Steph's Brain Farts

2012-01-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights...

It's time to post MUPPET ART.

I am thrilled to say that the Muppets Premium Level Kit launched for Little Big Planet 2 and that I can finally show the stickers I made for the kit! If the poses look a little stiff, it is because the characters are composed of 4 different parts (head, arm, body and leg) to allow the player to build them in the game in such a way that allows them to be puppeted. Literally. Normally I would just draw an intact character in motion but this is a little different.

I wanted to make a ton more (Sweetums, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Foo-Foo, Sam the Eagle...), but we ran out of time and budget ;) Seriously, I am a lifelong fan of Jim Henson, so when I was approached to contribute to this set, I was BEYOND GIDDY. I am so happy to see the Muppets getting a second wind now that the new movie has come and gone and I hope that it inspires people to check out the original Muppet Show to see some of the best comedy sketches ever.

Like this one.

Who's your favorite Muppet? I've always been partial to the Swedish Chef and the little Java slinky guys there ;)

2012-01-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

Blossoms for Bill

I made almond blossom pins last night for Commander William G. Chace Jr, or as I knew him, Opa. He was my boyfriend's grandfather, mentor, and wise old sage, who left us suddenly two days before Christmas. I am giving the pins to his family to wear today at his memorial service.

I only spent time with Opa on holidays and family birthdays and I deeply regret not being able to have visited with him more. Opa was a big man; big in heart, big in his laugh, big in his bear hugs and enthusiasm for his life and his family. He was a traveler (even at 82!), years before that an almond farmer, and some years before that, a commander in the US Navy. Every interaction I had with him always left me in a state of warmth, as he radiated generosity, snarkiness, energy and love. He was always interested in what kind of projects I was working on, asked me all about Boston, having spent time on the east coast himself and we shared geeky facts about biology and botany together over holiday dinners.

Once I got to know Opa, I could see where my boyfriend got some of his best and most shining, lovable qualities from. Opa was, deservedly so, the most important person in my boyfriend's life and thus, strengthened and built one of the most important people in my own life. It is that reason and more that I am so deeply grateful and weep for him today and remember the big, pushbroom mustached smile that preceded the bear hug I was about to receive.

Here's to you, Opa. We'll talk about hybrid trees and New England autumns one day yet.

2012-01-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

Remember a couple years ago when I made that poster for The Bad Dudes' album, CHRONOTORIOUS? Well, it kinda happened again, only this time with METROID.

Admit it, hardened gamer, you cried about 10 seconds after this scene took place. ;) I know I did. I think this scene in the game is one of those "OH SHIT NO" moments in gaming that has stuck with me throughout the years. I never thought I could come to care for a life-sucking jelly blob, but here we are.

You can only get the poster with the hard copy of the Bad Dudes new album, which you can snag here. There are also bonus tracks not found in the downloadable version! You can witness an epic unboxing here:

Similar to the CHRONOTORIOUS post, I hope to be following this one up with some Little Big Planet goodies that I made for the Muppets Level Kit, which is supposedly releasing this month. Keep an eye out, thar be googly eyes in this blog's future!

I also found out this week that the Ghost Chef sticker activity book is up on Amazon now for pre-order! The game itself is still in the works and should release for ipad in the spring, but it's mega cool to see the assets I made for the game come to life in physical form. I hope that kids really dig it.

Also, Stuart Ng is now selling Brianne and mine's joint sketchbook! We drew doodles in every single one and signed them, so if you'd like a copy, please pay Stuart's site a visit!

That's about it for now. Planning a big feltie for the end of the month and I hope to document as much as possible about the process, maybe do a little time lapse, assuming my camera is even capable of that. Here's a little hint as to the theme of said feltie. ;)

2011-12-29T16:42:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! I am glad to say that after a few months of conventions and classes and work and other BS, I have been able to take my foot off the gas pedal and decompress for a week over the Holidays. What do I do when I am in my happy place?

FELT.

This little rattie is on her way to her new owner. I tried something different with this one and built it around a wire and foam armature. I'm really happy with the process! I already have another feltie in the pipeline for an upcoming gallery show and I plan to use the foam and wire base again. Saves a ton of time and makes for some good stability.

I also start my traditional animation class in January, and I am shitting bricks. I haven't animated in over 10 years (excluding tweening in Flash, but that was a mess too) so I'm in for quite a ride. We'll see if any of my abominations make it to the blog. ;)

2011-11-26T12:31:00.000-08:00

We did it! We survived CTN! Here's a pic of myself and Brianne at our booth, taken by the lovely Amy Wagner. Check out the full post on Stuart Ng's blog if you want to see more of the booth and the other artists who were there! Speaking of Stuart Ng, some of our sketchbooks will be on sale on his site very soon, so check back and I will post the direct link. Thank you to all who helped us prepare for the Expo, those who attended and those who supported us via food, buying our goodies or just stopping by.

I have some Muppet themed goodies to post, but I gotta wait a little longer until they go public. Time permitting, I will also have some new felties to post soon. I picked up the needles for the first time since March and it was an amazing feeling to be working with something tangible again. I heard that a few people at CTN-X were sad that I did not have felties on display at my booth this year, but I thought that they were too out of context for an animation expo. Maybe I was wrong!

Thank you guys for looking!

2011-11-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

I'm still a full week behind in my class, but I decided that if I was gonna catch up, I was gonna do it right and not rush. My goal is to really put on the pressure and catch up over Thanksgiving, assuming we don't get a doozy of an assignment because of the break.

So anyway, here are *more* explorations for Wizard of Oz, the supporting cast. I have to dive back into Dorothy and Toto to being them closer to where these guys are at but so far I have a few favorites in each spread that I will expand upon.

Are you guys enjoying seeing all this process for a change, rather than just the polished stuff? Sometimes I find that I don't really spend enough time on the sketching phase, even though it's the most fun for me and I just pick one of the first few doodles I make and go with it. Sometimes, the first drawings you make are the best and sometimes not. You don't know if you've pushed it enough until you've pushed it too far. Or something. ;)

2011-11-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie, it's National Self Portrait Day! I did this one from 100% photo realistic observation just now! It looks like Peppermint Patty really let herself go.

2011-10-29T22:24:00.001-07:00

I knew it was coming. I've totally fallen behind in class. But I am still drawing so that's what matters! There are good reasons I've fallen behind anyway, I am pulling together the remaining pages of the joint sketchbook that Brianne Drouhard and I are pulling together for the CTN Expo in a few weeks. It's going to be worth all the panic. I hope.

Speaking of CTN-X, please stop by booth T-81 to see us! Well have our sketchbook, prints, Brianne will be peddling her amazing children's book and we'll be giving away free... smiles. If we've had our coffee.

And here are some first explorations for Dorothy and Toto. I have seen a lot of re-imaginings where Dorothy is some post apocalyptic babe and Toto is some kind of mutant, or someone gothed them out and Dorothy's all cutting herself and decked out in black lipstick, or she's a space pirate exploring the planet of Oz... but like, I dunno, what's wrong with her being a little girl? Those are pretty awesome and interesting too!

I think I have a better handle on Toto right now honestly, my idea for him is not the charming little purse dog (I accuse Dorothy of being the first to start that awful trend, not Paris ;) ) but rather, he came from a long line of pedigreed cairn terriers and really he belongs dozing in a velvet chair in the Rockefeller estate, but he was adopted out and ended up in Kansas with Dorothy, and, well, he's been hardened by the constant dust storms and general misery of the dust bowl. Matted, caked with dust and twigs, his fur covering all but his judgmental eye - he doesn't care how, he's getting the hell out of Oz, THEN Kansas.

Guess I better figure out Dorothy, huh? I think the movie's about her and stuff. ;)

Thank you guys for looking, please feel free to share thoughts and crits!

2011-10-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not checking in for a bit, lots of work and the icing on the cake was catching the plague that's rampaging around the office. I have some explorations from class to show, plus a doodle of my midget rattie, Porkchop!

This is a super fast color pass on the final comp. I got some great feedback from class and will be polishing it this week and posting it when it's ready. I wasn't going to post this one at first but I've decided to be more open about my process.

A note about Porkchop below there: she's a rescue from the big SoCal hoard that was featured on A&E's Hoarders. She was found wandering the property as a barely weaned bouncy baby, just after the initial rescue that was televised. She's a little smaller as an adult than her cousins that I have (also from the hoard) so she may have lost her momma and been malnourished as a baby. As you can see from the doodle, she does not have to worry about being underfed anymore. ;)

Thank you for stopping by <3

2011-09-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Some Dr. Jekyll doodles for class! I wasn't too excited about how Mr. Hyde turned out this time, so he's going to need some reworking before he gets thrown up here for all to see. I can't really get into details about the nature of the assignment or really any assignment for school, so just kick back, relax and enjoy the ride with me. I promise I will try to make it fun!

EDIT: You know what? Here's Hyde. I don't think he's where he needs to be yet, but there's no point in having shame about process. It helps me when artists show how they get from point A to point B and it's reassuring when I see that some of my idols struggle with the same thing I do, so cheers to sharing the journey. :)

I am absolutely loving the class so far and if you're into character design, check the availability in the 2012 courses. I think there are a few openings! It's been great to have different sorts of design problems to solve outside of work and no looming art directors or scary this-was-due-yesterday sorts of deadlines. The lectures have been really well done and a lot of fires have been lit for me. More to come soon!

