oh my gu

Accepting

2012-01-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

Accepting

5 x 7 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

This piece was done as a birthday gift for a very good friend of mine, one of the first friends I made at Otis, and one of my besties, whether she likes it or not! I'm selling prints on Society6, but she'll of course have the original. Not using the micron pen to line the dress was a little difficult, but the result was worth it. I'll try to do more pieces with less micron pen in the future, it will be my new challenge.

Also, here are process photos:

"Hard Love" Progress

2012-01-22T01:54:00.001-08:00

The vibe is the same in the new and improved sketch (right), I just added more...hardness to it (Teehehe)!

New Year, new doodles...

2012-01-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hard Love Show

2012-01-19T14:54:00.000-08:00

Yep, another long overdue post; the holidays kind of took over and my only access to a scanner was closed for the past month.

ANYWAYS, I've only been sketching random things that past month, but these sketches going are to be a painting very, very soon! These are for "Hard Love", The Hive Gallery and Studios's Valentine's day show. My friend and fellow former Otis student, Alan Kocharian will be one of the featured artists there as well. The drawing at the top is a final-ish sketch, but I would be happy to hear suggestions from anyone on how to make it more "hard love"! The show is on Feb. 4th, I'll post more details soon.

PS,
Thinking of naming this, "Comfortable Tension" or something like that...

Mini "Packs"

2011-12-05T13:05:00.001-08:00

Unwitting

3x5 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

Stalling

3x5 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

Gaining

3x5 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

Taking

3x5 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

Here are the final four pieces that I showed at the "Price...less artists" show at The Hive Gallery and Studios. Technically they are apart of the "Pack-Roles" series, but they're more just doodles I did for the show. They are for sale at The Hive through December 31st for $65 each. The opening for the show on Saturday had a great turnout, and I would love to thank everyone who showed up and supported me that night. If you couldn't make it on Saturday, Downtown LA will have their artwalk this Thursday, December 8th, and The Hive will definitely be open! Prints of all 9 of my pieces will also be available through my Society6 page. Again thank you for everyone who supported me in making these! Off to the next project.

"Price...Less" Previews....Again

2011-11-30T11:51:00.001-08:00

Shielding (Self-Portrait)

8x10 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

Leading

8x10 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

Two more new paintings for the "Price...Less Artists" show at The Hive Gallery on Saturday! I'm almost done with everything, I swear!! The last four paintings, which are much smaller, will be posted here after the opening. Hope you can make it on Saturday, here is the info again:

The Hive Gallery Group show and Performances presents:

The Hive’s Opening show and Performances

December 3rd, 8-12:30AM
... $8 door

Show Runs December 3rd-31st ( we will be closed some days in around Christmas, call for appointment)

Featured Artist 1: Josie Portillo
Featured Artist 2: Michelle Romo
Featured Artist 3: Catherine Kaleel
Tall Wall Artist: Fikrie Oz
Small Wall Artist: Roxy Morataya
Installation Artist: Daniaelle Simonsen

“Price….less Artists” (work $250 and under):

Paul Wilson / Henry F. Cram / Heidi Calvert / Em / Hestin Lostwood / Amina Harper / Kitty Brown / Monica Martinez / Paul Wilson / Mimi Yoon / Erik Siador / Nicole Linde / Paul Thomas / Marlon McWilliams / Emi Motokawa / John Lytle Wilson / Maracole / Anne Walker / Caitlin Clarkson / Celene Petrulak / Nicolette Spear / Cristina Paulos / Candice Landsberg / Charlie Chiodo / Justin Schaefer / Marine Arzuyan / Maritza Torres / Cynthia Rogers / Charles Swenson / Paul Wilson / Marcela Kotoul / Monica Martinez / Nicolette Tamara / Yumiko Awae / Maracole / Andrea Shear / Tatomir Pitariu / Edward Frausto / Jules Muck / Daisuke Okamoto / Randi Druz / Amina Harper / Anne Walker / Peter Adamyan / Gyorgi BP. Szabo / Dabbs Anderson / Ellen Schinderman / Cristina Paulos / Lisa Moneypenny / Rick Roberts / Kitty Brown / Megan Elizabeth Ford (over 250) / Miss Candice Wong / Karen Kang / Larkin / Nathan Cartwright / Stephen Chiodo / Naomi Nowak / Matt Debbaudt / Laura Cosner / Yuki Miyazaki / Mark Brunner and more!

FRONT ROOM PERFORMANCES:

8pm - mak grgic …………………………….. http://www.makgrgic.com/
9pm - zaptra …………………………………… http://www.zaptra.com/
10pm - thurlow ………………………………. http://thurlowmusic.com/
11pm - california condors ……………… http://cacondors.bandcamp.com/
12am - deadkidsyntax ………………….. http://soundcloud.com/deadkidsyntax

BACK ROOM PERFORMANCES:

Kevin Venable 8:00-9
Facebook.com/kevin.venable
Foniks 9-10
soundcloud.com/foniks
Riley Warren 10-11
Soundcloud.com/rileywarren
Jayar 11-12:30
Soundcloud.com/djjayar

Resident Artists:

Sensei / Nathan Cartwright / Mary Spring / Greg Gould / Walt Hall / Sarah Winkle / John Dang / Jinx / J.Salvador / Sphinx /
/ Feminine Oddities / Shrine / Sonik / Monica Dynamo / Stephan Canthal / Mike Street / JNGL / Chadwick Reinheardt /
/ The Little Red Writer / Randy Kono / Sara Hedstrom / Alex Schaefer / Patrick Haemmerlein / Alan DeForest / Bethany Pratt /
/ Radhika Hersey / Romina Gonzales / Yuki Miyazaki / Ink Pen Mutations Press / Doug Meyer / Glenn Fox /
Edyth Gonzalez / Daisuke Okamoto / David Reyes / Tom McDermott / Dominique Lopez / Sam “5AM” Millner / HumanTreeRobot /
Audrey Roy / Marcel DeJure / Ernie Steiner / Matt Debbaute / Graphation / JunkHauler /

BATHROOM INSTALLATIONS BY:

Alex Chiu http://alexdoodles.com/

Ichae Ackso www.ichaeackso.com

John Haley III

NEON INSTALLATION: Teemster teeemster@gmail.com

FABRIC ENVIRONMENTS/ INSTALLATION by: Sonik http://www.transmorphic.net/

BURLESQUE PERFORMANCES BY: Feminine Oddities www.feminineoddities.com

HIVE TAROT DECK READING BY:

Seraphime Angelis

Medium, Astrologer, Card Reader, Poet

sidereally.occultated@gmail.com

http://sidereallyoccultated.blogspot.com/

More "Price...Less" Previews

2011-11-26T13:21:00.001-08:00

Hiding

8x10 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

Second completed piece for the "Price...Less" Show at The Hive Gallery and Studios! More work to come this week! Here is the final sketch and the painting before I painted the hands below! I hope you can make it next Saturday!!

