Tales of a Checkered Man Fan Art

This is a piece of fan art I did of Tales of a Checkered Man, a webcomic by Denver Brubaker. I met Denver back at the comics fundamentals worskshop I took at my local library this summer. Now there is a comic artists forum that meets every month, and Denver gave an inspiring presentation on his work there. I loved how he was very specific and described exactly what The Checkered Man wore, so it was easy and fun for me to come up with this fan art. I was also impressed by his discipline to stick with a schedule that comes along in doing a webcomic.

It has really pushed me along with my sketchbook project. I'm not sure what my future plans are with it, but I'm determined to finish it. And also I've been exploring traditional mediums again! Who would of thought. The smell of art stores are so nostalgic.

German Children's Books

I just came back from a great vacation with my girlfriends to Germany. A good friend moved there a few years ago and now live in Fehmarn, a beautiful island in the Baltic Sea that is about a hour and a half from Hamburg. I'm always fascinated by children's books in other countries so here are two books I picked up.
This mini, wordless book is very cute which follows people in a town for 12 months (12 spreads). It is very fun to flip through each spread and see what happens to the various people, with lots to details to find.

(one of the spreads)

And one of the books I'm working on right now consists of transportation so I picked up the other book for inspiration. Plus, look at all the cut out little cars! (they are also magnets!)

Inspiration from Tokyo- Part 3

One of the reasons why I love Japan is that there are illustrations everywhere. I mean, EVERYWHERE. It is not afraid of cute. It is a country where grown men have cute charms on their cell phones and its not a big deal.

Some fun graphics from the streets:

Even on drinks:

These toy packaging caught my eye- I love the design and illustrations on these:

and last but not least...

This is the ryokan (Japanese style inn) we stayed at in Tokyo (in Ueno.) I can not rave more about this place. We didn't want to stay in a generic western style hotel in the middle of a touristy area..so if you are a bit more adventurous, I highly recommend staying at Sawanoya Ryokan. It is family run and foreigner friendly...and possibly on the quaintest little street ever. We slept on futons and took baths in the gorgeous onsen (Japanese style bath) over looking a garden. It was inexpensive and Sawa-san and his family are great hosts.

And a few more links- through Ismoyo's blog and reading about her adventures in Tokyo a few months before mine, I found a very helpful Tokyo shopping guide link over at Asking for Trouble. The zine and guide was very helpful and I'll be using it again on my next trip back.

Thats all my posts related to my Tokyo trip. Now I'm plotting when I can go back...

Inspiration from Tokyo- Part 2

Storm Machine Graphics- Wow. I saw them at Design Festa and their table was absolutely amazing. My first thought was- "this is branding at its finest!" (My business side comes out!) They had so many merchandise but all the colors went together and I was just trying to absorb and learn from it. The ABC book is only about 3.75" x 3.75" with a cloth cover. They are probably my favorite find out of my whole trip. Check out their website!

Donut guy cup and "saucer"-those of you who may come to know my tastes probably know why I went nuts over this little guy, and only for 1000 yen! Another purchase from Design Festa but unfortunately I don't have information on the artist, I believe she was from Korea. (Lesson learned- put your name on EVERYTHING that you do!)

Cute creature in "Terrarium"-I believe the artist was there in part of a collective; there was a slight panic when they realized I didn't speak Japanese and they were trying to find someone who spoke English..it was actually quite endearing! There were a bunch of different creatures in bottles all together and it was very striking, so I had to adopt one.

Happy Birthday Pop-Up book from Sanrio Greetings- This mini book came with an envelope so you can send it out. I bought it at Itoya, a stationery store that is all over the place.

Matryoshka doll tea pot- I bought this at a store in Ginza. The bulkiest item I bought but thats why I went with a big suitcase! Look, even the box is cute with the illustrations.

There were other little things here and there but this is the majority of goodies I got. I'm going to write one more post on the trip in general, and hope to provide some tips and such, because I can't wait to go back!

