Holiday Cards

My holiday cards are off to friends, family and clients today. The inside says, " May all your holiday wishes come true!"

Cool chickens spotted!

I found these wind-ups at my local drugstore for $2.50 each. They are so awesome!!!

Girls in the rain

Drawing alot more kids for my portfolio. I wish I had these outfits myself! I wanted to be a fashion designer when I first went to art school. In the end, I picked illustration (thank goodness for that!) Being an illustrator allows me to be everything- fashion designer, interior designer, etc. in my own world. Thats why I love it.

Illustration Friday-Invention

The wacky scientist have been living in my sketch books for quite a while. This was the perfect topic to get him outta there and into color.

Illustration Friday-Thanksgiving

I have a confession to make. When I first came to the U.S., I didnt know what Thanksgiving was. What was this strange holiday that included eating turkey and cranberry sauce? At school, the teachers and my classmates asked me, did I have a good thanksgiving? Did I have turkey? I always LIED and said yes. But really, it was just like any other day at my house. And we had....chicken. I remember I didnt want anyone to find out like it was some terrible secret. Of course when you are that young, you don't want to be different. I asked my mom to cook turkey and her answer was, "Chinese people dont really eat turkey."

Funny how last year was the first year my mother finally started making turkey for thanksgiving. That took long enough :-)

Happy thanksgiving, everyone! Turkey or no turkey.

Bunnies...and more bunnies

Oddly enough, I've gotten two bunny-related assignments back to back. Guess I could use a break from drawing chickens. I've also been busy with holiday cards/and promotional stuff. This is the first year I'm actually early and prepared in making a nice holiday card for once....and its still November!

I also went to this incredibly inspiring illustration Symposium hosted by Parsons/New School this past weekend. Usually when going to these things it could be a little depressing when you see so much talented people out there. But it was so positive and I got a great creative jolt of energy. I originally wanted to go because children's illustrators/authors Maira Kalman, Peter Sis and Peter de Seve were there, whom I am huge fans of. But I was also very entertained and inspired by the various panels of animators, comic artists, you name it-and especially toy designers Friends with You, who were so funny. It opened up my mind to the possibilities. I stayed the whole day and I was completely exhausted!

Oh and thanks so much for everyone's birthday wishes last week! :-)

Illustration Friday-Smoke

This is a very old piece, about 2-3 years old. It was at a time when I finally was going somewhere with my style and wanted to take illustration more seriously as a career. Its always fun to draw evil strangers having a cigarette in his mouth, although in the world of children's publishing, I won't be able to do that, most likely.

And it my birthday today, wheee!

Chinese Zodiac

Got to work on a Chinese New Year poster for kindergarteners this week. My parents should be proud I know all the Chinese characters for each animal in the zodiac. Haha!

Illustration Friday-Ghost

I've been playing around with textures and transparencies in Illustrator. This is also my submission for the black and orange contest...for those of you who don't know about it, there is still time to submit! Deadline is Oct 31st.

People sketch

I've been trying to work on drawing more people lately. Animals are alot of fun but some projects call for humans, so I've been exploring how many faces and hair styles I can come up with.

Red the Rooster in color

Just finished a fun little story about a Rooster that doesn't want to get up in the morning.

Illustration Friday-Trouble

Yikes, I've really took a hiatus with IF and general blogging. I don't really have any excuse except my life is full of libras and had tons of birthday gatherings to attend to. Above: Some doodling, colored in photoshop.

Some exciting news: I am listed on Amazon! Penguins' Perfect Picnic will be out in Feb 2007 and two other critter craft books is also listed, coming soon. I am thrilled to pieces!

Creativity

This month I finally had some time to do some personal projects, which was a great release. Here are some characters from a story I'm working on....most likely they will change once I get to know them more in my mind.

I've been reading The Creativity Book by Eric Maisel (reccommended to me by Amazon). There are exercises for a year (sort of like The Artist's Way) but since I dont have the patience, I just read it like its a regular book, picking up little inspirations here and there. One of the exercises was to list 5 obstacles to my creativity. Mine are:

1. Procrastination
2. Not getting out enough to see art, to be inspired
3. Too busy sometimes, no time to even breathe
4. Feel like I have no voice, a phoney baloney
5. Jealousy/envy of others sometimes stops me cold

So many things are swirling in my head regarding my art and creativity these days.

Cows

*No butterflies were harmed in this illustration.

Thanks for everyone's comments for my IF entry this week. Wow! I may just do more hand drawn stuff, thanks for the encouragement.

Illustration Friday-Change

I thought in theme with this week's IF, I would change up my usual illustration technique. Its hard to part with my vector art (I heart Adobe Illustrator) but its nice to explore other ways to create art. This is hand drawn, scanned in, and colored in photoshop. I also love the idea of a limited color palette.

9.11 comic

Click image to enlarge

I attend a comics group that meets in a cafe every Monday. Yesterday was 9/11 and a quick assignment was given: to draw a 9/11 comic in 30 minutes...and here is what I did. No time to think too much, no time to erase. I ended up drawing what my experience was that day, and surprised it was more serious in tone than many others.

Weekend

It was a weekend of inspiration and relaxation. I finally went to the MOMA to see the Dada exhibit, which ended today. I havent been to the MOMA since their renovation(!) so the space itself was a new experience. Its always been my favorite museum in NY.

Left: The Chocolate Grinder by Marcel Duchamp. Seeing artwork that I've seen before is like seeing an old friend. I imagine this piece of art traveling all over the world and was reunited with it again. It is very comforting.

Also, sunday brunch with a few of my girlfriends, in an outdoor cafe with grape vines above us. Enjoy the nice weather while we still have it!

