It's a Wonderful Life

Well, folks, we've made it to the end. My favorite Christmas movie, possibly my favorite movie, and now my final Christmas Muralcle.

Some people think It's a Wonderful Life is a sad or depressing movie, and it is a little sad. But what I've always loved about it (especially being a type-A over-achieving millenial*) is the idea that "achievement" can come in small, private, personal ways. 

There's a real wonderful sort of beauty in achieving just by living your life, loving your family, believing in your neighbors, and caring for your community. George's dad says something in the movie that always touches me: 

"I feel that in a small way we are doing something important. Satisfying a fundamental urge. It's deep in the race for a man to want his own roof and walls and fireplace, and we're helping him get those things in our shabby little office."

Sorry, don't mind me. I'll just be in the corner quietly weeping. I just love this movie. I watch it every year and every year I discover something new about it that makes me think about my life, my career, my dreams. It makes me so happy, and I have always known, from the first day of this silly little project, that if I ever made it to the end, I would finish with It's a Wonderful Life.

Dave's first-view reaction: What? WHAT?! This is awesome!


*I mean, deciding to draw a mural a day until Christmas is something only a slightly crazy person would try to do

Mickey's Christmas Carol

"What are you doing today?" Dave asked as I wiped clean the chalkboard.

"Mickey's Christmas Carol," I said.

"Didn't you already do that?"

"No."

"Yeah, you did. The other day."

"That was Muppet Christmas Carol."

"No, there was another one."

"That was the regular Christmas Carol."

"So this would be the third version you're doing?"

"Well. Fourth if you count Scrooged."

Yes, for the penultimate Christmas muralcle, I went back to my Christmas Carol roots with Mickey and the gang. Like with all Christmas Carol reimaginings, most of the fun comes from seeing all your favorite characters appear as Dickens characters. They mostly get it right (although they lucked out in already having a character named "Scrooge"*), and I am especially fond of Jack and the Beanstalk's giant** as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past. But Goofy as Marley? Beyond the tripping on chains joke, I just couldn't ever see it.

This one was fun to draw! I finally figured out that flat cartoons make for fast work, and despite the level of detail and number of colors, I knocked this one out in a little under two hours.

And now I'm prepping for THE VERY LAST MURALCLE! Oh man. Can you imagine? I have been picturing this moment since I began this crazy project, and I can't wait to start drawing this afternoon.

Dave's first-view reaction: Good job, love! How do you do them so fast? [I can't believe, at this point, he now considers a two-hour drawing "fast"]


*Fun fact! If you search on Wikipedia for "Scrooge," Scrooge McDuck is the first hit, above Ebenezer.
**His name is Willie. Enjoy that bit of trivia at your next dinner party!

Happy Festivus!

A Festivus for the rest of us! Yes, today is Festivus, that most wonderful day of the year when we gather together around the Festivus pole, air our grievances, and wrestle each other in feats of strength.

In college, I was uniquely privileged to celebrate Festivus every year. While other dorms had egg nog and hot cider at their Christmas parties, mine had an extravagant multi-course feast that was so popular, you had to show a special token marking you as a resident of the dorm just to get in. And in answer to your next question, yes, we did have a Festivus pole out on the lawn outside the dorm and yes, it was quite literally just a giant metal pole, free of adornment* (fortunately or unfortunately, we replaced "the airing of grievances" and "the feats of strength" with "eating exotic food" and "getting seconds").

Dave's first-view reaction: Very nice! [looks at me] You have chalk on your face.**


*My favorite memory of the Festivus pole: December is a hard time for college students (exams, papers, cold) and people tended to get testy on the dorm e-mailing list, complaining about stupid things and alternately egging on more argument or sending "PLEASE STOP SPAMMING THE LIST I'M TRYING TO STUDY!!!!" emails. After someone emailed the list about how the kids playing outside were too damn loud (that would be a complaint about the sounds of children's laughter), the funniest guy in the house wrote back a William Wallace-worthy scree demanding someone take action and ended it with "I will not rest until there is a head atop the Festivus pole!" College is silly.
**Earlier he told me I had captured "the essence of George."

Christmas for Action Fans

Welp, this is another one that is probably not appropriate for young'uns. Let's say this is PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned), and the full post will go after the jump!