"Price...Less" Previews

2011-11-23T09:05:00.001-08:00

Flowing

8x10 Inches

Ink and Watercolor

Behold, first completed piece for the upcoming “Price….less Artists” (work $250 and under) show at The Hive. And it's not in the group show this time, I'm going to be their "Small Wall" Artist!!! I've been busting my hump on these as we speak, and I must say it's paying off. I still have plenty of work to do, but I'm getting very excited as the show nears. Here are little previews of the other pieces I'll have in the show:

This series of new paintings doesn't have a name yet but I'll figure it out soon! Here is the postcard and info for the show.

The Hive Gallery Group show and Performances presents:
The Hive’s Opening show and Performances
December 3rd, 8-12:30AM
$8 door
Show Runs December 3rd-31st ( we will be closed some days in around Christmas, call for appointment)
Featured Artist 1: Josie Portillo
Featured Artist 2: Michelle Romo
Featured Artist 3: Catherine Kaleel
Tall Wall Artist: Fikrie Oz
Small Wall Artist: Roxy Morataya
Installation Artist: Daniaelle Simonsen
“Price….less Artists” (work $250 and under):
Paul Wilson / Henry F. Cram / Heidi Calvert / Em / Hestin Lostwood / Amina Harper / Kitty Brown / Monica Martinez / Paul Wilson / Mimi Yoon / Erik Siador / Nicole Linde / Paul Thomas / Marlon McWilliams / Emi Motokawa / John Lytle Wilson / Maracole / Anne Walker / Caitlin Clarkson / Celene Petrulak / Nicolette Spear / Cristina Paulos / Candice Landsberg / Charlie Chiodo / Justin Schaefer / Marine Arzuyan / Maritza Torres / Cynthia Rogers / Charles Swenson / Paul Wilson / Marcela Kotoul / Monica Martinez / Nicolette Tamara / Yumiko Awae / Maracole / Andrea Shear / Tatomir Pitariu / Edward Frausto / Jules Muck / Daisuke Okamoto / Randi Druz / Amina Harper / Anne Walker / Peter Adamyan / Gyorgi BP. Szabo / Dabbs Anderson / Ellen Schinderman / Cristina Paulos / Lisa Moneypenny / Rick Roberts / Kitty Brown / Megan Elizabeth Ford (over 250) / Miss Candice Wong / Karen Kang / Larkin / Nathan Cartwright / Stephen Chiodo / Naomi Nowak / Matt Debbaudt / Laura Cosner / Yuki Miyazaki / Mark Brunner and more!
FRONT ROOM PERFORMANCES:
8pm -    mak grgic   …………………………….. http://www.makgrgic.com/
9pm -     zaptra …………………………………… http://www.zaptra.com
10pm -   thurlow   ………………………………. http://thurlowmusic.com/
11pm -   california condors ……………… http://cacondors.bandcamp.com/
12am -   deadkidsyntax    ………………….. http://soundcloud.com/deadkidsyntax
BACK ROOM PERFORMANCES:
Kevin Venable 8:00-9 ……………………….. Facebook.com/kevin.venable
Foniks 9-10 ………………………………………. soundcloud.com/foniks
Riley Warren 10-11 …………………………… Soundcloud.com/rileywarren
Jayar 11-12:30 ………………………………….. Soundcloud.com/djjayar
Resident Artists:
Sensei / Nathan Cartwright / Mary Spring / Greg Gould / Walt Hall / Sarah Winkle / John Dang / Jinx / J.Salvador / Sphinx /
/ Feminine Oddities / Shrine / Sonik / Monica Dynamo / Stephan Canthal / Mike Street / JNGL / Chadwick Reinheardt /
/ The Little Red Writer / Randy Kono / Sara Hedstrom / Alex Schaefer / Patrick Haemmerlein / Alan DeForest / Bethany Pratt /
/ Radhika Hersey / Romina Gonzales / Yuki Miyazaki / Ink Pen Mutations Press / Doug Meyer / Glenn Fox /
Edyth Gonzalez / Daisuke Okamoto / David Reyes / Tom McDermott / Dominique Lopez / Sam “5AM” Millner / HumanTreeRobot /
Audrey Roy / Marcel DeJure / Ernie Steiner / Matt Debbaute / Graphation / JunkHauler /
BATHROOM INSTALLATIONS BY:
Alex Chiu http://alexdoodles.com
Ichae Ackso www.ichaeackso.com
John Haley III
NEON INSTALLATION: Teemster teeemster@gmail.com
FABRIC ENVIRONMENTS/ INSTALLATION by: Sonik http://www.transmorphic.net
BURLESQUE PERFORMANCES BY: Feminine Oddities www.feminineoddities.com
HIVE TAROT DECK READING BY:
Seraphime Angelis
Medium, Astrologer, Card Reader, Poet
sidereally.occultated@gmail.com
http://sidereallyoccultated.blogspot.com/

Future stuff...

2011-11-10T20:48:00.001-08:00

I'm working on new things, I swear! Here are a couple of hints to a couple of paintings I'm working on for an upcoming show I'm in at The Hive Gallery early December. Info will be posted soon!

Fall time is drawing time...

2011-10-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

From current sketchbook, not a moleskine! Look look and look again!

ABAWs and Junk

2011-10-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

So I only posted once last month. I wish I could tell you that it was because I was busy, but that's not the reason. But I joined A Book A Week , created by J.T Steiny and SiMON. We meet in lots of weird places, but it's forcing me to be productive. Here's my latest book, "When I like Someone":

This new layout for blogger is screwing with the other photos for my book, so for now you'll have to look at the cover and some pages. A video of it is here. I'm attempting to work at a few things, but it's slow. More on the way later.

A Breath of Fresh Air

2011-09-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

Praise the Delta Breeze

10"x8"

Ink and Watercolor

First post of September! Starting the month off with my second illustration for the Sacramento Bee's California Forum section. The article, which is titled "A breath of fresh air: How I learned to trust the arrival of cool relief", is about the author's appreciation for the cool evening air that follows the heat during the day in Central Valley. The woman in the sky blowing onto the crowd of people represents the cool air and how people welcome its presences every evening.

Drawing the wind as a woman was really fun, and I might do something with her in the future. Painting the evening sky was a little challenging because I never paint skies in my usual work, but it turned out better than I had expected.

Special thanks to Nathaniel Levine and the Sacramento Bee for another great opportunity, I can't wait for another assignment!

I'm also working on a couple of commissions, they're still in sketch mode but they will be a post about them very soon.

Nerd Paradise

2011-08-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hard at Work

11"x 14"

Ink and Watercolor

This piece was a commissioned birthday gift from my Uncle Jose (aka, "Chipito") to my cousin Fernando. "Ferny" is a Doctor who loves video games, so my uncle wanted me to paint Ferny, at his office, daydreaming about his favorite video games. This was really fun to do, and it gave me a chance to brush up on my portrait skills, which I must say I'm getting more and more comfortable with. I know it's a no-no for some people to do commissioned work for family, but I got kind of lucky, my relatives are some of the best clients I've had thus far!

Connecting the Dots

2011-08-08T12:18:00.001-07:00

Connecting the Dots

8" x 10"

Ink and Watercolor

I can finally post this! This was a piece I did for the Sacramento Bee for an article on California agriculture in The Forum, their opinion section. This is my very first foray into editorial illustration, I'm so excited to have something published in something more than 100 people will see! Thanks to Nathaniel Levine and Sharon Okada at the Sacremento Bee for giving me this oppurtunity, I hope it leads to more!

