Mommas and Bats, Oh my!

Once a year, most recently the first Sunday of May, there is an unofficial event that takes place at Disneyland.  And I must say it's my second year observing the event.

They call it Bat's Day, and once a year, a very large group of Goths decend upon Disneyland for a day of fun and frivolity.  They spend the two day's prior having a little convention of sorts, with a market place, costume party and some concerts.  Then they finish off their weekend of fun by spending Sunday in the park.

I went last year, and honestly I wasn't that impressed.  I don't consider myself a goth.  I appreciate their culture and I'm into a lot of the same things they are, but I'd be a total poser if I said I was goth. 

That being said, I do enjoy seeing them all grouped together in the "Happiest Place on Earth" and watching the reactions people have to them in their full regalia.  And I admit, the main reason I went back for a second year was because this year's goth day fell on Mother's Day.  I had visions of thousand's of goths running around the park and thousands of mother's having to explain to their children that the goths dress they way they do because their mommies didn't love them enough when they were children (I did actually hear that said about me once in college when I had pink hair).

Any who.  It was rather uneventful.  There weren't as many goths as I was expecting and the mom's were all totally un-bothered by them.  Sadness.

And on that note, I give you a new sugar skull.

More Journal Goodies

Well, the last couple weeks have been a little dead here on the bloggy blog for a good reason.  My first storyboard, at the new job, had it's deadline last week.  Or so I thought.  I found out it's actually not due til this week, but I'd rather it be early than late.  As a result the only thing I've been drawing, aside from my evening journal entry, has been a buff guy dancing with some Mr. Pibb . . . and cars. :)

Speaking of cars. . . as you can see in one of the above sketches, when Carlos and I go visit family in San Diego and he drives home, he always seems to want to race people.  Once I realize what's going on and call him on it, he totally denies it.  Until he wins his imaginary race, that is.  Enjoy more of my silly adventures and lets all hope that next week I post something that's NOT from my journal!

Sketch Journal Dumpage!!

Well it's been a crazy couple of weeks.  I started the new job and I wasn't even there three days before I got sick.  I think that's a new personal record.  This last cold was a doozie, in fact I still am not 100% and sound a little like Scarlet Johanssen or Kathleen Turner AND I completely lost hearing in both ears for three days due to boogers in my inner ear.  Sexy huh?  Guess I'm not the Boogervamprie for nothin'.  Anyway, there is nothing more embarassing than being sent home from work on your 6th day because they fear you are going to bring the plague upon the office.

Enjoy the Doodle Dumpage.  I went through and found all the suitable for the web drawings. . . although I didn't blur out the curse words, so sorry about that.  I was raised by a sailor you know.  My mom tried her hardest, but I guess I'm daddy's little potty mouth at heart.

Shave & a Haircut!

 Well, next Saturday evening (March 19th, 2011) is my first show at Monkeyhouse Toys in their new location.  I seriously LOVE doing shows with Mayra from Monkeyhouse, if only for the reason she loves toys, art and trying to get her local community involved.  (Currently on display, until they hang the new show, she is showcasing some of the artwork created by second graders at the local elementary school next to the shop.  HOW CUTE!!)

Anyway, "Shave & a Haircut" is kind of a tie in with the small hair salon located above the toy store.  Mayra had the idea to have a show devoted to crazy hairstyles and kookie facial hair, and asked me if I'd like to participate.  How could is say no, honestly?

So I thought on it a couple of days, trying to figure out what I wanted to do.  I thought about doing a detailed version of Marie Anotinette's severed head. . . but then realized there would probably be one or two of those.  Then I thought of doing Medusa, but not normal Medusa.  Which led me to what you see here.  :P

For more info on the show, just click the flier.  Oh and let me add, if you are going to try to make it out to the show there's a bunch of construction going on in the area.  In fact there's a giant forklift directly in front of the shop, so if you DO come out and you pass a giant forklift, you just missed Monkeyhouse.  :P

A little over a week ago I was honored to be asked to show some work for a few months at Altered States Tattoo Shop in Olympia, WA.  For them, I printed some exclusive archival quality sugar skulls (the ones I offer as earrings and charms in the Crypt of Doom!) and framed a them.  I'm beyond excited about sending them these primarily because they are the first place back home to ask to show some of my work.  I already warned them that if a group of older people, with no tats or piercings, show up it's just my family coming in to show their support.  :D

And finally, to everyone effected by the recent events in Japan, my heart and prayers are with you. 

Ice-Scream Social

Well now that the opening for the Women In Animation show has come and gone (to those of you who made it out to the opening I sincerely thank you) I can now post the finished painting!!  To all my Facebook friends and followers, I apologize for showing you stuff you've seen a million and a half times already.  :P

"Ice-Scream Social" is an 8"x10" gouache concoction featuring my little "Bride of Frankenstein" character who's named Frannie, and also introduces her little Frankenstein boyfriend Hugo.  They're at the local Ice-Scream Parlor enjoying a deadly nightshade milk shake with ectoplasm and whipped cream topping and finished with an eyeball on top.  I think they're quite enamored with each other, don't you?