On my desk

Thanks to Linzie for her invitation for me to participate in On my desk. On my desk is where creative folks go share stuff on their desks. For me, that means sharing a glimpse of my chicken collection! Some day, I hope to have as nice of a space as some folks featured there, as I think of my apt/studio as a temporary dwelling at the moment.

Illustration Friday-Farm

As a children's illustrator, I've drawn alot of farms. Luckily, I like drawing chickens and chickens live on farms, heh!

Cranium Funfolio Family Edition

Last year, I got a wonderful opportunity to design for Little Brown and Cranium. The Cranium Funfolio Family Edition is coming out in September and I finally found it listed on Amazon here. I did not design this cover but I did design the interior:
It was so much fun, since I got to work with alot of Gary Baseman art (which I am a BIG fan of), and also incorporate my own illustrations in the pages. So if you are lurking at the kids section at Barnes and Nobles, pick it up and check it out :-)

When wild animals go wild....

Oh la la!

Printed samples

Just got these samples in the mail the other day. First time seeing the new Stickers Fun series. It never gets old seeing your work printed on shiny paper!

Illustration Friday-Match

No cheating this time, an IF original! The colors are a bit off though when I converted from CMYK to RGB. Of course usually there is a shift in colors but this is a bit drastic. Oh well, I am not the most web savvy. Just wanted to submit this...now back to work.

Bug attack

I dont think I've drawn this much bugs...ever. But I had so much fun with these.

I realized I haven't done any personal drawing for a long time now. I draw everyday, but its usually for a job. I'm off to a mini vacation this weekend- hopefully I will feel refreshed and come back with some sketches!

Illustration Friday-Play

Bugs playin' music. From one of the latest projects I 'm working on.

Red the Rooster

A rooster story for Chickengirl? Oh yes, its true!

Kitties in color

The kitties are finally in color! The final here is slightly different than the sketch. They are sitting in the boat instead of standing and they needed some safety vests! Too bad because I had to get rid of the girl kitty's fabulous little coat I had for her. Oh well...we don't want them to drown now.

Illustration Friday-Clean

An old piece- actually from the Travel games book I did a while back. I've been on hiatus lately due to the horrible heat and my lack of air conditioning. I'm hoping to get the ball rolling again with some original IF stuff once the weather is more bearable.

Whats been buggin' me

I wish I could post more stuff in color, but I've been sketching bugs all week!

kitties gone fishin'

Just finished this sketch for the fine folks at Highlights for Children- their Hidden Pictures Playground series.

In other things-Thanks to Ann who invited me to contribute to Artful Wisdom, a collaborative blog to jump start your creativity and to inspire. They are like little morsels of inspiration. Now go take a look!

Illustration Friday-Skyline

Another piece from the travel games book job. Should fit in with the theme....

Wanted to just say a thank you to everyone that drops by and all the kind words, especially to those of you who visit regularly. Its very encouraging and makes me even want to work harder. So thank you!

Older audience

I usually get jobs illustrating for Kindergarten to 2nd grade. They are lots of fun, but I would like to do an older age group too. Here is a recent sketch I did for a travel games book job (its a spot for a category game you play in the CAR, therefore CARtegory:

The art director thought it looked a bit too young, so I made them a bit funkier:

And here is the final!

Blast from the past

I was digging in my old computer today and found this illo I did. It must be 3 years old. I've worked in children's publishing in one way or another-and sometimes you just have to get a little...twisted. Enjoy!

Chickengirl's Manga picks

I love comics but I never read much manga, since they are usually associated with girly high school romance stories (those were never my thing). But to my surprise, neither of these two books have that! I've been reading and following Banana Fish and Monster for quite a while now, and both are well written, sophisticated, and very addictive. I love that fact that these stories are gender neutral -both guys and girls can enjoy them (but certainly not for kids. )

Banana Fish is already up to volume 14 (there are only a few more volumes to go before the story ends. Wahhh!) You know the story is good when you fall in love with the characters. Good stuff!

Illustration Friday-Rain

I am so glad I finally got back to doing some packaging this week!

Why...chickens?

So why....chickens? I get asked this alot. I am still a little lost for words everytime someone asks me this. The obsession started in the first year of college, but really thinking about it- I didn't even realized I had this chicken clock. I've had it ever since I was a kid. The alarm is a clucking sound....(yup, thats right!) It still works, but the seconds hand fell off and occasionally it gets stuck. But thats pretty good considering this clock must be at least 20 years old. I would be very sad the day I will have to replace it. But it is still going strong!

So my logical explanation for my love of chickens is the years of clucking seeping into my subconscious, beckoning me to love chickens.

Illustration Friday-Dance

There is a party in the fridge! Get down with your bad self, Mr. Broccoli! Hahaha, I've been trying to find an excuse to post this little illo I did for a while now.....

Illustration Friday-Jungle

An old piece from an activity box assignment:


and jungle animal stickers to match (and who doesnt like stickers?!):

MoCCA Art Fest

MoCCA Art Fest was this weekend and it was a great experience. Much thanks to those who stopped by the table and said hello, and bought our stuff! It never gets old to see people appreciating your work and want to buy your prints. My best selling postcard was the Evil Robot, and copies of Abe the Burping Rooster are all gone- either sold or swapped with other comic artists. Here are some cool comics I got:

And imagine Mathboy's joy when he got this t-shirt there:

Anyways, it was nice meeting so many people doing some very cool art.

Illustration Friday-Portrait

Too busy to do a packaging for this week's IF, but here is something fun from the old files. If anyone is in the NYC area this weekend, please come check out the MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) Art Fest. I will be exhibiting, selling some mini comics and postcards (with artwork from my past IF entries!) Please drop by and say hello...or cluck cluck!