Dr. McNinja's Flying Shark for Archer

One of the flying sharks from Dr. McNinja's "Punch Dracula" episode.  We had to read it again at bedtime last night.  The "Nuts" remark is made by the ninjas who were hoping they were going to be fighting a fireball rather than winged sharks.

Snake Eyes and Batman for Ansel

Ansel discovered another version of Snake Eyes from GI Joe Sigma 6- without the "crunchy pants" worn by the Renegades version. Shown with Batman for comparison.

Black Ninja Fist for Ansel

Not one of my better napkin drawings, but concisely sums up our younger son's relationship to the world lately....and it was his request: "a fist, all black...even the eyes!"

Vampire Batman for Archer

Archer asked for Batman as a Vampire.  He thought this Alex Ross-ish image was not monstrous enough and that I should try again.

Gold Ancient Dynasty Ninja Throwing a Punch for Ansel

Ansel is still thinking about being the "Gold Ancient Dynasty Ninja" for Halloween. He posed for me so that I could get the fist just right.

Homicidal Dolphin from Dr. McNinja for Archer

Another character from "Dr. McNinja"- the homicidal dolphin: Perhaps our last foray into unrepentant violence before the kids head back to their Quaker school in September

Doctor McNinja and Victim of Paul Bunyan Disease for Archer

The kids find "The Adventures of Dr. McNinja" to be hysterically funny: Particularly Paul Bunyan's disease and maple syrup flavored vomit.

   

Gold Ancient Dynasty Ninja for Ansel

 

Ansel is back on the topic of what is he going to be for this coming Halloween.  In the lead, beating out even Nightwing, is the "Gold Ancient Dynasty Ninja" costume.  Because it has two swords.

Harry as the Bat Hound for Ansel

 

Ansel had an opportunity yesterday to hang out with Harry, a dog whose super power is tolerance for small boys.  While he got a kick out of imagining Harry as Ace the Bat Hound, Ansel was not so pleased with the napkin this morning.  He is at a new summer camp where being cool is critical and recognizable napkin characters are more cool.  He took an old Toothless napkin for lunch today instead.

Ecto from Zombie Takeover for Archer

 

Ecto, from Zombie Takeover is apparently the Jokester's minion.  Archer and I spent several minutes early this morning discussing what sort of entity it is supposed to be (flames? ectoplasm?...just what is ectoplasm mom? etc...) but did not come to any conclusion.

Red Robin and Ace the Bat Hound for Ansel

Ansel is so very interested in Red Robin again that we had to cut the ears off of a Batman cowl to approximate the Red Robin headgear.  (They boys told me last night that they needed to wear appropriate costumes as they were planning to attend a baby shower for Commissioner Gordon which was scheduled for sometime after 1 am this morning.)  I added Ace on the napkin for good measure.  Not sure if he went to the baby shower....  The image minus the dog is more or less from Red Robin #13, penciled by Marcus To

Office Zombie for Archer

The latest game for the boys is "Office Zombie" because it is impossible to have too many games in which you beat up zombies.  Who did we guiltlessly torment before zombies?

Dark Knight and Ace the Bat Hound for Ansel

Ace poses with the more recent incarnation of the Dark Knight...Ace always claims to be a partner and not just a pet, but it seems unlikely that Mr. Nolan's version of the Batman would be receptive to either.

Characters from Zombie Takeover for Archer

Archer requested 4 characters from Zombie Takeover :  The Jokester, Invisible Man, Vampire Patient and the Terror Teddy.  I usually object to requests involving multiple characters, but I started early on Sunday while we were festering at home, so I was able to shoehorn them all in...although not with great success. 

Chewbacca and the Fortune Wookiee for Archer

Despite Archer's general antipathy towards things Star Wars these days, he was really excited to get a copy of "The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee," the latest in Tom Angleberger's Origami Yoda series.  Two hours into reading it, he announced that there needed to be another book immediately.

