Drawings from the kids!

A wonderful package from Tracy Cundiff and her kindergarten class! The kids illustrated their favorite part of my book, The Penguins' Perfect Picnic:


I enjoyed each and every drawing and this is definitely one of the best things about being a children's illustrator! Here are a few of them:

Check out the awesome snowflakes stacked up there on the bottom! Love it.

One of the things I noticed is that the kids' drawings are so incredibly BOLD! Even in the writing too! They might not know how to spell something but that doesn't stop them. So inspiring.
AND to top things off, Tracy sent over a cute chickie kitchen towel! Thank you so much, Tracy. To receive drawings from my readers is priceless. Hugs to you and your class!

New Goodies!

I got some new goodies I would like to share with all of you! First...more Re-Ment miniatures goodness:

I love how there are raw AND cooked meat patties!!!

This was a perfect one for summertime.

So both of my siblings are going to Japan this summer (why am I stuck here?!?) Hopefully, I'll be getting more Re-Ments!!! (hint, hint.) My mom came back from Asia and brought me a bunch of goodies, including:

A chicken massager!

and the cutest kitchen sponge scrubbers you'll ever see! Too cute to use!

I'll leave you all now with a cuteness coma.

21 Day Challenge- Day 21 of 21!!!

Finally!!! 21 of 21!!! It only took me, oh- 2 months! How embarassing, seriously! Most of you who are on the challenge is on your second round already. It was very difficult for me to draw people. I'm glad I did this though, I came up with some good stuff (along with the bad.)

Now I must go back to drawing some weird packaging or anthropomorphic food characters or something. Ahhh, hello comfort zone. I can be myself again. Hehehe.

21 Day Challenge- Day 20 of 21

Its been getting hot here, yet I'm working on a Christmas book at the moment. Thats why I have an elf, just some character design for the book.

Theres been lots of things I want to post about, but I just haven't gotten a chance to. More soon!

21 Day Challenge- Day 19 of 21

Honestly, a little time away from the challenge worked out for me for the better. I've got two more to go- but the ultimate question is: how many more days will it take me? hahaha!

Illustration Friday-Baby (carrot)

Hello IF! Its been so long since I participated. Here is a super duper quick one- I can never draw enough anthropomorphic food.

21 Day Challenge- Day 18 of 21

Hey guys! I'm still alive!

The good weather got the better of me, and I was out of town visiting my family for a couple days. It actually felt good to be off the computer. Before I knew it, its been a week since my last post.

I decided to spend a little bit more time on this to make up for lost time. I also needed a piece for our Illustration for Kids Summer mailer, so I've combined them and here it is.

21 Day Challenge- Day 17 of 21

Ok! No more drawing of old people for a while! They are no fun. This feels alot better and a touch of cuteness. Whew!

21 Day Challenge- Day 16 of 21

A friend tells me I'm slacking, so I better get back to the challenge. I think I am slacking because its getting difficult for me to draw something "fun" that involves drawing people. (If you missed it, my challenge was to draw people for 21 days.)

Anyways, some experimenting with line and texture. This doesn't look like my usual work. I'm not yet sure if I like it or not.

Murakami Show @ The Brooklyn Museum

This past weekend, I saw the Takeshi Murakami exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. So inspiring! I'm a big anime and manga fan so the show was double the fun. I couldn't take pictures of the exhibit, but this piece was out in the lobby.
Check it out if you are in the area, but a warning to parents though: there are a few pieces that are definitely NOT for kids. But personally, I love art that is both cute and sinister at the same time.

21 Day Challenge- Day 15 of 21

Hey everyone! I've really fallen off the wagon with this challenge, haven't I? With low energy these days and too much work on my plate, its just been a bad combination. But I am determined to finish 21 pieces of art, even if its not in 21 days.

Flash Cards

I'm taking a little break from the challenge this weekend. But I'll leave you all with these flash cards I did for School Zone Publishing. Just got samples of them in the mail recently. Happy weekend!

21 Day Challenge- Day 14 of 21

Nerds + Chickens = My Favorite things

21 Day Challenge- Day 13 of 21

This was inspired by what I overheard today on the street:

"Don't mess with the birds. They'll poop on you."

