Day of the Gossip Art Ninja

I'm Ricky, I live in Bristol.

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.

Nailed it.

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

Agggh!

Most importantly, I make ninja moves.

Some people call me the...

Today, I'll show you how to make a coat hook

-that you'll want to talk about...

-Hello!

..I create a sculpture so good I name it...

..and there's an animation that will leave you speechless!

Woof! Woof! Woof!

Because today it's...

It's a new day.

I'd better get my ninja on.

And my clothes.

Eeeergh...

Oh.

Eeee-yah!

-Squeak!

-Meow!

What's that noise?

Gavin and Sarah are both away on work trips abroad,

no doubt somewhere exotic.

I wish I could have gone with them, but instead,

I'm stuck here looking after their pets.

I guess I'll just have to have fun with you, then,

won't I, Mrs Nibblesworth?

They do say that pets resemble their owners.

What do you think?

Meow!

That's Gavin's cat, called Cat.

Oh, Mrs Nibblesworth, you're so much friendlier than Sarah is.

Ooh! You nibbled me!

Sorry!

Just a reflex action.

What did you say?

She definitely just said something...right?

That was weird.

I'm sure I heard Mrs Nibblesworth say "sorry".

All these pets have given me an idea.

I'm going to make the Art Ninja animal coat hook!

Right, so I've got myself a kitchen tube and a fizzy drinks bottle

and I'm going to put one on top of the other one like that.

Then I'm going to draw around it

because the tube will fit in here later.

If this bit's tricky, get somebody to hold the bottle for you.

I'm going to cut that out

and take the top off and squeeze all the air out,

so I can get my scissors around it and cut it safely.

Be careful when you're cutting plastic

because it can get quite sharp.

There we are.

Now I'm going to take my kitchen tube

and I'm going to cut an angle across it, 45 degrees.

I'm going to slot the tube inside the groove I've just cut,

push it all the way against the other end,

and then tape it down with some masking tape.

As you can see, the head is already taking shape.

Let's put that to one side.

I've got another piece of card here.

I'm going to draw on it some ears.

And because I'm making a giraffe,

I need to draw the ossicones

which are those two little horns they've got.

Kind of like lollipops.

Just with a brown ball on the end, straight line.

There's the other one.

And the ears are going to be like the end of a spear,

like this, I guess. Nice little points on them.

I'm going to cut those out.

I'm going to stick them to the back of the head

using a bit of masking tape.

I'm going to put that to one side

and make the shield which is going to be the mount for the head.

So I've got a nice big bit of card here.

We're going to draw a shield shape on it.

I'm going to cut that out.

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

Check it out.

I've also poked a hole in the back of one of them

so I can hang it on the wall later.

I want this to have a more 3-D effect

so I'm going to bulk this up a bit with these strips of card.

I'm just going to add some masking tape to the underside of this

because then it's easier to curl it around my bit of card afterwards.

So I'm just pushing my cardboard strip

around the edge of my shield shape.

I'm bending the strip of card as I go and taping it securely in place.

I'm going to do the same with this piece

and again go round the edge with masking tape.

There we go.

I'm going to stick my giraffe head to my shield.

I'm using lots of masking tape around the base of the neck

and this will help strengthen the whole structure.

I'm going to give it a layer of papier-mache.

So I've got some pre-cut pieces of newspaper

and some glue and water mix.

That's two parts glue, one part water.

There we go, lovely and dry.

And I've even filled out the ossicones so they're now more 3-D.

Time to give it a bit of colour.

You can use any colours you like,

so I'm going to make mine nice and bold.

So I'm going to start with an orange on the giraffe.

Right on his schnoz.

Getting all in there round the back of the ears.

I'm going to move on to the shield.

And I'm going to use this lovely turquoise colour for that.

OK, I think the orange is dry enough now to add a little bit of detail.

I'm using yellow for his nose,

and with a thinner brush, I'm going to add some detail in his ears.

I'm going to move onto some purple.

I'm going to start by painting the ossicones, just the tips.

And then some markings on his neck.

