Rockin' Girl

I'm a rockin' girl! Both Anja and Zari.zhm gave me the rockin' girl blogger award. Thank you so much, ladies! I love Anja's color palette (colorful yet sophisticated) and Zarifi inspired me to do this-combine illustration with photos. You two are rockin' too!

So I'll pass on the award to the ladies over at Illustration for kids. They are one of the best things that has happened since I started this blog...getting to know them and forming our illustration group. Just look at our summer mailer.

They are Claire, Paula, Jenn, Susan, Anette and Holli.

So busy busy here in the chicken coop. A leisurely summer is ending and now I have two huge projects that are going on at the same time. Some fun stuff last week though- I got a chance to meet with a very nice client face to face (a rare thing these days with emailing and the web). What a refreshing change! I got out of the house, woohoo!

Anyways, have a good week, everyone. Things are really crazy here but I hope to keep posts on a somwhat regular basis. Cheers!

Houses

I made a house tissue cover! The awesome pattern is by My Paper Crane from book The Crafters Companion. I basicly picked up this book mainly because of this pattern. So cute. The chimney was a little tough to put on though.

Here is a 2D version:

I originally wanted to make a bunch of these fabric collages and sell them. But now I am not so sure. I am, however, taking steps to open an etsy shop. I have some fun stuff in the works! More soon.

Illustration Friday-Emergency (& Moon)

Combining two IF topics = happy result!

I had an unfinished piece for a previous topic- "Moon." Just wanted to finish it up and add something for this week's topic...so it ended up being a space ambulance. I would of never thought of that in the first place. Thank you, IF! It sure is fun drawing ill aliens.

Friends of Lulu- Comic Anthology

I'm thrilled to be a contributor for this comics anthology that Friends of Lulu put out to promote female comic artists. There was a book release party this week and I finally got my copy! The hilarious cover is by Miss Lasko-Gross, with more than 50 female cartoonists contributing.

The title is The Girls' Guide to Guys' Stuff and here is my contribution. Looks a little different that my usual work because I used a real brush and ink with this one!


I was also fortunate enough to do the cover art for their last anthology. This was back in 2003.
Its amazing to see how my art has evolved since 4 years ago!

I'm back....already?!

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Whew! What a wonderful trip it was. We had an ocean front room with a balcony- highly recommended! It was amazing to wake up, have coffee, and just stare out into the ocean. I didn't do any work at all, but there were long walks on the beach (heehee) and a yummy fondue meal. Now I'm back in the coop. Some of you left really funny comments (with lots of chicken puns)! Gotta catch up on everyone's blogs.

vacation!

Math boy and I are off to vacation for a few days. Math boy is leaving behind the math books and I am leaving behind my laptop (GASP!). There are a few things I need to wrap up before I leave, so I won't be able to participate in Illustration Friday this week. Although I have some great ideas for this week's topic and its already in my sketch book.

Thank you all to those who commented on the Mixed-Up Alphabet book! Such nice, kind words to encourage me to keep going. Cluck cluck! See you when I get back!

The Mixed-Up Alphabet!

The samples are here! The samples are here! The Mixed-Up Alphabet, written by Steve Metzger and illustrated by yours truly. Published by Scholastic, out October 2007.

Some interior shots:
The alphabet as a happy family:

One of my favorite scenes:It was alot of fun to work on, coming up with different "personalities" for each alphabet. Adding little details such as lightning bolt "zaps" on the Z, plaid on the P, and making C into a cowboy. It wasn't long ago that I had these guys as sketches up on my wall. Now they are in color and in a book. I feel like a proud mama.

My kind of chickens

I'm so happy that so many artists are selling prints of their work. Now my drab walls now get a fresh make over with these short order chicken art prints by Stumpytown. Now these are my kind of chickens! Aren't they hilarious? I got these prints a while back and it took a long time to get frames for them- I finally found these that were perfect from Pottery Barn.

Illustration Friday-Poem

For all your pains and aches,
There is only one thing you need,
Get your Miraculous Snake Oil,
Its the best cure-all, Guaranteed!

And only for Illustration Friday customers:

Stock up and save!
Here's a good deal,
Accept no imitations,
Only this oil is real!

Samples!

Last friday, I got two big boxes of samples for the Cranium Ultimate Book of Fantastic Fun & Games. I took part in designing this book and also did the illustrations (besides the Cranium characters, done by Gary Baseman.) I worked with awesome people over at LB Kids and Cranium. They gave me so much freedom to do what I wanted, now thats one great design job!

