Day of the Six-Pack Art Ninja

I'm Ricky. I live in Bristol.

By day, I work as an animator, which is lucky, cos I love art.

I live for art.

I even dream of art... Excuse!

I draw.

I paint.

I make things.

I hang out with my mates,

Gavin, Michelle,

Rich and Sarah.

Most importantly, I make ninja moves.

Some people call me...

Today, I'll show you how to turn your salad into a face place mat.

Ninja skills.

More food for thought, with fruit pompoms,

and I get fit, and fit in some art, with some other guys dressed in red.

Because today, it's...

HE YAWNS

It's a new day.

But it seems like I've overslept. It's almost lunchtime!

I'd better get my ninja on.

And my clothes.

Whoa.

I feel dizzy! I didn't realise I was afraid of heights.

Ooh, I still feel a bit dizzy. Maybe I'm just hungry.

I'll nip out and get some supplies.

Can't wait to tuck in to these doughnuts.

Hi, Ricky. Word's got round you need some help eating some doughnuts.

You don't even like doughnuts.

I don't. But Michelle, Matt and Rich do.

You don't mind if I take some for them, do you?

-But now there's none left for me!

-Probably for the best.

Less a six-pack, more of a family pack.

Mm. This is much better for me,

and it's given me an idea to brighten this place up.

It's...

the Art Ninja fruit pompoms.

Get rid of that. Ooh, in the bin.

So I've got myself some card and an old CD here.

Just going to draw round that with a pencil,

and around the centre bit there.

And just to make that hole in the middle slightly larger,

I'm going to draw round a glue stick.

There we are.

Going to draw a couple of lines now, just to make a horseshoe shape.

I'm going to cut that out.

Now I'm going to need two of those, so I'm going to use my ninja skills.

There we go. Now I'm going to grab some wool.

Just get a little bit of white here.

I'm just going to lay that loosely on one of the cardboard horseshoes.

And with a couple of bits of masking tape,

stick it down on the other side.

I'll show you what this bit of thread is for later.

Then I'm going to sandwich that between the two pieces of card.

There we are. This is the frame that I'm going to wrap

most of the wool around to make the pompom.

Start off with a nice bit of red. Very vibrant red.

Just pop it in like that. I don't need to tie it off.

I can literally just start wrapping it round.

As long as I go over the loose piece, it won't come undone.

And I'm not going to detach the red, I'm going to leave it on there,

just loose like that, and I'm going to add a couple of threads of white.

Every now and again I'm going to stop

and disperse a bit more white through it.

And those little white loops every now and again

interspersed throughout it will become the seeds.

That's it, and then back on the red.

Just going to intersperse a couple more loops of white in here

so the seeds go all the way out of the fruit.

So you may have guessed from the colours that I'm using

that I'm doing a strawberry with some white seeds,

and the green wool is for the stalk at the top.

A great way to unwind, although I'm winding up.

By making the horseshoe larger or smaller,

you can create bigger or smaller fruit.

Right, I'm done with that red now. Snip that bit off.

I'm done with the white too.

Now I'm going to do the stalk of the strawberry.

That's this nice green colour. Very rich green.

I'm just winding the green on one end

because the stalk's only at one end of a strawberry.

There we go. I think that's done.

Chop off the excess of the green.

Just going to ease free our little loose bits of wool

that I tied between the horseshoes at the beginning.

That's the first one. And one from the other side.

Now I'm just going to tie a loose knot in it, like that.

Not a very tight knot because I need a bit of space

so I can get my scissors between the two pieces of cardboard.

I'm going to slide a pair of scissors between them like that,

and start cutting the wool.

Now this is a tricky bit, so maybe get an adult to help.

Don't worry about cutting the card

cos that's going to slide out later, anyway.

There we go. It's starting to look a bit more like a strawberry now,

full and juicy.

Now I'm going to tie those two pieces of wool a lot tighter

to hold it all together and slide out these pieces of card.

Looks like a bit of a fluffy weird strawberry at the moment,

so we can start giving it a bit of a haircut.

You see how all the white bits

I wrapped round every now and again have become the seeds.

Just cutting the stalk into shape now.

And I've left these two white strands here

so I can hang it up once I've finished.

They are decorations, after all.

There we are. I think that's done.

A fabulous strawberry. I'll just add it to my display.

You can use different coloured wool and make any fruit you like.

I've made a watermelon and a couple of slices of kiwi fruit too.

The fruit pompom - a juicy decoration for any occasion.

What is Gav talking about, more family pack than six-pack?

I'm looking good.

What are you talking about? Look at that belly!

Hey, you, don't be so cheeky.

