Another Year Wiser

Whelp, it's my birthday.  What do I have to show for it?  A couple more gray hairs have been added to the streak at my temple. Although I normally try to hide this patch with some completely unnatural hair color, every two years or so I let my hair grow out so that I can get back it's natural moisture and strength. On the plus side, to the gray hair con side, I'm now 15 pounds lighter which means I can fit back into some of my older jeans!  (Translation:  I don't have to go buy new ones!)

The last month has been relatively uneventful.  With no hard deadlines looming on anything I've gotten a little lazy.  Not sure if that's a good thing, since I was nearly pulling my hair out while I ran all over the place getting the "Just Desserts" show ready and some would argue I could use the break, or if it's a bad thing. (Speaking of, Monkeyhouse just asked me if they could extend the show til July.  You can see the show online by clicking here.)

Most of the things I have been working on I can't post online yet.  Some of them have to wait until after Halloween.  But be sure I'll be doing a HUGE post after Halloween chock full of Voodoo Doll goodness.

I've started my first personal Monster Kid painting (translation: not created for a group show of some sort).  I still have no idea what to call that series of paintings, but as it grows I think I might have to figure something out soon.  Monster Kids just sounds lame.  I digress.  This painting goes back to one of the first monsters in the series, the Creature from the Pink Lagoon and I've been dying to do this painting for a couple of years now.  Found the perfect frame on Etsy about a year ago, so I've kind of been working backwards on it.  Got the frame, then got it matted, and now I'm doing the sketch so that I can size it to fit in my mat since I knew exactly how I wanted to present it

Then, when I wasn't procrastinating on my voodoo doll project, or my Creature painting, I had my first sugar skull commission thru Etsy.  I don't normally do commission work due to my work load from my day job, but since it was sugar skulls representing the client's kids, I thought I'd give it a shot.  Got to try a couple ideas I'd been tossing around in my head for future skulls, namely trying to make a boy skull, incorporating a diamond into a skull, and of course, fire.  The client was gracious enough to let me post the finished skulls here on the blog and on my Facebook Fan Page.

Cats and Beginner's Yoga Don't Mix

So, because I've been doing a lot of sitting at the computer, I recently decided to start trying to do some exercise for at least half an hour a day.  Some days I get out this beginning yoga morning and evening instructional DVD.  The cats don't really like the idea of me being in the same room with them and not paying any attention to them.  So as you can see, they try to find ways to disturb my exercise time.

These two are self explanatory.  Loki bites too much so I bit him back. . . and I've been staying up til 4am and actually got to bed at a decent hour.

I'm in the process of curating an art show over at Monkeyhouse Toys for the month of May.  It's been a while since I've curated a show (6 years now, I think) and I forgot how fun and nerve wracking it can be.  So stay tuned for quite a few posts about that in the next couple of months!

Happy Holidays to One and ALL!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my friends, family, and people nice enough to stop by and check out my bloggy blog.

As you can probably guess, this was this years Christmas Card.  I actually started it last November, but due to time and prioritization it got left by the sidelines until just recently.  Honestly it was a good thing, the original sketch needed work and last year I couldn't see what needed to be fixed on it.  So stepping away from it, I was able to return with a fresh eye and made a boat load of  revisions.

For the record, it's not Christmas in our household until we take our annual "Loki in a Stupid Holiday Hat" photo.  Enjoy the holiday festivities and be safe and healthy!

Sketchbook DUMP!!

So last week I posted this little print in my shop.  Usually I only post my finished paintings in the Crypt of Doom, but something about this sketch is just funny and I thought I'd see what would happen.  The first two prints of this (which I've called Career Day) I posted were a special commission and sold right away, but I've posted a third to see if anyone else might like to take it home with them.  :)

And the other sketches are fairly self explanitory.  I started drawing my fiance as Pig Pen from the Peanuts a while back.  Once or twice a week I document his rituals in my sketch book.  It can be something he's said to me, or an event we went through together, but most of the time it's how he makes me feel.  I wish I could say I make some of this stuff up, but sadly some of it's very real.

Oh, and I do have his permission.  He actually prefers me drawing him as a child as to an adult (which you can see in the second sketch).

