Day of the Dragon Art Ninja

I'm Ricky. I live in Bristol.

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

I live for art. I even dream of art.

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 the...

Today I'll show you how to make a dragon basket for your bike

or scooter.

Paint a pizza box canvas that's a feast for the eyes.

And I make art that involves spraying and slaying.

Because today it's...

HE YAWNS

It's a new day.

It seems like I've overslept, it's nearly lunchtime.

I'd better get my Ninja on.

And my clothes.

HE SNEEZES

Hey, it's a menu for a Chinese takeaway called the Magic Dragon.

It's making me hungry.

KEYPAD DIAL TONES Hi, the Magic Dragon?

Yeah, can I get a number three, a number seven and two portions of 48?

Yeah, and why are you called the Magic Dragon? Oh!

Your delivery is magic. Oh, should be quick, then.

KNOCKING

That was magic!

I wouldn't be surprised if they used one of these to deliver.

The Art Ninja dragon bike or scooter basket.

I've got a large detergent box here

and that's going to make the main basis for my basket.

And some old paper cups.

These are going to become the eyes.

And you start by cutting them down about halfway.

Now I'm going to cut slits all the way around the edge of the cup.

Just going to fan these out.

It just creates a nice flat surface and helps you stick it.

I'm going to stick them to the tub with some masking tape.

Some lovely eyes. Now I'm going to add the nose and the mouth.

And to do that I'm using an old egg box.

Just going to cut the top off.

Now I'm going to cut this lid not quite in half,

just past this little notch here where it interlocks,

and with masking tape I'm going to stick the smaller

bit inside the larger bit to create a jaw with a bit of an overbite.

Now I'm going to create the snout.

So I'm going to cut these little egg holders here, just two of them off.

I'm going to add some teeth to the jaw by using

the points from the inside of the egg box.

I'll fold them in half just to make them a bit stronger

and the ones in the middle I'm going to cut to be a bit shorter.

With some masking tape I'm just going to stick them to the

inside of the top part of the jaw.

I'm going to stick the jaw to the underside of the box.

This doesn't need to be super tidy

because I'm going to cover it in a layer of papier-mache.

You know how much I love papier-mache.

Going to put the snout on.

Now, from some thick card I've cut my dragon out some horns.

I've drawn this little line on here, going to snap around

and that flap is going to help me stick it to the detergent box.

My basket's really starting to take shape now.

I'm going to cover it in a few layers of papier-mache.

So this layer of papier-mache will make the surfaces far neater,

ready for painting, and it will strengthen the basket

so it can take the wind resistance on the front of my scooter.

I'm doing a few layers just to make sure it's nice and strong.

All right, turn it over and start doing the other side.

Now, I could wait for that to dry or I could use my Ninja skills.

Hee-ya!

Check that out. Now I can start painting.

Got some acrylic paint here

and I'm going to start by painting the horns white.

And now the teeth.

Now I'm going to paint the rest of the dragon's face orange.

There we go, nice and orange.

Now, if we want to add some detail I'll need to wait for it to dry.

But I don't want to do that because I'm a Ninja.

Hee-ya!

Check it out.

I want my basket to have a cool Chinese dragon vibe

so I'm going to give it some tassels.

And I'm going to do that by recycling some old plastic bags.

So I'm going to fold them up like this

so I can cut lots of strips in one go.

Just cutting a nice a wave shape like this into it

because I want them to flow back from his head.

Now, I'm going to need lots more of these

but luckily I've cut some already.

Now, using double sided sticky tape I'm going to put a line down just

the back of the basket here.

Now I'm going to start laying up the plastic strips.

Start with a layer of blue.

Need to make sure you cover the whole piece of double-sided

sticky tape, otherwise the other tassels may stick to it.

This layer I'm going to do alternate blue and white pieces of plastic.

I want it to be super vibrant

so using lots of different colours of plastic really helps.

Now, this does take quite a bit of time but it's already looking great.

So I need to continue this all the way round the front

of the basket, and the other side, so I'm going to use my Ninja skills.

Hee-ya!

Look at that!

So I've carried the mane on to the front of the face and I've used

smaller pieces of plastic to give it a bit of texture.

And I've made some holes in the back of the box

so I can attach it to my scooter.

Now for the last finishing touches going to put some

pupils in its eyes

and add some detail on the horns.

