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!

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!

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!

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

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 :)

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.

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!

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 :)

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!

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!

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... ^_~

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.

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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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

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 :)