One final reminder. . . Kids Rock, Saturday, June 12th from 2pm-7pm at Griffith Park's Old Zoo.  My little owl painting will be available in an auction.

Skull Heads!! (New Year Image Dump)

Yes, I do love me some Skull Head action, and now I'm adding these skull-tastic earrings to my inventory over in my shop.


I had to test out my new spider web edge punch from the evil Martha Stewart (I want to hate you, but the older I get the harder it becomes. . . why do you make such awesome stuff?) by making a fancy little doily to set them on for their big Etsy portrait.


And this is their extreme close up. They're boogery.


I've been trying to give all my stuff I send out to nice people who buy my stuff on Etsy a little something special in the way of packaging. For the Cell Charms I've been making little drawstring pouches out of spider web fabric. For the earrings, I wanted to make little cards for them to attach too. Similar to the kind you'd pick up at a store, but with more boogers. Literally.


And finally, my Dear Friend Dani was nice enough to let me put them in her ears and take a photo. No worries though, I made multiples and gave her this pair as a thank you for letting me take a picture of her sexy, sexy ear lobes. (I should probably write that in the Etsy description so that people don't think they're getting cootie filled earrings.)

In other news, I got engaged. Here is a pic of my fancy, schmancy ring (for the few family members who still stop by). It's black diamonds on a white gold setting. It's beautiful. :D


And this is a pic of me crying afterwards, well not crying but all puffy from crying after he asked.


And this is a pic of my stove. The door shattered while I was sleeping a little over a week ago. I now have a brand new stove, which I have christened with Shrinky Dinks.



And, finally, I'm taking an interesting class at the Animation Guild instructed by Karl Gnass. I was skeptical at first, because I was having to draw anthropomorphic animals and I was afraid that my boss would find this counter productive, but I'm not anymore. I'm having fun. Here's some of those sketches.





One thing I've learned from this class. . . when the model is an attractive, fit woman, don't draw them as a chubby puppy. :P

AH-ha-ha! I WIN!!

So, a month ago a friend of mine spoke to a friend of her's to get me into a gallery show in Philadelphia, Pa called the "Golden Age of Heroes" hosted by The Autumn Society. I was really excited and super pumped to do a piece based on old school comics, and of course being a huge Wonder Woman dork, I already knew I HAD to do something with her in it.

Then my summer job started. . . and I missed the deadline. . . oh well. BUT THEN, i grew some balls, contacted one of the curators and asked if I could still submit it. He said as long as the piece is there by July 1st, it's all good. And thanks to the AWESOME UPS dudes at our local UPS branch, they said it should show up on the 1st. So, Philadelphia here I COME!! :D

Thanks so much to the guys at the The Autumn Society again for letting me take part in this! There's no better way to honour the 4th than through awesome classic cartoons and comic characters?

My Morning Commute

So, my boss encouraged me to try making a 6 panel comic of how I get to work in the morning. This was the result.

Something New and Blue. . . Something Borrowed Too

No, I'm not getting married, but the saying worked so well I used it. And yes the something old is actually borrowed (kinda).





Anyway, the something blue and something new is actually 3 very tiny paintings.

Carlos' Grandmother is Turning 90 today and I wanted to give her something small to keep close. So one of these adorable 1.5"x2" paintings, based on my babies Isis and Nico, will be keeping Abulita company, and hopefully close to her heart.

The something old and borrowed is actually very old and "borrowed" from my parents. When I was 13 I was in my 'Disney Phase' as I call it, and every month for almost 4 years I did a 'magazine' cover. Not having cable when I grew up, we never had the Disney Channel and I didn't find out til I was older and had grown out of my phase that there really was a "Disney Magazine" that I guess was kinda like a TV guide for the channel or something. Anyway, just for giggles, I scanned one of the oldest one's from 1991 and one of the last from the set made in 1994. It was a complete hoot when I stumbled upon these atrocities of my childhood, but heartwarming at the same time. Nothing took me back to my childhood quicker than these drawings done in cheap marker/color pencil and glittery fabric paint. . . I should be embarrassed, but I'm not.

Pretty Pretty Princess Loki

FINALLY!