They're kind of like tiles.

With a brush, I'm just going to go

between the edges of the bottom of the bottle and the mouth.

There we go. And now for some finishing touches.

A couple of eyes...

..a bit of snazzy hair...

..a gold frame...

..and a coat hook stuck on with strong glue.

Time to hang it up.

Look at that!

And now I need something to hang on it.

You don't have to make a giraffe like mine.

How about...a hatted hippopotamus with cheesy grin?

Gruff! Rooar!

Or the mane man, the lion?

ROAR!

Proper ninja skills, some of my best work.

Ugh, he likes to blow his own trumpet.

I know! What a show-off.

Sarah says he's always been big-headed.

Oi! Big-headed?

I'm the Art Ninja!

-Don't move!

-RECORD SCRATCH

HEARTBEATS

How can he hear us? He's a human!

Oh, no! It must have happened when I accidentally nibbled him.

Rich, I've got something you really need to see.

Well, hear.

You're not going to believe this.

Oh, it's Cat and Mrs Nibblesworth!

But what am I meant to be looking at?

HE WHISPERS: They're talking.

What?

-They're talking!

-Meow!

Yeah, good one, Ricky.

Neooow!

I can't believe those animals can talk.

I'm hungry. You got anything to eat around here, Ricks?

Sure, Cat.

What am I doing talking to a cat?

I'll be talking to people that aren't really there next.

Buenos dias, Ricky.

Told you. Who are you?

I am Joan Miro, the famous painter,

sculptor and ceramicist from Barcelona.

Things are getting really surreal now.

Exactly, surrealism.

That's what I did.

I like to use spontaneous, bold brushstrokes and unrealistic colours

to represent nature.

Here's some of my work now.

I don't suppose you've got any advice

on dealing with a talking cat and a cheeky guinea pig?

You are more surreal than me.

Where's that food, Ricky?

Sorry, Senor Miro, I've got to go.

This cat's a little bit annoying.

Adios, Ricky.

There you go, Cat.

Nom, nom, nom. Thanks, Ricks.

Miro has inspired me to make a 3-D sculpture.

So I've got myself some lovely coloured card

and I'm going to draw out the letters that spell my name

in a fun bubble writing.

So we'll start with an "R".

Then an "I". Go for more of a pointy "I" here, I think.

Nice, big "C".

"K".

Finally, a "Y".

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

I'm keeping a hold of these bits for later.

There we go. All the letters of my name in bright, bold colours,

just like Miro's work.

But to make a 3-D sculpture, I'm going to need two sets of these,

so I'm going to use my ninja skills.

Eee-yah!

There we go. Now I've got two of each letter and even more colours.

I'm going to cut a line from the top to the middle

on one set of my letters.

I'm making sure I'm cutting these lines nice and straight,

because they need to slot into the other letters after.

On the second set, I'm cutting from the bottom to the middle,

and this means they're going to slot together perfectly.

Cool. Now I'm going to slot my letters together.

Because there's a cross on the bottom,

it will help my letters stand up.

I've got a nice piece of white card here.

To give them a little bit of help standing,

I'm going to add a tiny bit of glue with a cocktail stick.

Sweet.

This can be a little bit fiddly.

Just take your time.

Yes!

It's looking pretty good.

Now I'm going to add some more Miro touches

which is why I kept my offcuts.

From them, I've cut some fun shapes.

Triangles, circles, and then some more jazzy shapes.

And the great thing about this is you can put them anywhere you like.

This one on the "C".

I think Miro would be proud of that.

A 3-D name sculpture so good,

maybe you'd like to put your name on one.

Since you guys are Gav and Sarah's pets,

you must hang out with them even more than I do.

Oh, yeah, we see them all the time.

So, what do they get up to when I'm not around?

Well, Sarah likes to pretend she's a superhero.

She wraps a blanket around her like a cape.

Take that, evil Dr Art Ninja.

She says she's defending Bristol from the evil Dr Art Ninja.

Hang on. She thinks the Art Ninja is a villain?

Cat, how about Gav?