Newspaper Spread
(I think my name could be a smaller)

Summer Sketches 2

2011-08-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

First post of August, what what!?? So July went by pretty fast, I can't believe the summer is already almost over, I'm kind of bummed. I know everyone wants to see paintings, but sit tight until Monday, my new stuff will be up for sure. But for now, look at these sketches! I actually need to get a new moleskine soon.

Remedy

2011-07-12T21:10:00.001-07:00

Remedy

5"x7"

Ink and Watercolor

$100

So this is one of my most recent projects, I still can't say much about the others, but I will say, that there are two projects, one completed and one in process. This is my submission for The Hives "Urban Masters" show, which opened on July 9th. This piece, entitled "Remedy", was a part of the "Non-Themed" show at The Hive. George Peaslee, Alan Kocharian, and Taylor Christensen, talented illustrators as well as some nice gentlemen, have work up in this show too!

"Remedy", it's based on a sketch I did a while back during the school year. It was also going to be a Word of the Week submission (the word being Remedy) but I forgot to submit it. The main idea around the piece was a remedy for sadness (little cloudy hand) is happiness, and one can find happiness with the support of those around you (bigger, colorful hands). But it works both ways, if someone you know is in need of support, it never hurts to "lend them a hand", even if they don't ask for it. It's corny, but it's true!!

Summer Sketches 1

2011-07-05T10:25:00.000-07:00

Things are happening that I can't post about just yet! All of them very good and art-related. But are are some of my more recent sketches from my moleskine. Enjoy!

Stop Line

2011-06-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

Stop Line
15" x 11"
Wire with Metal Type and Graphite
Edition of 29

Another print I did in Rebecca Chamlee's Advanced Letterpress class. For this one, I wrote down a few things I saw happen during my morning busrides to school. It was really interesting messing around with wire as a printing material. I really liked that it was a material that could be easily manipulated but making sit still and have a light impression on the paper was not my favorite thing.

The wire was used to represent the cables that run through the bus that people are supposed to pull on when they need to get the bus. And the hand at the end is supposed to be my hand pulling to stop. I'm kind of thinking that I would like to do more prints with the wire, I'm not sure, when I have time. I'm actually kind of busy this summer!

Another Name

2011-06-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Another Name
11" x 15"
Metal and Wood Type with Linoleum Block
Edition of 16

If you know me well enough, you know that I LOVE letterpress printing as much as painting. I've been dabbling in it since my Junior year at Otis, and I must say, I'm pretty great at it! This print in particular was done in my Advanced Letterpress course with the awesome Rebecca Chamlee, and it's my description of my family.

I wrote a little thing about how certain words in our household are terms of endearment for us, but may be insulting to others. Then I highlighted some of those words with Wood Type while I just used stymie (Metal Type) for the rest of the verse. It was sort of a pain printing (mo' run throughs = mo' problems), but it was worth it! I really hope to get more chances to use the letterpress in my work, it's a medium that isn't used enough, but I would like to show people that it's not just for wedding invitations.

Metro Story: A Connection (FINALLY)

2011-06-02T16:01:00.001-07:00

Metro Story : A Connection

60" x 22"
Ink, Watercolor, Housepaint

I finally did it!! I graduated from college as well as finally updating my blog! Sorry it's been a while, I pretty much devoted all of my time to this thing, as well as finishing my other classes, which I must say I did better than I thought I would do.

The ultimate homegirl, I love you!!

Other awesome people!!

Painting the bus onto the wall was first time in a while I really felt I was outside of my comfort zone, just because it really felt like I was installing something, and just handing off a frame with my work in it to a gallery owner. But I'm really happy with the way it turned out, I think I would definitely do something like that again in the future.

I would really like to continue with this idea of a bus story, it was originally was going to be 3 paintings, but my eyes were way bigger than my stomach this semester!! But still, I want to continue this as a series! If I don't have the wall space, I'll probably digitize them like I did in the smaller image above! All in all, the ultimate lesson I learned from this piece, as well as this semester is that I need to pace myself more, way more! I'm just glad it turned out well in the end.

I'm so to my family and friends of course! I really couldn't have survived these 4 years without them, I'm so serious, I think I would've been dead without these people! Even if they made me chuckle a little, I was thankful they were there to make me smile! <3

More updates on other projects soon!!

Senior Project Progress

2011-02-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

First off, sorry for not updating for almost a month, I've been hit with senioritis kind of badly the last few weeks, now I think I'm getting over it. Anyway, here are some sketches for my senior thesis project, which will be a series of paintings and an installation of books based on my experiences with Los Angeles public transportation.

Some reference...

By sharing this space of the bus, it forced me to interact with those I would normally wouldn't associate with. Therefore, it helped me not to judge them too quickly, and be braver to talk to other people, even if all I said to them was "excuse me". Being a passenger on the bus taught me if I could function amoungst total strangers, I would do fine with people at school and with my family. It also helped me love Los Angeles more because of the different kinds of people there are here, and if you put all of these people in a small space, you're always going to have an interesting ride. Ultimately, being a passenger taught me the value of face-to-face interaction in a time where many people in my age group hide behind a cell phone or a computer, all while just getting from one point to another.

And so, my paintings will be about the different experinces I've had or others have had on the bus. Experiences specifically showing by being a passenger, one can have an interesting experience and be better at face-to-face interaction, whether if it's good or bad. These paintings will also be converted into smaller books for people to take home at the senior show. I will make at least three.

Preliminary Notes, with Sketches

My first painting will be about face-to-face interaction of the romantic kind, based on a good friend's experience meeting and courting a gentlemen, while on the Culver City bus line 1.

Sketches, rough (top) and final (bottom)

Here is some of my progress so far, just figuring out what I need for supplies and sketching. I'll put up a couple more explaining my installations soon. I'm happy with what I have for now, but I hope to start paint in less than a couple of weeks, wish me luck!

Holiday Commish!

2010-12-19T22:24:00.000-08:00

Kid's Music

8"x10"

Ink/Watercolor

Last painting of the year, first commission ever! This was done as an anniversary gift for one of my favorite couples, Patty and Joe Munoz, who got married just one year before! I'm really happy that they survived the first year, I really like them together, one of the few couples that I can hang out with the two of them and it's not awkward! Patty is my cousin from my dad's side, and Joe is my new cousin! I'm so grateful for their support and praise and I was honored to do this for them!

Final Sketch

The idea was that the children represented Patty's love (she has a job in childcare) and Joe's love is represented by the rock band playing (he runs a music review site and just loves music), and the painting is supposed to be their love combining or something. She explained it better! Anyway, I loved doing it and I'm just going to be sketching for now! Happy Holidays!!

Dowtown Alturnative

2010-12-12T13:06:00.000-08:00

Home page

dtwnalt
(The Downtown Alturnative)

Check out this website I just designed. It's about my trip I took to Downtown LA a while ago, using a new bus route (Usually use the Metro 33, but I used Line 12 from the Big Blue Bus and the Metro Rapid line 720). The experiment was successful, and I'm glad this site is done!