**One last thing, the last time I posted a large batch of character sketches to my blog, another artist copied my images, erased my watermark and slipped them into their own portfolio and used them to apply for jobs in the industry. If anyone else is thinking of doing so, just remember that we all look out for each other online and we remember names. I am a believer in second chances and I know that I sound like a jerk for saying this and I really shouldn't even have to, but sometimes people can still surprise me. Please don't be one of those people.

2011-08-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

I'm still drawing! Here are some battle chefs!

So a lot has happened over the summer. I'm starting a new job at a game company in Burlingame next week and I am very thrilled to say that I will be starting the character design course at Animation Collaborative in 2 weeks! What does that mean? I WILL BE DRAWING MORE AND GETTING BETTER AT IT FASTER. HELLS YES! For serious, I haven't had a character design class since college and I still have a lot to learn, so this is just perfect. It's a very small class size and it's taught by the amazing Chris Sasaki and Albert Lozano and I could not be more giddy about this :) I will be posting assignments on here as I do them.

That's about it on my end! I'm off to call it an early night, it's been an emotional few weeks with the job transition and the push to end all freelance in time for class. Vacations are for the weak.

...I kid. I would kill to have a week off right about now X_x

2011-08-24T20:24:00.001-07:00

Big news to announce, lots of changes happening! I FINALLY have a big art update coming up, but for now here are some critters! I am such a tease. ;)

2011-07-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

I should probably mention this, since it is creeping up on me like a runaway train. I will be doing a panel at Comic Con in a little over a week with Brianne Drouhard, Beth Sleven, Eric Gonzalez, Eric Haegar and Mike Collins about making children's books and by extension, children's games. Here's all the date and time info if you're going to be at SDCC:

Clicky here!

Where have I been since April? Well, a lot of ups and downs at work and I have been crunching for the last few weeks, in addition to catching the flu IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER. I still managed to scrape myself out of bed to catch Hatsune Miku's concert at Anime Expo a couple weeks ago, but at the cost of my recovery. Still worth it.

This is pretty much the state I was in. For non-Miku fans, the leek is just how she rolls. I also shelled out for some Copic markers while at the Expo and by law you have to draw something anime with them. Here is my contribution of Miku, naturally.

Back to work!

2011-04-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

Animals are my favorite people. Well, most times. The rats lose points when they wrestle and bicker at all hours of the night (and chew up your special edition Okami-den earphone buds) and the cats lose points when they crap in the bathroom sink. But all that aside, here are some animal doodles to let you know that I am alive.

The kittehs are for a commission actually and I will post the final when it's done :)

This is Waffles, my big boy rat, in a thong. Was originally gonna be a sumo belt but given his girth, it became a banana hammock.

On the Tampii front, I still have some Bloody Hell panties left from WonderCon at the beginning of the month! If you would like one for $10, just drop me an email. If I can get rid of these then there could be some plush toy love for Tampii in the near future ;)

Speaking of WonderCon! I wanted to share an awesome moment from that weekend with you guys! I saw a lot of great (and not-so-great) costumes there and met many amazing people, but this young lady was one of the best. She had seen my Chi feltie online and went berserk when she saw it on display at my table. Here's her take on it! Be sure to check out her gallery, her cosplay is really awesome!

Now off I go to file my taxes after a BIG FRIGGIN' SCARE where my computer wouldn't boot up this morning. This is after I drowned my keyboard by accident with oolong tea earlier this week. By the time today is over, I'll have backed up everything in the world I care about on my LaCie and curl up into a quivering ball.

2011-03-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

So, flyingclam.com has been down for a while now, so I decided that in preparation for WonderCon next weekend, I would get something online where folks can take more of a quick glance at what I do, rather than mucking through blog entries like these ;)

My portfolio is now at stephlaberis.carbonmade.com Eventually I will link flyingclam back to this site, but for now, carbonmade is where it's all at. Here's a snapshot of it in all it's simplicity!

In other news, Tampii is back and she's hanging out on black undies now! I got some unexpected work last month, which was enough to fund another panty print run. You can purchase them in-person at WonderCon or order them online through me via email. They're $10 a pop and I am working to get some matching buttons made to ship with them.

2011-02-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

Checking in with a quickie update! I finally finished Rez's belated Christmas gift, which is a feltie of Chi from the anime "Chi's Sweet Home"! If you haven't seen the series or read the comics, you can acquaint yourself here:

She's about life-sized, which is 7'' from toes to ear tip. I tell you, I NEVER want to felt something with tiny outlines again! But I am pleased with the way she came out and Rez seems pretty happy too. :)

2011-01-17T18:23:00.000-08:00

Happy belated New Years guys! Today is a very big day in the world of video games - Little Big Planet 2 releases today! I am pretty sure that my copy is on its way in the mail, so very soon I can shut the world away until I compulsively unlock every bit of content. I even broke down and bought a PS Move controller so that I can complete the levels that require it. Whatevs, I have a right to be a fangirl.

Speaking of which, I can post some of the artwork I did for the game! This batch of stickers is featured in the Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves Demo as well as on the disc itself. I approached some these differently than how I normally do, being that the dinosaurs and some of the plants were painted with actual gouache and then scanned into Photoshop for touch-ups. It felt sooooooo good to have a wet brush at my command again and I snapped a few pics of my process:

Here are a handful of the finished dinos (there are a LOT of stickers in this pack!)

And for shits n' giggles, some of the sketches for these guys:

Oooooh, I can't wait to dig into this one! Incidentally, if anyone out there wants to link up with me on the PSN, my user name is stephalopod.

Unrelated to Little Big, I found out a month ago that some designs I did for Hasbro's relaunch of Pound Puppies made it (sort of) to the opening sequence of the show. Though the final designs appear to have been changed for the sake of Flash optimization, I am happy to see that the Bernese Mountain dog puppy, who is based on my brother's dog, made the cut. Here are my designs:

And you can click here to watch the intro for yourself!

What else, what else? Oh! I may need someone to kick me in the pants to follow through, but I made a big step in my ongoing personal project about the house and the woods where I grew up. While I was back home in Massachusetts for the Holidays, I contacted the current owners of said house (the woods are long gone sadly) and they were kind enough to let me walk through the house and take reference photos. it was such a great experience and it led to days worth of doodles spilling into my sketchbook, but I don't feel that anything is ready to be scanned and posted. These are all just brain farts and mini ideas and I didn't worry about polish or storytelling or even perspective - I just wanted to keep my hand and mind moving. So as this takes shape, I will post more, but for now, here's one of my favorite pictures from the batch:

See you guys later :)

2010-11-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

You guys? CTN-X was AWESOME. Though I didn't get to see any panels on account of needing to tend my booth, I did see tons of my LA friends (many of whom were so kind enough to bring me coffee and snacks throughout the day!) and met a slew of new, talented friends there. Sales were decent and the felties were a hit - I got my first commission while I was there too. Next year I'd like to have better 2D art to show, so I hope to work on that throughout 2011. I am still processing all of the cards and emails I've received since last weekend, so please be patient if you're waiting to hear back from me :)

While I was able to rest for a couple of days this week, I had to hit the ground running after the Con and work on those Nauties for the Soft Served show. I got one small ornament done though, so here he is. Also, some studies for the lollipop and bon-bon concepts.

I hope to have 5 ready to go next weekend but realistically I may only get to 3. We'll see what the week holds!

2010-11-13T18:12:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again... time for CTN-X! I am really burned out on Cons in genral, which is why I haven't been to APE, WonderCon or sold anything at Comic Con in recent years. However, CTN-X is just so awesome that I gladly made an exception. Think of it as the Comic Con for the animation industry, only with 1/100th of the crowds, attendees with better hygiene and you are actually able to approach and talk to legends in animation. Last year I bumped into Don Hahn, Glen Keane, Glenn Vilppu and Don Bluth all in the same day. You can't argue with that! I also met a ton of awesome new friends and am looking super forward to reconnecting with everyone there.

I will be exhibiting my wares at table 39 in the back of the main hall. I have a couple of new prints and I've finally broke down and have started taking commissions for felties. I will have a few felties on display at my booth as samples for what I can do :)

Now, it wouldn't be a true expo for me if I wasn't riding waves of self doubt, anxiety and general fussiness followed by giddiness, confidence, excitement and then back around to the self doubt, so here is a doodle I did during one of the self-doubt phases. To answer Doodle-Steph's own question, it's never a waste of time, even if I feel out-classed by the talent that surrounds me. Last year I came back from the Expo energized and inspired and I expect this year will be every bit as good :)

In other news, I have a few felt pieces in the works for the Soft Serve show at OH NO! DOOM in Chicago. Here's what I have so far (don't wanna give away the surprise, but there will be tentacles involved when all is said and done!), and the poster which features an awesome monster cone by Chelsea Bloxsom!

See you guys at CTN!

2010-11-01T12:56:00.001-07:00

I don't really understand why my internal organs seem to act out whenever I have the most things to do in a given week. While I was hoping that this morning's distress was caused by some kind of tainted pie, be it chicken pot pie or avocado pie, it seems that none of the other party-goers are sick today, so I guess it's just another battle lost to micro-organisms. Pass the Gatorade, please.

On a brighter note, I finished that Baby Appa feltie and passed him on last night to his new owner, Bill! Bill took to him immediately and provided a warming pouch for the little guy. Appa, in turn, gave him hints about beating Okamiden on the DS.