A Rockefeller Christmas

There's something lovely about New York in the Christmas time. I spent a couple of years in New York, and it was delightful how seriously people took Christmas--lights on every house, candles in the windows, overpriced Christmas trees hogging the sidewalks. This is a city where hot cocoa is a way of life and lovely, outdoor skating rinks can be found in every nook and cranny.

Now that I am exiled in the Midwest, I miss my New York Christmases, so I decided to bring a little Manhattan flavor to Chicago with today's muralcle, featuring the Rockefeller Center skating rink and Christmas tree.

Confession: I have never been to Rockefeller Center during Christmas time because as a local snob, it was always one of those places I avoided thanks to massive amounts of tourists (see also: the Statue of Liberty, Times Square on New Years, the Village on Halloween, and Shake Shack from noon-2PM). BUT, I do like Rockefeller Center quite a bit, especially the ridiculous Lego store (basically a free theme park) and drool-worthy Bouchon Bakery.

And as a special Christmas present to Dave, I stuck his favorite Rockefeller Center resident, Tina Fey, waving out a window. See if you can spot her!

Dave's first-view reaction: [sees mini Tina Fey, starts laughing/crying/hugging me]

Babes in Toyland

Today's muralcle is pre-baby-boomer, which means that most of you probably haven't even heard of it. But I love Babes in Toyland, Laurel and Hardy's 1934 classic. Every year for as long as I can remember, WPIX in New York (which also brought the world the Yule Log) aired Babes in Toyland on Christmas day, and I used to watch in my PJs. I didn't get the humor, I didn't get the black and white, but there were no other cartoons on and so I watched it.

I actually could tell you, now, literally nothing about the plot, beyond that I remember there was some mash-up of Christmas stuff and nursery rhyme stuff and...I want to say...a prin...cess..? [ed: it was Little Bo Peep. Of course.]

This one was fun to draw. I found a great, stylized poster of Laurel and Hardy (the best part was that I only needed, like, six different pastels). Originally I thought I would be really kitschy and cute and put all the movie poster info on there, too, but finally changed my mind after deciding it would be too cluttered (also: lazy). 

Dave's first-view reaction: Woah, what is that?! [I tell him it's Babes in Toyland] What's that? [I tell him it's a movie] Oh. I kinda wanna watch it right now. [Really?] Hm. No. I guess not.

Miracle on 34th Street

Today's muralcle features Miracle on 34th Street (the original OBVIOUSLY and not the remake*), with little Susan (Natalie Wood) getting a hug from Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn**).

I love this movie, because growing up I was a precocious little snot who didn't really believe in Santa, just like Susan, and I like the idea that while logic and maturity have their time and place, sometimes you need to drop the act, scratch your armpits, and pretend to be a monkey.

Also, it takes me back to New York, which, for all its rough n tough attitude, is the city equivalent of that one house on the block every December that FREAKS OUT with lights and decorations. Seriously. When I worked in New York, this is what I saw every time I left my office.

For this drawing, I tried color blocking all the lights and shadows before blending anything, which I think was a little more effective on Santa's face than Susan's. And I found the lovely art-deco-ish text from what looks like a fan-made image of the movie (no idea where it's from, but I loved the typography).

Dave's first-view response: I like the shadows. You're getting better! [I tell him I feel like I'm getting lazier] No, you're definitely getting better. And I'm raising my standards with every one, so that's even more impressive!


*Top five things the remake gets wrong: 1) replacing Macy's with "Cole's", 2) casting the weirdly cold Elizabeth Perkins as the mom, 3) Mara Wilson ≠ Natalie Wood, 4) Making the movie about corporate greed, 5) getting rid of the "sacks of mail" as evidence that Kris is Santa and instead using a dollar bill with "In God We Trust" circled, as though BELIEVING IN GOD ALSO MEANS YOU BELIEVE IN SANTA (I mean, I'm not going to knock Santa, but really?).
**He had some pretty good last words: when a friend remarked "It is hard to die," Gwenn responded from his deathbed "But it is harder to do comedy."

Norman Rockwell Santa

Along with Coke, Norman Rockwell played a big part in cementing what we think about when we think about Santa, so I decided to pay tribute with a chalkboard rendition of one of his charming paintings.

And?