21 Day Challenge- Day 12 of 21

A super duper quick one today. Things are getting busy around here, hope I can keep this up!

21 Day Challenge- Day 11 of 21

This challenge keeps amazing me. Each day brings a different energy. While I struggled yesterday, today it was very fluid. I will entitle this "ooh la la, Croissant!"

21 Day Challenge- Day 10 of 21

My least favorite piece so far. So I decided to keep working at it, ended up with these floating heads, which I liked:
Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there!

21 Day Challenge- Day 9 of 21

One of the perks with working from home is doing grocery shopping during off hours like weekday afternoons. Unfortunately, the supermarkets in my neighborhood are filled with aggressive old ladies and their shopping carts- ready to mow down anyone thats in their way.

21 Day Challenge- Day 8 of 21

I was hoping I could at least try to make it 5 days in a row with this challenge! Oh well. My excuse: I had a deadline yesterday. I must admit though, its getting tough for me.

This past weekend I saw a documentary called "Hollywood Chinese," about Chinese and Chinese Americans portrayed in hollywood movies. So here is a little illo inspired by "The World of Suzie Wong" movies.

Another interesting thing related to this: I was told by a fellow (non-Asian) artist that my art didn't look "Asian." Hmmm? What is that suppose to mean? I was thrown a bit off guard, I didn't know how to answer. Was there an "Asian style" I was suppose to have? Perhaps I haven't done enough Asian-related subjects? Was I suppose to be inspired to write a children's book on the Asian American experience? It really opened a can of worms for me personally.

In the meanwhile, I'll draw some chickens. BTW, the chickens will be Asian.

Tagged

Thanks to Liz Goulet Dubois over at Chat Rabbit who tagged me-here’s what I was supposed to do:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.*
3. Find the fifth sentence.**
4. Post the next three sentences, so if my math is correct that’d be sentences six, seven and eight.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the blogger who tagged you.

The alternate PB version is to go to page 23 and just put down the text. With my shameless self promotion, I used my own book, The Mixed-Up Alphabet by Steve Metzger, illustrated by me!
*******
And thanks to Roz Fulcher at Rozzie Land who gave me the Pico Award!
Rules:
1) Pick 5 blogs that you feel are deserving of this award based on their creativity, design, interesting material and their contribution to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2) For each award giver, include the name and the link to the blogger so they can be visited.
3) Include the names of the recipients and a link to their blogs so they can be visited.
4) For both giver and receiver, show the link http://studiololo.blogspot.com/ (Studio Lolo)
5) Publish these rules

I'm going to tag all of you who's been participating in the 21 Day Creative exercise with me! Its been so much fun and your comments are a BIG motivating factor. Thanks!

21 Day Challenge- Day 7 of 21

I've finally started digging around wedding sites to check out our options and start the planning. I even broke down and bought a wedding magazine, something I was kind of against doing. One thing I did not want was to become a Bridezilla, but there is something about the wedding industry that sucks you in and makes you think you need this and that.

I'm the type who doesn't like to be the center of attention, so hopefully our wedding will be very intimate and lovely with close friends and family.

But sometimes we just want to zap our significant other in the butt, right? ;-)

21 Day Challenge- Day 6 of 21

How is everyone's challenge going? So I finally got around to drawing some kids! I'm starting to break the rules more in terms of what I usually do. I also find myself staring at people in public, trying to come up with a good character for this challenge. Luckily, there is a never ending supply of interesting people around here, especially in the subways.

21 Day Challenge- Day 5 of 21

I didn't post yesterday but I did do a sketch for this piece. (I try to stay away from the computer and not work on the weekends now!) Hope you guys don't think I am crazy with the violent butcher guy! Just more stuff I don't get to do in children's books. :-P

21 Day Challenge- Day 4 of 21

Robbers deserve to step on poop before they escape.

Out of Town

I'll be out of town today but will catch up with the challenge tomorrow! Have a good weekend, everyone!

21 Day Challenge- Day 3 of 21

I don't get to draw too many bikini-clad women in children's books.

