The New Codgers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To tell you what these little shapes are, of course! Would you’d care to guess??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I introduce a new graphic, it seems to follow that I’m asked how I draw the graphic, and what program I use.

Although I’ve answered the program question—I’ll cover that again—it’s easier than linking to earlier explanations. I use three pieces of software: MS Word (kinda old, from Office 2003), MS Publisher (to combine hand drawn graphics with jpeg photos, also from Office 2003), Adobe Photoshop Elements (also a bit long-of tooth: version 2.02, 2002).

The question I’ve never really answered, is how I draw the graphics. And today I’ll cover that—sort-of.

I’ve spent a lot of time these past several days working on new characters for the “Danger Bay” story series, and completed the first character, “Medlar Farkleberry,” owner of the Star Gas Station, in what passes for downtown “Danger Bay.”

The bits & pieces above are elements of Medlar’s face, and the graphic below will show the steps taken to build the face of any character, through to the finished product. Each piece is drawn individually.

The following is all done in MS Word:

1. Draw the shape.
2. Add color.
3. Give the shape dimension & shading using “Fill Effects”
4. Combine shapes, making sure that the pieces are in the correct order(eyes, for example—the pupil must be in the front of the eye, so using the “Order” selection in the pop-up section under “Draw” on the graphics toolbar, with the pupil selected I click on “Bring to Front”), remove the lines, and finally “Group” the elements using the “Group” command on the Drawing pop-up window.
5. Draw, color, and combine and group the elements into individual features of the face.
6. Finally combine all to form the face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simple, huh (…and that’s just his head)! To see how this all looks in the context of a complete drawing—and get to read the first “Danger Bay” installment—click here!

 

Oops—I forgot to warn you—another link-post— ;-)

Jay

…I think he’s suffering from something else!

By “Boomerjack” Boardman

Jay stopped by at insane o’clock this morning, as he frequently does when he wants to post to Active Rain.

This time, he informed me he was too sick due to “his allergies” to post, and gave me the keys to this blog.

“Allergies” indeed! I think that old curmudgeon has one sip too many of his Summit “Great Northern Porter” (Summit Brewing, St. Paul, MN—support your local business) and had a case of the “Brew Flu” (if you know what I mean).

Okay, so the 2^nd & 3^rd paragraphs are a complete fabrication (and boy am I gonna pay for that later today)! Jay stayed up until midnight drawing & combining the graphics for the accidentally-deleted “Fiction” page of our blog, and this morning he was simply too tired to post, and asked me to pinch hit

Jay had been concerned with the perspective of his earlier drawing of the east side of the village of "Danger Bay." For reference, here is that first graphic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, now renamed “Danger Bay Graphics,” you may find it here. The link will take you to yet another "link-post," Jay told me to do it!

 

WARNING: LINK POST—LINK POST—LINK POST!

In my former blog-life as one of five “Codgers” I would with some frequency write from “my corner of cyberspace,” mixing real people with totally fictional people in the cyber-city of “Codger’s Corner.” “Codger’s Corner” occupied the same space along the “Cyber-Mississippi” River as my home town of Saint Paul does along the Mississippi River. When we needed a break from the city, we’d all head to the North Shore of “CyberLake Superior,” which occupied the same space as...well, that much is obvious.

With the passing of one of our number, the blog-entity “The Codgers” passed on as well, including our corner of cyberspace. Sometime later, after talking my reluctant friend Jack “Boomer Jack” Boardman into joining me, the blog “Our Saint Paul” was launched. I quickly discovered that I missed our forays into fiction—and felt my blog voice had been lost, or at least modified, by not having an outlet for my imagination, so…

Welcome to “Danger Bay,” a bypassed village of some 127 persons along the North Shore of the “Big Lake.” The name is taken in part from a map-spot along the North Shore of Lake Superior: “Castle Danger.” What a great name! Although I’ve searched for it, I’ve not found the origin of the name.

“Danger Bay” remains under construction—there are many location sets yet to draw—but here is where we are as of today:

First I combined several photos to make the background for the village:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I created “Medlar’s Station,” “Silverthorn’s Café” and the little white church:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jay

WARNING: THIS IS A LINK-POST!  WARNING: THIS IS A LINK-POST!  WARNING: THIS IS A LINK-POST!

 
One of the things I’ve missed most about the demise of the Active Rain blogging entity “The Codgers,” was the frequent trips to the “Codger-Lodge,” and excursions aboard the “Pegasus II.” So today you may have noticed the old Pegasus II resurrected for one last time with her full compliment of “Codgers,” including the late “Harold Peterson.”  She won’t appear again on this page, or any other page—except in my AR archived posts.

By popular request—Boomer & I will begin a new fictional series within the pages of “Our Saint Paul.” It will take place in a small (so far unnamed) village, on the North shore of a very large (also not yet named) freshwater lake—obviously derived from our own Lake Superior.