Photo gallery

Never thought I could design a site. Tedious to say the least, but it came out nicely. One more final is done, wish me luck on the others. Perhaps during my winter break I'll re-design my portfolio site or something. Depends if I'm awake or not!

Price...less Show Piece

2010-11-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

Just finished a painting for another group show at The Hive on December 4th. I wanted to re-do a painting I did during the summer, which was my first on hot-press watercolor paper. I have to admit, it's n0t my best painting (small one on the right), but the re-vision is a big improvement.

Cautious Optimism

8" x 10"

Ink/Watercolor

The concept I had was pretty loose, but as I was re-drawing it I came up with something. When something good come one's way, that person is happy, but still have fears that the good thing may slip away, thus they are cautiously optimistic. The two people are about to embrace but they have their hands up as if they want the embrace to happen but are still reluctant. I have yet to update my blog with more exciting stuff that has happened and I apologize, my work has just been catching up with me.

Metro-sketch

2010-11-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the overdue update, school is not letting up as usual. Anyway, my second assignment in Bob Dob's Advanced Illustrative Applications class was to make a sketchbook of...well, sketches while waiting for the bus, an activity which is almost become second nature to me. I want to make a slideshow to show all 23 sketches I did, so here are some of my favs:

The result was a tad rushed but it still looks pretty awesome, I would love to work on another before the year ends. I used a moleskine "Japanese Album" which is their fancy-pant way of saying it's an accordian book! I liked this style because it enabled me to look at my sketches all at the same time if I wanted too. This is my 3rd moleskine that I have owned, no way in heck it's gonna be my last! I have more news to share soon, I just barely had this pocket of time to update at the moment.

More updates to come soon!

Book vs. E-Reader

2010-10-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

8.5"x11" Ink/Watercolor

Final for the 3rd assignment from my editorial illustration class. Not my favorite, but it's still good. Might work on it some more soon.

Sketches:
Rough Sketches

Final 1

Final 2

Too Legit

2010-10-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

FINALLY just finished my pieces for the Legit Show, an event presented by the wonderful Zoey and Andrea of Mini Mogul which is opening tomorrow night (Yes, it was last minute, I know, whatevs).

Things at school have been going faster than ever! All nighters are the usual, but my h0mework so far is manageable. Going back made me realized how much I didn't have in common with some people, and how outgoing I've become compared to some of my classmates. It makes me happy that I actually have confidence, but I'm beginning to feel the loneliness that other people in my field have told me about at the same time. But friends and family have been and always will keep me going!

Anyways, please come to "Legit" Mini Mogul's very first art show, I'm really nervous, so please come if you can to tell me my work is good! :D

Process:

Finals:

The Passengers

Ink/ Watercolor

5"x7"

"Blue"

"Green"

"Orange

Less Than Zero

2010-10-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Less Than Zero Cover
12.5" x8.5", Ink/Watercolor

Hey y'all, here is my lastest painting for my Advanced Illustrative Applications class, which is my revision of the book cover for Bret Easter Ellis's "Less Than Zero". I'm going to work on the contrast later, when I'm not so swamped! I may just even expand it into a who cover, I'm not sure yet.

Sketches:

Final Sketch:

Anyways, I'm going to be in two shows this month! It starts with my piece, "The Sign Soriee" In the "Hell vs. The Monster Mash" show at the The Hive Gallery. Then, I'll have 4 pieces, including an old painting, "The Metro Mix" up at The Spring Arts Tower, for Mini Mogul's first opening, The Legit Show. The two girls that run the company are really sweet and awesooome! If you didn't make it to the Hive opening yesterday, you have until the 30th. I'll keep people posted about the Legit Show as I get more info!

Is This America?

2010-09-29T09:33:00.001-07:00

This is my 2nd assignment for my editorial illustration class. We read an article about religious prejudice in America, which is currently focused on Muslims. The idea was the hands are trying to repress the Muslim woman so much that they have created a barrier against her. I didn't use red, white and blue colors on purpose because I thought it was cheese it up too much. I love how it came out, hope someone from NY times sees this. I'll put up the sketches for this soon, I have them on my flash drive somewhere.

Unwanted Barriers
6"x8" Ink/Watercolor

Final Sketch

Hell Week

2010-09-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I'm going to be in a show at The Hive Gallery in Downtown LA on the 2nd. My painting for it is pretty small, but it's something. Please try to come by if you can!

I wish my name could be on this card...XP

My painting in the show is titled "The Signal Soiree". It's a small piece but I still love it. Here it is framed, and my process! Hope you all can make it to my show. There is more info about it on the site: http://www.hivegallery.com/pop.htm

The Signal Soiree

5"x5" Ink/Watercolor

Awful things in small packages

2010-09-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Awful things in small packages
7"x7", Watercolor/Ink

Here is my fist painting of the semester. It's for my Editorial Illustration class, a new elective, which I'm already enjoying very much. The first assignment was to select a proverb and using a current event illustrate what you think the proverb meant.

Rough sketches

I choose "your sins will find you out" and the concept is how one can become consumed and "imprisoned" by their bills and debt (represented by the credit cards), which is now becoming more of the norm. Took me forever of course, my hand hurts just thinking about it, but it was worth it! I'll post up more sketches soon.

Summer Sketches: The Finale

2010-09-01T13:15:00.001-07:00

Sketches I did during the last weeks of summer. I'll miss it but I'm glad to be back in school. I feel so pumped but the laziness of the summertime still is washing over me. I'll have some paintings up soon I hope along with photos of the upcoming crazy gallery hopping session I'm about to have in the next three weeks. Wish me luck and I wish you guys luck as well.

Summer Sketches Part 3: The third round

2010-08-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Here are more sketches I've done in my moleskine, which I hope to be almost done with once school starts. I'm halfway through it, so it's all good. I've attempted to paint a couple times but I don't really have any motivation as of yet. I'm more inclined to just sketch more. But I'm not gonna give up on painting for the summer! At least one thing before school starts.

"Nakies" Finally done

Sketch for a poster design I did for Control Industry.

Sketches from a job I almost got. Still got 40 bucks

I'm pumped for school (wtf?) and a buttload of gallery shows coming up in the next month, and I'm determined to make it to all of them!! Anyone wanna help me with a ride or something I'll pay you in food and a hug, possibly a sketch. I hope to see you guys at these events as well.

Intern Madness!

2010-07-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

For the past 3 months I've been an intern at Control Industry. They are a small company in Gardena, CA who help their clients design merch for them. Right now I'm working on designs for potential posters, which are paintings I had that I redesigned on photoshop, here are my favorites:

It's more graphic design than illustration but least I get to sharpen my photoshop skills, and I'm not getting coffee for anyone, and I'm getting paid!! I will post more soon, I hope.

here is their site:
http://www.controlindustry.com/shop/

Summery Sketchies for Summer

2010-07-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

I tried painting in the moleskine, it ended with a snail shell blob thingy

the girl on the left is this awesome person! :D http://spilledmilk.carbonmade.com/

So I think I'm sort of incapable of painting over the summer, these will do! I was busy last week at work so I haven't finished a lot of what I have in my moleskine, so I don't wanna show them yet. XP

My new boyfriend

2010-07-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

I got a moleskine sketchbook last month and it's my new boyfriend, sorry fellas!! But seriously it's my first one and it's awesome (*sings.* moleskine sketchbook, I totally get you now!!). So here are some of my favorite sketches I've done in it. I'm getting quite good at drawing hands and people, but I'm really seeing that my favorite artists influence me...not sure if I should be worried. I'm trying to do one hour of sketching each day, an idea I got from my new bff http://mikeuphoff.blogspot.com! I need to get into painting soon, but if anyone of you guys wanna do a paint session, hit me up, I need friendship! <3

Business Card Drafts

2010-06-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

I've been working on some business card ideas, and I need people's opinion! Basically I want to go with an image on the front and my information on the back of it. I was thinking about making the info using letterpress, I think it would look really nice that way! What do you think???

