Steph's Brain Farts

Dudes, no one told me that Chicago was so awesome! I only spent a couple of days there but I fell in love with the place and chalked it up on my "Places I'd Eventually Like to Live In" list. I spent time with my friends Teddy and the mega talented Lana Crooks, who is a plush artist. There is actually a pretty big plush/urban vinyl scene in Chicago and I ran into Shawn Smith (Shawnimals!) there as well. It was a fangirl moment for me and I snagged one of the last few Forest Spirit Wee Ninjas straight from his studio!

I also checked out the Lincoln Park Zoo and filled a few pages with animal gestures. I like the cows best.




I had a very cute moment with the cows actually - as I was drawing them, a little old lady who didn't speak a lotta English was sort of hovering behind me. When she got a peek at my book she excitedly tapped my arm and pointed at the sketches, then grabbed my book to run over to her daughter and granddaughter across the barn to show them what I had drawn. Then she gave me the book back with a very spirited smile and hugged me. She is just AWESOME.

Also! My Dad's dog Cookie, on a placemat at a favorite Chinese restaurant. There's some soy sauce on there... which is fine because cookie is toffee colored anyway! I am in Boston now with my family and Cookie is my new favorite alarm clock. She also found a dead rat in the bushes not too long ago... see below. :O

I also have a very special addition to this post. My sweetie, Rez, (the blue-haired dork you may have seen in photos past), happens to be a video game programmer and a damn good one at that. For my birthday last month, he nabbed a bunch of my artwork from online, chopped it up and created a side-scroller game using his own engine. He just recently published the first level online (though the music and SFX haven't been added... but I recommend listening to this song while you play, though Rez will be composing his own music for the game!) and I invite you all to take a look!


Click here to read what Rez has to say about the game and see more screenshots!


Click here if you have a PC and want to play level one!

I joked that it was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done to get into my pants, but in all seriousness it was a very personal and lovingly thought-out gift, with little quotes from each of us and inside jokes. I can't wait to see how the next levels pan out and now that he's finally let me see the game, maybe I can more actively contribute special items for it. You know, since I like, make art for video games for a living and all that junk ;)

Speaking of art for video games, hoping to post some stuff from LBP once I get the thumbs-up for it. Stay tuned!