A different style than my typical way of illustrating, but I wanted the style to have linework and work well with the look of the Cranium characters:

This book should be available in the fall. Yay!

tea

After I did these greeting cards out of fabric, I got a bit obsessed over doing more fabric collages. Here's a little bit more experimentation. This little tea guy is about 4 x 4 inches. (nothing too big so I don't feel like I am wasting fabric.)

Here is the sketch I did, its cool to see how it got translated.
And its so easy in Illustrator to break up the shapes, print it out and voila- you have a pattern!

Illustration Friday-Discovery

Eureka! For the past few IF postings I 've been discovering a new style and a new way of working. I feel very free. I worked straight on the computer with this one too. The topic "Discovery" immediately made me think of a bunny pirate discovering a treasure box full of carrots...well, the carrots never quite made it there.

However, I fell in love with the characters and eventually gave them names. Then I thought it would be cute if they had a discovery club of sorts and so here is the logo I made up.

Thanks for everyone's support and comments with my new style. Its very encouraging and I am so excited about it!

I heart Bunny Cards

I love the blog world because look at what I got from Kathy at Wellerwishes:
My photograph doesn't really do these cards justice. Her soft, fine drawings are so delicate and wonderful. I got them a while back and didn't get a chance to post these. They are so lovely, thank you Kathy!

Little Red Riding Hood

Another mock cover I am doing. Although I wished there was some consistency with this, it was fun to do more experimenting and playing with my style. For this I worked straight on the computer, it turned out to be more vintage-like than I intended.

Illustration Friday-Geeky

"This is the closest I'll ever get to the real thing...heh heh..." *Sob*

Thinking blogger Award

Awww shucks, guess what? I am honored to receive a Thinking blogger award from David Sones (Pickledog)! Its even more wonderful because ever since I found the Pickledog blog I've been a fan of his since...not only do I love his style, I love his color sense...so he definitely makes me think. So, thank you so much, David and Pickledog!

Now I am suppose to pass it on to five other bloggers with the honor. Thats a tough one...so many great blogs, too little time. Here's a few that picks my brain:

-Keri Smith/Wish Jar Journal
What? You haven't been to her blog yet? It is one of the very first blogs I've discovered and still reading after years and years. Her philosophy on life and creativity constantly amazes me.

-Danny Gregory/Everyday Matters
Danny's philosophy on creativity also resonates with me quite well. In fact, I got tons of great advice/inspiration when I was deciding whether or not to plunge into the world of freelancing.

-Sally Shim/Shim and Sons
Sally makes everything sophisticated, modern, and beautiful. I can't help but secretly wish I had her sense of elegant taste. Her photography of everyday life is especially a joy to see, which reminds me its the small things in life that matter. Plus, her sons are adorable!

Tokyo Bunnie
-A blog about artists/happening/products.....I LOVE all the posts....it looks like I have similar taste as Tokyo Bunnie.

M.Patrizio
Hello, cutesville! All things cute brings me squealing and she's got it.

Illustration Friday-Twist

This week's IF topic "twist" made me think of the very over priced $3 pretzel I had at the Bronx Zoo this past weekend. But I was starving.


This looks a bit different than my usual work because I wanted to play more and not think about if this could be a portfolio piece for me-which freezes me up.

Some thoughts when I made this piece:

1. -more texture!
2. -A more conscious decision about changing my usual color palette. Looked at colourlovers.com for inspiration
3. -love the look of organic line work and wanted to incorporate that in my work
4. -Should I draw people or animals? How about just some blobs instead?

I do hope I get back to posting on IF more frequently....I've been missing it weeks at a time. Thanks for visiting! :-)

Its never enough

More chicken goodness! If you can believe it, this chicken toy set is about 1 inch in height. I found these at the Japanese grocery store, from one of those mystery toy boxes:

There are 1o sets you can get, but you dont know which one is inside the box. I've been wanting this chicken set (#7) for a while now, and I finally got it the other week! I was jumping up and down like a child, but I was so excited!

I need these things as an illustrator for inspiration, right? Right?

Hickory Dickory Dock

I've been thinking about doing a series of book cover designs with a nursery rhyme/fairy tales theme. Put them all together and it would make a neat portfolio. Check out other Hickory Dickory Dock illos over at the Illustration for Kids Blog.

Chicken Collection , part 1 of many

Yes, I have a sickness, maybe its the chicken flu? I finally got around to taking some pictures of my chicken collection. This is only a small part of it, unfortunately. Haha! Many are given to me by friends and family.