So now I am beginning the process of set-design—drawing a grip of new buildings and characters. My Gentle Readers have overwhelmed me with delightful names for these folks—now to give them personalities & occupations.

The first new graphic is of the “MV (Motor Vessel) Sparrow,” (more) 

At least this one is not quite so blatant...

Jay 

By Jay Merton…and Boomer Jack

I’ve invited Boomer over to my back porch this fine 60ºF & clear morning here in Old Saint Paul…

…Why, exactly am I here, Jay. We have out of town out-laws, er—in-laws arriving this afternoon—and I’m expected to complete a very long honey-do list before they arrive.

If you’d keep still, Boomer, I could get this done!  Since the “Codgers” broke up their act, I’ve found myself unable to re-establish my blog-voice. It used to be easy—if I was short on blog food, I could always get inspired by the guys at the coffee shop—or go into “our corner of cyberspace” and post from “Codger’s Corner.” But without the rest of the guys…(more)

Sorry, Gentle Readers—I just can’t help myself. 

It’s a comfortable 68ºF this fine Saint Paul morning on my back porch as I am enjoying my mug of organically & shade-grown, fair-trade, French-Roast coffee (as is necessary to get my brain firing on all remaining synapses)!

Yes—you read the title correctly—I am an introvert. At times, painfully so. This is probably why I never went into direct sales as a career. Maybe “introvert” is too strong a word—“shy” is a softer version of introvert.

Meeting people for the first time has always been stressful for me, but for the most part, I was able to overcome my natural shyness when it was necessary. Since my (mild) stroke of a couple of years ago—leaving me with difficulty speaking the words my brain commands—meeting people is even more difficult. My ability to speak is inversely proportional to the level of stress I’m experiencing (in other word, meeting people leaves me speechless!).

Blogging allows me to meet & get to know people without losing my ability to speak—cool. So I will continue to hide behind my keyboard and meet new friends.

BTW: thanks to all who visited “Our Saint Paul” on Monday, and especially to those who went a little further into cyber-space and visited (Medford) Ambrose’s new “Fisher’s The ramblings of a predigital curmudgeon”! Another shot of Self-Promotion!

Jay

It’s a fine partly-cloudy, 77ºF Sunday afternoon here on my back porch. Don’t let the graphic above fool you, Boomer & I are not enjoying mugs of organically & shade-grown, fair-trade, Guatemalan-Roast coffee, but some nice cold water (don’t need any more coffee, no matter how much I love the stuff)!

Boomer has written his very first ever blog post on our new blog! I don’t know if the blogging bug has struck him yet—but he DID call me to let me know he posted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out our new personal blog banner. Click on the banner & find out what Boomer has to say. Oh, and if you look closely in the “Recent Comments” section on the side bar, you’ll see a photo of the real “Medford.”

Yet another marketing tease!

Jay 

 

It’s a very comfortable 66ºF, although a bit humid this fine Saint Paul morning on my back porch. I served for a time while I was in the Army at Fort Gordon near Augusta, GA, and the weather here this past weekend reminded me of the weather I suffered through then: mid to upper 90s and tropical! It rained last night—much needed rain, and somehow most fitting.

It’s been some time since I’ve been the sole proprietor of this blog—and it feels a bit awkward. On the upside, I do have my mug, and I am enjoying my hot organically & shade-grown, fair-trade, Guatemalan-Blend coffee. That, at least, won’t change!

I’m moving on, and have much to do. I have hours of data-entry to do in my family history database—while I’ve been addicted to blogging, my data-entry as a consequence, has fallen woefully behind—so that is first on my agenda. That will require my full attention for some time, and I’ll have to deny my addiction (I’ll have to design a robo-comment so I can at least let my Gentle Readers know I’ve not forgotten them).

Next up on my agenda is to build a new “Other Blog,” ‘cause I can only hold off this %$#@*!! delightful addiction so long! Be patient with me—I have many graphics to draw for the new blog & it will take a while.

So Gentle Readers—be good—I’ll be checking in from time to time!

Jay

Life is full of changes.

Codger Harold Peterson died on Wednesday morning, peacefully, in his sleep. We buried him today. He will be deeply missed by his family and his friends.

We knew sooner or later one of us would make that final journey.

We also agreed that would mean the end of the Codgers as a blog-entity, so as you can see, changes have been made here.

Our other blog and the on-line store have been closed.

This blog started out as just me—and it is again—just me.

 

Sunday Morning Update:

I just learned there was an obituary in the St. Paul paper for a “Harold Peterson.” This is not our Harold. The name “Harold Peterson” was a self-chosen “Blog Name” and not his real name. It was the only way we could get our friends to allow us to use their words in our blog.

Harold had prearranged his funeral and cremation—he didn’t want all the trappings. Notification of his passing went out by email and by telephone. A short service was held and a moving eulogy delivered by his son. It was attended by some 25 friends and family. His ashes were interred with his parents and siblings—just the way he wanted.

Jay