Once again I feel a little stymied by the limitations of chalk to translate beautiful oil paintings. The painting I was using for a guide is a sweet, funny image of Santa dutifully mapping out his route through South and North America, using his book of "Extra Good Boys & Girls" for a guide. It's lovely, it's detailed, it's beautiful, and I wish I could have done it justice.

Surprisingly, the trickiest part of the whole drawing was the map, because uniform, consistent, even color over a huge swath of space is not the easiest thing to do with chalk. Ditto the giant red suit (I ran out of red chalk AGAIN with this one). Because it was so huge, I couldn't leave it unblended and tried using a soft makeup sponge to even things out. It sort of worked? I also decided to use a tighter-focused image, dropping "The Saturday Evening Post" cover, which had the unfortunate side-effect of cropping out much of the map. So, it's cute, but, y'know, not as "Norman Rockwell" as I wanted.

Dave's first-view reaction: [says nothing. shakes my hand.]

A Muppet Christmas Carol

If I had to pick one Christmas Carol version to watch for the rest of my life, I think it would have to be A Muppet Christmas Carol, currently celebrating its twentieth anniversay.* Music, bright colors, muppets! It's got everything you'd ever want in a movie about a greedy, cruel man's personal redemption.

I can remember, in sixth grade, my English teacher first taught us A Christmas Carol and we staged a mini production of the play (after a cutthroat audition process, I managed to snag the role of the Ghost of Christmas Past). To celebrate our good work (or possibly because it was Christmas and she was damn tired), we watched A Muppet Christmas Carol in class. I have a very vivid memory of watching the scenes with frog-Tiny Tim and weeping openly in my classroom. Not like a sniffle or two but TEARS STREAMING DOWN MY FACE.**

This muralcle worried me a bit going in. I had two pictures that I was considering using as a guide, this one and another that was a bit simpler. I am sort of reaching the "please let this stupid Internet thing be over" point of this project, and I was tempted to use the simpler photo, despite its lack of vital characters (Scrooge, Fozziwick, ice-skating penguin). Finally I decided that I am IN THIS dammit! And went with the more complicated picture.

I'm pretty happy with it! To save my sanity, I decided to try something new where I didn't blend the chalk (which is why it looks a little rougher), sort of because of Muppet-texture skin and mostly because of laziness. I think it turned out well!

Dave's first-view reaction: Wooooah, Muppets... Wacka-wacka!***


*You heard me. Twenty years. Enjoy the weird feelings.
**I like crying at movies and do it every opportunity I can get. The most surprising movie I've ever cried at is WALL-E, after Wall-E sacrifices himself to save the fat people on that ship. I watched the movie with Dave on one side and my sister-in-law on the other and lost it in a way that would suggest I had some personal investment in Wall-E's outcome. Afterwards my sister-in-law, who is literally the sweetest person on the planet, told me "I was so embarrassed for you that I couldn't even look at you."
***This project is getting to all of us.

Love Actually

Hew, boy, this one was a challenge. I sort of suspected that Love Actually--with its huge cast and lack of iconic imagery (beyond that dumb bow / picture heart)--was not going to be easy. It didn't help that the picture I used was so tiny that I couldn't figure out the details or that pretty much everyone was dressed in black. Also I was (am!) exhausted from a busy day, having already done a muralcle that day (RIP The Nutcracker. You were in our lives so briefly), and the idea of drawing ten people left me feeling a little whimpery.

The result is a lot of amorphous blobs that sorta look like the actors on which they're based, especially if you squint really hard and try to forget basic human anatomy. I feel bad, because Love Actually is my second-favorite Christmas movie*, and I wanted to do it right. But those details! In chalk! Sigh.

Dave's first-view reaction: (in a terrible British accent) Love actually is all around!


*I'm saving my favorite Christmas movie for the final muralcle. Don't let the anticipation keep you up at night!

The Nutcracker

I am a recovering ballerina, having danced from ages 3-13 and then through college. Since moving to Chicago, I've started taking some classes again. It's fun! In a very "why am I not as flexible/skinny/strong as I was when I was ten?" sort of way.

So I have a very close relationship to The Nutcracker, the ballet which every dance school in America is legally required to produce each December. Since I started dancing, I've been one of Mother Ginger's children, a mouse, a toy soldier, a snowflake, and a party guest. I want to also say maybe one of the fairies that danced with the Sugar Plum fairy?