A six-pack is far more fitting for a ninja, though.

On reflection, maybe he's right.

Maybe I'd lose more junk from my trunk if I was animated.

A bit like this picture.

Hey, guys, watch this.

-Dude!

-Wow!

Is this is a new trick of Rich's?

No, it's just an animation.

A floaty one.

I've no idea how that happened.

Well, usually in animation if we want to hold

a character in the air, we'd use some wire that we call rigging.

Then we'd take a clean plate of the animation set

without the model in, and we'd paint them out afterwards.

But in this case, we're going to do a little trick.

So to make this cool friend-floaty animation,

you'll need a friend...

..or some friends.

Yeah. And a tablet device with some kind of animation app.

And you can put it together in just three ninja moves.

'Ninja move number one.'

So the first thing I need to do is practice

getting good at taking a picture at just the right time,

and that's when Rich is at his highest point in his jump.

Hmm, that was a little bit too late. Try again.

Hey, that's better.

About...there.

That's the good bit there. Also,

I'm going to want him to try and keep his hands in the same place.

Otherwise it goes like this.

Let's try a couple more, Rich. Go.

Ah, that's perfect.

'Ninja move number two.'

Time for me to start shooting my animation.

Rich, I think you've got it easy.

Last year I was like face down on the floor, with him on my back.

'Ninja move number three.'

We can have him fly all over the skate park.

We're going to do some fly-bys, try some close-ups, some wides,

maybe a few following camera angles.

And the whole time, we're going to try and have some fun.

We've shot all our frames of the animation.

So, Rich, are you ready to see it?

Well, I think it's time to take a look at our mini-masterpiece.

If I want to get back to full ninja fitness,

it's time I started a fitness regime.

RIPPING

BOINGING

I didn't exactly exercise a healthy balance there.

So, back to the drawing board.

Maybe eating more healthily is the key, like this salad.

Mm.

I think I can make this even better with a face.

If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion?

Who are you?

I am Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

I was an artist in Italy in the 16th century.

Yeah, but why are you on a lettuce leaf?

Well, if you'd just "lettuce" explain,

I am most famous for creating realistic portraits out of food.

Fruits, vegetables and fish, and flowers too.

Here's an example of my work now.

Right. So I could make a salad face place mat

inspired by you, Arcimboldo. But why do I have to use lettuce?

Just "cos".

Ha-ha! Just "cos".

Good lettuce joke. I'm "green" with envy.

Not as green as this!

I'm going to start making my salad face,

and I'm going to make a self-portrait.

I'm going to start with some mushrooms.

These are going to be my eyes,

and I've sliced the tops off, so they're flat.

Bits of cucumber will be my irises.

Mm, relaxing.

Pop them on.

And then some black olives, halved, will be the pupils.

Boop, boop.

This carved piece of cucumber will be my nose. Fit in there.

And I've hollowed out a tomato to be my mouth.

Going to make some eyelids.

These are from little shavings of cucumber.

You can make these with a vegetable peeler.

Going to put a little olive in there

so it's like I'm going mwah!

Now I'm going to tear up some cauliflower

and that's going to become the skin on my face.

Tearing and twisting the cauliflower breaks it up into nice tiny bits.

I think I'll do the ears next, and I'm going to use a mushroom.

Pull out the stalk and I'm going to tear it in half.

And each side is going to become an ear.

I'm going to do my ninja headband with some halves of strawberry.

Now some hair.

I'm going to use some yellow pepper.

Now just to give the chin a little bit more definition,

I'm going to tear up some little strips of lettuce.

Now it's time for my trademark glasses.

For that, I'm going to use a red onion.

Cut it open. All these lovely rings, they're going to be my lenses.

So let's just pop out the middle.

One lens.

I can use one of these larger rings from the onion

to do the rest of the glasses frames.

There we go. I'm finishing off my place mat

with a knife and fork.

Yep, it looks just like me.

That's the first stage. Now I need to take a photo.

I'll just print that out.

Ninja skills.

But to make it more like a place mat,

it's going to need a plastic coating.

I'm putting sticky-backed plastic on

so if I drop food on the place mat, I can just wipe it off.

And you need to take your time when you're sticking this on

cos it can be quite tricky,

but I don't need to do that cos I'm a ninja. Hi-ya!

Check that out.

There you go - the Arcimboldo salad-face place mat,

and you can make other place mats with similar bite.

So how about this one?

With some nice carrot eyelids and sweetcorn teeth.

TEETH RATTLE

Or an entire carrot face,

with a long carrot nose and green lettuce hair.

Or this one, with a carrot-top beard.

Not only does this carrot face look good, but you can eat it, too.

