today's design.

-Rob Signed Off

Well Fed Skater

Hello Random People. That sounds dumb doesn't it? Maybe I won't use that salutation again. Hey look, a new Three Random Words design! Personally, this one keeps cracking me up. I know its not exactly a masterpiece illustration, but I definitely think these designs are getting better (especially when the Wifelette lends a hand).

I realize that "Well Fed Skater" is a bit more literal and a lot less random than some of the other designs, but when the Wifelette and I were clicking through the random word generator this image popped into my head after we had already passed by the phrase you see above. I explained the image, which you see above, and then I explained why I simply could not do it.

Careless Beetle Statistician

I suppose this design is going to have to cover for Wednesday and Friday, as Thursday's vlog stated, I was just exhausted this week from the long weekend. I know that seems sort of backwards, but every time there is an extended weekend, I end up driving for anywhere from 2-4 hours one way depending on where we're going. That's what comes with moving away from your friends and family to live in Columbia, MD...where there are no diners, none whatsoever. I would settle for an Eat N Park. But I suppose that's too low brow for a planned city (is it a city?) like Columbia.

Wow, digression much? Design, right, this design is "Careless Beetle Statistician" and is based, loosely, on the fact that my border collie puppy (Maizy/Poo Face) has this crazy fascination with beetles. When they get into the house, she tracks them down and then spends the majority of the next hour following them around the house, trying to bite them, and when their weird little legs touch her she jumps back, shakes her head, looks at us with that happy puppy face, and starts the whole process all over again.

Where To Next?

So, here's a good question. Can anybody recommend additional platforms for promoting the Three Random Words designs, blog, and videos? I'm trying to get this design project shared on as many platforms as possible. Here is a list of where you can find the images or get information about he project currently:

Blogger: http://bit.ly/Kcnyvv
YouTube: http://bit.ly/LPvi5A
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/KFKfGS
DeviantArt: http://bit.ly/JrzmoM
Twitter: http://bit.ly/Kpwwox

Leave a comment and let me know where you think I should put it next.

-Rob Signed Off

Furiously Annihilate Nighttime

Oh man, I love today's design. The idea for the image came to me as soon as I saw the words generate.  The stars were the Wifelette's idea, and she actually drew the "face" of the sun, owing to the fact that I am no good at drawing eyes...or mouths...or expressions...or really anything for that matter.

I drew and inked the whole thing here in Pennsylvania and I was also able to color it and send it out to the interwebs because we remembered to bring the laptop along. The colors for the moon, though boring, are actually sampled from a photo of the moon and its craters.

Hope you enjoy the design as much as I do, now it's time to go enjoy the rest of the day. Remember to check out BearFood.com to vote for the design, it will be up in a few moments. Thanks!

-Rob Signed Off

Comfortably Ejected Pelican

Whoa! Three designs in one week!? That's right, I sat down last night and decided that this needed to happen, and it did. So now, you have all day to enjoy this design (not as much as that pelican, but hey).

So, when the words "Comfortably Ejected Pelican" came up in the generator I almost literally did a spit take. Alright, so it was "Afterward" instead of "Comfortably." They're my designs, I can change the wording if I want.    The original thought was just to have a pelican strapped into an ejector seat, but I drew the chair a bit large and a bit too squishy, so I decided to roll with and change the word to "Comfortably" and have that pelican enjoy some time on his favorite flame-bottomed recliner.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to draw a pelican, but I took a look at some illustrations on Google Images and got the basic concept down...I think the only distinguishing feature you really need to get right on a pelican is the beak. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

This will be going to The Oatmeal's new linking site BearFood. You can also check it out and join in the conversation on the Facebook page or go over to YouTube and check out today's video log about the piece (and anything that comes to my mind, really).  Links are below the signature, which is coming now:

-Rob Signed Off

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/threerandomwordsdesigns
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/3randomwordsdesigns

Go to BearFood.com and "Love" the image.

Experimentally Troubled Void - Sans Words

Alright, I've heard back from a few people on this, and they like the idea of the design without the words. So here it is.

-Rob Signed Off

Experimentally Troubled Void

Last night's design, due to popular vote (of 4 people), was Experimentally Troubled Void.  I know it doesn't look like much, and I know there is a bunch of text to get to the heart of the three random words, but the more I look at it, the more I like it...especially that little bow tie.

I went into this design with some small amount of trepidation; out of the three designs available to vote on, this was the one that I had no ideas for. When I finally came up with an idea, it was really dumb. It involved a voided check being put through a number of scientific tests...but the design would have still relied on some text to get the punchline across I think...or maybe I really just wanted to do something like a single frame comic. Who knows?