Sadly, I quit before aging into a solo (which has to be the number one reason so many schools put it on--there are a zillion solos of various skill levels, ages, and genders), but I'm pretty happy that my performing days are over. When my current ballet teacher tried to recruit me as an adult party dancer for the local school's production, I laughed and laughed and laughed and then realized she wasn't kidding. Then I told her that pretty much the only upside to dancing as an adult was that no one would have to actually watch me.*

Today's muralcle, which features the Nutcracker Prince and Clara, is based off a photo of the Houston ballet's production of the Nutcracker. I know nothing about the Houston ballet, but I liked the Prince's Usain Bolt-like stance and Clara's arabesque.

Dave's first-view reaction: What?! I missed it?! [I had wiped this one before he came home] Good job. [I ask him if that's really all he's going to say] Is this going on the blog? [I tell him yes. He thinks for a while and then gives a thumbs up. I express disappointment and he cackles.]


*I actually have a very weird, calm sort of stage fright, where I don't get nervous but I do completely blank out on stage. I never actually freak out--I just do nothing. I can count on two hands the number of times I've had to perform and the music starts and I'm supposed to sing/dance/act, and my brain is just sort of like "Yeah, I'm not going to do this. Sorry."

A Christmas Story

Cue folksy voice-over--it's A Christmas Story!

I debated for a long time over which image to use for today's muralcle. Ralphie in the bunny suit? Life-sized leg lamp? Cowboy regalia? Peter Billingsley's dimpled grin?

But ultimately I decided to go with my favorite moment from the movie: when Flick is triple-dog-dared to stick his tongue to the flagpole and a generation of people learned not to accept dares from punk-faced kids in multi-colored knit hats.

I always thought the whole tongue-on-cold-metal thing was stupid, and then one winter my friends and I were amusing ourselves by breaking off and eating the little icicles that hung from the roof and I got the totally amazing and incredibly cool idea to break off the BIGGEST icicle, the one that was pretty much as tall as me, and eat that.

Did you know that in certain conditions, giant icicles react to warm tongues in the exact same way as flagpoles? My bottom lip has never quite recovered.

Dave's first-view reaction: (we had just come in from a long, cold bike ride and he made some happy noises and then chased me around the apartment with his tongue out) Get it? Because your cheeks are so cold my tongue will stick to you!*

More pictures after the jump!


*I did not get it.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

It's a Christmas Muralcle has officially reached the halfway point, aka long past the point where Dave thought I'd give up in a cloud of chalk dust and broken dreams. Congratulations to everyone!

This drawing was helped immensely by a trip to Blick's art store, where I loaded up on new pastels, discovered pigment sticks, and bought as much white chalk as I could carry. Even the cashier was amused! "I love seeing all the random stuff people buy," she said, ringing me up. "Like with you--it just makes me wonder what the heck you're up to!" I was ready to explain it all to her but then she waved me away for the next customer. Loves the mystery, I guess.

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer! This one is a special shout out to my three-year-old nephew, Adam, who this Thanksgiving gave me an impromptu ocean-side concert of selected Christmas time hits and seemed particularly enamored of Rudolph.*

I was pretty impressed with how Hermey's head turned out. In real life, it is even more chillingly 3D than this picture, and I keep expecting him to pop out from the chalkboard and give me a dental check-up.

Dave's first-view reaction: AAAAwwwwww! (mumbled in a nasally voice) I don't wanna wear this new nose!


*Sample lyric: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer! Had a shiny nose! And if you saw it! You would say it glows! (confused muttering as he tries to remember the next line) The...the...other reindeer! Had a very shiny nose! And if you saw it! You would say it glows! (The whole song lasted approximately twenty minutes)

A SNL Christmas

It's been brought to my attention that this blog has developed some younger fans, so to protect their innocence, I've edited today's Christmas muralcle to keep the front page G-rated and put the full image after the jump. For those who don't know what I'm talking about (Hi, Mom!), let's just says it's nothing I'm embarrassed to draw life-sized on my wall but is probably most delicately defined as risque.

The full post after the jump!

The Nightmare Before Christmas

When I was in middle school, I was a big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I can remember listening to the soundtrack on repeat and doodling Jack Skellingtons in the margins of my pre-Algebra notebook and watching the movie over and over again.