When Gavin's alone,

he likes to wear loads of coats

to see if he can escape without unzipping them.

Weird. Why does that not surprise me?

He says he's practising for next time you two have a challenge-off,

because he thinks you've never let him win.

So my mates think that I'm mean to them?

That's crazy!

It's like something from Harry Potter around here today.

Talking animals and now pictures that move.

This one moves because it's animated.

What's that, Ella?

I can't work it out.

Ah, that's because you need this secret animation page

to understand what's going on. Check this out.

Witchcraft!

Don't worry, mate, it's just an animation.

To make this secret illusion animation, you'll need

a computer with editing software, a printer and some acetate.

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

Ninja move number one.

So, the first thing you need to do

is draw yourself a six-frame animation loop.

And a quick tip is that silhouetted frames work better

for this kind of animation.

Something walking is a good six-frame cycle

to get you started.

Use an animation app to make sure that it loops.

Ninja move number two.

So, import your animation frames into your image editing software.

There's loads of these free online, so just find one that you like.

Now you need to create a separate layer.

I'm going to make a thick black line and then leave a thin space.

I'm going to copy this all the way across the page

until the whole thing is full.

And this is the "magic layer" that reveals the animation.

Now everywhere there's a black line, I'm going to delete the image.

This will leave only a few thin lines of that particular picture.

I'm going to use my stripy guide on each layer of my animation,

but move it across each time.

I'm deleting the bits of the picture that you can't see.

This will leave me with a picture that looks like this.

Weird.

Still with me, Rich?

Oh, uh, yeah, yeah. Of course, yeah.

Meow!

Ninja move number three.

Print off your animation layer onto paper

and print off your stripy layer onto acetate.

Put the reveal layer over your animation page.

Move it slowly along

and then it's time to take a look at our mini-masterpiece.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

Go on, get digital and make your own secret animation.

It was amazing.

He stood there for hours opening and closing the fridge,

trying to see if the light stayed on when the door was shut.

Pffff.

Oh, I know. Owners, eh?

They can be a right nightmare when they're left alone.

There was this one time...

Great stories, guys.

I'm just going to, uh, I'm just going get some air.

Humans have no manners.

Don't get me wrong, lovely animals,

but I'm still getting used to them talking.

I just need to get away for a sec.

Good day, old chap.

Lovely weather, innit?

Yeah, it's all right, actually.

Ah, ridiculous dog!

-Oi!

-This is all getting too weird.

PHONE RINGS AND BEEPS

-ANSWERPHONE:

-Hi, Ricky, it's your mum.

I hope you're coping with Sarah and Gavin's pets.

I've heard they're a bit of a handful.

How rude!

I'm sure you'll still find pet projects like these though...

A jaw-some dinosaur toothbrush holder,

animal antics with the Grandmaster...

HE PLAYS A TUNE

..and I'm not one to gossip,

but you'd BUTTERFLY if you're going to make art at the sculpture park.

Talking of flying, I'd better go.

Your dad thinks he's invented a jetpack

and I need to stop him trying to use it on the garage roof.

What a nightmare.

Humans!

-Nightmare.

-Nightmare.

-Bye, Ricky!

-Bye, Mum.

Here's a quick art tip of how to draw a ringing mobile phone.

So I'm going to start by drawing the main shape of the phone

and I'm going to draw it horizontally.

Now I'm just going to draw a couple of lines coming down

off these two edges,

and then I'm going to copy the bottom line...

..to give the phone a 3-D edge.

Now I'm going to add the screen,

and that's just a rectangle on the body.

And to show that it's glass,

I'm going to give it a couple of dash lines

to make it look reflective.

Speaker at the top.

And those little buttons they have at the bottom.

And because it's ringing, it's going to have some action lines...

..because mobile phones vibrate.

And then a couple of sound lines.

They're just straight ones coming out from it like this

to show that it's making a noise.

And who's ringing?

Well, let's find out. I'm going to add a speech bubble.

I need a kind of curvy triangle

and then a nice bubble for me to write my text in.

And I should have known, it's Mum.

