Uff da!

Uff da!

This is an all-purpose exclamation in Norwegian. The older I get and the crazier this world gets, the more useful it becomes. It doesn't have a direct translation in English, but we have a lot of phrases that cover some of it, just not the full scope. These are just a few:

• Good grief!
• Oh my!
• Oh no!
• Bless your heart
• What a mess!
• What a nightmare!
• That's hilarious!
• You've got to be kidding!
• That's so silly!
• Yikes!

Uff da!
Steven Sauke
Illustration

I made this graphic a few years ago in commemoration of Syttende mai, or May 17, Norwegian Independence Day. It features part of the Norwegian flag and, well, uff da!

Kyler

A few years ago, I joined a gym and lost a lot of weight (all told, 80 pounds). I blogged about it back in 2014 here. Kyler was one of the trainers there, and he was particularly helpful and encouraging. Once LA Fitness bought out Vision Quest, he made the leap to working at LA Fitness, and helped me get signed up there. I made an illustration of him:

Kyler Clem
Steven Sauke
Illustration
2013

2023 Update

Tu déchires !

Je croyais que tu devais le savoir. Ça, c'est pour toi. Oui, pour toi, la personne incroyable qui lit ceci. Tu es génial ! Ne laisse personne te dire le contraire.

Tu déchires !
Dessin, stylet sur Samsung Note
Dessiné en Adobe Draw
Steven Sauke

¡Eres la máxima! ¡Eres el máximo!

Creo que debes saber. Esto es para tí. Sí, para tí, la persona increíble que lee esto. Eres una persona impresionante. No dejes que nadie les diga lo contrario.

¡Eres la máxima! ¡Eres el máximo!
Dibujo, lápiz óptico en Samsung Note
Diseñado en Adobe Draw
Steven Sauke

You rock!

Thought you should know. This is for you. Yes, you, amazing person reading this! You are awesome. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

You Rock!
Drawing, stylus on Samsung Note
Designed on Adobe Draw
Steven Sauke

Charlie

This is my friend Charlie. He is pretty amazing, and I have a lot of respect for him. He also played Cchhär in my movies Yibvlidj Apocalypse and The Heirs of Djeek. The graphic I made of him is based on a picture I took for Yibvlidj Apocalypse.

Charlie Ostlie
Steven Sauke
Illustration
2012

Charlie Ostlie (Facebook cover photo version)
Steven Sauke
Illustration
2012

Aaron

This is my brother Aaron. We may not be biologically related, but that's beside the point. Although, there are Olsons among my ancestors, and we do look like we could be related, so I've often wondered if we are, distantly. We even have a similar sense of humor.

He was our pastor a few years ago, and of all our pastors, was one of the closest in age to me. After leaving our church, he moved to Texas. I miss him and keep in touch.

Aaron Olson
Steven Sauke
2012
Illustration

Today he sets a new personal record in the age department. I am proud to claim him as a brother, and he is one of the best.

Facebook Cover Art
Steven Sauke
2012
Illustration

Following are more pictures of him. The illustration above was based on one of the below. I am even in one of these pictures! I took these in 2012 and 2013. Since he lives so far away, we haven't been able to get pictures any more recently than that. Someday!

Randy Rusk

My uncle Randy was tragically killed by a drunk driver before I was born. I have heard wonderful things about him, and I wish I could have known him. It sounds like he was an amazing and very talented person. I did this portrait of him a few years ago in his memory. 

My aunt Bonnie, his widow, did a guest blog a few years ago, telling her story, remembering him and her life since losing him. That was the first guest post on this blog.

Randy Rusk
Steven Sauke
Illustration

Darcy

My cousin Darcy is an amazing, talented person. In the years since I did this portrait of her, she also got married and has an amazing son. Those facts have nothing to do with the fact that I did a portrait of her. Did I mention that I'm thankful for my family?

Darcy
Steven Sauke
Illustration

SMS

One assignment in one of my design classes was to make a personal logo. If I remember right, I made this one in Adobe After Effects. I also have a simplified version without the blue background, which I use for the logo on my blog.

