When I was little, I was always attracted to organic shapes such as stains on the wall, water stains, paint stains and clouds. I imagined that these shapes could be a person, an animal, kitchenware, mobile vehicles or other interesting things. It was my game to kill time. Now I've found a new inspiration for this game----sidewalk cracks.
你有没有过这样的经历？看见墙上的水渍或者斑驳，突然发现它很像某个东西。我小时候很喜欢玩这个游戏，无论是墙上的污渍还是地上的水印或者天空的云彩，我都会给他们一个我脑海中的形象，这些偶然成形的东西瞬间就有了生命力。最近我发现人行道上的裂纹可以继续丰富这个游戏，而且一张裂纹可以有多种解读，很有意思。
Here is a painting I just finished
这是我根据一张裂纹照片画的一幅游戏作品。
Isn't it interesting?
I would like to share with fellow steemians how I paint it.
挺有意思的，在这里跟大家分享一下作画过程。
First, I took a photo of sidewalk cracks.
首先，需要一张裂纹照片。可以是任何地方的裂纹，只是我发现人行道上的裂纹最容易找到，晚饭后出门溜达溜达就可以拍一堆回来。
Those lines at the bottom gave me some ideas. I imagined a bird-like shape. There is also a triangle on top, which looks like an clown hat. I decided to use this shape too.
照片中下方的一些线条给了我灵感，我看到了一个类似鸟形的图。上面的一个三角形好像小丑的帽子，我决定画一个戴着小丑帽的小生物。
I drew a sketch and added some patterns, from which a special creature was created just for me. Then I thought I should give my creature some story background. Portland has many rainy days throughout the year. So I drew rain drops and gave her an umbrella. I even gave her hands and feet.
用麦克笔简单画草图，做适当的纹样填充，我创作出了独一无味专属于我的小生物。接着我开始给她设置环境。我们住在波特兰，这里一年九个月都是雨季，我决定让我的小生物跟我们住在同一个地方。我开始画些雨点，顺便给她加上手脚，这样她可以打着伞，踩着水花。
Now I had to transfer the draft to a canvas. I used Patching plaster instead of modeling pastel to paint the canvas, just to save some cost. I used a sharp pencil to draw lines.
草图只需要几分钟，接着需要把草图画到画布上。我需要作出立体的效果，得铺垫其它媒介。这次我用Patching plaster来代替模型膏，因为一大盒plaster的钱都不够买一小盒模型膏，这是一个省钱的办法。哦，plaster就是我们常常用来补家里墙面的东西，在Home Deport 或者lowes都可以买到。把plaster平铺一层到画布上，用削尖的铅笔或者小木棍在上面勾线条。
I gave it 24 hours to become totally dry. Then I used acrylic paint to add the first layer of color.
等够24小时，记住一定要等到plaster全干后才能上色。下图是我用丙烯颜料上的第一层颜色。
Then I paint some more details.
然后我开始画细节。
Use the white gel pen to draw some lines to decorate. Then it was done, simple and easy.
用白色的gel pen画底部的线条装饰。这种线条是我平时无聊时喜欢随手画的，就一根不断的线，迂回曲折，画满一整张纸，没事的时候，你也可以试试。
I invited kids to join this game. I gave them some photos of sidewalk, and ask them to look for some interesting shapes, and turn their imagination into pictures. Here are some kids drawings.
我邀请孩子加入我的游戏，给他们一些照片，请他们寻找有趣的图形，加上他们的想象力，把这些随机的裂纹转换成他们自己的艺术作品。下面是孩子们的杰作，每张都很有意思，谁说孩子不是天生的画家呢？
Very interesting, aren't they? Maybe you also want to give it a try? It will be so much fun! If you don't have time to photograph sidewalk cracks, here are a few more that I took.
你现在是不是也想试一试？没时间出门拍照的话，这里放几张我拍的裂纹，请拿起你的笔开始吧。
May your imagination fly!
让想象力飞起来！