Can't wait to attach this to my scooter.

Now, I'm using cable ties to tie it onto my scooter

but string works just as well.

One last finishing touch.

I'm going to put my apple and my water bottle in there.

You don't have to put your eggs all in one basket.

Here's another idea.

If you try to buy one of those in the shops it'll cost you a fortune.

Art Ninja!

Talking of fortunes, I love fortune cookies.

Mmm?

KNOCKING

Must be the door.

-Hi, Ricky!

-Oh, hi, Dad.

Ah, my fortune said I'd see a vision of my future.

Well, this is how you'll end up looking in the future.

That's unfortunate!

Just kidding! What have you got there?

Well, since it's lunchtime I thought we'd have pizza.

Oh! That's nice but I've already eaten.

Although I could use these boxes without the pizza.

You wouldn't mind eating them for me, would you?

In fact, just eat them over there, I've got art stuff everywhere.

I'm going to use this pizza box as my canvas

because we're going to make an abstract geometric picture

inspired by the artist Sonia Delaunay.

I'm going to need some cups, plates and other circular items,

but, luckily, I'm in the right place.

I just need to draw around these circular objects as they will

form my abstract pattern.

When it comes to geometric shapes Sonia Delaunay wins the cup.

Bonjour, Ricky. Je m'appelle Sonia Delaunay.

Sonia, I was just talking about you

and saying how you loved painting abstract shapes.

I did loads more than that, you know.

I made collages, book bindings, murals and posters.

Here's one of my works now.

I also used my art to design fabrics, clothes and bags.

You could say you had it in the bag(!)

HE LAUGHS

I don't get it and I don't want to get it.

I'm off. Adieu!

Never mind, I'll just get on with doing my Sonia-inspired art

some justice.

Start drawing round my circular objects.

It's quite fun to have a look around the house, in the kitchen,

and find different sized circular objects to use to make your picture.

So these pencil lines are just going to be a guide for where I'm

going to paint.

I'm using Dad's pizza box as it's the perfect shape for a canvas.

If you're putting circles inside of circles it's always best to

start with the biggest one going from the outside inwards.

It just helps you line up the centre.

I'm just going to use a ruler to draw some straight lines to break

up the circles.

Then a couple just leaving off the edge of the box.

As I'm using a pizza box

and it's 3D, I'm going to let my

circles overlap and go round the edges.

Now I'm going to run off and get some paints.

Got some brushes.

I'm using very bright colours here

because I want it to have maximum impact.

I'm literally going to go round selecting different shapes

and just filling them in.

Just going to change colours now. That's a nice beige colour.

Very neutral, and that will break up some of the more highly

contrasting colours.

I'm using a thick brush for the large areas

and switching to a thin one to get in some more detail.

Sonia Delaunay would be really happy with this one.

There's so much colour going on.

I'm making sure I don't put similar colours together.

I want a bright picture that really pops out.

And, finally, some orange.

There you have it, my Sonia Delaunay pizza painting.

You don't have to do a colour one. Why not try monochrome,

which is just using black, white and grey?

I wonder if Dad's finished with those pizzas yet.

Hey, Dad. I saved you a fortune cookie.

-It says 'You will enjoy an exotic surprise.'

-Mmm?

I think I've eaten too much pizza.

Oh-oh! Dad burping coming.

HE BURPS LOUDLY

That wasn't very exotic and it smells.

Imagine if mum had heard you do that?

PHONE RINGS

-On the phone:

-Hi, Ricky. It's your mum.

I'm just phoning to say that me and your dad have won a competition.

And the prize is an exotic holiday to a dream destination.

Jamaica?

No, she entered the competition all by herself!

I also wanted to say what else is on the horizon.

An amazing watercolour picture, but don't carp on about it(!)

This man definitely has some TV highlights.

And it's time to add fire in your belly with a mythical beast.

Oh, and by the way, tell your dad our holiday is in Hawaii.

Byeee!

I wonder Hawaii I haven't had any good fortune today(!)

I'll try another fortune cookie.

'You will be happy for someone close to you.'

HAWAIIAN MUSIC PLAYS

Well, it's not you, Dad.

Enjoy your prize holiday without me. Bon voyage, etc!

I will, bye!

Here's a quick art tip of how to draw different facial expressions.