Now, Bill is Ikumi's husband and as you know, she was given the first Appa feltie I made. There have been some strong feelings expressed about the unfairness of there now being a 2 Appa household, (right BILLIAM?! ;) so I will indeed be making another Appa feltie in good time. Actually, two Appas. Vear asked for one too. But next up is a Momo for someone who has been very, very patient, then some goodies for an upcoming show in Chicago this December, and then a Flammie for Brianne. With the exception of Flammie, all of my feltie requests have come from Avatar: The Last Airbender and I gotta say, I am getting tired of making white, grey and brown colored hybrid animals. Either I need to get new friends with more diverse tastes or the A:TLAB crew needs to get a new paint box for the upcoming series ;)

I'll check in again soon, thanks for looking guys!

2010-10-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

So it turns out there is now a level zero for exercising.

I decided to make good on my office's proximity to the gym and start exercising for the first time in like 3 years. Since I had an ankle injury and didn't follow up with physical therapy, it turns out that my quads are really messed up from favoring the ankle and my trainer and I have had to start out slow. Very slow. Like, pre-school level slow. It's gonna be a long road, guys.

So aside from working a ton, I have found some time to felt and have a new Tampii and a nearly finished Baby Appa teaser. Yippee!

She's dressed up as Aunt Flo. See what I did there? Heh... yeah.

Now off I go to pretend like I remember how to sleep soundly.

2010-09-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Thank you for the comments about Appa in the last post there! I've been getting asked quite a bit if he is for sale, but he is already spoken for. Here he is with his new owner, Ikumi!

I can't sell pieces of fanart, given that they're copyrighted and all, so I'm sorry to say that the only future Appas will be given as gifts to friends, which is what I made him for in the first place. I'm really sorry! :x If you guys are into the felt rat I did in the last post, then you may want to check in soon because I will be making a few for the Purrcasso fundraiser in a couple months. The Berkeley East Bay Humane Society was leveled by a devastating fire this past spring, so proceeds from the auction will go to rebuilding the shelter and making a lot of wet noses very happy :)

I should also mention that I have begun keeping logs and tutorials in my facebook gallery on how to felt, so if you guys are friends with me on FB (I keep my albums private otherwise), please check 'em out! In the pipeline now is toddler Appa for Bill and a small army of Tampiis. Come on, you totally saw Tampii coming as soon as I started felting ;) Here's a shot of my workspace:

I should really be drawing more, but dammit, I am hooked on felting. It's even worth the injuries!

(Yes, that's the start of a Tampii in that pic ^_~)

2010-08-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Oh man. The last week or so has been one snarling ball of frustrations for me. While it kicked off to a good start with my completion of Marshall Van Druff's Animal Drawing Crash Course at the LAAFA, I find myself sweating at home trying to catch up with work while Truffles, one of my new ratties, struggles with the same illness that took Candy. On top of that, it appears that my scanner is going belly-up and, well, I need a break, peeps.

On top of this mess was the whole art thief sideshow, which, if you haven't caught up on that, there's a short version of the shenanigans here.

So anyway, the aforementioned animal class went great! Marshall is one of my favorite teachers and he's always encouraging without being insincere. I learned a lot and I hope it makes my gestures feel more solid - sometimes too loose is no good. Here are some samples from the class and the zoo alike:

I've also taken up needle felting for during those times when I just don't want to be at my drawing table or on Photoshop. I know that I'm supposed to be working on goodies for CTN this fall but, well, I rationalized that this time would have been spent farting around on the internet, so better to be actually creating something than not? *whip crack* ALL RIGHT! I'LL GET BACK TO DRAWING! ;)

This is my second ever piece, a little version of Cookie, my currently oldest rattie and Candy's still-living partner in crime. She's a character and she needed to be felted!

This should be obvious, but it's Appa from Avatar: TLAB. My talented friend Iku asked me to make her one when she found out that I was starting to take up felting and I figured this would be a great way to learn construction and felting in general.

His face still bugs me but overall I am happy with him! Next on my roster is baby Appa, Flammie from Secret of Mana and maybe a certain anthropomorphic tampon. The nice thing about felting is that I've designated it as my hobby, meaning, absolutely no rules or deadlines. It gets done when it gets done the way I want it done!

Thinking of doing some custom layouts on this dreary, black blog space but that will have to wait for another time. Talk to you guys soon <3

2010-08-18T15:42:00.001-07:00

UPDATE: I'm done with this issue. I've talked to the blog author and to some of the people directly involved. Life is goin' on!

2010-06-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hey peeps! I am sorry for the gap in updates. There has been good news and some sad news in the last month or so. The good news is that I have a new job and they let me use actual paints there. Can't argue with that! As a result, I have some watercolor/marker beasties to show you, but I can't give ya more context than that.

The sad news I was referring too before was that one of my rats, Candy, passed away this week from a sudden and aggressive onset of pneumonia. I was going to post a drawing of her, but it's not ready just yet. She fought hard and for a time I thought we would beat the microbes back, but it was just too much ._. Sometimes I wonder why I keep getting rats when I know that their life span is so short, though Candy left us before she was even a year old. I hope that now, her lungs are no longer heavy and her tummy is finally full <3.

2010-04-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was brother's birthday, so I drew his dog, Moxie, was when she was a puppy. I've actually been wanting to do this for a while but I figured I had an excuse, what with him aging and all. Can you tell what breed she is?

2010-04-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

So if you've caught wind of The Last Unicorn Art Show that's opening this week, you should totally go to it. Why? Because I can't get to Chicago and you have to go and take lots of pics and give Peter S. Beagle a big hug for me, that's why!

I was fortunate enough to be asked to do a piece for the show ;) They didn't have to ask me twice, hells yeah! I decided to try doing an *actual* papercut this time, rather than a digital one and let me tell you, they are not one in the same. Oh my God, the mess. The frustration. The do-overs and the 'it's still not quite right why isn't there an undo function?!'. But oh, the joy of having a little tangible unicorn to hold ^_^

Sadly my digital camera quit on me (the second one this year) so I do not have any decent pics in focus of the final piece, aside from what I could scrape up here. :/ If anyone is at the show, please snap a few good pics! With luck, this piece will not come back to Berekely and it will help raise some moo-lah for charity.

I ended up calling the piece "Careless Sea Foam", a nod to one of the first lines of The Last Unicorn book. Be sure to check the white caps next time you're by the sea... you never know.

Thanks for looking as always!

2010-03-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

Remember how I said that my blog needed more color? Well, it also needs more sexy.

Here is some sexy.

Studies! I am liking watercolor more these days and cold, mean vectors less... :x

I dunno if I can give this much context but I can tell you that it's for a book that you should definitely buy this year ;) Each participant got to choose a dessert for our babe's theme and you'd better believe I chose peppermint! Aside from it being one of my favorite flavors, it means that I get to draw stripes and I love stripes as much as I love boobies. Combine the 'em and it's pretty much perfection!

Hmm, I wonder if I can use this as this year's Christmas card too...? Three cheers for double-dipping! Big thanks to Vear, Tom, Rez, Liana and Juan for lending their eyes and opinions to this piece throughout the process!

Unrelated: I am officially SOLD OUT of my art books, both Sketch or Swim and Don't Flash the Octopus. Phew! I have no plans for reprinting these titles, so big thanks to everyone who picked one up while they were available! Guess I'll have to figure out a new volume to put together...

2010-03-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

Ok! So I can tell you about what those ghostie sketches were for. I have been working remotely with 3 other people around the country (none of whom I have met in-person yet!) to create a vertical slice demo of an indie Xbox Live game called...

Ghost Chef!

We're going to be pitching it to publishers at GDC next week, so fingers crossed for us! I only had around 50 hours to put into it over the course of the last couple of months, so though the pace was intense, it felt very productive and I think we were able to pull it all together well.

I got to have a hand in every part of the process, starting from the game designer's asset list and visualizing all parts of the game, from the characters to the props to the background and even some input with the layout of the kitchen stations by noodling with SketchUp for the first time, which is so easy to use compared to my tragic experience with Maya 5 in college. ;_; Regrettably we ran out of time before GDC to flesh out the best part, being the unlockable story vignettes, but that's for later on I guess.

So here's some process stuff and a special bonus plushie that I commissioned the always amazing Lana Crooks to create to help promote the awesomeness factor of culinary spirits!

Big thank you to Abby Goldsmith, our talented animator who busted her arse to meet the crazy deadlines and bring so much life to all characters, singing food items and tentacles of doom!

So now I catch my breath, organize my 'folio and throw myself into the unforgettable chaos of GDC. See you guys later!

2010-03-05T22:51:00.000-08:00

Dudes, my blog needs more color. Here is some color!

I had a run of bad luck this week, so with some new found free time I whipped up Little Goku here for a character styling challenge run by Luigi Lucarelli. Normally Goku's all perky and stuff but today he's just plain sick of your sh*t. ;)

I need to do more fan art. Sometimes just restyling an existing character is like a calming cruise control sort of thing for me; just play with shapes and color and push personality!

Off I go to down another beer and hash it out on the Wii.

2010-02-15T21:57:00.001-08:00

OMG YIPPEE!!

I was nominated for a Kreativ Blogger Award by none other than the lovely Brianne Drouhard, fellow unicorn fanatic, RPG nerdette and all-around unstoppable ball of talent. Thanks girl!

There's a catch to this of course! As part of the rules for the Kreativ Blogger award, I have to nominate the next 7 Kreativ Bloggers, and then list 7 random things about myself... right, like you guys wanna know more junk about me but, rules are rules.

So I nominate, in no particular order:

Bill Presing: You've seen his beauties, but did you know that he also makes a mean avocado pie? If a bunch of people start randomly asking him for the recipe, it will confuse him and that will be awesome. ;)

Sarah Forrester: Her work is adorable, full of life and sincerity. Look no further for some of the most expressive critters you'll find online.