I'm still a bit peckish.

PHONE RINGS

Hi, Ricky, it's your mum!

I hope you're keeping fit.

Anyway, here's some more art to fit in.

A ball game with bite!

THEY CHEER

Amazing edible eyes!

And you swap your skateboard for a new set of wheels.

Ricky, pose as much as you like - it's a workout you need, son.

-BOTH:

-Ricky, Ricky, Ricky.

Fat chance of that with these ninja apprentices about.

Ricky, can you make art with a stamp?

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to return that suggestion to sender.

-BOTH:

-Awww.

Ricky, can you make art with a plastic bottle?

Yeah, all right. I choose you.

-BOTH:

-Yay!

-What's your names?

-My name's Lola...

My name's Bailey.

Nice to meet you, Lola and Bailey. And where are you guys from?

-We're from Bristol.

-Oh, yeah. Awesome.

So I'm going to use a green plastic water bottle

to make something that lives in the water.

I'll just go and grab my stuff.

Some fun tools, some glue, and a plastic water bottle.

All right, I'm going to start by taking off the lid.

But I'm going to keep hold of it cos I need that for later.

Then I'm going to draw a line about two-thirds of the way

down the bottle, where I'm going to cut off.

-What are you going to make?

-What are you going to make?

I'll give you a clue. It goes snap-snap.

-Crocodile.

-Crocodile!

Yeah. Crocodile.

All right. Cut plastic can be quite sharp

so it would be good to get an adult to help you.

Now, I'm going to draw a line for the mouth,

cos otherwise, how's the crocodile going to eat,

-if he hasn't got a mouth?

-Yeah!

OK. I'm just going to cut out the edges now.

I've just drawn a line round where the mouth's going to be.

OK, so here's how his mouth's looking.

He can't catch his prey without eyes or teeth,

so I'm going to make those out of some white card.

I'm doing nine big teeth.

I'm going to do seven small ones.

Let's see your teeth. Can you do a crocodile chomp?

HE LAUGHS

You guys are being quite scary.

Right, so I'm just drawing its eyes,

cos how's it going to see otherwise, right?

OK, now I'm going to cut them out.

Just doing a bit of dentistry here, friendly little gnashers.

Right. Bailey, make your funny face. I'm going to put them on the screen.

Yeah!

Lola, now you.

Whoa, that is freaky.

Now I'm going to do some little green bumps

to go along the back of the crocodile.

I'm going to use some glue stick.

And I probably don't need that last bump there, so let's chop that off.

Let's put on some eyes so he can see.

Now the cool thing about this crocodile

is it's going to be a little bit of a game.

I'm just going to grab some sticky tape.

HE GROWLS

I'm going to start sticking the teeth in now,

and just for ease, you can do it with sticky tape.

Right in the middle.

Nearly finished my dentistry now.

Just need a couple of fillings.

So what do you think of the crocodile so far?

-Good.

-Good.

I need something for him to eat.

I'm going to do that using some orange card,

a bit of thicker card, to make a fish.

Now I'm just going to poke a hole through the fish

and I'm going to do that by putting down a bit of modelling clay

to keep the table nice and safe.

So I've got a bit of string and I'm going to tie it through the fish.

The string should be slightly longer than the bottle.

And remember I told you I kept the lid from earlier?

-Yeah.

-Mm-hmm.

Well, now I'm going to put the bit of string through the top.

And screw the lid on over the top of it so it's held in place.

-So you girls ready to see it? BOTH:

-Yeah.

-You ready to see it in action? BOTH:

-Yeah.

Here's the game.

HE GROWLS, THEY CHEER

First go. What would you guys score it?

-BOTH:

-10!

I'll take that. Thanks very much, guys. Bye-bye.

-BOTH:

-Bye!

Don't lose your bottle! Have a go yourself.

Here's a quick art tip of how to draw a muscleman.

So I'm going to give him a nice chunky head,

a bit of a chiselled jaw,

and a mouth, some eyes...

..bit of hair.

Now for the muscles. I go straight onto the shoulders,

and they're going to be circular. Big biceps.

And the arms are going to end with tiny hands,

just to accentuate the big muscles.

And the body's going to be a kind of V-shape.

All the way down to his feet.

Just highlights I've added here are really big strong broad shoulders.

Now on his chest, some pectorals, little squiggles for a six-pack.

I'm also going to give this guy

a couple of big dumbbells he's easily lifting.

There you go - a quick art tip.

Why don't you flex your artistic muscles and have a go?

Ooh!

Hey, Gav, what are you doing back?

-Any more doughnuts I can help you with?

-No.

There is something you can help me with, though.

I need some advice on how I can get fitter.