21 Days Challenge-Day 2 of 21

Its only the second day and I can feel this challenge is going to turn into something very positive. So far so good. I'm having fun...drawing people?! Woohoo!

21 Day Creative Challenge- Day 1 of 21

I'm joining in with a bunch of illustrators who are doing a creative challenge that started with the talented illustrator Gina Perry. Here is what she had to say:

"During Laurie Halse Anderson's keynote at the 2008 NESCBWI conference last weekend, she gave us a challenge. Think you don't have time? She does. At least 15 minutes. Pick a time of day and mark it in your dayplanner or calender. She mentioned that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Also, pick a buddy or two to help you stay focused and on track. I challenge all of you who read this to join me."

And thanks to Alicia Padron for posting about it too and getting me to join in the fun! For more info about the challenge, please go here and here.

The challenge I picked for myself is to draw people....something I still feel not 100% comfortable with. Its probably why you don't see many people here on this blog. But this is a challenge! And here is one!

On a side note, THANK YOU so much for all the well wishes on my engagement :-)

Mrs.

Re-ment toys are the way to my heart. Especially when a ring was hidden inside this box. Yikes, I am engaged!

I love you, Math Boy Kun. (Now everybody knows.)

Signing

Thats me at the Friends of Lulu/MoCCA table at the NY Comic con. Thanks to MoCCA and Marion Vitus who organized the signing and got me in. It was a fun experience! (and I felt really cool! heeheee!)

NY Comic Con

A little last minute post here, but I'll be at the NY Comic Con today from 4-5pm at the MoCCa/ Friends of Lulu booth, #840- signing their latest anthology, Girls' Guide to Guys' Stuff, in which I am one of the contributors. See you there!

Goodies!

Its been like Christmas in April:
BIG thank you to Dan Goodsell for sending an incredible box full of Mr. Toast stuff....I love everything! Check out the Mr. Toast & Friends Art show I participated in here.

Thank you, Princess Tomato for sending some chicken goodness. Its always appreciated around here. I especially love the little plushie which I now named "Chick Fruit."

Also, an awesome postcard exchange with Loulou & Tummie from the Netherlands...they are a cool illustrator duo. I love the postcards. Three cheers for vector goodness!

And...there is also some really happy personal news that I would like to share with all of you soon :-)

Lunch?

Another attempt at going through my fabric stash: fabric collage on watercolor paper greeting card.

Oh how funny with all the comments on the coupon! Everyone is taking up on the free chicken leg offer, I better stock up :-) I think I will do a real promo with it. It will be fun to see who actually redeems the coupon.

Illustration Friday-Save

With the recession and all, its good to give your customers a little incentive. :-)

I've always loved doing funny ads/coupons and the like. This was naturally what I came up with when I saw this week's Illustration Friday topic was "Save."

And thanks for all the lovely comments on my new banner! Just needed to freshen up the blog here. I finally updated the new blogger template. The new version is so easy to use! I don't know why it took me so long.

A new banner for spring

Circus from sketch to color

I've been working on a self promotion piece. Its actually for my page in Picturebook 09. I decided that a circus theme would be fun, but I didn't realize how little I knew of the circus. I tried to jog my memories for reference but the only thing I thought of was going to see some sideshow freaks. I'll save that for later.
Hey, I'm starting to sketch on the computer! I actually did a very rough sketch, scanned it in, re-sketch this in photoshop. (I know, a bit ridiculous, but I had to start somewhere.) Still a little rough, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where sketching digitally is possible. Cintiq here I come.
The composition was still bothering me from the sketch, but I thought I would go ahead and start on the color, and move things around a bit to my liking. And this is the final!

Illustration Friday-Pet Peeves

Sorry folks, nothing cute over here this week. One of my biggest pet peeves is burping. I even wrote a comic about it, in hopes I would get over it. Its fun to draw burp bubbles though, heehee.

Easter Eggs

I spent my Easter weekend at the Mitsuwa Marketplace in New Jersey where I ate ramen and got a box of Re-ment toys. If you don't know what Re-ment goodies are, check out their website, and also the Re-Ment Addicts group on flickr. I'm always a sucker for miniature foods.