Possible Front Images

Contact Info Drafts

Where the hell I've been lately...

2010-06-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been on summer break for about 5 weeks. Lots of stuff has happened! This summer I'd like to concentrate on figuring out what I want to do after I graduate and getting my name out there somehow!!

Crowded Convenience

5" x 7" each, Ink and Watercolor

So far something I'm doing is working; I sold a piece at Meltdown at their last show, I'm making new business cards and I'm doing an internship with Control Industry. It seems somewhat sketchy that some place in Hong Kong wants me to submit work, but I may just ask other people what they think about it. Also working on drawing and painting, and another painting is on its way! It's kind of a secret because it's a gift. Here is a quicky of the final sketch:

Also been trying to go to shows of course! Some shows I haven't been able to get to, mostly due to lack of a ride there! But I'm still down to going to any interesting shows in my area! I just went to the Culver City Art Walk with my sis. Most of the galleries had great shows, and here are some of my favs:

Hopefully the next 5 weeks will be just as busy as these 5 weeks! :3

First show EVA

2010-05-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, (or the 2-4 people that actually read my blog), I'm in a show on Saturday at Meltdown comics. The Show is called O Prefessional Show! The artwork on this thing is of course mine!

Artwork:
Crowded Convenience Series
5" x 7" Ink and Watercolor

IF: Dip

2010-04-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

"Dip" 4.5"x8"
Ink and Watercolor

My word of the week submission for "Dip". Just messing with pattern and a new way I discovered how to make Payne's gray without the actual color.

IF: Rescue

2010-04-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

Last week's word of the week, "Rescue"

"Rescue" Ink and Watercolor, 4"x6" each

IF: Perspective, Brave and Expired

2010-03-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy with homework and I don't really have any energy for anything else. Here are some words of the week I haven't put up yet: Perspective, Brave and Expired

"Perspective" Pen and Ink, 5"x7"

Brave Watercolor, Pen and Ink, 5"x7"

Expired 6"x 8"

The Metro Mix

2010-03-06T00:41:00.000-08:00

"The Metro mix"

9"x15" Brown Ink and Watercolor

My final for the LA weekly assignment, my theme was just about public system and its ability to show LA's diversity. It took me about 30 hours over 2 days to finish, but I would still like to try finishing shading on it, I ran out of payne's grey just when I finished painting the buses. I was so happy everyone liked it, but others finals were awesome too, we all just have to try and get on the commercial train. Thank god our next assignment is the zine, it's supposed to be more fun and a little easy since we have longer to do it!

Final rough sketch

IF: Propagate

2010-02-26T01:08:00.000-08:00

6"x8" Micron Pen with Watercolor

Smartest sounding WOW ever. The word basically means to increase, so I had the idea of an artist increasing the space his art takes. The artist basically a good friend of mine, although you can't see his face, but he is well known for his fashion sense. The design is based on a poster he co-created with another cool person. The other definition means to reproduce naturally, so I'm interested to see what other people come up with.

Last Weekend...

2010-02-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

I went to the opening of "Deva Loka" by Yoshitaka Amano at LaBasse Projects, with Yoskay Yamamato's work, "Tell me a Story" in the little gallery. Both shows were wonderful, but I have to say that I favored Yamamoto's work a little more, I just prefered the style of his sculptures.

]\Amano's work yes was amazing and both nostalgic for me, but I just felt a little bit like I had grown out of being an anime nerd. Well, not ALL THE WAY, of course, I can't forget what inspired me, DUH, but seeing all of those kids cosplaying at the event, (the costumes were quite inventive and cute I must say) just made me think, "eeeh, this is cool, I'm just not that excited about it anymore...". Plus, I like Amano's past work A LOT better, all the concept art he's done for Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy campared to his newest work, was less...campy I wanna say. Maybe that was the point, I'm not sure, but it was still lovely.

Favorite costume that night

Yamamoto's work was quite adorable and very well made, though, I actually met him and I could tell he cared about his work. Especially when I complimented him on his pin, and then kind of shouted at me about where to buy one, I think he was just nervous. I actually thought he was an intern due to his young age, which we both laughed at, then he told me that Nate Fizzel was his roomie (I was holding Fizzel postcard in my hand). But I did get an Amano pin, yay me.

Best picture I got all night, lol

Cuute!

I have to start going to other galleries, like the ones at the Bergamont, at least monthly like I've been doing with LaBasse. The Corpo gallery for example was especially great, there next show in March seems especially amazing. I hope I get to intern at any of these galleries over the summer.

LA Weekly Assignment Sketches

2010-02-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

For our next assignment in Communication Studio, we are doing illustrations for the "LA Life" section in LA Weekly, which has featured illustrations from JT Steiny, JAW Cooper, and Julian Callos. My main theme in these sketches are the bus systems that you can take all over LA. And I mean ALL OVER. I just think they fit LA because I've lived here all of my life, and since I was 12, I've had to bus at least 1 bus somewhere every other day. The buses are not only cheap transportation but to me represent LA's diversity, because if you want to see a Beverly Hills skank and a Hobo, at the same place, ride the bus. I'll be doing more skteches and posting them up soon. I'm expanding on the flying buses as well.

If: "Muddy" and "Adrift"

2010-02-22T08:53:00.000-08:00

5"x3" Watercolor and Sepia Pen

3"x5" Watercolor, Sepia Pen

I'm putting these two together because I did them in a kind of series. They're both portraits of my cousins, "Muddy" is my cousin Brody and "Adrift" is his older sister, Emma. My favorite WOWs so far.

EVERYTHING BUT THE KITSCH N'SYNC Submissions

2010-02-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

Solace in Numbers

"5x6"

Watercolor, Sepia Pen

Tadaaah! I'll for sure work on the background (I have ideas for them already). Everyone's turned out AMAZIING! So happy for those that got into the show and also a little jealous, but they deserved it. Trying not to feel bad about myself, but still bummed, at least people have only said good things about these. And Nathan said he wanted to hang them at the school, so my frames will actually be put into good use. I love these paintings and I'm glad I kept working on them, I'll definitly keep working with these mediums.

IF: Focused

2010-02-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

A little late, I know, but here is my word of the week submission for last week's word, "focused". The man shaded is so focused on his reading he doesn't realized that he's about to walk into a pole. Recently gotten a little more comfortable with graphite rendering, now if I can get my hand to do that with ink, I think I'll be set.