And there's a quick art tip of how to draw a ringing mobile phone.

Hi, Ricky, it's your mum!

Hi, Ricky, it's your mum! Hi, Ricky, it's your mum!

-SPEEDING UP:

-Hi Ricky, it's your mum! Hi, Ricky it's your mum!

Cat? Mrs Nibblesworth?

Ricky, Ricky!

It's the ninja apprentices.

Can you make art with a purse?

Not this time. No change there.

Ohh!

Hi, Ricky!

Not these two again, from Sam and Mark's Big Friday Wind-Up!

What silly pranks have you got for me today?

Ricky, that is really cheeky to just assume

-that we're always on a wind-up.

-Sorry, guys.

I didn't mean to be rude. I just thought...

-BOTH:

-Ha-ha-ha, got you!

Of course we're winding you up!

Anyway, can you make art out of a needle and thread?

This isn't a wind-up, this is a stitch-up!

Hey, what's she got?

Ricky, can you make art with bread?

Now that's using your loaf. I choose you!

Yeah!

-So what's your name?

-My name's Cali.

-Nice to meet you, Cali, and where are you from?

-I'm from Birmingham.

Well, it's a great suggestion, I'll just go and grab my things.

I've got some washing-up liquid, some PVA, paints,

a trusty toothbrush.

A bit strange. And a bowl with some bread.

Because I'm making a toothbrush holder with it!

-Weird, eh?

-Yeah.

So, I'm going to start by taking off the crusts.

I'm just going to break the bread up into really small pieces.

I'm going to add a bit of PVA glue.

Don't make it too squidgy!

And then a little tip here is to add a tiny bit of washing-up liquid

-as it means it sticks to your hands less.

-Yeah.

The glue is going to bind the bread together.

I'm trying to make it into a mouldable dough.

Here's another tip for you.

Make sure you don't eat this bread.

Smoothing it out. Going to break this into two bits.

One of them, I'm going to mould into a body and a tail shape,

a bit like a big tadpole.

And then I'm going to break this other lump here to make four legs.

Any guesses yet what I'm going to be making?

Maybe a dinosaur?

Well, let's see what evolves.

I'm attaching the legs to the body.

It's a bit like moulding with clay.

Do you ever mould anything out of clay?

-Pots and stuff for my pencils.

-Cool.

I'm also using some small bits of dough for some claws.

Just going to pinch along the back and make some spikes.

Now I'm using the end of my toothbrush to make a hole.

You'll see why later.

You'll need to get an adult to help you bake this on a low heat,

but I'm going to use my ninja skills.

Eee-yah! There we go!

That's amazing!

That will take you about 20 minutes in the oven.

I'm going to give it a lick of paint.

I'm also going to add a little bit of PVA glue to the paint

to help seal the bread.

I've put a tray down to protect my surfaces.

I'm painting mine to match my toothbrush,

but you can paint yours any colour you like.

What colour would you paint yours?

-Maybe pink and purple.

-Nice.

I'm painting the claws and the spine blue.

Are you ready to see it?

Just put the toothbrush in for the neck.

What do you think of my dinosaur toothbrush holder?

So cool!

-What would you score it?

-I'd score it...

..a ten out of ten!

Yes! Thank you.

-Bye-bye!

-Bye!

Roooar!

Ricky is always calling Gavin his annoying best mate.

I know, he teases Sarah, too.

These guys just don't stop talking!

-Sniff! Sniff!

-Humans smell gross.

Er, I can still hear you!

I'm not mean to Gav and Sarah, am I?

Cat and Mrs Nibblesworth have just got the wrong end of the stick.

Om...

Whooaaah...!

-Meow!

-I'm OK, man!

Greetings, dude!

Greetings, Grandmaster!

Lesson number 11 to enlightenment.

Two for two with stretch rubber!

Elastic band harmonica.

Let's do this!

Grab yourself a lolly stick and some dots from a hole punch.

Stick these on with a glue stick.

Grab a second lolly stick and some card shapes.

Rarr!

HE LAUGHS

These are fangs and a tongue.