In preparation for this muralcle, I rewatched The Nightmare Before Christmas and my biggest takeaway was why? How did a kids musical about TWO holidays become the safe choice for mild-mannered goths (although these headphones are pretty sweet)? Is it the claymation? Danny Elfman's jazzy music? Tim Burton's gently macabre vision? I still don't get it. But I did sing along to every song.

Since I couldn't find a good Christmasy image for The Nightmare Before Christmas, I reworked the theatrical poster, changing the words from yellow to red and swapping Jack's pinstripe tux for a Santa suit. I meant to stick Rudolph-Zero in there but I forgot and already wiped it for tomorrow's drawing. Sorry, Zero!

Dave's first-view reaction: ???? (I forget what he said. I just asked him now and he got mad and said it was my job to record his reactions. Let's just say it was something like "OMG YOU'RE AMAAAAAZING ALSO I'M GOING TO FOLD ALL THE LAUNDRY AND TAKE OUT THE TRASH." Aw, thanks, baby, that's so nice of you.)

Elf

A few days ago, my sister-in-law (who may or may not have had something to do with the Night of Many Regrets) asked me what else I had planned for my muralcles. "Home Alone? Santa Clause?" I told her no promises.

"Elf. You live with Dave."

Yes, it was only a matter of time before Buddy the Elf showed up on the chalkboard wall. Elf is one of the (very) few Christmas movies that Dave and I can agree on,* reaching that intersection between former SNL-stars and feel-good holiday fun.

And! It's! So! Funny! I could watch Mr. Narwhal say goodbye to Buddy all day every day and never get tired. And Tyrion the dwarf as the children's book ringer! And Buddy hissing at the department store Santa "You sit on a throne of lies."** I'm just going to sit here for a few minutes and sing "Pennies from Heaven."

Dave's first-view reaction: You're done already?!***

More pictures after the jump!


*Actually, it's one of the very few movies we can agree on, as we don't share tastes in film, non-NBC-comedy TV shows, music, or video games (me liking puzzle-based games like Portal, him liking emulations of Tecmo Bowl on his laptop)
**I actually heard Dave say this aloud one time to someone when he was really mad that something Christmasy didn't work out. We wanted to go ice skating at the National History Museum in New York, and when we bought our skates, there was a sign that said the rink was made of "synthetic ice." "What is that?" we asked, and the attendant said, "Oh, it's just like real ice, but man made." Shrug, bought our tickets, and went inside. Do you know what synthetic ice is? Plastic. Sheets of heavy-duty plastic on which it is possible to stumble around, twist an ankle, or shuffle awkwardly but not, as it turns out, ice skate. I have never seen Dave so mad. He tried to get our money back. And then he walked down the line of people waiting to get in saying loudly, "IT'S NOT EVEN REAL ICE!" Opposite of Christmas miracle.
***This one took an hour. Either I'm getting faster or I'm getting lazier.

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman always sort of creeped me out. Maybe it was his "pre-alive" face with those dead, black eyes. Maybe it's that, no matter how you look on it, every time Frosty is created, he's doomed to suffer a grisly death by melting. In any case, Frosty was never at the top of my Christmas specials list. But, there's no doubt that snowmen are a part of Christmas*, so here he is.

Oh man, you gotta love that lazy 60's animation! Shading? ONLY PURE COLORS! Complex perspective? MAKE THAT SUCKA FLAT! Maybe at least make the kids look different? SCREW THAT! COPY-PASTE TWO OF THOSE BOYS! CHANGE THE HAIR COLOR AND THE SWEATER COLOR! NO ONE WILL KNOW!!!!!

By which I mean to say, this muralcle got did in an hour, flat. Too bad it's only stop-motion and live-action from here on out...

Dave's first-view reaction: That girl in purple looks like a zombie.**

More pictures after the jump!


*Or they used to be. Can you honestly remember the last time you made a snowman? I'm pretty sure Clinton was president. Thanks, global warming.
**I think he meant because you can't really see her eyes well. But also, why is she the only one not bundled up? All the rest are in sweaters and scarves and boots and she's all like "Oh, is this The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town? No? Okay, I'll just stay here then. No, no, it's fine, my zombie powers will keep me warm."

The Polar Express

I have to admit, I was never a big Polar Express kid growing up. I guess it was one of those gaps in my childhood holiday education or something. But, there's no denying that it is a lovely Christmas story with beautiful drawings from the amazing Chris Van Allsburg.