You ever notice how if family asks you for something, you procrastinate on it FOREVER? That's the case here with "Pretty Pretty Princess". My Grandmother asked me for a painting, since my mom and Aunt have one, and I told her sure. . . well that was Christmas 2 and a half years ago now (I think). The sketch for this sat around for a year before I finally had time off to work on it. Did my first all nighter when I didn't have to in a while to complete it, but I find it amusing.

In other news, I was insane and completely unobservant when my boss suggested I take a class this summer. Even though I read the description it didn't fully register what I got myself into until the first day of class. . . and now I'm kicking myself. Mind you, it's something I know nothing about so it's cool and I like learning new stuff, but seriously, Transportaion design? By the end of the summer, I'll be able to draw cars like a mo-fo, even though I'm not really sure I WANT to. :P

Update!! May 30th, 2008


I got "Pretty Pretty Princess" back from the framer on Tuesday. It turned out pretty decent I think. I tried to frame it so that it would look good with the painting as well as good with my Grandma's stuff. I hope It works out okay. There's just way too much pink going on in this thing for my personal taste, but, as I've said, it's not mine, so it's okay. Besides, it was nice to do something out of hte ordinary for me.

Also, as you can see below, I got my birthday presnts early! This is Nico, my new little girl. We got her from the Burbank Animal Shelter almost two weeks ago now. We were shocked at how quickly she and Loki hit it off. We kept them separated for about three days (it was supposed to be a week, but Carlos kept "accidentally" leaving the bathroom door open) before they met. Loki had a kitty crush immediately, and to our great surprise, Nico reciprocated the crush, and now we see cuddling kitties everywhere in the house.



The cuddling is enough to make me puke sometimes. Not to mention, I'm a tiny bit jealous cause Loki doesn't talk to me anymore and is "too cool" to let me snuggle with him. My little man is growing up!

Better Late Than Never

So my vacation has been awesomely relaxing so far. Didn't even mind taking a break in the middle to go back to work for a day and a half. :) It's been really fun, and I got drunk and took over the Rock Band mic over at my homies Vinny and Nat's place. And in my drunken stupor, I had the revelation to create this little beauty. :P

Long story short, I saw a TON of people this year doing pin up girls. . . and I thought about Christmas and all the sterotypical pin ups that people do and decided I wanted to make an un-anorixic pin up girl, in a tasteful pose wearing something you don't normally see worn by sexy chicks during the holidays. (One of my coworkers also said I'd be fulfilling my furry quota for the year by finishing this. . . so rock on with my bad self.)

Anyway, it's marker and gouache. It's about 11" x 14". It's been cropped a little cause Loki sat on it a couple times with dirty paws and got little smudges on the white spots. Stupid kitty. :P

Oh, and for your viewing pleasure. . . Loki's new hat. I love pissing him off.



Since this is the last day of 2007 I guess it's time for my yearly recap.

Just cause I wanna get the sad stuff over first, on December 1st I had to take Isis, the Kitty Princess of Doom in to be put to sleep. She was just old, older than Carlos and I could have ever realized I guess. Her health was just getting worse instead of better and I couldn't see her suffer any longer. I've never had to do anything like that, and to say it was very hard wouldn't be doing the experience any justice. So anyway, I decided to put up the last photo I took of The Izz. I had just given her a bath and she decided that she had had enough of sunning herself on the balcony, and wanted to come back in. She was my little princess and will be greatly missed.



Back in November, I was lucky enough to go not only home for Thanksgiving for the first time in about 8 years, but one of my close childhood chums planned her wedding to coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday!! Now because I haven't taken enough photo's with my digital camera yet to figure out how to work it right, her wedding pics didn't turn out too great. This pic doen't really caputre how beautiful she looked, but I was so happy to be there and meet her husband and see some of my former teachers and classmates. I just hope that their trip to India for the second ceremony went as wonderully as the ceremony in Seattle did. :)



The rest are just random pics of our Thanksgiving trip; our small, quiet Christmas at home; Carlos' first trip EVER to a pumpkin patch and his first Jack o' Lantern. :D

Bugs, Kitties and Squid. . . OH MY!

Sorry. . . I couldn't resist that.

Anyway, I've been trying to doodle at home more. Figured it would help with the increasing frequency of my "work A.D.D." spells. It's not really helping with that, but at least I'm getting to draw on paper. That always makes me happy.