Coming in two weeks will be my next art exhibition of 2011, this one taking place at Monkeyhouse Toys in Silverlake, CA.  As I've said before, I'm very excited about that show.  The piece has been done for over two weeks, but I'm trying to be good and not post it all over the web until closer to the show's date.  BUT, if you are a follower of the Boogervampire over on Facebook, you have already seen it.  ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Things Going On!

First an announcement.  Even though I've known about this for a couple of weeks I totally forgot to start pimping it and realized that the opening for it is this FRIDAY (March 4th, 2011).  I asked if I could participate in a Gallery Show being curated by the Women In Animation organization.  As I said, the opening is being held this Friday evening, March 4th, 2011 from 6-9pm at the Animation Guild's fancy new building's gallery space.  For more information visit the Women In Animation or the Animation Guild's sites.

As for the pieces, I'll post the finished one next week.  Two of them will be old one's with the finished new one you can see above.

Next Crypt of DOOM!!  stuff.  I created this new little gem.  I've made her into the regular DS Charm, Earrings, and a single Hair Clip.  If I get enough custom requests/purchases I'll probably offer it as a pair of hair clips, but I'm testing the waters right now.  So far the reaction has been pretty positive.  Which mean's I'll probably make a couple more new skulls before the end of the year.  (Wow, this blog entry is ramble-ier than usual.)

Finally, I actually will be participating in another art show over at the NEW Monkeyhouse Toys location, in Silverlake, on March 19th.  The piece is actually done WAY ahead of time, but I'm holding off posting it here until closer to the date of the show.  All I have to say is that it was a ton of fun to work on, but the custom matte I invested in has made the piece truly SING.

Well, that's it!  Thanks for stopping by and checking in with me, I'm always grateful.  :D

Tiger Girl vs. Batman

Well this week's post isn't that original, BUT it's also the first commission I recieved through the Crypt of DOOM!

Back at the beginning of the month I was contacted by a woman who thought my painting "AH Ha-ha, I WIN!" was adorable and reminded her of her kids.  She asked if I could change Cheetah to a little girl in a Tiger costume and if I could turn Wonder Woman into Batman.  I told her it should be easy enough and accepted her challenge.

This time around I bust out my markers (which had been sitting out since I did the drawing of Natasha) and hoped that I was warmed up enough to tackle an 8x10 detailed drawing on good paper.  I changed up the cats on this piece as well, omitting Loki and Nico and replacing them with a gray kitty and a siamese kitty.

All in all it turned out okay.  In some ways I like it better than the original.  Of course there are things I would change, but there always  are.  :D

Another Sketch Dump

Man, my Journal I recieved for Christmas from Brianne is really starting to help in multiple areas of my life!

Here's a few more days worth.  One thing I notice is that the more I do it the better they get.  Granted I can't post all of them because I've started trying to document things that happen each day and some of them can be a bit embarrassing to the subjects I document (namely the Carlos Super Bowl Experience).  But yeah, here's a couple more.

 

As I said last week, I'm working on some projects I can't post right now.  But I am going to say that I'll be participating in three Gallery/Art Show's next month and I'm trying to get three pieces all done before next Friday, on top of finishing a Commissioned piece for a customer through the Crypt of DOOM!  And all this just two weeks before I start on American Dad!  It's gonna be a crazy time!

Oh, and as a good friend of mine said earlier today. . . Happy Day before Half-Off Chocolate's Eve!!

What a Randomly Productive Week!

Well, I guess I made up for not having anything last week!

This last week was blissfully productive.

Up at the top is a more detailed, colored version of a doodle you may have seen last week.  My friend, and former coworker, Natasha has one of the more unique personal style's I've seen in a while.  I think it's a  strange concoction of retro chic, latin flair, and a side of the 80's just to confuse you.  Either way, she's got some RAD outfits.  Black and white sketches just don't do them any justice.  Someday I may have to make a paper doll out of her just so I can document all her cool clothes.

Then the day after I finished the giant Natasha drawing (It's 22" long!), I sat down and finally finished a second mini-painting I started around the same time as the Skull-tart one.  Like I said before, I got these awesome neon watercolors when I went the Mother-land last summer.  I have no idea what I'll use them for in the future, but Rosie the Sugar Skull turned out pretty decent!

As usual, if you're interested in taking her home, you can purchase her in the Crypt of DOOM!!!

And finally, half of my Valentine's are complete!!

I've been working on these little punks for over a month.  I hit a snag when I accidentally mixed an RGB color pallet with a CMYK one, but after getting it all sorted out I was able to finish these three!  Sadly I didn't meet my personal cut off date for posting them in the Crypt of DOOM, but there is always next year!

Hopefully next week I'll post a "work in progress" of two big projects I will be starting this week if I'm going to stay on schedule, til then, have a good week!

Nothing to Report

Nothing new this week.

I'm working on 3 little projects at the same time and all are equally unfinished.  So until they are all finished, hopefully NEXT weekend, here are doodles.  A friend got me a sketch journal.  One that you do one drawing a day in for a whole year.  It's been fun.  Some days I just draw nonsense (because I do all my doodles right before bed) and other days I try to recount something that happened during the day.  Sometimes it's as simple as what someone wore, other times I try to recapture something I found entertaining, and almost every one has the cats in it.  :P

So, until next week. . .have fun, be safe and all that jazz.