After yesterday's crazy, colorful, and time-consuming muralcle, I was looking for something more straightforward and gently Christmasy, and The Polar Express seemed like the perfect candidate.

It helped, of course, that I had Van Allsburg's wonderful oil pastels as a guide, although it was a pain in the butt to find a good reference image online.* I finally had to cobble one together from a Youtube clip. I never realized, though, just how dark these pictures are. I had to pump up the color a bit, especially in the shadows (which in the book are pretty much black and gray), so that the image didn't get lost in the chalkboard. Also, our intercom is very annoyingly right in Santa's tummy.

Dave's first-view reaction: What happened to Community? What is this? [I tell him it's The Polar Express] Where's Tom Hanks?


*Of course, now that the drawing is done, I find a perfectly beautiful image in about three seconds

Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas

Abed: If I can find the meaning of Christmas, everything will go back to normal.
Jeff: Asterisk.

Since I started this Christmas Muralcle Project, there were a few muralcles that I knew I had to get in, and right at the top of the list was Community's second season Christmas episode, "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas." This is the episode where Abed imagines the whole study group as stop-motion animated and leads them on a magical journey through winter wonderland, where they all transform into holiday versions of themselves. I love this episode so much, and I knew the muralcle had to live up to the magic of the original.

You guys, I had super high hopes for this one, so I was a little nervous going in, but I couldn't be happier with the results.

It also took forever. Usually these drawings only take about an hour or so, maybe a little more if it's big or intricate, but this one took about five hours, not including the dinner break Dave made me take. When the first hour passed and I had just finished Abed, I knew I was in for a long night, so Dave and I cued up some Parks and Rec, and I spent the hours drawing while listening to my husband giggle at Amy Phoeler. There are worse ways to spend an evening.

I'm actually pretty sad to have to wipe this one out for tomorrow's muralcle, and I've been spending as much time as possible sitting and staring at it, in the hopes I get a full Christmas season's joy out of one day.

Dave's first-view reaction: WHAAAAAAAT?!?!

Lots and lots more photos after the jump!

A Christmas Carol

Ignore the weird foot pedestal!

Okay, for this one, I admit, it was a good idea but the execution could have been a little better. My idea was to do A Christmas Carol, but using the original 1843 illustrations by John Leech as the inspiration. The problem? Leech used pen and ink, and I use chalk, and chalk is not the greatest substitute for ink. Also, Leech's drawing is incredibly intricate (and beautiful), but those details aren't the clearest when translated into chalk, which necessitated some weird redesigning. It also didn't help that I ran out of black chalk...

As a result, it's not quite as awesome as I would like, but thankfully, seeing as every cartoon/TV show seems to have their own Christmas Carol, I have a couple more chances to do Dickens right.

Dave's first-view reaction: I like the robe. It's a nice green.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

After yesterday's debacle, I knew I had to up my game with something good, and I'm happy to bring what is, so far, my favorite muralcle: How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

This one, phew, was a trial. I'm still not 100% health-wise, and although I was feeling slightly better the day before, Dave and I made the crucial mistake of going out that night with two Penn State alums. The next morning, we were like the textbook definition of "pathetic married people who can't party like twenty-year-olds." At one point, we climbed into bed with shades over our eyes and earplugs in and just stayed there for several hours, because that was literally all we were physically capable of.

I was ready to throw in the towel for that day's muralcle, but stupid Bill Murray's pale, terrifying face haunted me, and finally I decided that I needed to do something that day other than feel miserable for myself.

The whole time I drew the picture I looked like Kristen Wiig in that scene from Bridesmaids where she's gray and sweating and so determined to prove that she doesn't have food poisoning that she eats a Jordan almond. There were a couple of times I thought I would give up, but I had my Jordan almond, and dammit, I was going to keep it down.

Later, I found How the Grinch Stole Christmas online and we watched it and I felt better.

Dave's first-view reaction: Wooooooah! You're a very talented, very sick artist.

Scrooged

YULE LOVE IT!