4"x6" pen and ink and graphite

Country Western Block

2010-02-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

For our first assignment in Alternative Materials class, we had to produce two lino block prints based on the TITLE of a country song. I choose to do "Lonely Blue Boy" by Conway Twitty. It's actually a pretty decent song. For the final two pieces I'm showing in this post, I will draw in faces with graphite. This assignment has been the most fun in the semester so far:

Sketch

One of the blocks on the letterpress

Eight of the best prints

The two prints I will draw on
Chipboard and BFK Paper, 8"x10"

Final Block
(Only decided to draw on one, the other one maybe later)

IF: Clumsy

2010-01-28T23:26:00.000-08:00

This week's word: Clumsy. Used prismacolor marker to color for the human traffic accident. Perhaps I'll paint the rest later.

EVERYTHING BUT THE KITSCH N'SYNC Sketches

2010-01-26T23:33:00.001-08:00

A few idea sketches for the EVERYTHING BUT THE KITSCH N'SYNC show at La Luz De Jesus gallery.

I'm hoping my teachers will like at least ONE of these!

The ones in dark pencil are ideas for portraits in which I was trying to show how people under stress seek comfort from others in their situation. So I wanted to do portraits of people under stress, one is of a mother and the other is a business man. The hands represent others in that person's situation, comforting them.

The ones in red are sketches of portraits I wanted to do portraits of people I see on the bus regularly. I always thought that it was odd that I would see these people everyday, yet they're total strangers to me.

Death Portrait: Dan Naddor

2010-01-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

For our very first assignment in Communication Studio IV, we had to find an obiturary and illustrate a portrait for the person who has passed on. Mine was about Dan Naddor, a crossword puzzle constructor for the LA Times. He was well known for them and was also known for loving language. I may change some things around in the future, we'll see. Will also put up other sketches soon!

Link to know more about Dan Naddor:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/07/local/la-me-dan-naddor7-2010jan07

Rough sketch

Final
8"x10"
Watercolor and Technical Pen, 140LB Water color Paper

IF: Wilderness

2010-01-21T23:46:00.001-08:00

This week, wilderness. Loving the trees in the front, just wish I could make it look more nighttimy.

Watercolor on 90LB watercolor paper.

Xmas gift

2009-12-23T23:13:00.001-08:00

Made a painting of Jack Skellington for a family friend. He better appreciate it, it was either this or Jack slippers that could've been too small for him. Ink and More ink, 3.5"x 7.5". So far just sketching, more paintings hopefully.

End of the Semester...

2009-12-17T19:15:00.001-08:00

So today was my last day of the semester. Honestly, I don't think I passed every class with flying colors. And I'm also scared out of my mind about what my teachers, whom I respect and love very much, told me about my lack of consistency in my work during the review.

But at least I'm doing something right, they also said that I'm not afraid to try something new and that I have strong ideas. Every time I keep telling myself they said these things, it makes me feel a little better each time. Also, I just have to keep telling myself that all of my friends have different styles, so I shouldn't try to be like any of them, but be the best version of myself I can be. Honestly, I'm jealous of a few of them, especially those who got the offer to sell their stuff at an upcoming auction. But I hate that I feel that way, because without these people, I would go crazy at school. I just gotta work on my style over the break, and I need to stop SECOND GUESSING MYSELF AT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!!

A good friend of mine http://tchrist.blogspot.com/ said that I need to identify the reason why I always hate my work. So far, I think it has to do with how I never feel like I did my best. But I want to figure this out more during the break. Along with this friend, all of my friends and instructors are amazing artists and even more amazing people, I love them all and I'm thankful I get to go to school with them. I'm pumped for the break, I'm gonna try to have faith in myself that I will get better.

IF: Crunchy

2009-12-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

Last WOW of the semester *tear* . This week was crunchy, and I did this around one of my favorite activities during the colder weather, stopping on dead leaves and litsen to them crunch under my feet. Best part about walking home everyday. I think it's the dryer equivelent to stepping in puddles.

4"x7" watercolor on watercolor paper

Sketches

2009-12-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

Just some sketches for my Drawing Fantastic class. They were supposed to be due before Thanksgiving but I wasn't at the last class.

Sean Cheetham Demo

2009-11-20T20:58:00.000-08:00

Sean Cheetham came to our school today to give us a demo of how he paints people. He's quite a sweetheart and a great artist. He's currently based in Pasadena I think and his technique currently is to sketch, underpaint with acrylic and do another layer with oils.

Something I would like to try. Everyone was quite excited and some even stayed until 6:30 to see him finish. He also teaches at Art Center I believe, teaching figure painting. I would LOOOVE to take one of his classes.

What I liked about him the most was that he used A LOT of paint, so I was happy to see I'm not the only one who takes up the entire space on their palate. Although his work is almost rendered like a photograph, when you actually see them, they still look like paintings. Also, he seemed like a person, like many artists, including myself who constantly push themselves to do their best to the point to which they don't like a lot of the things they make. I hope we have other artists come soon, it was truly a treat, it made me want to paint and render realistically again!

Other highlights of the day:

My friend Nicole calling our teacher Nathan Ota "silly"

A friend of a friend, Sarah, dubbing Morgan "Chubaca of the illustration department"

JT Steiny drawing a happyface on my finger

Dialouge Progress

2009-11-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

For our current comm studio assignment we had to illustrate a responce to a written dialouge from someone else, addressed to us. It could've been a letter, a birthday card, or even something we wrote to ourselves a few years ago. Mine is a valentine's day card from the parentals, it reminds me that they're always there for me, even when I'm in a tough situation. They help me to keep me going. I'm doing a cut paper/watercolor piece.
Here are some photos of my progress:

Please Be Brave Show

2009-11-14T23:33:00.000-08:00

Just went to the Deth P. Sun's show at Giant Robot 2. The show was PAACKED! The artwork was wonderful, and seemed to tell a story of this cat/warrior thing and his life. A lot of it was really cute, it would work both in children's illustration and as great t-shirt design. When I get paid again, I may buy some of the cheaper artwork, it was as low as 20 bucks! I'm not sure how he did it, but it looked he could've drawn it by hand and then digitally painted it. Hopefully all the pics I took are good proof for my practicum teacher as a cultural event.

Here are some of my favorites:

A look at the entire set up of the show:

IF: Blur

2009-11-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

IF submission for the word, "blur". Thought about how memories can seem blurry, even from the night before. Roughly 6"x7.5" on illustration board, watercolor. Like everything in this painting except the flipper, I didn't use reference for it, and I should've. Used watercolor to outline objects instead of pen. It was fun.

IF: Skinny

2009-11-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

I don't really have the time this week for do something that elaborate, or pretty. So I just did the first thing that came to mind in my tiny sketchbook my friend http://tchrist.blogspot.com/ gave me! I'm a lover of skinny jeans, don't really know why.

IF: Fast

2009-10-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

IF submission for "Fast". Feeling Halloween plus Zombies are awesome! I loved drawing this guy so much that I decided to name him Harvey, after Harvey Pekar, he kind of looks like him. He's basically chasing someone who apparently isn't fast enough to survive.

8.5"x5" Watercolor on illustration board

Editorial in Blue

2009-10-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

For my commuincation studio III class, we choose an article from any magazine or newspaper and did an illustration for it. My article was about an African teen (who now is in his twenties) who basically helped his village become self-sufficient in electricity by making windmills from scrapes from cars and bikes.