I do have this. Healthy Heart, Healthy Art.

Annoying Best Mate Monthly still not arrived, then?

Ha-ha. Just trying to help. Catch you later.

Cheers. Don't think I'll be needing that.

-Hey, you there.

-Not him again! Where's the remote?

Ever have trouble facing your food?

Can't face you right now.

Now you can put a face ON your food!

Delicious. Here's how you make them.

You'll need some edible rice paper.

Some pens with edible ink. Tasty.

Take one of the pens and design yourself some funny eyes.

You can buy edible ink pens in a craft shop.

These are smiley eyes.

These are - ohh - sleepy eyes.

And these are dizzy eyes.

Cut those out with some scissors.

Careful, it's delicate.

One set.

There. Take a plate of food.

Take a bowl of water,

and lightly dab the back of the eyes to stick them to your food.

This is a sleepy pepper.

Poor sleepy pepper, need a sleep?

"Yes." Ha-ha.

And a dizzy aubergine.

Hey, look - happy AND tasty!

Mm.

I'm not going to get a six-pack by just eating.

Where's that fitness magazine?

Here it is. But I've spilt paint on it. Oh, no.

I wanted to check out the ad for fitness training.

I mean, it looks like a ninja training camp.

I can't read all of it, cos of the red splodge, but there's an address.

I'm going to go check it out.

Ninja training camp, here I come.

That'll get me fit.

Ninja skills.

They're wearing red,

but they don't LOOK like ninjas.

I think I've come to the wrong place.

-Oh!

-Where do you think you're going, recruit?

Is this not the ninja fitness facility?

You're at the home of the British Army's Freefall Display Team,

the Red Devils.

Get in there and get on the floor.

Move! Move, move.

Faster. Faster, faster.

-Stand still.

-What do you want me to do?

You, get on that board.

OK, carry on.

Why are we doing this?

We practice this on the ground before we throw you out the plane.

-But I don't want to get thrown out of a plane!

-Tough.

These are fun, aren't they? Can I have one of these?

No, you can't.

Your hands are so soft.

All these moves are making me really dizzy.

But they have given me an idea for some great art.

But first, we'd better get our ninja on.

Squad, halt.

Art ninja!

Do you know how you use your boards to practise your moves?

Well, get a load of my board.

Now, I'm going to need you guys to wheel me around on that cog.

-You up for that?

-Too right.

Too right, too left, too right.

Get on with it.

I'm going to try and make a giant pattern.

So this board is going to go around this big cog on the outside.

I'm going to take a little seat on it...

..and with a felt pen I'm going to poke it through one of the holes.

-Matt, can you come and give me a push, mate?

-All right, Ricky.

A nice smooth motion all the way round.

OK.

Make sure the teeth are going all the way into these little nooks.

And as we move around, we're going to create lines,

which will make a pattern.

How's it looking, Alex?

Yeah, it's looking good. It's starting to take shape.

Coming to an end...and stop. There we go.

Right, I'm changing pens, to red, and I'm changing personnel.

-Gaz.

-OK, mate.OOh!

-You're up dude. OK.

I'm going to put the pen into a different hole

and this will create a different pattern.

I know you're used to pulling ripcords, mate,

but mind you don't rip the paper.

And stop.

Oh, yeah. Good work, dude.

-Thanks, mate.

-You're free to go.

Now I'm going to change colour one last time,

from red to a nice ninja black.

Come on, Matt, you're back in.

All right, Ricky.

Now, I've called you over cos I think you have true ninja potential.

-Oh, thanks, Ricky.

-Do you think I could be a Red Devil?

HE LAUGHS

Oh, are you being serious?

Just push me.

By putting the pen into the hole closest to the middle,

I will create a totally new pattern.

Go for it. Remember, get it right into those teeth.

OK.

Nearly there.

Can you just roll us into the middle, please, mate?

There we have it.

Revolutionary art.

Brought to life with a little bit of digital magic.

Look at that. Good teamwork, guys.

You made me jump.

Funny you should say "jump". You ready to do yours?

Cos this parachute's got your name on it.

Let's go.

HE GULPS

OWL HOOTS

Well, that day really flew by.

Today has taught me a valuable Art Ninja lesson -

if you're making art on a higher level,

just grab pens, a board, and the nearest Red Devil.

The funny thing is, I didn't actually get to go up in a plane.

The weather turned bad. What a shame.

So, it turned out to be an awesome day, after all.

PHONE RINGS

Who's that?

Hey, Corporal.

What's that? The weather's good tomorrow?

I'm all booked in for a jump in the morning?

Yes, Corporal. OK. I'll see you then.

Argh!!