I've got the same face drawn six times here.

So I'm going to start with a neutral face to begin with.

Relaxed eyebrows, relaxed mouth.

Now we're going to move onto a happy face.

So the eyebrows are going to raise up.

And I'm going to give him a great big smile.

Now I'm going to draw a sad face.

So his eyebrows are going to turn into an upside-down V,

and, of course, the smile needs to be turned up as well.

He's not having a good day, that one, is he?

This one's going to have an even worse day,

because he's going to be angry.

So I'm going to put that V up the right way on top of the eyes,

and the upside-down smile is now going to be full of teeth.

This guy is going to be surprised.

So his mouth's going to be more of an O shape

and the eyebrows are going to be raised on his head.

Finally, this one's going to be worried.

So the eyebrows are leaning in but they're not meeting.

And the mouth is a squiggly line, all over the place.

There we go. Quick art tip.

Put your art where you mouth is and have a go yourself!

I don't often have time to stop and take in my art

unless it's stop frame animation like this.

Hey, you all right, Rich?

Hi.

Way! Cool dance moves. What's that?

I've heard of dancing on the ceiling but that's ridiculous.

To make this laidback animation you'll need a tablet or smart

phone with animation app, some interesting terrain and a friend.

I'm cheating a little here, this is my friend, Claire,

and she's a contemporary dancer.

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

Ninja move number one.

It's time to look at our world a little differently

because we aren't going to be animating on our usual plane.

Look for interesting areas on the ground.

Things that don't seem exciting from this perspective might be

great to animate on.

And remember, don't worry about gravity as your character can

jump really high, or even fly,

because they're not really in the air.

Ninja move number two.

Now you've got interesting places to animate it's time to

thinking about your choreography.

Work with your animation model to work out what you can do.

This is where my model really comes into her own.

Ninja move number three.

It's time to start shooting.

So what I've done, I've attached my smartphone, with animation

app, to this fun little rig here.

Now if you don't have fancy rigs like me you can

simply use a selfie stick.

OK. We've danced around the park.

We've shot all our frames and I've added some cool sound effects

so I think it's time to take a look at our mini masterpiece.

I think you've got some Ninja dance moves.

-Hey, Ricky!

-Hey!

Oh! It's Radzi and Lindsey.

Hope they haven't got sticky back plastic... again!

Hey, guys, what have you got?

We want to know can you make anything using this bucket?

As I said before, not without a Blue Peter badge.

Oh! That's rude!

Has anyone seen my bucket?

Can you make art with salt?

Sounds interesting. I choose you!

Yay!

-What's your name, mate?

-Anton.

Hmm. Art with salt?

I can add some salt to watercolour paint and make an awesome picture.

Let me just grab my things.

I've got some nice watercolour paints. Some water, obvs.

Bit of paper, and, of course, trusty salt.

What's the picture going to be of?

I think it's going to be something fishy, maybe a saltwater carp!

I'm going to start by drawing myself a little rough outline.

Do a little line there.

Right, I've done my rough outline of shapes.

Right, I'm going to get a brush

and I'm going to start with just wetting the paper around the fish.

Currently being careful so it doesn't go where the fish are.

Right, so I've wetted all around the fish now

and I'm going to add a little bit of colour.

So I'm going to go with the blue to begin with.

I'm just dabbing it on so the water helps the colour flow everywhere.

It looks more authentic.

You need to use water colour paper which helps give the painting

a unique style.

So I'm going to put a bit of water in the fish area.

OK.

So I'm just adding some orange to the fish now.

I'm being careful not to paint right up to the lines of my fish

because otherwise the colours run together.

And now I'm going to add some red and yellow for a bit of contrast

and some light and darks.

Yeah, just adding a few light bits into the fish

so they look like they're shimmering under the water.

Just adding some more darker bits of blue in there.

Now I think it's time to add the trusty salt. OK.

Here we go.

The salt, when it hits the page,

start soaking up all the water in the ink.

Wow!

This creates a lovely texture.

Now I'm just going to blow a bit of that salt away.

With a dry, small brush I'm going to add the eyes.

Usually we'd have to wait for this to dry

but I'm going to use my Ninja skills.

Hee-ya!

It's looking great. I'm just going to shake off the salt.

-You ready to see it, dude?

-Yeah.