Toothless for Ansel

Toothless the Night Fury from "How to Train Your Dragon" as Ansel requested- "just standing there"... with his tongue showing.  Archer looked at this one and asked me if I could make the napkins more "three dimensional."  I was initially confused about what he meant, as unreasonable requests are par for the course.  However, it seems he thought this napkin looked more 3D... maybe the excessively bright green background was making the dragon pop out for him.

Stealth Ninja Costume for Ansel

Halloween costume catalogs have arrived and are Ansel's favorite "reading" material. He asked me to draw the costume he wants to order: "The Stealth Ninja" who implausibly has throwing stars stuck on his red belt.  As usual, I blew it on the pose, trying too hard to make it interesting.  Ansel would like him to be "just standing there."

Man-Bat from "Batman & Son" for Archer

Archer is very interested in Man-Bats...well, in LEGO Man-Bats... He left me without a napkin request last night, so I paged through the age-inappropriate book he had been speed reading before bed, "Batman & Son,"  and drew a Andy Kubert Man-Bat.  Not as good as a LEGO one I am told.  

Terrible Terror Dragon for Archer

We watched the new Dreamworks television spin-off of "How to Train Your Dragon" yesterday, so all things dragon are good at our house.  Archer is playing "Flame It!" which requires one to blow into the mic on the device to produce virtual fire.

Chad from "Food Fight" for Ansel

Both kids enjoy the "Mal and Chad" books by Stephen McCranie.  They feature a talking dog, so Ansel is enthusiastic even though he usually refuses to read anything that is not "colored in."

Space Tiki from Ratfist for Archer

We've read a great many of Doug TenNapel's books with enthusiasm, but of course the ones that are probably not intended for young children are the ones my kids find most compelling.  "Ratfist" features  jokes about religion and sex (and farting) delivered by a space tiki.

Night Fury (How to Train Your Dragon) for Ansel

In another example of the marvelous effects of television advertising on a 5 year old, Ansel is very excited about the new Dreamworks series "Dragons: Riders of Berk" and therefore interested in having Toothless on his napkin again.  He told me this morning that he would have preferred the dragon to be "just standing," however.

Snake Eyes from GI Joe for Ansel

Ansel requested Snake Eyes from "G.I. Joe: Renegades" standing still with his arms folded across his chest.  As far as I can tell, this is not a pose that the character appears in during the show, but Ansel  prefers a static, empowered and slightly disapproving stance.

Napkin Portraits

Kids with napkin portraits: terrible suffering was involved in taking this picture: the wearing of clothes, sitting still for at least 90 seconds, not punching each other..

Portrait of Ansel

Portrait of our younger son, Ansel. Predictably, he is not happy with it. In classic little brother fashion, he would like it to look more like the drawing of Archer.

Portrait of Archer

The kids are out of camp this week, so while I have done a few napkins to get ahead for next week, there is not the usual pressure to produce two images a night.  As I was thinking about updating our facebook cover photo, I started doing portraits of both kids.  Portraiture is something I struggle with, often unsuccessfully, in sculpture, so it is an interesting problem here as well.  This image of Archer is pretty accurate while strangely not a very good likeness.  As to whether is it anything beyond an attempt at a likeness...well, it is a napkin after all.  The real trick will be to get them to pose again, wearing the same clothes, in the same position, with the finished napkins.  Ansel was very offended that I started with Archer.  I told him that perhaps I would do a better job on his after practicing on Archer's.

Valiant's Mouth from Giants Beware for Ansel

The mouth of Valiant from Giants Beware:  Ansel tells me that I have failed again, the mouth is simply not big enough, it should cover the entire napkin.  I pointed out that dog mouths are not rectangular, but he was unmoved by my reasoning.

Samurai vs Zombies Defense Characters for Archer

Archer wanted me to draw four characters from Samurai vs Zombies Defense last night, but I only managed Takeda Shigen and "Frostie the Bowman."  He did not buy my excuse that it was late and I was too tired.

Valiant's Mouth from Giants Beware

We finished rereading Giants Beware last night, and Ansel wanted me to draw Valiant with a "giant mouth, like he is attacking from the napkin."  This morning he told me that the napkin was supposed to be "ALL mouth with lots of TEETH!"