Today's Christmas Muralcle comes courtesy Dave, who requested Bill Murray's 1988 Christmas classic, Scrooged, which is a movie that he likes, even though it is categorically terrible.*

I'm not even kidding. Have you seen this movie? It's like some weird bastardization of A Christmas Carol, featuring Bill Murray as a heartless TV executive (aren't they all?) who produces a star-studded live edition of A Christmas Carol (Buddy Hackett as Scrooge, Mary Lou Reton as Tiny Tim) while he himself gets visited by the ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future. Also Bobcat Goldthwait is in there for some reason. Also also the "Tiny Tim" kid is an emotionally and psychologically scarred child who after witnessing his father's murder refuses to speak. God bless us, every one!

Really, I should have known better, because any time Dave says the words "best movie ever!" and "came out in the '80s" it always turns out to be a disaster (exhibit A: Johnny Dangerously). We made it 80% through before mutually deciding to throw in the towel. I'm still not sure if Bill Murray ever learned the true meaning of Christmas...

I am heartily disappointed by this Christmas muralcle, mostly because I used the wrong color for Bill Murray's skin so he looks paler than he should. Also, Scrooged is a terrible movie.

Dave's first-view reaction: Bill Murray! ...I think it looks weird because in real life, Bill Murray's face is really bumpy.

More pictures after the jump!


*Later he got annoyed that he wasted his "Christmas movie that your wife doesn't like" card on Scrooged, because if he had known, he would have picked the Jim Carey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Coca-Cola Santa

I'd like to give the world a Coke and also a universally-accepted vision for Santa Claus

I thought I'd take a break from Christmas movies to bring the jolly guy himself, Santa Claus. It was about halfway through this drawing that I realized I should probably stock up on more red pastels.

Top tip! In case you're curious, I use a combination of Crayola sidewalk chalk (for big areas) and Blick pastels (for shading, brighter spots, blending). My favorite part of the pastels is that they include a notice that some pieces might be broken, BUT breakage does not affect the usability of the pastels, AND BESIDES "most professional artists do not object to working with various size pieces." (so there, you unprofessional artists COMPLAINING ABOUT BROKEN PASTELS)

Dave's first-view reaction: Your Santa looks very nice. Did you draw it and then pass out?*

More photos after the jump!


*He wasn't being snarky--I actually did do the drawing while fighting a cold: sweating, head-spinning, but determined. I was like one of those women who get stress-related super-strength and can lift a car off her injured child, except replace "lift a car off her injured child" with "do some Christmasy chalk drawings." Dave come home to find me drooling and muttering in a NyQuil-induced haze (luckily I remembered to wash the chalk off my hands).

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Good grief!

I love A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was on TV the other night while Dave was flipping channels and when it came on I was so happy and then Dave kept flipping the channels!! I didn't stop screeching until he switched it back/questioned my mental stability.

While we watched, I was in the kitchen and Dave was on the couch, and when the dancing scene came on, he turned his head back around really fast and said "How did I know you'd be dancing like them?"

I thought I wouldn't be able to find a gif of this and then I remembered the Internet exists

Personally, I like the head-flipping dance that the twins in purple do, but I am also partial to the yellow dude's shoulder shuffle and the green guy's Franken walk (but not Violet, who's straight-up punching herself in the face). Here's a fun game: did you know you can do these dances at the clurb? Try it some time!

Dave's first-view reaction: It's pretty. It's awesome. You're amazing. (said with much anger and resentment because his former roommate had just kicked his butt in Madden for three hours)

More pictures after the jump!

White Christmas

The inaugural Christmas muralcle features the cast of Irving Berlin's 1954 classic, White Christmas, which Dave and I watched the other night. Left to right: Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen. The movie was okay! We made hot cocoa and Dave lasted the whole first hour before falling asleep, so, success.*

While watching the movie I mentioned that I wanted to draw something Christmasy on the chalkboard wall and Dave said "Chimney with stockings?" which is a cop-out because that's what I drew last year and it stayed up until January. When I told him I wanted to draw something different every day, he laughed for, like, thirty seconds straight and then wouldn't tell me what was so funny.

Dave's first-view response: "You're riDICulous!" (repeated multiple times throughout the night)

More pictures after the jump!


*For the whole first hour he looked up interesting trivia about the actors, and we learned that Rosemary Clooney was George's aunt, not mom; Bing was named the person who most contributed to soldier morale during WWII (ahead of FDR!); Vera-Ellen had the smallest waist in Hollywood; and Danny Kaye was rumored to have a ten-year-long relationship with Laurence Olivier (allegedly!).