Day of the Competition Art Ninja

I'm Ricky.

I live in Bristol.

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

I live for art. I even dream of art.

I draw, I paint, I make things.

Nailed it!

I hang out with my mates, Gavin, Rich and Sarah.

-Ah!

-Most importantly, I make ninja moves.

Some people call me the...

Today I'll show you how to get moving with this shuffle puzzle.

We go crazy with this game you can't loo-se(!)

And we make art that will blow you away.

Yeah!

Because today it's...

Dong!

It's a new day.

I'd better get my ninja on.

And my clothes.

-Oh, hi, Gav.

-Hi, Ricks.

Your front door was open so I let myself in.

-What are you watching?

-Officially Amazing with Ben Shires.

Loads of people breaking really cool records.

All right, budge up, let's watch.

No!

-Yeah!

-Yeah!

-BOTH:

-Go on, US Ray! Yeah!

Go, Jerry. Go, Jerry.

It's finished.

I wish I could be officially amazing

and break records.

Dude, we could set, break and beat them!

I'm going to beat you, more like.

We'll see about that.

OK, challenge one, who can kick their bum the most in 20 seconds?

Gav, you're terrible!

Timer over.

Check it, Gav,

I'm officially amazing at getting my own bum kicked.

Anyway, you stay here and practice.

I've got art to do.

Gav's never going to beat me, but just to make sure,

I need something to help me keep my competitive edge.

It's a puzzle. That's it, I'll make a puzzle.

And to make this puzzle suitably tricky,

I'm going to draw a detailed scene.

I could fill it with tiny figures.

I'll just draw one here to practise the style.

Wow, nice one.

What? Who are you?

I'm LS Lowry, I was just admiring your stick figure.

They're one of my specialities.

Here's one of my works now.

I also worked on a small scale.

Sometimes I'd draw on the back of envelopes,

cloakroom tickets and scraps of paper I found in my pockets.

A paper napkin I sketched on once fetched £9,000.

Wow! Well, I don't think this will fetch me that much,

but it would be worth something if I can beat Gav.

You fancy hanging around for a game?

Oh, he's gone. I'm going to make a shuffle puzzle inspired by Lowry.

I'm going to start with a nice big square of card

and I'm going to draw a two-centimetre border

all the way around it.

Just going to measure it up with two little dots here that I can join up

to get a nice straight line.

I'm going to divide this space in the middle into nine equal squares.

When these are cut out,

they'll be the moving squares of my shuffle puzzle.

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

Hiyah!

There we go.

On just one, I'm going to thicken the border by one centimetre

all the way around.

And the grid in the middle

I'm thickening with half a centimetre on either side.

This will be the frame that holds the moving squares.

You can cut these out using scissors.

I'm going to use some ninja skills.

Hiyah!

There we go. Now, I don't need these small squares.

I just need the frame. Now I'm going to cut this one out as well.

Hiyah!

I'm going to be keeping these squares.

They're my puzzle pieces.

I'll need another piece of card the same size as these

to work as my back.

Using a glue stick, I'm sticking the border down.

Going to put my squares on the inside.

But only eight of them cos

I need to leave a gap so I can slide them around.

If your squares aren't identical,

your shuffle puzzle won't shuffle.

I'm going to glue the top on,

but just around the outside.

Not the inside line cos I want to be able to move all the pieces.

And that is the foundation of the puzzle.

Now I'm going to paint it. Lowry was also known for doing seaside scenes

so I'm going to start with some sand.

If you like, you could sketch your picture out first.

Don't use too much paint cos you don't want it to stick

the squares to the frame,

although when it dries,

you could just pull up the frame to separate it again.

I'm going to have a darker blue for the sky...

..grey for the promenade and rocks...

..really bright red for a classic lighthouse.

I'm going to start adding some matchstick people,

inspired by Lowry.

Done the bodies. I'm going to move on to the heads.

I'm going to start adding some black pen detail.

And some birds flying in the sky.

There we go, a shuffle puzzle

inspired by LS Lowry.

Game on. Shuffle your picture up and challenge your friends

to solve the puzzle.

Arggh! Come on, Gavin, you can do this.

You're a machine.

I don't know about Officially Amazing,

but you look officially ridiculous.

Thanks, Ricks. Here, have this headband.

Every time one of us wins a challenge,

we get a badge to stick to our headband.

This is for the bum kicking challenge.