It's a feel-good story, something I don't really gravitate towards for illustration, but I tried to this time! I really loved drawing it, but I think I'll re-do the painting with more color in it. I'll put up the layout soon as I figure out how to turn it into a jpeg.

Here is the link to the original article:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/kamwamba-windmill/

9.5" X13.5" Watercolor.

Original Sketch:

Final Layout:

IF: Frozen

2009-10-22T22:40:00.001-07:00

IF submission for "Frozen". Brain Freeze, the gift that keeps on giving. Watercolor 5"x5.5" on illustration board.

IF: Flying

2009-10-15T23:31:00.000-07:00

This week's word is "Flying". The little boy is based on a friend's little brother. He's quite energetic and hilarious! I'll put it up in color later.

Color:

IF: Germs

2009-10-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

This week for IF, the word is "germs". I wanted to do something about public transportation and how it can be pretty dirty, but I wasn't sure how to draw it. Then I asked my younger sister what she thought about "Germs" she said that she before she thinks of the actual thing, she thinks of the Punk Rock band called The Germs. So I thought of doing a double-pun. My sister is the girl in the center, listening to The Germs while being surrounded by people who easily can spread them to her while on the bus. I'll put it in ink later, but I'm not sure if I want to have too much color in it though. Maybe I'll make copies of it and see which one my class likes most.

Edit: thinking either shaded with black watercolor, muted colors to make the green from the guache stand out more, and the characters still have depth.

1st Final Draft:

IF: Pattern

2009-10-01T23:44:00.001-07:00

Illustration Friday submission, this week's word was pattern. The numbers signify the times I set on my cell to get up every morning, hence the warm colors. The girl in the center is muah, not wanting to start a brand new day.

Shit Williams

2009-09-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Almost done with the portrait project for Drawing and Painting class. This is a typographical portrait of George Carlin, who was an awesome comedian. He appeared in a few Kevin Smith films (the Cardinal in DOGMA). He died last year at 71. I wanted to try to introduce my love of type, and comedy in my art with this project. It's a 12x16 business card for FCC employee, Shit Williams. There was supposed to be 7 of these, but I don't that much time to do all of them. My instructor agreed. But I would like to do a few more as a series. Maybe before Juinor Reviews! :D

Cool/Warm Sea Extraveganza

2009-09-27T15:55:00.001-07:00

So this is our final acrylic assignment for in Comm studio III. We needed to take an image, and repaint it using cool and warm colors. This is the cool one, also my first painting of underwater. Ocean life kind of scares me, to be honest, I went snorkeling when I was 11 and it freaked me out, I even kicked a fish. But I'm trying to put that fear aside to challenge myself. The real challenge will be to do the warm coloreds for this. Wish me luck!

WOW: Infinite

2009-09-24T22:40:00.001-07:00

This is my submission for IF, this week's word is "infinite". I got the idea from the arguments my sister and I have about who has a larger work load, since she goes to school and works at the Old Navy at the 3rd St. Promenade. I think that at times, our workloads are about equal. For example, one of her tasks at work is to fix up clothing displays, which she says feels like something that can take forever. The equivalent for me to this might be, finals week.

Marjane Satrapi Portrait

2009-09-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last week, my teacher for comm studio taught us a technique for acrylic that combined the slick texture of oil with the layering technique of acrylic. It took me a while to get the hang of layering, but I'll catch on eventually. I really enjoyed this technique, less faustrating than texture. Acrylic is slowly becoming my friend again. This is a portrait of one my favorite artists, Marjane Satrapi. She made a movie, so she's important! :D

IF: Welcome

2009-09-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's a little scary for welcome, but when I think of a word, my mind thinks of its opposite. This is the result, I'll probably re-post it to make the door even more frightening along with my thumbnail sketch of the project. Done in charcoal on strathmore paper.

W.O.W: Strong

2009-09-09T08:41:00.001-07:00

This is my concept for the W.O.W (word of the week) submission for Illustration Friday website, which we are to join for my Comm Studio III class. The word is "Strong", which made me think of how much materials the student body of Otis carries, weather or not they have a car. So I gave a shout out to my colleagues with this submission. The idea being that despite his body mass, the boy just walked over the hill, meaning his passion for his work is strong enough to get him over that hill. I'll do the final piece on illustration board.

And here is the final piece:

Acrylic Adventures...

2009-09-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

So for my first assignment in Comm Studio III, we could paint anything we wanted to, as long we used the painting method our teacher showed us. I had no clue what I wanted to do, so I just found a still life photo on flickr and without drawing it first, tried to copy it with acrylics! The texture was not my cup of tea, but the cleanup was SO easy, it makes up for the texture! Still not sure which paints are better though, Acrylics or oil, I'll leave that for the near future.

Here is my reference:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22209535@N05/2385832654/

Shake dat' Roboass!

2009-08-17T00:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (technically) I went to the second day of the Giant Robot show/Yard Sale, "Junk in the Trunk".

I couldn't make it to the first day because I was being interviewed in WeHo! Anywaaay... there were a lot of awesome pieces, along with a lot of stuff in the store I wanted to buy. The Sawtelle/Olympic area, by the by, is a great place to find bday gifts!

The Yard Sale portion, honestly was barren because I got there too late, plus everything seemed really expensive. Also, they had really old PeTa posters the creeped me out. I like animals, and it is fucked up what companies are doing, but that stuff shouldn't be at a yard sale. Then again it is Giant Robot. There was a few books I wanted to buy. The ones I wanted the most were a Jeff Soto Book and a Watchmen book, which I was surprised that my library doesn't have in stock. The book by Jeff Soto was about 41 dollars and was signed by him!!! My boyfriend tells me if he had tons of money, he'd spend it on video games, I would buy art supplies and art books.

I also got a new folder and a pin to accompany my unicorn one on my purple bag, I felt buyer's remorse for a while, but I needed a folder to carry all of my sketches not in my sketchbook! Along with the folder and pin, I got tons of new show cards for my collection, one of them was for a show right nearby me, happening in September. I also got boba milk tea for lunch (needed bus money). All in all, I'd say it was a good day, I bought stuff and I went out, plus I got chores done, that always calms me down. I hope I'm able to go to more shows during the school year, where I should network myself, but I'm terrified of sounding like a bitch talking about myself. Hopefully, I'll be able to juggle everything, but as long as my family is there for support, and my friends keep being hilarious, I think I'll be okay.

We Ho Adventures

2009-08-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

Today I went to West Hollywood for a job inerview at the M+B Gallery which usually has shows for photographers and some painters on ocassion (Mark Denker). I got there too early so I walked around for about a half-hour, going to other galleries.

It wasn't completely deserted, but there was traffic through the neighborhood. The two galleries that I checked out were the Seyhoun Gallery and Louis Stern Fine Arts. Both of the women that ran them were really nice, the Louis Stern one actually gave me a DVD of their current show of metalwork by Knopp Ferro. There was a Vintage store I wanted to look through but it was emtpy and the sales people were just sitting in the back watching me peck in...great sales tactic?