Lauren Faust: This woman is on fire! Her own doll ine just launched and she's the new big cheese for the next My Little Pony line. Talk about livin' the dream!

Eric Favela: I recently met him at CTN and just gawked helplessly at his work. He's works at Blue Sky and his characters just make me melt.

Chris Vear: The only person on earth who is more patient with vectors than I am XD Be sure to check out his canyon piece

Shane Corn: An incredibly productive and inspiring character artist that I look up to!

Daniela Stijleva: Color, character and motion - her artwork has it all. I love her landscapes of the city, she really captures the light and the atmosphere of the Bay Area.

So uh, I guess now the random facts?

1. I'm a girl. I know it sounds redundant but I keep coming across blogs that refer to me as a dude. What's it gonna take, peoples?!

2. I don't mind the sound of nails on a chalkboard, but licking a popsicle stick sends chills down my spine and makes me cringe.

3. I walk all screwed up. It's sort of a lost cause at this point - I originally walked toe-to-heel, which gave me scoliosis and now my left foot sticks out to the side after a bad ankle injury a couple of years ago. That's what I get for not bothering with physical therapy.

4. My favorite things to draw are horses, boobies and fat, round animals/creatures/things. In fact, no matter what it is I am going to draw, I always start by drawing a circle, even if I never build on it. I think of it as like winding up for a pitch.

5. My favorite gaming console is still SNES, after all these years and many consoles later.

6. When I was little I was going to be a whale trainer when I grew up, then an animator, then I realized that I hated actually animating so then I was going to switch my major to biology in college but stuck with illustration. Now I draw animals and continue to love nature shows.

7. I love the smell of wet pavement in the summer and chlorine. The wet pavement makes me think of summer thunderstorms and the chlorine makes me think of the swimming pool I had growing up. No, I do not have a substance abuse problem. Now show me to the nearest bottle of bleach.

Finally, some culinary spooks. They have a reason for being, I will show you more of that after GDC in March. :)

2010-02-08T15:49:00.001-08:00

So here's a idea that I've been sitting on (hyuk, hyuk) for a while and recently tested out at art conventions and shows.

Presenting Tampii and her line of women's undergarments: Tampii Cramps your Style!

I have a few dozen left from the first test run for sale in my Etsy shop. Once I make back cost, I will move on to the next design in the series. In case you can't tell at a glance, the idea is that Tampii, the world's happiest wad of cotton, adds some whimsy to that time of the month by acting out various euphemisms for, well, rebooting to ovarian operating system.

In this first design, she's Ridin' the Cotton Pony in full cowgirl garb! While she is factory-made, I also hand silk-screened the logo splootch in each crotch so that you don't have to worry about staining your new panties. I did it for you!

...this will either lose me a ton of friends and clients or gain me some. I am prepared to take that risk. ;) Cute and WTF are two of my favorite things in the world.

So if you can, stop in the old Etsy shop and pick up a pair! <3 Photo creds go to the wonderful Emily Jo Manning!

2010-02-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who shared good thoughts about my Dad! He is recovering just fine and is already his old self again. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome for all of this. :)

To continue with happier thoughts, here are some more critters from a while back!

The skinny eel-like thing is a character from Asian mythology who is said to have birthed the Milky Way by swimming across the sky. The fatty lump over there is Abaia, a Melanesian river god of sorts who protects all of the fish in lakes in rivers. And the goldfish is a goldfish ^_~

Here are some random myths, one of my favorites being the Salmon of Wisdom! He lives in a well in Ireland and if you can catch and eat him, you will gain its knowledge.

And finally, something out of my own head, the FumbleBuck. This is what happens when you combine a bumble bee and a hummingbird.

In a month or so I can show you the indie Xbox game I have been working on - it's been really fun so far and I'm working with a super small team of two other ladies and a programmer, so I've been able to be very hands-on and we've all been able to share ideas mutually. Can't ask for better than that! I've been able to do characters, environments and props for this little game, so it's nice to not get too hung up in one area over another ;)

2010-01-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

For Dad:

My brother and I got a gift for this past Christmas that was, well, less than worth celebrating. My father shared with us that he had cancer and he underwent surgery this morning to treat it. The wonderful news in all of this is that the procedure went well and the doctor said that it has not spread to other parts of his body, so he is more than likely cancer-free now. <3

Now, the people who know me best know that I am a bloody pessimist. My father is the polar opposite and I wish I could have inherited his outlook on life! The way he shared this bad news with us was just amazing to me. He was calm, matter-of-fact and explained what the various test results meant, what his prognosis would be with each of his treatment options and seemed so accepting of his condition. I, of course, went straight to my room and cried but later thanked him for the way in which he broke the topic to us. Information is second only to attitude in cases of illness.

I asked him how he could be so calm in the face of something so scary. His response was (and I am paraphrasing here) "Well Steph, the way I see it, this might upset my life in the future, or I can let it upset me now. I'm not going to let it take away what I have now."

This one's for you, Dad. Thank you for the positives you bring into my life and for the strength you share with me. There's a box of delicious petit fours in the mail for you to aid in your recovery (nothing beats a good petit four!) and a big hug waiting for you when I can schlepp across the country again.

2010-01-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

Hello and Happy (late) New Year! I have some more mind barfing to show you. Turns out my laptop is not the ideal artspace afterall and I have resorted to using actual paper, pen and watercolors to sketch while I've been spending the last few weeks at my father's house in Salem. So I drew what was most available - his dog, Cookie. ;)

I think these ones are my most favortie. They're probably and inch tall in real life. :)

A page of sad Cookies, though she is rarely ever sad.

And a page of sad tampons and frantic ghosts. I can't give the ghosts more context right now, but hey, they exist :)

Oh yeah, I did a dozen or so stickers for the next Little Big Planet DLC pack. Those be my skulls and crossbones in them thar background! I don't think they've announced the rest of the content yet but when they do, I will post them here. :)

2009-11-14T15:38:00.001-08:00

Hey guys, there's this little shindig happening next week in LA that I will be at! Check out the CTN Expo! I will have a table sporting some prints, the last of my art books (less than a doezen left!), some jewelry, holiday cards, my portfolio flatbook (for your humbly delicious consideration, potential clients!) and a surprise or two. You can find me at table 22.

I will also be doing a live art demo (time TBD) where you can watch my process and ask how/why I do the stuff I do. Then there's Speed Talent, which is catered towards students and peers alike where I will be wearing a spiffy badge indicating that you can come up to me and ask for a critique on your body of work. Fair warning, I'm very nice but kind of blunt, but don't take it the wrong way - I am approachable and think you are neato and want to see what you've been up to and swap some ideas! One of the best parts of giving critiques is that I get to see many different styles of work and learn through teaching :)

What else is going on? Oh, this and that. Things I can't show you right away but here are some sketches and mind farts as of late.

Hope to see some of you down south next week!

2009-08-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

ohai!

I wish I had heaps of new and exciting sketches to post here, but things have been so crazy lately that I do not :( I do have a nice little batty that is now one of the mascots for that facebook app mentioned way back when. More critters from that will be on the way soon.

In other news, I have a new gig with some pretty awesome peeps! Can't say what it is just yet and although it means I have to work from home once again, I am having a great time doing concepts for this project. Mum's the word! It's pretty ironic though that after 5 years of being pretty active on conceptart.org, I finally, for the first time, hold the official title of concept artist. In almost every other job I had I was called an animator, despite the fact that I haven't animated a thing since college.

Anyhoo, this gig will be most helpful in paying off the damage to my car which happened Saturday night - I'm fine and all, I was just a grade-A dumbass and left the empty stand to my GPS in plain sight in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood in SF. Whatever junkie who made off with my GPS put two and two together, smashed my window and snagged it out of the console I had hidden it in. Lesson learned - get a bigger purse and keep EVERYTHING I CARE ABOUT IN IT!

2009-07-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

HOLY CRAP! My last post sparked some rumors about what that Chrono Trigger piece is for in a very short amount of time O_o Thank you to everyone across the internetz who shared kind words about my artwork, it brought many smiles to my day! And to those who voiced their honest albeit less-than-enthusiastic opinions... I enjoyed seeing those die-hard fans shit bricks over my style choice ;)

So! As it turns out I can go public with it now, not on the 11th (which was the original release date). The piece is for a poster that will be available with the 1,000 copies of...

CHRONOTORIOUS - the new CD by The Bad Dudes

My friend Mustin of The OneUps put together this album with the help of some of the best game remixers out there (DiggiDis, po!, Mazedude, Alisean to name a few!) and also features the artwork of myself, the ridiculously talented Brianne Drouhard and many more.

Taken from the website:

"15 delicious Chrono Trigger tracks have been arranged for you. But only if you buy the CD album. When the CD is gone, it's gone forever, along with 5 of the tracks. There will be an iTunes/AmazonMP3 release, but it will only fature 10 tracks and won't include the poster and you'll find yourself scouring eBay for a legit copy."

I was super stoked to finally be able to pay homage to what is arguably one of the best video games of all time. <3

Oh, and just to clear up another rumor...

...Steph is short for Stephanie. Yes, I'm a lady... guess it wasn't obvious in all those self portraits on this blog? Girls can be nerdy game artists too!

2009-07-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

An especially nerdy post with some video game fan art and actual art!