Hang on, I won that.

If anyone's having a bum on their head, it's going to be me.

Anyway, it's time for our next challenge.

You have to Hula Hoop while wearing a hula skirt,

while eating hoop-shaped cereal.

I think you're going to need to demonstrate, mate.

Here's a free lesson.

-Well, it's your turn now.

-Bring it on!

Mm, this cereal is delicious.

You are going to have to come up with something better than that

to beat me.

I will. He's doing better than I thought.

You're going to need all your poise to beat me at this next game.

I have to make it first.

I'm going to make the Art Ninja mini-golf putter poo game.

Right, we've got a nice big bit of card and I've

got a takeaway salad bowl here.

I'll draw round it twice.

I have a smaller bowl here

to draw around on the inside of one of these larger rings.

Then I've got a ruler here.

I'm just going to continue this one down a little bit because these

are going to be the two parts of my toilet seat.

That's going to be my toilet seat, and this bit here

is going to be the lid.

Now I'm going to cut those out.

Using a pencil and some modelling clay,

I'm going to poke a hole through the top of this piece of card so I can

get my scissors in there. There we go.

Now I'm going to assemble my toilet.

For that, I've got a takeaway fruit pot and I'm going to

use my salad bowl.

I'm going to stick these together with some double-sided tape.

There we go.

Then I'm going to stick on my toilet seat,

again with double-sided sticky tape.

For the cistern, I'm using a laundry tab box.

I've stuck that on with more double-sided sticky tape.

And the same with the lid.

Now for my green, I've cut out a bit of wibbly-wobbly card

and I'm going to stick my toilet down here

with some double-sided sticky.

There we go.

So this toilet is going to be the target for my mini-golf game.

Looks good, but it needs a lick of paint.

Because it's plastic, I'm going to mix my paint with some PVA glue

and it will also give it a nice shiny finish.

I want my toilet to be just slightly off-white.

Also, I'm going to add some white paint and then a tiny bit of blue.

All right. Let's get them mixed in.

Mixing the paint with PVA means it covers plastic really well.

Now I'm going to move onto the seat and I'm going to do that black.

Proper old school toilet.

I'm going to paint my green.

I'm going to put some dark green and some light green

and I'm using a sponge, as it gives me a lovely grassy texture.

Now I'm going to add some obstacles to my golf course,

and that's going to be a bunker.

I'm just going to add in little bits of white here and there

to make it look more like sand.

Now a couple of ponds.

Just like teardrop shapes.

I'm going to use a smaller brush now and I'm going to draw some daisies.

Just crossing over in the centre like this.

I'm going to use the end of my paintbrush to add the yellow middle.

I really want to define these extra details here,

so I'm going to go around them with a thick black pen.

There we go. Using a little bit of silver card,

I've made myself a nice flush and I'm attaching it here

with a little bit of double-sided sticky tape.

Right, finally, I've made some toilet roll tunnels

made from tubes covered in cotton wool and kitchen roll.

Some fun flags made from cocktail sticks stuck into modelling clay.

I've got my golf tee, which is just a bottle top,

and my ping-pong balls that I've painted brown

so they look like poos.

And finally, I've got a club

that I've made from a long cardboard tube and a flat piece

of cardboard for the end.

TOILET FLUSHES

If you don't fancy this poo putting challenge,

why not try making some other crazy golf games, like...

..this explosive volcano...

..or this python putting challenge.

I'm going to be good at this.

There you go, Gav, let's play some golf.

First one to get a poo in the pan wins.

Bring it on.

Boing!

Boing! Boing!

-Yes!

-Now it's my go for a draw.

Nothing can distract me.

PHONE RINGS

VOICE MESSAGE TONE

Hi, Ricky, it's your mum.

-I imagine you're busy doing something useful.

-Kind of.

I'm always competing for your attention.

Hopefully the winning art that's coming up will grab you.

A skateboard animation that will get your head in a spin.

-Slimy fun that sounds like a bum.

-Squeak!

And there's award-winning art with this sandy scene.

-Bye, Ricky.

-Bye.

Hey, that picture just moved.

That's because it's animated.

This is my mate, Laurie.

-Hi.

-He's got a nifty trick.

I bet you I can get this bird into this cage.

-Check this out.

-Oi, stop!

-What?

-Safety first.

Whoa. Thanks, mate.