Steven Sauke
Personal Logo

Tim and Annika

I made this portrait as a wedding present for my cousins Tim and Annika a few years ago. They now have two amazing kids! Today Annika advances in years. I'm super thankful for my family.

Tim and Annika
Steven Sauke
Illustration

Victor Hugo

"To err is human. To loaf is Parisian."

- Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Victor Hugo had a very distinctive writing style. Best known for his novels Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris (some English translations call it The Hunchback of Notre-Dame), but also the author of The Man Who Laughs, 93, The Toilers of the Sea, along with other novels and poems, I have found it useful to have a pad of paper and pen handy when reading his works. He often inserts a random statement in the middle of a narrative that is quite thought-provoking. He also spends whole chapters discussing concepts that may or may not be relevant to the story (I find reading the abridged version first is helpful, and then I can go back and read the full version).

Victor Hugo
Steven Sauke
Text-Based Illustration

One such random statement in Les Misérables is his observation when introducing the students who will figure prominently, "To err is human. To loaf is Parisian." Reading that made me burst out laughing.

One assignment in one of my design classes was to select a quote from an author and make a text-based portrait in Adobe Illustrator using the words of the quote. After narrowing it down, I selected this quote from Hugo. This was perhaps the most tedious assignment, particularly since my computer crashed at one point, causing me to lose hours of work. But I was very proud of the result.

Canvas Trek Chocolate Wrapper

In our ongoing campaign to introduce the Canvas LMS (Learning Management System) to Edmonds Community College, our fearless leader Steve Sosa challenged me to make a wrapper to put on chocolate bars, and do something that was different from my normal "look and feel."

Canvas Trek
Steven Sauke
Illustration, Chocolate Wrapper
2013

To work with this challenge, I considered that we would be putting it around a chocolate bar and researched the origin of chocolate. I found out it originated with the Maya and continued with the Aztecs. As my previous art for the project had a more overt Star Trek theme, I decided to go with a more Mesoamerican theme in this case, as a nod to chocolate's rich history (pun intended). But this was also related to Star Trek, so I managed to include some subtle nods to that theme. In my research, I found the Mayan glyphs for Star, Road, Life and Wealth. Thus, as close as I could approximate it, I included "Star Trek, Live long and prosper" in Mayan. (Of course, not being an expert in their language, they may have used different glyphs that more closely worked with the meaning and grammar and such.) I also found a Mayan mural with a chief preventing a servant from taking his vat of chocolate. I based the illustration on that, but modified the fingers to make a Vulcan salute. I selected a texture that looked most like it might be on a rock wall. The background is a photo of the Mayan ruins at Chichén Itzá on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

Illustration Self Portrait

Our first assignment in our illustration class was to do a self portrait. This was not that self portrait. As that was my first attempt, I was not thrilled with the result. So here I present my SECOND illustration self portrait. I'll mercifully spare you the first one. :-)

Self Portrait
Steven Sauke
Illustration

I was happy with this one. As with my self portrait in the style of Aaron Douglas, I have used this one as a profile picture as well. I have on occasion even used it for my profile picture at work.

He Has Risen!

Happy Easter!

I made this illustration a few years ago to celebrate Easter. It was a follow-up to my Good Friday illustration, making a few changes to the Friday piece.

He Has Risen
Steven Sauke
Illustration

I was particularly honoured in 2018 when this was displayed in a 14th Century church in England to commemorate Easter. That is perhaps the most impressive place my artwork has been on display.

Kyrie Eleison

Kyrie Eleison is Latin for "Lord, have mercy!" It is often used in church liturgy going back centuries, and as I see more and more horrifying events in the news, that's often my prayer for our nation and our world. I made this graphic a few years ago for Good Friday, which is one time it is commonly used.

Kyrie Eleison
Steven Sauke
Illustration

The black across the top represents the dark sky, as it got dark during the day when Christ was crucified. The brown stripe is for the cross. The red is for Christ's blood.