First, the Ghostbusters sticker set for Little Big Planet released last week and I've already seen these stickers being used in some lovely custom levels! I always have fun whenever Media Molecule comes to call and this sticker set was no different - so much that I actually agreed to do these while I was on vacation in Massachusetts this spring!

I love getting the chance to draw licensed stuff in my own style. Speaking of such, those of you Chrono Trigger fans should know what's going on here!

I can't tell you what wonderful project this was done for - yet - but come August 11th, you'll know! Anyway, the idea behind this piece was this: I had always imagined that when the Chrono Crew first arrived in Zeal that there was a moment of respite and celebration; to have come from the harsh dark ages to a temperate, floating paradise (with some of the BEST MUSIC in the whole game!) was surely worth taking time out to enjoy the scenery!

I remember setting my controller down and listening to the music when I first played the game... with a big smile on my face. So here's my tribute to a great game with an even better soundtrack!

...Alfador and Nu are friends. <3

2009-06-25T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Just a quickie wedding gift for friends of my Mom. She loves tango dancing and he loves scraping tartar off of teeth. What a perfect pair!

Anyhoo, I have a lot in the pipeline for the month of July and thus will not be at Comic Con this year :( I'm really sad that I won't get to see a lot of you there but it just wasn't in the cards. I have plans to attend APE in November though, hopefully with a booth, so I will keep everyone posted on that :)

2009-06-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

A nod to all of you Insect Battle veterans out there...

This guy is now available in the Slayers/Vampires/Werewolves/Zombies App on Facebook. And yes, his traditional scallop-winged antagonist will be joining him there.

2009-05-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

I'm joining the chorus of people in my blogsphere and singing the praises of Pixar's UP!

I won't let out any spoilers but will pass on Emma's advice to bring tissues or to wear long sleeves. I think it's one of Pixar's most emotionally charged films yet and there were many moments and visuals that resonated with me. It was the little things; the slacking tension of a balloon string to show the urgency of a moment and falling morale... In other words, I used those tissues and I am not ashamed! In fact, I will be back for more!

I got a special "the planets have aligned!" bonus last night as well (never underestimate the powers of paying the bridge toll for the car sitting behind you once a week) when I was waiting in the theater lobby with my friends. Bill pointed a few feet over and said "Is that Pete Docter?" And yes, it was. And you can bet I toddled up to him giggling like an idiot, wearing my Pixar track jacket like a complete tool and asked him to sign my freshly-purchased copy of "The Art of Up".

So, thank you Mr. Docter for putting up with me (is there a pun in that somewhere?). You really made my night. And congrats to everyone who has worked on Up. I wanna buy you guys a round of Fenton's, but I call the red cars.

Also! Added something new to the Etsy Shop! I decided to give myself a pet project and made a vow to use ONLY materials that I already had lying about the house; I'm one of those people that, when inspired, runs out to the art or craft store and goes on shopping binge, only to realize I don't need more than 90% of the shiny things I bought. So I took an old chocolate box I had kicking around, covered it with some of the leftover handmade papers I used for my CTA Train Show piece, accented it with some ribbons and trim from an old college project and decoupaged a print of "Meeting Place" on it.

I like how it came out and depending on my supply of candy boxes, hope to be making more of these soon!

2009-05-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

Bedding down before my trip back to San Fran tomorrow. Oh, what a trip it's been; it's popped quite a few pipe dreams into my head and makes me remember why I love the swampy forests of New England so much. This place will always be home to me <3

So I wanted to post another interview video that was done while I was working at the Axiotron booth in January. A little insight as to why I do what I do and as a bonus, I mention the words "Doggie Heaven" multiple times. Yes, you can make fun of me. A lot.

Also, a doodle of me and the boy that I kinda liked :)

2009-05-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

A Little Big Update! For those who don't know what all the fuss is about, all is explained here! These stickers are part of the two latest costume packs available for download on the PSN. Get them for Little Big Planet via the PlayStation store and use them to create your own mythological levels!

Lordy, why were these so much fun to make?

Go get 'em while you can!

2009-05-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a handful of those critters I did for a facebook app - there's like scores more of these but I can't show 'em till they release. :( The game they were originally intended for was put on hold so they're going to be used as charms for an existing app. I hope they get their own spotlight soon!

You guys prolly won't hear back from me for a little while as I am embarking on a journey by train to Chicago this week (I've never been!), then hopping a plane back to Boston to spend long overdue time with my family and out of the chaos that is my life here. I can't even tell you how awesome that feels! What's cooler is that I just got a call from Amtrak and they had to upgrade me to a deluxe bedroom on my journey. I guess I'll survive... somehow... ^_~

2009-04-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

A moment of thought and prayer for my Grandmother, Annette Conlon, who passed away two years ago this morning. She was a very loving and beautiful presence in my life and I miss her so much.

This is a photo of her that I found taken circa 1929 when she was 17 years old. I suppose good taste in hats runs in my family <3

For those who haven't read last year's entry about her, I recommend that you do. She was just wonderful and it was heart-wrenching to watch her slip away into dementia. I wanted to do another little illustration of her for today, but the days just slipped by too fast. It will have to be a project for the near future.

I invite you to make a donation in any amount to the Alzheimer's Association, though their site appears to be down at the moment. As soon as it's up, I will make my annual donation in her name.

I miss you, Grandma. I love you.

2009-04-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Make some room to get down up here on the honeycomb!

I did an interior illustration for my friend's band, miRthkon. The album comes out May 26th and you kinda should get it. I mean come on, who doesn't love songs about dancing bees in hot pants?

...all of you people who actually know stuff about good graphic design are allowed to rip me a shiny new one.

In other boring news, my taxes are done and I am off to play World of Goo. <3

2009-04-09T12:30:00.001-07:00

Thank you guys for the congrats and the feedback on the last sketch dump. I am stopping in to say that I have release dates for 1 of the 3 LBP theme packs I have worked on so far... being the Norse set and the Egyptian set.

Check out the official info here.

I only did the 2D sticker art; not sure who did the brilliant 3D costumes. I can't wait to download them! In other news, I got about two dozen of the Dover Sticker Books I illustrated last year in the mail yesterday. They look great! And now that I actually have young relatives to give stuff like this to, they won't feel so wasted like the Leap Frog merch did. ;) One thing that I really like about Dover Publishing in general is that they are adamant about giving credit to their artists. Props to them :)

Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap, I better work on flyingclam.com again. So much to update!

Edit: Some eels and Water Owls for ya :D

2009-04-03T11:22:00.001-07:00

They say you hit what you head for and after the last 7 days of awesomeness at the Game Developer's Conference (dudes, we made Kotaku!), a whirlwind weekend in LA for the SILA show, an under-the-radar birthday on Monday and back to work Tuesday, it's no wonder I am stuck home with a nasty head cold. I hope I get this out of my system to see the OneUps tomorrow night... but oh, so worth the illness.

I can let the cat out of the bag and announce that I've been fortunate enough to be doing some contract work for Media Molecule's game of epic win, Little Big Planet. For serious, I bought my PS3 last winter just so I could play this game. Actually, this gig and the other one I am working now are two of the most fun and natural-feeling jobs I've had in ages. Anyhoo, I finally met the artists, programmers and level designers at GDC last week and a great time was had by all. I wish I could have taken them all home with me or better, set up a box fort in their studio in the UK ^_~ I'll be able to show what I've been doing once it releases to the Playstation Network, not sure of an exact date though.

So I have clearance to show some sketched for an unnamed project (not LBP though!). Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies. Just enjoy and be patient, I will post up the colored versions of these guys in due time ;) Sketched on my Modbook in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

I like the Chimera best <3

2009-03-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Hey. Hey you. You should go to this show because my piece "Family Trip Plus One" is in it. It opens March 28 at Gallery Nucleus in LA - I've been wanting to hang something there for years!

The opening is the day after GDC, so barring I am not too wiped out to make the drive down to LA, I plan on being there. :D I know I haven't had much new art (do I say this every post?) and I wish I could show you guys the awesomeness I have been making at work, but that all has to wait. <3

Maybe in between bouts of work this weekend I can whip something up?

2009-03-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

Yippee! I just found out that this piece was accepted into Curvy Vol. 2!

Here's proof!

A snippet from their site:

"CURVY remains an international favourite amongst lovers of art and supporters of female artists. Each year the book features 100 of the most exciting female graphic designers and illustrators from over 20 countries around the world!

CURVY is a must for anyone passionate about graphic design and illustration that wants to be inspired by a new generation of outstanding female creative talent. Produced by YEN magazine - CURVY kicks off in April & consists of a cool limited edition book and a national event tour."

Though not necessarily an erotic anthology (though it does feature such), they tend to have edgy and cult-ish sorts of work featured in each annual. BIG THANKS to Martin for bringing the call for entries to my attention!

I'll post art soon. Honest.

2009-03-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

So, I totally forgot to mention that I was at Wonder Con this weekend, with a booth of my own. While I was supposed to share with Lauren Faust and her husband Craig, they both feel ill at the last minute and had to stay home to recover. ;__; They were definitely missed by myself and by all of the fans who stopped by to wish them well!

I mostly sold art books, signed prints and greeting cards at my booth; "Meeting Place", "Popke and Puddin'" and "The Princess" were quite popular! Proof that I'm not the only one who loves fuzzy animals and boobs. I saw some old faces and met many new ones, one of my favorites being my neighbor who was selling handmade corsets while wearing a leather kilt. You just can't beat that. Big thanks to everyone who came by to show their support!

These are a few Post-its that I drew up while at the Con. They didn't sell too well, which surprised me because I thought people wanted to buy originals. I might shellac these onto some pieces of wood for a better presentation.