CHEERING

Whoa, is that some kind of spinning skateboard wizardry?

No, mate, it's just an animation.

The fundamental illusion that makes this work is called thaumatrope.

It's the blending of two frames.

It's super simple. To make this cool spinning animation,

you'll need pens and sticky tape,

and if you're feeling particularly rad,

a skateboard and some ninja skills.

You can put it together in just three ninja moves.

Ninja move number one.

You need to draw a little bird

on the underside of your skateboard and a cage on the top.

Make sure they're perfectly aligned so the animation works.

I'm putting black tape down on this board cos it's Laurie's.

He doesn't want me to mess it up.

Ninja move number two.

Now you need to know how to kick flip and of course,

the secret behind every skateboarding trick, the ollie.

The only difference with a kick flip is when you slide your foot up,

you kick it off the side.

Ninja move number three.

It's time to put all those things together with our special bird board

and check out the results.

You can do this.

Oh, yes, Laurie, you totally nailed that trick.

Thanks, dude.

Right, so, what are we doing?

Let's see how many balloons we can pop with pineapples.

Um, OK, you're on.

Ready, steady, pineapple!

-Yay!

-Well done, Ricks.

You did get a good chunk of balloons with your pineapple,

which means that you do get another badge for your headband.

And, the best bit, I recorded it so we can watch an action replay.

Ricky Benedict Alfonso Martin!

Cheater! Although, you do know what that means?

Yeah, I'm sorry.

I win the badge.

Bow down to the master.

-INDIAN MUSIC PLAYS

-Om!

Speaking of the master.

Om.

Oi!

-Whoa!

-GLASS SMASHES

I'm OK, man.

Greetings, dudes.

Hi, Grandmaster, are you ready to take us on?

-Peace!

-Namaste.

No, a piece.

-Oh, I think he wants a bit of your pineapple.

-Oh!

Yum, yum, yum!

Mm! Ah!

Lesson 180 to enlightenment.

Polymer of gooey persuasion.

-Slime!

-Let's do it.

Grab a mixing bowl, add 100ml of warm water.

Add ten tablespoons of laundry starch, dude.

A grown-up will know what this is.

Mix it up.

Yeah!

Add a little food colouring and some glitter.

Sparkly!

Mix it again.

Pour in 100ml of PVA glue.

Get your hands in that, dudes.

Squidgy.

For added fun, break some off and push it in a small pot,

trapping some air.

Squeak! Squeak!

Ha-ha! Gross, dudes!

Squeak! Squeak!

Lesson 180, complete.

LOUD FART

Dude, did you make one, too?

No.

Arggh... Thanks, Grandmaster.

I am most enlightened.

-Om...

-SNIFFS

..Om, Om.

REPEATED FARTS

What are you two doing?

We're challenging each other and winning badges.

I won this one.

Cool, can I have a go?

Well, you're just in time

for the coveted pig impression record attempt.

It's a sort of snort-off.

Get ready, everyone.

Three, two, one, go!

BOTH SNORT

BOTH CONTINUE SNORTING

The winner is

-Sarah!

-Yes!

Oh, what? I can't believe Sarah won.

I'm going to do a quick art tip of how to draw somebody winning.

I'm going to start with the guy's face.

His head's going to be like this.

He's going to be pretty happy cos he just won.

Now a mouth, open mouth, tongue.

Because he's a runner, a little sports band on.

He's running so fast that he has whooshed his hair back.

I'm going to draw his body.

Just like that. And his legs...

..are going like this because he's running.

And let's face it, he's really happy, so hands in the air.

As he's first across the line, he has broken the ribbon.

That's a wobbly line with the tear in the middle.

Then a couple of action lines

to show he's moving. And he's moving fast.

There's a quick art tip of how to draw somebody winning a race.

-Yay! Woohoo!

-CROWD CHEERS

Ha-ha!

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky!

Can you make art with a butternut squash?

Sorry, I butter not(!)

Oh.

-Hi, Ricky.

-Hey, it's Jamie Johnson.

On your head, mate.

Yeah, cool header, man.

We've all got the footy skills here.

I was wondering, can you make art with a half-time orange?

Stop, stop, stop!

Not today.

It's not very ap-PEEL-ing.

What's this guy got?

Ricky, can you make art with sand?

I'm going against the grain here(!)

-But go on, then.

-Yay!

-So, what's your name?

-Elliott.