Today is Black Saturday, the day between Jesus' death and resurrection. Growing up in the Philippines, this was one of the saddest days of the year, when many believed Jesus was literally dead every Black Saturday, and many didn't dare do anything or take any risks, should anything happen and Jesus might not be there to help. 

Our church in the Philippines had a retreat one year during Holy Week, and they returned on Black Saturday. A group was traveling in the countryside in the church's Toyota Tamaraw when both tires on one side of the vehicle blew and it rolled. Tamaraws did not have seatbelts at the time (I assume they do now, but don't know that for sure), and it was a very frightening experience. Most people were only scraped and bruised, though there were some broken bones. But Cynthia Mollo (pronounced "mole-yo"), a wonderful woman in our church, who had a massive heart, was injured much more severely. She was pregnant at the time. Everyone was rushed to the hospital. We were not with them, but my parents rushed to that hospital to be with them, and I stayed with friends. (My brother Tim was out of town.) We got regular updates as Cynthia and her unborn baby fought for their lives. I will never forget our friend getting off the phone after one of those updates and saying, "Well, Cynthia is with the Lord." (I'm tearing up thinking about it over 30 years later.) I sobbed.

Cynthia's husband Dindo was in a different car returning from the retreat, and later recalled they were singing as they travelled in their car, not knowing what was happening in the other vehicle: 

"I've got a mansion just over the hilltop
In that bright land where we'll never grow old
And someday yonder we will never more wander
But walk on streets that are purest gold"

They sang that at her funeral as well. It was a major comfort for everyone, knowing where Cynthia and her baby were, completely free from pain. After the service, we attended the burial, and her tombstone said "SEE YOU IN HEAVEN."

Since the accident happened on Black Saturday, Cynthia's mother was upset that they had gone on a trip on that day of all days. How could they do it on the day when Jesus was dead? I'm not sure what caused her to realize Jesus was there and protecting everyone else, but she did eventually come to understand that. It was a miracle that nobody else was hurt worse than they were. But losing Cynthia and her unborn baby was a huge blow to all of us.

Self Portrait in the style of Aaron Douglas

In high school I did a report on James Weldon Johnson, a preacher who put a bunch of his sermons in his book God's Trombones. I love Johnson's style of preaching. He was a great storyteller, and he had a way of presenting biblical narratives in a contemporary and fresh manner that held me spellbound just reading them. At the time, I was intrigued by the illustrations in the book, but as my research was on the author, I didn't look into the illustrator.

In my drawing class while I was studying design a few years later, the assignment for our final was to pick an artist from a list supplied by our teacher. Aaron Douglas was on the list. I wasn't that familiar with him, but when I started to research him, I recognized the art from God's Trombones. 

Self Portrait
Steven Sauke
Marker, Pen, Sharpie on Paper

Part of the reason I was studying design was because I was pondering what to do with my life. (I'm still figuring out what I want to do when I grow up.) I've always loved art and design. As I pondered how to go about art in Aaron Douglas' style, I decided on a self portrait as his art involved silhouetted people. The palm tree represents my past in the Philippines. The Space Needle represents my present in Seattle. For years I have dreamed of living in France someday, so I put the Eiffel Tower in the middle to represent a possible future, as well as a nod to my study in France in 1999. I'm in the foreground wondering and praying, shrugging and looking up to heaven to ask God what His will is. None of Douglas' drawings that I saw featured someone wearing glasses (as the ones in God's Trombones depict characters in the Bible), but I was pretty happy with the way I adapted it. He did eyes the way they are above, but I extended the line farther back to approximately where the ears would appear, were it not a silhouette.