Use a glue stick to stick them on.

Get a thin strip of card and place it on top of the fangs and tongue.

Grab two elastic bands,

wrap one of them around the end,

holding the thin card in place.

Do the same on the other end.

Slide the second lolly stick under a bit of the elastic band on each end

to hold it in place!

Yeah!

Lesson number 11 complete.

You can even attract animals with it, dude.

HE PLAYS A TUNE

-Aggh!

-Hello?

Come back!

I am most enlightened.

Hey, Mrs Nibblesworth,

here's is a nice healthy meal of some broccoli.

Mmm, delicious!

Oof!

Hey, there's no need for that! Not again!

Tell her, Cat.

Meow!

That's weird, you didn't speak.

Cat got your tongue?

PHONE RINGS

Hi, Ricky! How is my precious piggy wig?

I'm not sure what's worse.

A talking guinea pig or actual Sarah.

Sarah, you're back!

Oh, I've missed you. And Gav!

Let's go out. Like, right now.

Er, OK. Where?

I'll text you the address.

It will be my treat. I'll see you there.

Bye, guys! I'm off to see your owners.

-You'll be all right on your own for a bit, right?

-Meow!

Meowing, not words?

That's music to my ears.

Yes! I think I'm cured!

Catch you later!

Baaa! Baaa!

What's that? Baa?

Too baa-d I can't understand you!

Tweet! Tweet!

Ha-ha! Tweet, tweet to you, too!

I have no idea what you're saying!

Who does he think he is, Doctor Dolittle?

Doctor Doodle-Loads, more like!

Have you finished talking to the animals, Ricky?

Gavin, Sarah, I'm so pleased to see you!

Oh, you can let go now.

Hey, Rich.

-Are you feeling OK?

-I am now.

I know you guys have been saying I haven't been that fun lately.

How did he know we were saying that?

Maybe a little birdie told him.

And because I missed your trip,

I thought I'd meet you all here the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

-I want to see everything!

-Yeah, let's have a look around!

This sculpture's by Ai Weiwei.

Wow, this is awesome!

Check this one out.

So smooth!

Looks like a planet.

Hey, guys?

Hare's a good one.

Ricky, what's this one called?

This is Damski Czepek

and this is Richus Sillius.

This is art and this definitely isn't.

You know what? I think we should make a sculpture of our own.

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

Arrrrt Ninja!

Strike a pose.

-Meow!

-Ee-ee!

Well, you can cut that out for a start.

For the sculpture, we're going to be using these drainpipes.

Can't believe it's not gutter.

Where do you want these, Ricks?

Ah, just over there.

OK, Gav, you're up first. I want some yellow circles, mate.

So, we want some green on the top of yours running down.

And, Rich, you're going to be doing quite complex patterns.

Now just turn your drainpipe just over one notch like that...

..and then start painting on that side.

OK, guys, they're looking great.

Let's get the first ones up there.

And if you lean it away from you and then slot it in,

it holds in place nicely.

Right, let's do some more.

Perfect.

HE PLAYS A LOW SOUND

Hey, Rich, these drainpipes are great,

you can play them like an instrument.

HE PLAYS A LOW SOUND

Let's have a go. Hold that.

HE PLAYS A LOW SOUND

What's that noise?

Burp!

There we go. And it's done!

Oh, the colours are nice,

but it doesn't really look like much, Ricks.

You're right.

You guys go down that end and we'll go down this end

and all will be revealed.

It's a...

-..caterpillar!

-Caterpillar!

-Butterfly!

-Butterfly!

Huh?

Oh, wow!

It's brilliant!

It's transformed!

Or you could say it's metamorphosed.

Shall we go and see how the pets are doing?

I bet you haven't heard a peep out of them.

Hmm, you could say that.

# Art Ninja. #

Ahh.

It was great to hang out with my friends again

and it's not just their pets,

I can't hear any animals talking any more.

Woof!

Got to be kidding me!

I just wanted to say,

please don't ever call me a ridiculous dog again.

AGHHHHH!

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