Once again I drew this in pencil, then inked the outlines in pen, scanned the image into Photoshop and began coloring it. I was almost done when Photoshop locked up about five minutes. I had the inclination to start sobbing dejectedly onto my keyboard, but when I looked back up, Photoshop had decided to continue working and I decided to save it right away. Seems I haven't learned my lesson.

If you haven't seen it already, I started up a (hopefully) daily vlog on YouTube to talk a little bit more about the designs (really, I think its because I like showing off my ugly face, bad haircut, and less-than-grizzly beard). You can check that channel out at  http://www.youtube.com/3randomwordsdesigns. There will be a video about today's design going up...today.

-Rob Signed Off

NCT - The Design

After a week of being sick and, quite frankly, not wanting to do anything other than eat really bad food and lay on the couch, I finally managed to finish the Nervously Changing Turtle design. This design changed quite a bit. Originally I was going to do something along the lines of a turtle without its shell, which was covering itself and blushing as a girl turtle (indicated by a bow) had a good laugh. But to me, that seemed more like an embarrassed, changing turtle, so I scrapped it (Photoshop helped by crashing and making something like 2 hours of work just go away).

The design you seen now was drawn in pencil first. This is different from the last three designs because they were done completely on my Wacom Graphire 3 using Photoshop. This time I thought it might be better to actually draw the design, then ink it, then scan it in, and then color it in Photoshop, which is what I did. I'm fairly happy with how it turned out except for one thing. The tail.

Originally I had been shooting for a fish tail, but once I scanned the image, I realized I had done something more like a dolphin tail (and by "more like" I mean "exactly like") and it was late and I didn't want to go back and redo it. But the more I look at it, the better I think it would like with a rainbow trout tail. The Wifelette thinks so, too. I might go back and change it, just to see how it looks, but for now, you get dolphin tail.

Voting for the next design is still open at the Facebook Page, so if you haven't voted (and let's face it, only five people have voted, and I was one of them), then head over to the page and vote for the design you want to see next.

-Rob Signed Off

Nervously Changing Turtle

I wanted to get this design up before Midnight so I could still claim it was up on Monday. Check back tomorrow for more information about the design.

I can't believe I finally got a new design up...

Edit: You can vote for Wednesday's design on the Three Random Words Facebook Page by going here: https://www.facebook.com/ThreeRandomWordsDesigns

While you're there, hit that "Like" button. I enjoy seeing the numbers go up...it's a thing...don't judge me.

-Rob Signed Off

Waiting for Monday

I'm actually glad that Photoshop took a nose dive on me the other day. Weird, right? Well I've actually come up with a better design idea for Nervously Changing Turtle, we just have to see if I can pull it off. The original design was going to be something along the lines of a turtle without its shell being laughed at by other turtles...but I think that was more of an embarrassing situation than a nerve inducing one. The new design will...WAIT...but you thought I was going to give it away. You'll have to wait for Monday and see if I was able to actually finish the design.

Check out the Facebook page to vote for next Wednesday's design. I'm serious about this. Go do it. Do it now. (This is where I should say "Get to the chopper!" but I'm just going to let it go.)

-Rob Signed Off

P.S. While you're at the Facebook page (seriously, you aren't there yet?) make sure to like it. I promise the update schedule, and the work, will be better in the future.

The Lurgy

I am officially declaring this week a bust for Three Random Words designs. Because of the malady that has plagued me all week, I've been in a state best described as zombified and worst described as "the lurgy" (for an explanation, watch the linked video at around minute 3).

I did put together most of the design for Nervously Changing Turtle only to have Photoshop decide that now was a good time to lecture me on the importance of saving by crashing to desktop and erasing two hours of work. Lesson learned, Photoshop, lesson learned.

So, with any luck, I"ll be back in complete health by the weekend, and you lot will have a new design come Monday. Also, don't forget to vote for Wednesday's design. Experimentally Troubled Void is still out in front, but there are 4 or 5 days between now and when I sit down to do the design, so if you'd rather see Momentarily Layered Doe or Needlessly Split Salt, get over to the Three Random Words page and vote.

Sickly Excuses

Ugh...I managed to catch a cold over the weekend and so I still was not able to finish the design for today. For taking this long, it better be the best design ever (though it probably won't be). 

If you haven't liked Three Random Words on Facebook yet I encourage you to hop on over there and do so, while you're there don't miss out on the opportunity to vote for the next design (assuming I ever get this one finished). Voting will go right up until the point I sit down to do the design. Right now, Experimentally Troubled Void is leading with two votes. If you'd rather see Momentarily Layered Doe or Needlessly Split Salt make sure to check out the Three Random Words (http://www.facebook.com/ThreeRandomWordsDesigns) page and vote for the design you want.