Now to catch up on Etsy orders that I need to fill and pull my thoughts back together. Cons are draining, y'all! <3

2009-02-10T21:00:00.001-08:00

I promised better pics, so there. Big thanks to Sarah for photographing these for me while I was at work and thus missing all the good light <3

2009-02-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

All aboard the H Line!

This guy is made from wood, plastic, metal, various Japanese papers, upholstery trim, bronze paint, matteboard and paper clay. Phew! And a smidge of blood... there was one tiny incident with the X-acto yesterday.

So this is my piece for A.Okay's CTA Show, opening 2/15! My name isn't on the flyer (maybe because I don't have a special one-word psuedonym for myself?), but I promise you this piece will be featured there. I swear. So the assignment was to buy a model train of any kind and decorate it how you wish. I picked up an $11 wooden bullet train with magnetic fasteners and went from there. :D

Here's how it looked fresh out of the box...

And here we are with the shingling phase. I put a section of a cardboard tube on the roof to give the guy a more natural slope to his back and avoid corners for when it came time to shingle him. Unfortunately none of the online dollhouse stores had the small fishscale shingles in stock, so I had to resort to trimming the edges off of these tabbed shingles by hand. Considering I was planning of paper maché-ing each shingle by hand anyway, this extra step wasn't a big deal.

Here he is with 2/3 of this scales and a paperclay base for his tail. All that shingling and the smell of hot glue reminded me of the hours my Mom spent putting shingles on my dollhouse when I was 6!

A primitive head of matteboard and paperclay...

...then a bucha stuff happened all at once and he ended up looking like this.

I was going to document this much more but I got into a big time crunch and well, there we are. ;) I PROMISE I will take much nicer photos of him tomorrow before he begins his overnight journey to Chicago, so for now, bear with the yellowed, slightly blurry mess. I am one of the most impatient people on the planet, you see.

Rawr! It was great to get out of my element and start sculpting again. I forgot how much I miss making puppets and letting tangible materials have so much of a hold over a character. Great times, let's hope I find something nice to make from all the remnants I have leftover. So, if you find yourself in the Chicago area, please check out the show on the 15th and take lots of pics for me; I have to sit it out because I'll be in Sequoia National Forest with my Dork Bunny... hopefully, not snowed in. The fact that I'll need to buy snow chains for my Prius concerns me...

Thanks for looking, guys :)

2009-01-29T16:54:00.001-08:00

Hooooo boy, this month has just been rapid-fire. I will have a bit of personal work to post up here soon but I forgot to name-drop this show that's featuring my work here in Berkeley:

Yes, they misspelled my last name. I am in fact used to it by now. Anyhoo. three of the five prints that I am featuring have sold actually, but you can always email me and ask for one :) In fact, if you hop over to my etsy store, you can see (and buy) some of the pieces I hung there. (Hint: link is to your right with those lovely thumbnails). :D

February is around the corner and very busy as well - I will have work at a show at Nickelodeon and Gallery Nucleus in LA, then I will be attending Wonder Con at the end of the month. Did I mention I *finally* have a booth this time? Oh, and that I am sharing it with one of my art idols? That's right, Lauren Faust, I'm talking about you! We're going to have the girliest and quirkiest goods at the Con, so swing by. I will post pertinent booth location info as soon as I have it... in the meantime, crap, I need to make stuff to sell. AGH!

And to think, this time last year, I was complaining how I didn't have enough to do. X_x

2009-01-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

OH MY GOD LOOK WHAT HAPPENED.

The lovely folks at Axiotron (makers of the enviable and only Mac tablet, the ModBook) were kind enough to use my artwork in their booth at MacWorld last week! HEEEEEEE!!! It's bizarre to see my work that big, being able to see so many stray pixels that close is like being able to count the clogged pores on your face. Or something like that. They even let me take the panels home, so now my living room and bedroom walls are just freaking amazing.

Once more with Bunnies!

I did art demos all week on the ModBooks, which is always a blast for me. I love performing ^_^ I do have some doodles from the week that I wanted to post, but I forgot to put them on my flash drive before I left (not to mention there was the occasional jerk who would use my demo ModBook when my back was turned, close Photoshop AND CLICK "DON'T SAVE" and muck around on Safari instead... which got them really far because there was no internet access there anyway, but I digress.) So, as soon as I get ahold of those doodles, up here they will go.

In other great news, the Octopus piece there snagged a Daily Deviation on DeviantArt a few days ago, which really warmed up my new year! I am also working on a piece for a gallery show in Chicago which is hush-hush for now but I will post process pics of it as soon as I get the "A-Okay" ;) Finally, there is also secret good news for "Family Trip Plus One", but I have to sit on that until a little later. All in all, this has been a spectacular start to the New Year and I hope that I have less of a gauntlet to run than I did last year.

^______^

2008-11-30T14:13:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie, some observational doodles from the last Sketch Crawl and a recent zoo trip!

Winding down with freelance otherwise and hoping to bust out a Holiday card before I head back east in 2 weeks. I am SO READY for the east coast you guys (aka A BREAK), you don't even understand. <3

2008-10-24T23:24:00.001-07:00

Ok, so this is the piece I've been promising for ages.

Ashley, who was my family dog of (almost!) 16 years, passed away in August and this is my tribute to her. Take it as you will - perhaps she is gently being whisked away into the sky... or is she just arriving to the place she most wants to be?

Coincidentally, a signed 10 x 20 print of this will be auctioned at the Purr-casso Art Auction in Berkeley on Nov 9th to raise money for shelter animals. Ashley would have wanted it that way <3

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. I've sort of hit a rut and a fork in the road with my artwork and I feel that what I'm creating just doesn't communicate how I see myself now, if that makes any sense. I've been feeling an urge for change and exploration for some time now, so who knows what the next update will be like to this blog. All I know is that it's time for some new direction and ideas... that don't involve shiny sparkly things with big eyes. Let's face it - you can only draw stuff geared towards 3 year olds for so long before you snap. ;)

Oops - forgot to mention, this was done in Illustrator and Photoshop!

2008-10-05T21:25:00.001-07:00

I'm here! What'd I miss?

For reals, sorry about the art absence. Life got a little tangled and plenty busy, the latter is because I have been contracting for a casual games studio. The commute doesn't leave much time for personal art, but I do have September's very special Steph of the Month just about ready to go. Should post that this week.

Which brings me to the project I am working on for the studio! All of the visuals were conceived and executed in less than a week (phew!) If you're on myspace, check out Dog World and add it to your profile! Not only are a ton of new accessories and costumes in the works for the virtual puppies (you can send you friends POOP IN THIS GAME, PEOPLE!) but the app raises real, tangible money for the ASPCA as you play it. It's win/win, folks.

Here are some samples of the art (I draw'ed everything and Sarah Dungan animated the pups!)

Not much else in the immediate pipelines, but lots of big plans for the future underway - possible international travel, some gallery shows and a longer-term personal project. :D

Thanks for putting up with me guys. <3

2008-08-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

This isn't the artwork I had in mind to post yesterday (thank you to everyone who gave their support and 2 cents on the interview!) but I got permission from a client to post sampling of my recent project. These are a few sticker designs I did for one of Dover's Little Sticker Books! It's a mythical beast/holiday sort of theme (sparked by Magpie) and it will be available this winter. Please pick one up if you happen to see it, there are about 20 more stickers in it than what I've shown here ;)

2008-08-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

YAYZ! The nice people at tor.com (hi, Irene!) conducted an interview with me and have published it on their awesome site. I admit I felt a little out of place (out-classed too!) being featured with sci-fi/fantasy big dawgs but I found that there's a lot of refreshing variety in the styles of artwork on the site. Win!!!

So I bet you stopped in on my blog to see artwork. And there's been a gap with that for the last month and for many very good, albeit confusing reasons. But I should have something new to post for the end of the week, with any luck and some good time management :D

P.S. - Has everyone received their art books that ordered them? I seem to have confirmed with most people that they made it OK, but if something's up and you're sans Octopus or Pugfish, drop me an email.

2008-08-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

ZOINKS! The lovely ladies of the Chicago Animators forum posted a video interview they did with me. ItalkreallyfastwhenIamnervous.

Thank you guys so much, it was a real pleasure to get to meet you and I am still all giddy that you wanted to talk to me in the first place ^__^;; Please check out their respective art blogs here, here and here!

Also, I received my copy of the children's book that I worked on in the mail the other day, so I thought I would share a few spreads with you guys. It was written by Anne Stratford and it's a semi-autobiographical story about her nephew coping with his father's presence in Iraq as a soldier. It's not as morbid as it sounds, I promise. Should you so desire, the book can be purchased here.

Not much in the way of new art to post as I am still playing catch-up with reality and freelance. Frayed nerves are a way of life, I swear. I will post more goodies as soon as they become available!

2008-08-01T11:15:00.001-07:00

I'm gonna add to the mountain of "I'm so tired from the Con!" blog posts out there only to say that it's true. That thing goes by way too fast and takes so much out of you in exchange for INSPIRATION. My experience this year was fantastic, I met a buncha new artists and hugged my old friends, plus I got to experience things on the other side of the tables via the Girls Drawin' Girls booth. We did very well from what I can gather (THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME BY TO SAY HI AND/OR BOUGHT MY BOOKS!!!) and I will do my best to get back to everyone who sent kind emails, shared their cards/books with me and whatnot. Just be patient, I'm still in LA for a few more days to visit friends and test the employment waters here ;)

I will post pics of my sketchbook bounty when I return to San Fran. It is rather large this year - one of the perks of having a book of your own to trade around at the Con ;) Otherwise, highlights of this trip included drawing in other people's sketchbooks (lotsa boobs and PugFish for all!), being pounded by the surf on Venice Beach, regaining my "driving in LA" confidence (wasn't so much fun the last time I tried that 10 years ago) and nearly being clipped by a hot-dogging crop duster on the 5.