-Lovely to meet you, Elliott. Where are you from?

-Middlesex.

Well, it's a great suggestion. Let me just go and grab some bits.

So, I've got some sand,

some PVA glue and I've got some black paper and a brush.

I'm going to start by painting a picture with the glue.

So I see behind you, you've got loads of art.

-What have you got?

-This is a pop art thing

that you did on your show, which I tried out.

-It came out really well.

-Yeah, it's really good.

I'm using a thin brush because

I want this to be a detailed picture.

The PVA glue is something that is white on the paper right now,

-but it will dry clear.

-Yeah.

Have you got any guesses of what I might be drawing?

Is it a beach?

-Oh, with the sand, it's a good guess, but it's not a beach.

-Arggh.

What I'm doing is, I'm painting this really quickly with the glue cos

I need it to be wet when I come to use the sand.

If you guys are doing this at home, it might be easier to do it in bits.

You'll see what I mean in a minute.

I'm having a competition with Gav today.

Are you competitive?

Yeah, I am quite competitive, but I'm not a sore loser.

I'm a really gracious loser. I just take it really well.

VOICEOVER: Ha! Rubbish!

Just touching up a couple more of the lines to make sure they're wet

and ready for the sand.

Really rushing now cos I don't want the ends of it to be dry.

-No.

-Just doing the last little bit of shading.

OK, Elliott, now it's time for the sand.

Making sure I cover all of the lines.

I've put a tray down here so I don't get sand all over the kitchen.

Get in there.

Now, I'm going to shake off the excess.

OK, you ready to see it?

Yeah.

-What do you reckon?

-Oh, wow, that's awesome!

-Do you know what it is?

-The Taj Mahal?

Oh, yeah, so what would you score it?

I'd give it a maximum score, ten.

Oh, yes, top marks.

I'm so happy with it, I'm going to give it a frame.

Thanks for your suggestion, Elliott.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye, Ricky.

I think I deserve a badge for that.

Champion! Champion!

Wait, what's that?

The ninja apprentice gave me a ten, so now it's a draw.

What? That's not fair.

I wasn't even playing that game.

Gav, breaking records is supposed to be fun.

I've got an idea for some amazing art that will blow you away.

Follow me.

Arggh! He doesn't even know where he's going.

I'm catching you up.

You'll never beat me.

Ninja skills, yes!

Ninja skills.

-I already did that.

-Yeah, I know, but you had a head start.

Hey, do you think you've got the skills to beat me at some epic art?

-Try me.

-I will.

-But first...

-We need to get our ninja on.

-Art Ninja!

-Ninja!

So then, Ricks, what are the rules?

We're going to go head-to-head to make a giant picture,

-but first I'll race you to the paint.

-Easy.

While hopping on one leg, backwards.

On your marks, get set, go!

HORN BLARES

Yes!

That must be a record for backwards hopping with paint.

I'm going to text Ben Shires from Officially Amazing.

Next challenge, straw blowing.

You're on.

-What are you doing?

-Just texting Ben the results of that race.

UPBEAT MUSIC

Don't try this at home.

Arggh! That's not fair, Ricks.

Ha-ha! Now we're talking.

Game on.

LOUD WHOOSHING He's got a leaf blower!

Gav, where did you... WHOOSHING CONTINUES

Where did you... WHOOSHING CONTINUES

That's funny. Where's Rick?

LOUD WHOOSHING

UPBEAT MUSIC

And it's done.

That must be officially the quickest we've ever done amazing art.

Wow! I feel like we need to tell the world.

Maybe it's a record.

There's only one person we need to tell.

-Hey, Ben.

-Hi, Ricky.

Check out our art. Surely it must be record-breaking?

Well, I can tell you one record you have broken.

The record for the amount of texts sent to one person in a single day,

to me, Mr Ben Shires.

No way!

The art does look officially amazing.

Thanks, man, bye-bye.

Come on, Gav, it's time to make like a tree...

And get out of here?

..and leaf, Gavin, leaf.

Squawk!

It turns out record breaking is exhausting,

but at least today we're all winners. Time for bed.

Let's go for just one more record,

the most people we can fit on the Art Ninja bed.

Everybody!

-ALL:

-Whoa!

LOUD CRUNCH

You've broken my bed! Ah!

Head over to our online gallery

and upload your masterpieces at:

FUNKY MUSIC PLAYS