Superheroes Meet Classic Art

Some people with some amazing Photoshop skills have created a series of "mash-ups" combining classic paintings with superhero images. Tons of them can be seen here.

The Tale of Mr. Wales and the Leprechaun

Every year about this time, I tell my kindergarteners and first graders this story...

Once upon a time, I was walking through the woods at night. Suddenly I heard a noise, "Tap-tap-tap...tap-tap-tap..." I quietly crept forward and saw -- a leprechaun! Slowly and silently I snuck up behind him and grabbed him by his coat tails. "Let me go! Let me go!" he shouted.

Now, everyone knows that leprechauns make shoes for the elves and fairies and other magical creatures. And for every pair of shoes they are paid one piece of gold. And if you catch a leprechaun by the coat tails and don't take your eyes off him for a second, he has to give you some of his treasure. (Now, be careful if you do catch one. They are very sneaky, and if you glance a way for even a second they can disappear. That's how their magic works.)

There was no way I was letting the leprechaun go. "Not until you give me some of your treasure!" I demanded. He knew I had him. "Okay, Mr. Mortal Man," he replied, "I'll give you some of my treasure. Ye can have gold -- silver -- or magic crayons!"

I chose the magic crayons. And every year at this time I share them with my students. We all draw leprechauns, and color them with magic crayons. Then we paint over them with water, and the crayon on the paper turns into paint.

The drawing above is one I did using magic crayons. If you'd like to try this, you can catch a leprechaun, or, to achieve a similar effect you can order crayons like these. They are similar, but not quite as magical as those obtained from a leprechaun.



Note: If you are looking for another classroom resource for an activity like this, a great book to use is Jamie O'Rourke and the Pig Potato by Tomie dePaola.

Donut Boy Color Spectacular

I colored the Donut Boy comic strip I described in an earlier post. I shrunk them on a color copier so that I could scan them, so the colors aren't exactly "true", but pretty close. Now I just need to put the pages in a frame.

Happy 60th Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad were married 60 years ago in January! I'm just now posting about it because today someone gave me a clipping they found in the paper. As a family, we decided to celebrate this summer instead of winter, because it's not a fun time to travel.

They are a great mom and dad. They were really good to us kids. They made us behave and taught us how to work hard and be true to what we believe in. If anyone has any complaints about me, they are the ones to talk to.

Drawing Them in

A very nice reporter from the Daily Review newspaper came to my classroom yesterday to see what we've been up to. She wrote a great article and put it on the front page! To read the article, click here.

The Longway House

We made an offer for a house on Longway Street. Verbally, it's ours. Now the bank does their part. Hopefully we'll be moving in about a month. Here's a slide show of some of the rooms.

Donut Boy/Justice League Team-up

The two-page comic strip below is the result of a request from friends. Our good friends are decorating their son's room with a comic book theme and they asked if I could "put him in a comic story". He already has the nickname of Donut Boy, so I drew him into a Justice League story. It was kind of fun to do a comic using the familiar DC characters, but drawing them in my own warped style.

The final version I give to Donut Boy for his room will be in color. Some of you who read this must be thinking, "I want to see a friend or family member of my own drawn into a comic story." Have no fear, I'm taking commissions. We're buying a house and we're going to be needing the money. E-mail me at andrewwales@stny.rr.com for your requests.