I'll check in again soon!

2008-07-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you guys for the surprising responses to my last post - it's a comfort to know that no matter how blah I feel about "present Steph", you're all willing to keep the brighter bits in the forefront of your minds ;) I guess the kid's not going anywhere, but I have some new directions that I want to play with. Oh, cryptic!

Sooooooo, it's that time of year where I ship myself off to the Con to collect more awesome artist friends and realize that I have even more work cut out for me and my goals! My books will be on sale at BOOTH 5528 courtesy of "Girls Drawin' Girls" and I might try to see if Stuart Ng will take any more books on consignment as well.

If you happen to be at the Con, be on the lookout for the smiling orange faux hawk; if you say hi, she will give you some pins and sell you a book if you want one ;)

Oh yeah, this is the artwork for the title page of "Don't Flash the Octopus". Insert hentai jokes here.

Wish me luck and the possibility of fulfilling employment! <3 SEE YOU THERE!

2008-07-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

So I was doodling a possible July "Steph of the Month" and one of my studio mates hovered over me and noticed that I always draw my current self as a kid. Let the over-analyzing about psychological stunting begin! So of course my first response was "NO I DON'T!" until I looked at this year's self portrait line-up and realized... oh crap, I draw myself as a 6 year old with boobs. To further my terror, he also brought to my attention that all of my pin-up girls also have the heads of children and the bodies of older women.

$#Q#!&@#@@$!!!

So, I figured I would try to draw a self po' of how I look today. Um, I think I maybe look 12 in this one. It's a start.

See, this is why I draw myself as a creepy child-lady. In reality, I am a boring and exhausted adult.

2008-07-03T18:43:00.000-07:00

Though June was obviously a very productive month, it came at the cost of me WORRYING INCESSANTLY.

The good news is that I have a little paying work coming next week and the book monkey is off of my back as of Monday. The bad news is that I worried a huge knot into my neck. Time to get the hot tub running again and resume studio poking.

Oh yeah, say hello to my new gray hairs. Hi guys!

2008-06-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Dudes. I totally put a PugFish in my book. JUST FOR YOU.

Check the previous post to find out where to get one ^_^

2008-06-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

Book cover is done! Looks like I got revenge on that pesky 'pus, eh? So now is a good time to mention that I am printing up 200 of these books with the intent to unload ALL OF THEM at the Con in a month. Which means, now is your best chance to get one as I am selling pre-orders on my etsy site. They should be shipping July 19 if you order before then. They are $15 and looking to be 20 pages (24 if I can rock it), full-color and measure 8.5'' square when closed. If I do go up to 24 pages the price will stay the same though :)

All proceeds help me to buy groceries and maintain my shreds of sanity :)

2008-06-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Another one for the book! It's a total play on Rockwell's "Going and Coming" piece, as shown in the process shots in my SB. The extra guest on the car is Anchiwa Won Topeteka, the imaginary friend of my brother and I when we were little.

Any feedback is welcome - just trying to tell better stories with my art ^_^ On a side note, remember that piece I did with the Octopus? It appears that the hills in the part of Big Sur that inspired it are on fire ._. The skies are smoky over Berkeley too, I hope everything is brought under control soon.

2008-06-21T20:38:00.001-07:00

Again, no art in this post (and that will again change this week!) but I had to put up this snippet from The Republican about my work in the Girls Girls Girls! show at I/O:

"The problem, if it could be called that, with a gallery show of women creating pinups is that it can become queerly misogynistic. If a woman creates an image of a bare-breasted women centaur whipping another woman on all fours, is that subversive progress or a profiteering regression?

That's a question that ripples through this show, most of which includes clever, sassy work, like that of Steph Labaris, who draws precious art like "My Little Pony," and, in her free time, creates kinky bare-breasted centaurs."

So how about it guys, am I part of the problem or part of the solution? ;) And it appears that they spelled last name wrong - I should be used to it by now but I hope no one googles this "Labaris" chick. She sounds dirty.

2008-06-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

This was the last game that I was the Lead Artist for while I was at LeapFrog - I designed the entire look/feel of the world, characters, props, buildings, UI... basically everything until we hit vertical slice, then the rest of the asset creation went out to other talented artists once I established the design. It's basically a wandering sort of game where your super hero chick earns points by doing good deeds and solving math problems. It's LeapFrog guys, of course there are math problems

I love love love doing non-licensed stuff like this so it was a real treat for me. All of my assets were created in Adobe Illustrator and exported to Flash.

Hope you guys like it, despite the predictable cuteness factor! And oh yes, I managed to smuggle not one but TWO unicorns into the game - the hippocampus atop the fountain and the ki-rin on the Dojo mat ^_^

To anyone who has ordered a copy of Sketch or Swim: I have run out of the first edition but the second edition is in print as I type this! It will ship in a couple of weeks, so I apologize for the delay :) The new book is also on the way, it's shaping up to be 20 pages and an inch bigger all around than Sketch or Swim is. I will post updates on that soon!

2008-06-16T17:58:00.001-07:00

Just a quickie and a homage to one of the best Muppets skits ever. End of story.

2008-06-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

Remember I said I would make up for March's lack of a Steph O' the Month?

Here ya go. Inspired by my trip to Big Sur on my birthday :) I have some room for tweaks before this goes into my book (incidentally, I will be altering this comp to make the book's cover) so I am open to all feedback. I am trying to push scale, depth and composition in my work now. I gotta do more multi-figure comps and environments if I'm gonna get to where I need to be. :D

2008-06-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

No new art in this post either (yet!) but a heads up to check out Girls Girls Girls at The Io Gallery if you happen to be near Connecticut this weekend. I have those Smutty Centaurs (Smut-taurs?) hanging there among the amazing works of Olivia and Julie Bell. I feel like but a tiny foal in a herd of thundering... awesome artist lady peoples.

I found the gallery's description of me to be amusing:

"Steph is seriously cute as a button and her work reflects her sunny disposition, beaming smile and love of mildly afflicted animals. To know Steph is to love her."

Looks like I better bust out more emo art, I'm going soft! ;) Once again, I wish I could go in-person but both my energy and checking account is tapped-out from this weekend's journey to the Midwest.

More artage soon <3

2008-06-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Dudes. In LA. Go to this Saturday night. Srsly.

I've got 2 pieces hanging there, being The Princess and the Pauper. I wish I could go but I am about 2500 miles too far east of the gallery at the moment D:

Unrelated: my brother is having a reading from "The Velveteen Rabbit" done for him at his wedding tomorrow. I can't even tell you how fucking amazing that is to me. <3

2008-06-05T02:46:00.000-07:00

....aaaaaaand here's that other piece! These were way too much fun to do and a reminder that I gotta pick up the brush more often. :)

I will be out of commission until Tuesday, as I will be in Minneapolis for my brother's wedding! I don't get to see my family much (been 6 months since my last visit) so I am very excited. Big grats to Bill and Shanna for tying the knot, I promise to behave and be a good bridesmaid.

Speaking of family, sometimes I forget that they look at this blog. Hi everyone, I like to draw porn! Hope that doesn't make you wanna see any less of me ^_~

2008-06-02T15:39:00.001-07:00

Done! COlors were mangled on the scanner but the real deal looks nice at least. Here's hoping she sells in a couple weeks! Now it's time to bust out the second piece.

2008-05-31T16:45:00.000-07:00

Aaaaand now she's clean. She's on my drafting table, half gouached in. Oh man, I freaked out when my Bristol started buckling but an hour later it was back to its proper shape. Phew! I'm thinking she'll be ready tonight!

P.S. ANALOG IS SO UNFORGIVING.

2008-05-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

A WIP sketch for a gouache piece. I botched the gesture on the final a bit, it's hard for me to preserve the tightness of my thumbnails on a bigger drawing surface, but I will be finishing that for tomorrow. And hopefully another one.

2008-05-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

This is Ashley. She is my 15 1/2 year old cocker spaniel who was given a few months to live when the vet discovered an inoperable lung tumor in her that was the size of a golf ball.

Did I mention that was over 2 years ago? ;)

She's certainly no spring chicken, but she gets on well for her age. Here she is doing what she does best - yes kids, she's only sleeping here.

Here she is in action in her wading pool. Did I mention this geriatric pooch is spoiled?

2008-05-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

The weather kicks ass and I'm getting a new start on life next month.

I will also be kicking this year's Comic Con sketchbook into high gear in June! I only have about 10 pages so far *gulp* so I am shooting for at least 20 total by the end of the month. Wish me luck kids, I won't be up for air too much until then!

2008-04-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

My Grandmother, Annette Conlon, passed away one year ago today. I made a little sketch of how I remembered her when I was young - she was always a gentle, loving presence in my life and used make one of my favorite treats, corton. It's a cooked pork spread that she used to serve on a slice of Wonder Bread. My family joked that it looked, smelled and tasted (according to them) like dogfood. I didn't mind at all, I was the kid that stole and ate the dog's milkbones. Corton would be what my younger self is eating there - it's very rough and I want to clean and color it.