This art is my Google avatar, and I have also used it as a Facebook profile picture in the past. It was not my only foray into the styles of artists of the past, as I also painted Mt. Rainier in the style of Claude Monet, as we have seen. I have also used that painting as a cover photo on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

"I'm Tired"

This was inspired by my friend Tyler as he was helping me with my workout in early April 2013. (As of April 9 of that year, it was "last week.") They had big tires in the gym, and we were doing squats and other exercises on them. It occurred to me that I was tired out, and then I was amused by the irony of being tired next to tires...and I thought of a monster truck. Those trucks have huge tires (about the size of the ones they use in the gym), and they work them so hard. If they were alive, I'm sure they'd get tired on their tires. I guess, as they say, Tyler, see you in the funny pages!

Illustration
Steven Sauke
April 9, 2013

With Tyler, later in 2013
Photo by Ton Sridi

Self Portrait

In one of my art classes in 2011, we received two related assignments. Our professor told us up front there was a second part of the assignment, but she purposely wouldn't explain part 2 until after we were finished with part 1. Probably just as well, as these would look very different had she explained both parts up front!

For part 1, we were to cut bits out of magazines, newspapers, or anything we found online and printed, and make a self portrait collage. We could get as creative as we wanted—in fact, the more creative, the better—and we needed to pay attention to shapes, shading, and other aspects. Having grown up in the Philippines and loving their coral reefs, I decided to go with that theme. I was very happy with the result:

Self Portrait Collage
Steven Sauke
2011

Had I known the next step, I would not have made it anywhere near as intricate and exciting.

For part 2, we were given the three primary colors of paint (red, blue, yellow) and a canvas. Now we were to paint the collage! Using only those three colors, we had to mix colors and get it as close to the collage as possible. Though it turned out to be fairly complicated, I was proud of the result:

Self Portrait
Steven Sauke
Acrylic on Canvas
2011

Finding Joy and Rocks

Kamas, Utah, 2022. I had just arrived at the conference center and happened to look down at the ground to discover this guy smiling up at me:

I picked it up and looked at the back:

That could only mean one thing. My friends Paul and Cara Tracy had arrived at the legendary Escape Adulthood Summit, put on by my friends Kim and Jason Kotecki and their amazing family and team. Over the past couple years, Cara has perfected the art of rock painting, and leaving them in their part of Arizona for people to find and adopt. Now she had brought some of her joyful shenanigans to Utah. Further examination of the grounds revealed more faces smiling up at me, such as this guy:

How can you not smile when the rocks are smiling at you like that? I ask you!

I kept the orange one and let others claim the rest. Kim and Jason's younger daughter Ro had also left rocks of her own around, so I got one of those too. They now hold places of honor at my desk. I brought googly eyes that I left everywhere for people to find. Shenanigans shenanigated.

I found Paul and Cara, and after hugs all around, we talked excitedly. Their child-like joy is contagious. Cara (rhymes with Sarah) is a yoga instructor and speaker liaison in Arizona. Paul is Director of Operations at JusticeTrax, a software company specializing in forensics and law enforcement. He is also an accomplished Lego architect.

Left to right:
Kim Kotecki, Cara and Paul Tracy

As Cara has perfected her art and left rocks for Arizonans to find, she has posted pictures of many of them. These are just a few of the many:

Rocks and photos by Cara Tracy
Used with permission

Inspired by Cara's art, in addition to my friend Kevin Tuerff and the amazing people of Gander, Newfoundland, I painted rocks of my own last summer (some of them obtained in Montana in May) in preparation for a subsequent trip to New York. I was in Utah at the beginning of August, and the following month I was in New York. 2022 was an eventful year! I went with a Broadway theme. I trust they found good homes!

Rocks and photos by Steven Sauke
Left at the WTC, Battery Park, Lincoln Center,
Central Park, Times Square, and elsewhere in Manhattan
(I also left one, not pictured, on Staten Island)

In addition to her amazing rocks, Cara also posts daily pictures of things that make her happy. It could be her rocks, an amazing cactus, a picture of Paul, a heart she found in nature, her yoga practice, and a multitude of other things. You can follow her on Instagram at @azjoyfinder. Her joy is contagious, and she continues to inspire me.