What do you think?

It's awesome Ricky! I give it a ten.

I think it's so good it deserves a frame.

Oh, that really looks great. Thanks for your suggestion, Anton.

-Bye!

-Have a good day. Bye-bye.

Hey! You there! What's black, white and red all over?

Me, on a sunbed, reading a book.

And so I don't lose my place, I need a handy animal bookmark.

Don't know about lose your page, but you've definitely lost the plot!

And here's how you make it.

Take an envelope.

Open it up and fold it in half. Cut along to make it square.

With your square piece fold this flap inside itself.

Nearly there.

There. Next, cut two white circles.

Using glue stick them to the top of your left over envelope. One...

Two.

Cut around them leaving half a centimetre border.

Snip, snip.

Now stick your two circles to the top of your folded envelope.

These will be the eyes.

Now cut out a long red strip.

Take a pen and roll the paper around the pen.

This will make a curly whirly tongue.

Using glue, stick this to the inside of your envelope.

BOING! BOING!

With your pen, draw on the pupils.

And nostrils.

Take a book and slide your animal bookmark on the page you want

to mark.

I've chosen a frog so I know when I've 'reddit'!

HE LAUGHS

KNOCK AT DOOR

I'd better hop to it(!)

-Hi, Gavin.

-Hi, Ricky.

I was wondering can we try the new local Chinese takeaway?

-I've already tried it.

-Oh.

It's magic.

What's this?

It's a map but it doesn't lead to the Magic Dragon,

it leads to the Great Wall of Bristol!

Let's go check it out.

Wait for me!

Ninja skills!

What he said!

So, this is it Gav, the Great Wall of Bristol.

It doesn't look that great.

No, it's a bit old and crumbly but the owner has asked me

to decorate it for him Ninja style.

So, shall we get our Ninja on?

Dude, that's my line.

-Art Ninja!

-Art Ninja!

So, Gav, we're literally going to breathe life into this old wall

and all we need is a stills camera, a tripod

and the wild imaginations of these two, Rich and Matt.

Trust me on this one.

Now we've had special permission to paint this wall

and I'm going to be wearing this...

HE MUMBLES

..for protection.

We've made a stencil out of card which we're going to paint in,

,and move along the wall, so it's the same size each time.

It's really detailed but it does drag on a bit.

Funny you should say that, drag on, dragon?

Oh, yeah!

That's looking great, guys. Are you ready to capture it?

Capture it? You can't capture a dragon.

Yes, we can. This is where the camera and the tripod

comes into play and where the art comes into its own.

OK, guys, jump out the way.

We're using a tripod because it's really important to keep

the camera steady, to make the animation smooth.

Got it. OK, guys, back to work.

That's the second picture, so it's time to take the second photograph.

Now we're going to keep painting pictures and taking photographs and

at the end edit them all together to make an awesome animation.

So, cue montage. Come on boys.

We're painting over the previous frames of the animation,

so it looks like the dragon's moving forwards.

Hey, Gav, watch that dragon fly.

Dragonfly? I thought it was a dragon?

Last frame here.

Now I'm going to move the camera.

-New shot for me.

-Ricky, do you want me to move these?

No, mate, you can leave them right where they are

because in a minute we'll have that dragon over a barrel.

Let's get back to work.

OK, guys.

I'm taking charge of the camera, you're in charge of the last bit.

Get spraying!

That's it guys. It's looking great.

I think it's time to take the last frame.

Gavin, you come in and stand there just by the wall,

that's it, by the dragon, so then you can be in the final film.

Oh, brilliant, thanks, Ricky. You won't regret it.

You might.

Take your hat and that off. Let's see your pretty face.

-Right.

-Final picture.

And with a little bit of Ninja Magic, here's the final result.

Wow! That Dragon really is a, kind of, life of its own.

He's still smouldering! Somebody put him out!

With pleasure!

Good thing you guys were here to help out with the dragon.

Weren't we lucky, Gav?

GAV SIGHS

Thanks to Matt, Rich and Gav that truly became a great wall.

Today has taught me a valuable art Ninja lesson,

if you want to make dragon art that's cool you'll need mates,

some paint and a drab old wall.

Gav's a great sport getting wet like that.

Let's hope he forgets to get his own back.

Sh!

SPLASH!

Aaaargh!