When I was in college, she and I promised to make corton together at her house. Unfortunately, I couldn't make the time for the hour and a half trip to see her before she went into an assisted living home. This was because of the onset of Alzheimer's, so she did not have a kitchen of her own. We never got to make it together. But when I was going through some of her belongings this past December, I unearthed a hand-written recipe for corton which I assume she had written up for when I was to come visit, before she moved to the home. It was painful for me to read it, once i realized it's purpose. Her handwriting was shaky by then and some words were missing from her sentences. It was very painful to watch her slip away so slowly over those years at the home and it was even worse for her, because for a time she knew that she was losing her mind and couldn't stop it. But even when she slipped away and couldn't recognize her family anymore, she sort of regressed to being a child again; always bright, smiling and took to caring for a baby doll at the nursing home. The doll never left her side.

She named the doll Stephanie.

This is for you, Grandma. I love you.

I invite you to make a donation of any amount to the Alzheimer's Association. I made one today in her honor.

2008-04-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Oh boy am I overdue for an update. I totally missed the Steph O' The Month for March but will make that right fairly soon. This one is actually intended for April, which is going to be a very open month I guess. That's a hexagram above me, Dave got me into I Ching while he was here. That one means "Nourishment". Take it as you will, that's all you really can do.

Which reminds me, I haven't eaten yet today. Ooops.

And some rough stuff from life drawing, some babes as well. Enjoy. <3

2008-02-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

Make a Little Birdhouse in your Soul

For some reason I have no problem posting drawings of myself naked or in my underwear, yet when it comes to actually expressing feelings, it's like, the hardest thing on earth to me. Vulnerability is such a strange thing.

2008-02-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

LOOK. BABES.

Also, quickie Pauper sketch! I don't usually sketch before I go into Illustrator, which is good and bad I suppose. Good because I think I get a different feel to the shapes when I mess around with just the pen tool, bad because it can be awkward to do a lot of basic problem solving with vectors that could have easily been done in thumbnails.

In unrelated news, I finally have a doctor's appointment to get a follow-up on my ankle which is still giving me problems 2 months after the fall. Sarah is betting I'll need an MRI. Dave is betting I'll need a cane. I am betting on more bills X_x

2008-02-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

Drive-by smut!

This is a quickie costume/character study for a fairytale pin-up book I am taking part in. I suppose I can't show the actual illustrations until they are printed, but the rough stuff should be OK. The fairytale I am working on is a variation of the Prince and the Pauper... in this case, it's an all-girl cast. The Pauper will be dressed in something more peasant-y but look essentially the same as the Princess for obvious reasons. She will have freckles though, those years of working in the fields will do that to ya. And be sassier. Paupers must be sassy.

Mmmm, hips.

I was pondering the idea of turning this babe into a Flash paper doll, as I have been sliding various bits of clothes on and off of her as I figure out her wardrobe. Might be kinda fun, who knows!

2008-01-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

Uniporn!

Well, almost. It's a little premature to call it that.

I did this over the course of my gig with Axiotron for MacWorld last week. Emma really liked the boy unicorn and we have an evil scheme involving him underway. >:D

Enjoy the Uni-Booty!

2008-01-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

First post of the New Year! Here I am in a boring comp in a non-descript city in the winter weather. With the way the last few weeks have been going, that could be San Fran, Philly, Boston or Seattle, which is where I am now :)

Loving the Conceptart.org Revelations workshop here - met a ton of new awesome people and hugged so many of my favorite friends here. Life's pretty rad at the moment and it's sure to get more rad once I get to MacWorld :D

2007-12-13T18:44:00.000-08:00

Oof,sorry for the lack of art updates. I've slowed down since I lost a fight with a city bus and have thus fallen behind on the stuff that pays the bills. There is some good news though in that I've been confirmed to be a booth babe at the Axiotron booth at MacWorld this January!

What does Axiotron make, you say?

These.

That's Emma Coats demo-ing there and I will be joining her! I'm so completely giddy, I have been dying to try these things and now I get to draw on one for a whole week. So if you're gonna be at MacWorld in a month, do stop by and say hi!

2007-11-28T11:19:00.001-08:00

As promised, a showcasing of some of the talented artists who have tried out the Papercut Tutorial! It's amazing how something as simple as a subtle texture can put energy into a piece :) So here we go, in no particular order:

Lauren Marten did a lovely 3-part series of a mermaid and an adorable goldfish! Check out the coral textures she used and the hidden octopus! WIN!

Ztoical of deviant art (I don't have your real name hon!) made this gorgeous holiday pic (love the firey reds on those rich blues, YUM!)

I spied this beauty on Gnarfdeath's blog, some of the sexiest shape and linework I've seen in a while. RAWR! Looks like a beauty right out of Monster's Inc or from the darkest closet at Foster's Home ;)

Jabberworks from the UK Children's Book Writers & Illustrators blog posted their take on the technique. (Maybe they can give me some advice as my own book project is ramping up!) Isn't this little guy completely rad, scary adn adorable all at the same time?! I want to start playing around with cut magazine collage pieces too!

Finally, Lea Hernandez took a crack at the technique with this vibrant cutie. I hope she doesn't mind that I posted a WIP ^__^;;

And lastly, the updated "nice" version of my Christmas Card. I sent both to press and will start mailing 'em out in t he next couple weeks! Which card will you get? Well, have you been naughty or nice, hmmmm?

OH YEAH! If anyone else has tried the tutorial, please drop me a line so I can feature your work here! WOO HOO!

2007-11-25T02:04:00.000-08:00

Omigosh, thank you all so much for the comments and kind words about the tutorial! A few people have already contacted me to show me the artwork they created using the tutorial, so I will be sure to link to them in my next post. Right now it's late and I'm just dropping off a quickie!

So here's the concept for my Christmas Card this year. The title is:

"Naughty or Nice, You're Still Getting a Lump in Your Stocking"

...I'm starting to wonder if I have some issues. ^_~

I'm not planning on printing out this version just yet - my family is my primary audience for the printed cards so I will literally have to clean this one up a bit before I do a small run. Anyone know of any print houses that will do a run of 50 cards or less?

2007-11-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

Whoah Nellie, I finally got that Digital Paper Cut tutorial done! Now you can all do that thing I do, maybe you'll take it a few steps further than me and share what you discover, hmmmm? ;)

Feel free to download or link to these images but don't go cropping the copyright info or anything sneaky like that. That's so full of FAIL.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

2007-10-27T21:41:00.001-07:00

I'm still alive! See?

Did you know that I gained 6 pounds in 3 weeks while I was away? No? One look at my photo album would tell you why. ;) I don't have much more to show other than me being a cupcake vampire, but there are some bright prospects for freelance at least. NDAs never make blog updates easy.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to watch the Sox finish off the Rockies in game 3. Suck it, Rockies ^___^

P.S. Oh yea, finally got my eyebrow pierced! Now my face is hella cluttered, with the glasses too. Which is why I only drew the brow ring this time.

2007-10-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Art retreats KICK ASS. Check out "the band shot"!

It was completely rad to rub elbows with some of the best fantasy/sci fi illustrators around and be schooled by their oil paint prowess and I would have new art to show ...except that I spent the week sleeping in, roasting marshmallows, playing frisbee, getting lost on back roads and eating out instead of creating art. D'oh!

More goodies will follow. Keep an eye on my Flickr gallery for more retreat photos.

2007-09-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

...and my time at the Frog is done!

All I have to really say is "reprise the theme song
and roll the credits!"

Here's some stuff I did at The Frog about a year ago. I'll upload more goodies once they clear their street dates, so figure, another year from now? X_x

Wheee, back to packing! *bounces*

2007-09-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Feelin' cheeky!

This is for a friend who said he was feeling Post-It envy. Well, envy not, this is for you. There's a billion icky tangents in this comp but I've decided to take my mental vacation a few days early. I can deal, can you? ;)

Oh yeah, I wear glasses now (most of the time). I can't believe how much I was missing up until this point, holy crap! Sweet, sweet clarity!

P.S. Stripes are hawt.

2007-09-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

Pucker up, ya little minnow!

I'm not as stoked with this one as I was about the Butterfly Kid, but when deadlines come to call, ya gotta answer with dignity, poise and heart-shaped bubbles.

So, I'm off at the end of the week for my grand vacation... the vacation that's so packed full of stuff to do that I won't have much time to relax. YAY! I'll start by heading to Philly for all of 12 hours, driving to western MA, then to Salem, then fly out from Boston to Los Angeles then finally back to San Fran. So uh, it might be a few weeks before there's more stuff to see on here is all I'm sayin'. ^__^;

2007-09-17T19:37:00.001-07:00

Post-it quickie!

I was going to do this epic post-it series before my last day at work and give the whole grand mosaic of memories as a parting gift to my friend, to say thank you for sharing the moments with me. But the further I got into this, the more exhausted I became and the more worried about taxing the friendship, so maybe it's time to just keep what I have and give this project a rest.

Never underestimate the versatility of white-out; it's not just for mistakes anymore!

Update: I gave these to him in person. They were well received :)

2007-09-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

Because nobody ever suspects the butterfly...

This is one of two illustrations for Mike Mattesi's newest character design book, which is due out next year. Yes, this image is disgustingly cute. No, I didn't have any say in the subject matter. I'm sorry if it - hey wait, not I'm not! Stuff like this is gonna pay my rent! ^_~

I tried to push the drybrushing technique this time, who knew that the dissolve brush actually could be used for the purposes of good? The second image should be up tomorrow, early this week at the worst. And holy crap, I am so going to bed now.