Inspiration from Tokyo- Part 1

I brought a big suitcase with me to Tokyo and was ready to fill it up! But honestly I didn't end up buying as much as I thought I would. There were wonderful finds though, and I'm excited to share them!
Everything in Japan is shrink wrapped it seems. These books were a mystery to me since I can't read Japanese and know what the interiors were about, but I had to buy them anyways. Turns out they are activity books! I love this Rub A Dub Dub line. SO CUTE! Score!

I've never wanted a tray this much in my life. From Weles-Art by Naomi Tozaki. Check it this link for more goodies!

P714- they were at Design Festa and I had to buy a few little things- including the cutest post-it notes in the world. More on their website-ahhhhh!

Super cute pop-up birthday card that comes with sound.
The sound is a bottle opening, pouring, then two cute voices that says "kampai!" ("Cheers!" in Japanese.) Who...can...resist....

I have MORE goodies but for now I better get back to work instead of taking pics of everything I got. Hope you got your dose of kawaii for now.

**disclaimer: this post was filled with too much use of the word "cute," but I hope you understand.** :-)

Breaking into Freelance Illustration

Lately I've been getting quite a few emails asking for advice on becoming an illustrator. Sometimes I'm quite surprised (and flattered) that people want to ask ME for advice, when I'm still learning and finding my way everyday. However, I've realized that I've been doing this professionally and full time now for about 4 years. I've learned a thing or two along the way and would love to pass it along.

Thanks to Holly DeWolf, I got to contribute to her book, Breaking into Freelance Illustration. She sent me a comp copy back in December- with the holidays and traveling I didn't get a chance to blog about it here. It is a great read for people starting out and even professionals who sometimes need a reminder on a few things. Alot of familar names and blog friends are in it, be sure to check it out if you are interested in becoming a freelance illustrator.

I'm thinking of writing more posts on topics like this, such as what I've learned so far as an illustrator, and my journey of getting there. I feel like I need to pay it forward, as when I was starting out, I looked to bloggers like Keri Smith and Danny Gregory for encouragement and inspiration. So stay tuned.

**OTHER AWESOME NEWS** I'm so excited- I'm going to Japan in May! Just booked flights there for a vacation AND it will be the same week as DesignFesta- which I did purposely so I can attend that as well. It will be a heavy dose of creative inspiration...hope I don't OD! :-)

Goodies from Argentina!

I'm always amazed and happy when blog friends send me goodies in the mail. Here is a package from Zime when I was one of the lucky ones to participate in her RegalARTE giveaway. Its a pay-it-forward program in which I now will send handmade gifts to three of my blog readers. I better figure out what I am going to make!
Guess who lives in the houses?
ADORABLE!! Hand painted just for me...with a little chicken!! Ahhh! Thank you, Zime- I feel so special! Zime just recently opened an etsy shop where you will find many of her painted dolls. I promise to pay it forward and have a giveaway here soon!

Stuff I got for Inspiration

Its been a while since I posted! Wow, it was really interesting to hear everyone's situation in this economy from the last post. A positive outlook is the way to go. I hope each and everyone of you out there is surviving in this economy.

Thought I would share some of the goodies I got for inspiration. I finally got around to framing a few prints I got...here is what is on my dresser at the moment.
Above from left to right: Many faces of Mook by I love Grey Skies (etsy seller), Robot by Allan Sanders, and The Host by Ana Galvan (from Thumbtack Press.)

I also bought this book:
Ricehead's Revenge by YiYing Wang. Honestly I did not buy it for the art but for the fun story, and I like the fact that there is a list of characters in the beginning of the book:
Plus, they have a really cute website: www.Noodoll.com!

And last but not least, I went nuts over this card when I saw it over at Stickers and Stuff:
I bought it over at Ginko Papers (sorry, I believe it is sold out). It is from Hallmark Japan, illustrated by Yukiko Hatano.
This card has been sitting on my desk for quite a while now, hoping it will inspire me to do some pop up cards soon. Its so cute I can't stand it....