-Rob Signed Off

Half Finished Turtle

I'll have to apologize for missing my own self imposed deadline of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only two weeks into working on this design project. Mother's Day weekend was a bit more jam packed than I originally thought it would be and I wasn't able to put together the whole design for Nervously Changing Turtle. This is the part where comic artists like Jeph Jacques would insert something witty that makes you go "aww, it's alright, we still love you." Hopefully I can get it done tonight and post it before midnight and still claim that I kept to the schedule. Until that time, here is a picture of a badly drawn turtle shell.

-Rob Signed Off

Vigorously Programmed End

Procrastination, it's a killer.

The Wifelette went to bed around 9 last night, so I didn't get started on this until about 9:10pm. Maizy (who we call Poo Face sometimes, okay, well I call her that all the time) kept walking over my USB extension cable and turning off my pen tablet, which ate up time as I had to fight to get the thing working again. All of that, and you get exactly what you see above. It's not so bad, right? Okay, it is, but hey, I got it done.

So, at first, I started drawing the keyboard with my Wacom Graphire 3 and I thought to myself, "wow...this is really bad."  I'd like to completely blame the fact that I was using a really small pen tablet to draw on a 42 inch screen, but I'm pretty sure that most of it comes from my shaky drawing ability.  I just decided to keep doing it and then I started coloring it and I thought, "well, okay, it looks kinda cartoony, I'll go with it." Then I bled the color outside of the actual image of the keyboard and thought that it looked nice.

Once I finished with the monitor and started doing the shading, I felt a little better about the design (because it was around 10 o'clock and I wanted to be done). I tried to draw a blurry hand typing on the keyboard really fast, but it wasn't turning out well, so the post it notes are my attempt to capture the "vigorously" part of the phrase.  I did have some other ideas for this, but I went with the one that I first started drawing.

I showed it to the Wifelette this morning and she didn't burst into peels of laughter. She actually said that the cartoony look really worked with the colors. That's enough to make me proud.

Anyway, leave a comment with ideas for what you might have drawn for this phrase...or anything really, I'm not picky with my social engagement.

-Rob Signed Off

Update!

I think I'm going to go with a Monday, Wednesday, Friday design schedule, unless that turns out to be too much for me to handle or if the Wifelette drags me to bed early or something, though, she likes this idea, so she probably won't begrudge me the opportunity to work on my skills and post these funny little images.

I've found the next random set of words: Vigorously Programmed End.

Check back in tomorrow for the design.

-Rob Signed Off

Heavily Promote Film

Remember when you had to buy consumable memory for cameras that had to be loaded into the back and couldn't be touched by the sun? Dumbbells do, and they want all of us to know that they love film! If you love it as well and have millions of little black sun-defying tubes squirreled away in storage, leave a comment in support of this fifty pound picketing free weight.

-Rob Signed Off

Delicately Doodling Invader

The alien overlords are here and they...are...what? Are they drawing flowers?  Where are the laser death rays and the probe-tastic abductions? Guess we should count ourselves lucky!

All humor aside, thanks for viewing the first design for Three Random Words.  If you like the design (or hate it, as I suppose could happen as well) feel free to leave a comment!

-Rob Signed Off

Three Random Words: Begin Generating!

A few months back I stumbled across a YouTube series called Cute Win Fail that stars Toby "Tobuscus" Turner. At first, as with most things, I thought he was a bit annoying, but the content was funny and the longer I watched the more his style seemed to mesh with the show.  So I decided to check out some of his other work and before long I found myself keeping up with Tobuscus on a regular basis.

I think I enjoy his work because I find his motor mouth, say-whatever-comes-to-you style to be refreshing, not because it isn't present on the Internet, but because it inspires me to take something of the same tact with my own work, which has been horribly lacking as of late. Most of the time, I have an idea (good or not) and I just hold onto it, wondering why I should ever actually act on it, because it is likely that nobody will see it, nobody will like it, or everyone will chastise me for trying it.  Mr. Turner has changed my mind on this.

So, I am now introducing this blog (feeble as it may be right now): Three Random Words. Here I will take, you guessed it, three random words from whatever word generator I find online and I will make a design or illustration out of the phrase or object that those words create. In order to make sure this works out as smoothly as possible, I'm going to stick with finding one random adverb, verb, and noun, because, I can't really do anything with three random adjectives or three random verbs.

The next post will feature the very first of these designs.  So, thank you for reading and please feel free to comment.

A special thanks to Tobuscus, if he ever reads this.

-Rob Signed Off