There are many more chicken things. More soon. In the meanwhile, did you know a Chicken Boy exists!? Check out his collection!

tagged

I was tagged by Donna Farrell (check out her lovely illustrations!)

Here are the rules:
Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

8 Things about me:

1. My favorite cocktail is a Tom Collins. I was also told by a bartender once that it was "an old lady drink."

2. I'm in love with a mathematician.

3. I thought snow came down as mini snowballs, just like in the cartoons. I was surprised to see it not to be so.

4. I've been in the same elevator with Dean Cain.

5. I shook hands with Method Man.

6. I like chickens, but I am not a vegetarian. (Shhh...don't tell the chickens!)

7. I listen to Japanese pop music and I don't understand a word of it.

8. I was bribed with art classes by my mother so I would practice the piano, which I was forced to do. *Side note: I am now an illustrator and I haven't touched the piano since :-)

I tag Kritty, Patrick, Laura, Eren and Maggie. And anyone else who would like to play. I 'd love to get to know more about you.

Mocca Artfest

Some goodies from this weekend:
I went to the Mocca Artfest this weekend and found this book, Confessions of a Process Junkie, illustration techniques for Adobe Illustrator, by Alberto Ruiz. What a find! There are tons of books on Photoshop but a good book on Illustrator is kind of rare (thats not text book-like). Alberto draws alot of sexy women...I probably won't be doing that anytime soon but I can appreciate his style and skills. A great book with easy to digest info and I did pick up a few tips! You can get a copy here. Look, I even got it signed!

New art for Promotional postcard

I am about due to send out another promotional postcard. Here is a new piece of art I just finished for it. What do you think? I am trying to keep up a regular schedule with sending stuff to keep my name out there...my goal is to at least send something out three times a year.

Speaking of promotion, I wanted to mention a few blogs that I've been checking out thats helpful:
The Marketing Mix- I've been enjoying the small bites of info and tips there....very easy read and not overwhelming. I've picked up some great ideas there.

Living the Creative Dream- a great inspirational site with everything from creativity to promotion by the super-talented Holli.

From the Renegade Craft Fair

Some really cute stuff I picked up from the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this past weekend:
I get very overwhelmed by these fairs because I want to buy everything! I ended up just getting this cute print and twill tape from The Small Object.

Here is a close up of the print...too cute:
And I finally got a chance to see in person some of my favorite works from M. Patrizio, My Paper Crane, and Seamripper. I wish I could of stuck around longer so I could of gotten some goodies from them too. Wait till next year....

Greeting cards

I'm taking a greeting cards class at the School of Visual Arts this summer. When I tell people this, I get alot of "Why do YOU need to take a greeting cards class?" Partly for motivation and inspiration, meeting new people, and simply for me to get out of my studio once in a while. The first assignment was to "create two 5 x7 cards using an icon, exploring different mediums." Ok, I have to admit, I was not thrilled about this assignment. After all, I know how I like to create my illustrations (the computer) and thats that, right? But after a little thought and seeing it as a challenge, it made perfect sense that I started using my left over scraps of fabric to create something.

These cards were made using leftovers- watercolor paper (when I use to paint!), fabric scraps, felt. sobo glue and the sewing machine. They were like mini quilts except I feel they were less constricting....I didn't have a need to sew everything, some pieces were glued when I felt necessary. Anyways, I enjoyed making these very much, so you'll be seeing more of these soon!

Camera malfunctioning

Its been an exhausting week for me, have you ever slept 10 hours straight?! Lots of social gatherings, including a friend's wedding...also got great news from my rep about a huge project I will be working on.

Crafting news: My camera died today and I can't take any pictures of what I've been working on. Wahh! I didn't know I used my camera this much (especially ever since I started a blog.) I have a canon powershot A70, and after some research online, there has been reports of this camera malfunctioning. Although canon is offering to fix this for free, I decided to shop around for a new camera anyways. Its time for an upgrade! I ended up with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55. I should get it in a couple of days. Anyone have good experience with it? It seems to get good reviews online.

Just to add some fun I took the Sesame street personality test. I am Bert! And he's my favorite character too. Woohoo! Let me know what you are!

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Illustration Friday-Your Paradise

Usually I would draw some sort of chicken palace where chicken takes over the world and that would be my paradise, but I feel like its wise to give the chickens a break and draw something else. Thanks for all that commented on my last week's IF entry- the mouse with his cheese car was a hit! So I think drawing cheese is kinda fun right now and a cheese shop would be a paradise for mice, no?

Over at the Illustration for kids blog, I write a bit more about the process that went into this piece if you are interested. See you there!