Thats it for now, hope that was some good eye candy for you!

Thoughts on The Creative Genius

Alicia posted a wonderful video of writer Elizabeth Gilbert and her thoughts on creativity. I'm a big fan of her book, Eat Pray Love. I highly recommend watching it for inspiration here (thanks, Alicia, for the great post!)

Inspiration while on Vacation

Over the Christmas break, Math Boy and I stayed in an awesome hotel in San Francisco's Japantown called Hotel Tomo. I first heard about this hotel through Tokyo Bunnie's blog, and I was sure I needed to go there. I didn't get to take a pic of the entire room (above is a pic from their website.) But that is what the rooms look like, so modern and quirky with a Japanese pop art mural in each room. Everything about this hotel was fun and fresh.

This was the mural in our room. LOVE!

This was the hotel info booklet they had in the rooms. Check out their logo!

The interiors: ooh! Illustrations! Yay!

And look- these are suppose to be the "do not disturb" signs:

There were alot of fun little details in this place that was great eye candy for me. It was a good balance of quirkiness and playfulness without feeling childish. I love places like this. I want to go back already!

I've been a good lil' chicken this year

Some eye candy and inspiration from Sarah Kelly aka Spadazzle...Thank you, Sarah! She is so generous in sending me all kinds of to-die-for goodies from Japan...like a my very own Kawaii fairy Godmother! :-) I'm really speechless. Here are a few things from it:

I know its already January, but really- can you resist this tofu santa plushie?!

tofu disguised as a reindeer?

Kawaii heaven....
The perfect calendar for me.
Sarah's awesome collage work- I especially love the piece on the right which is an actual mini canvas with wonderful textures.
She also told me about Design Festa...which is an art and design festival in Tokyo that is held twice a year....Can we all say a "wahhhhh I wanna go! I wanna go!" She sent me the oh-so-tempting brochure for it. It is definitely a goal I'm shooting for. I won't be able to go to the one in May...but maybe the one in November?!? I might possibly overdose and explode from all the inspiration there.

Thank you again, Spadazzle! I treasure everything you send me. I'm one lucky chicken!

More Inspiration and New friends

I would like to share with you a little 5" x 5" catalog I picked up while I was in France. Its for the company Djeco and it manufactures some amazing toys. It is the most well designed catalog I've seen in a long time!

It combines beautiful illustrations by Gwen Keraval with photos of their products. Imagine all the work involved! Here are some spreads:

And last but not least- A cluck cluck to Edrian Thomidis- who were in NYC and we got to meet and chat about illustration and design. Thank you for the lovely conversation! It was a pleasure to meet you and your husband!

Goodies from France!

Bonjour! I'm back from my trip to France and had a great time! We visited Strasbourg, which was about a two and a half hour train ride from Paris. My deary was a on a business trip there, so what a great excuse for me to tag along :-)

I LOVE the French illustration style and aesthetic. In particular I was looking for this book by one of my favorite illustrators Marc Boutavant:
I've been wanting this book for so long now! Its very hard to get it in the US (it is on ebay, but very $$$). What a beautiful book!!! Then in another store I found stickers by Marc Boutavant too:
And the cutest little notebook and Christmas Alphabet postcard by Illustrator Marion Billet:
I love "Fake ads" -Postcards by illustrator Amandine Piu:
And of course how can I resist this one (also by illustrator Amandine Piu):
Our high school French got us around ok but I must admit it was mentally draining afterwards. Having a language barrier is a handicap and there were a few awkward situations. Then I thought about all the non-English speaking people who are brave enough to come to the US to make a life for themselves (including my parents.). Props to them most definitely!

Anyways, I already miss the cafes and pain au chocolats. Strasbourg is a very quaint city to visit. Too bad I didn't get to see much of Paris, only the airport and the few blocks around the train station. Next time!