When it was the interview, finally, the woman Shannon R. was very welcoming and friendly, as was the gallery, it was open spaces and closed spaces. Getting up there would be a pain but I think I would love working there. They seemed very flexible, other than the last gallery I went to, maybe it's the fresh air. All in all, I hope SOMEONE hires me for an internship, I just want not feel lazy when I go back to school. If I didn't do a lot of art work, at least I got a job, right?

Ps,

"Barack HUSSEIN Obama, I say his last name because it matters"

- Will Forte in Blonde Wig, SNL Sketch

Summer Painting Three: Lovsea

2009-08-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

While watching Coming to America a couple of weeks ago, the following quote got stuck in my head, "There is a fine line between love and nausea", Jame Earl Jones said it of all people. The quote is funny as it is true, love is never easy; it can bring you happiness as well as many other things including illness. Then the idea came to me to do a painting around the quote and a little sketch of a tree I had done, everyone and their mother loved it. And so, I decided to use the tree in a two part painting, one of the tree in good health (love) and the tree in not so good health (hate). These are just some sketches I had done, I'm not sure that I should use to the couple in it or not, I thought they would be cute in the tree!

The Sketches, along with a drawing from my adorable cousin Emma (Second Page). They are pretty cool trees:

Figure Drawing

2009-08-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

To keep up with my skill I tried to practice drawing people. I used references from a site that helps you find photo references from flickr. It's called compfight, http://compfight.com/. I haven't done any in a while, but I'll try doing some more before summer ends. My favorites were the ravers in ink! Ps, I must find a camera to call my own! :/

Hammerday

2009-07-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to the Hammer in westwood to chillax and enjoy looking at some art. The stuff there was awesome, my favorite exhibit was "Urban China". Larry Johnson was great too, I even tried to sketch on his pictures! I liked Johnson's work because it had a lot to do with typography. But it still spoke about the time he lived in, and how he felt connected to the Kennedy family.

The book store was great too, I wanted to buy a few books from there myself. Both of which were talking about Latin Culture. So being a Latina and a history buff, the books were like a dream come true. Urban China was great too, because the magazine covers just had my typography/graphic design meter going crazy! I also drew outside for a couple of hours, just the trees and some of the building. Nothing better than practice. I may go to the Getty as well this month, I would like it if someone would come with me, plus the place is a lot bigger so there might be more to draw.

Highlights from the Hammer Visit:

The magazine covers from the "Urban China" exhibit that were my favorite.

Table display

Nic Hess display. This shows the tape is awesome.

A sketch of the courtyard, it was very relaxing

Sketches of outside, a painting and a flower

Summer Painting Two: Thinking Like An Adult

2009-06-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is the second official project for the summer! This might be done before the first painting because I'm not trying to be realistic. This is basically fanart for one of my favorite comedians, Russell Brand! It's based off of this joke:

I loved this joke and so I decided make it a painting. It's going to be watercolor, pretty basic because that's just me goofing off in my art. :D Hope you'll love it!

Final Composition (Put up my thumbnails later)

Jacknife!

2009-06-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

I was watching The Office episode, "Cafe Disco" and I realized...

Jacknife is in it!!! LOOK Omg, Superjail + The Office = FTW!?!

That is all..

Keeping up

2009-06-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

It's hard to do...I have a deviantart, a bluecanvas, blogspot and I haven't tried to post stuff of my illustrationmundo account because I'm WAAAAY too chicken (I feel so lame compared to those guys). I've decided to just post recent stuff on bluecanvas and deviantart, which posting the process on here. Wish me luck, I need to take better pictures!!

Re-Discovery!

2009-05-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

I just found this cartoon gem from like 7 years ago! I remember seeing it and falling in love with everything about it. The cartoon is called "A Kitty Bo Bo Show" and it was in the running with many other pilots on Cartoon Network and was a runner up to Codename: Kids Next Door. Don't get me wrong KND was also a good show. But Cartoon Network should've totally given this cartoon a chance. I saw this other video about how the creator has been trying to pitch it to other networks or thinking of making it a webseries! But that was two years ago. And with the many comments on the youtube video of the Bo Bo pilot, I think we shouldn't stop trying to make it an actual series!!

Summer Painting

2009-05-19T19:38:00.001-07:00

During the summer I hope to make a series a paintings, reflecting a color and women I consider to be kickass. Each color will be based on the woman's favorite animal and my interpretation of that person as that animal. I hope to do at least 4 of these.
These are my thumbnails:

Final Background and four final iterations of Sunny (Before final sketch):
I'm thinking of going with sketch number 4 because I feel it has the most movement. I just have to work out the anatomy first.
Final Composition (Update), I'll put up a more detailed version later:

Resume

2009-05-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

I need some opinions on my resume. I did some changes that are more related to my experience at college! Tell meh what you think!

http://www.bluecanvas.com/view-blog.php?blog_id=264

Done, son!

2009-04-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so uh, my last day...

lAARRKKKUUU!!!
Now that I got that out, um for the most part, not so bad. I had to do sophomore reviews in which I had to be interviewed by 3 teachers who would tell me what I'm good at and what I need to work on. So uh...according to them I suck a drawing, so I need to work on it more, practice, practice, practice!!! They didn't really say that, they (particularlly JT Steiny and Daniel Lim, who are great illustrators) meant that I needed to work on how I finalize more work, in terms of contrast and color.

That's not so bad, right? It really just is a major kick in the ass for me to draw a lot over the summer! I'm excited, but a lot more afraid that to refine my skills. What if I just don't get it? I really hope that I do. I also need to find work, Daniel recomended me to some sites that I will look at, right now before I go back into my bed and veg for a couple of days in my jammies! Wish me luck and I wish luck to all of my friends, who I wouldn't have survived this year without! Thanks for making me laugh! <3

Constant Gallery

2009-03-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

I was unable to go to the Norton Simon museum in Pasedena because it's way too far from where I live, so I went to the Constant Gallery, one of the many galleries of the Culver City's art district. Its current exhibition was awesome.
The artist's name is Bill McMullen, and he was an art director for Def Jam before branching more out into his art, which varies according to medium (Neon Display, Woodcut, or Acryllic). What I loved about it most was that he was able to use themes of the hip-hop world but they don't overwhelm you.
It felt like a really great rap song that didn't use any gimmicks (robot voice, an overpriced video) and the rapper just used his or her talent to expess him or herself. McMullen used his creative talents to express what he loves about hip-hop culture. Here are some pictures I took with my cell phone!

Here is their website, enjoy!!
http://www.theconstantgallery.com/The_Constant_Gallery_2.html

Aarggh...

2009-03-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

Process books,

Lame to make but very useful...
Gathering all of your info leading up to a final result of an assignment, you compile everything into a book of your "process". The point of these are to show anyone all of the effort you've put into an assignment, or multiple assignments. Up to now from the beginning of this school year, I've made about 4 of them. I will posts pictures on my favorites! Again, these are a pain in the ass to make!! But they're worth while in the end!

Favorite of favs, Process book of the Visual Metaphor poster:

Page of the final poster.

Welcome

2009-03-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!
I decided I'm making a blog as another way to promote my work. Here is a little bit of info on me:

My name is Roxy
I'm 19 years old
Currently attending Otis College of Art and Design, majoring in Illustration.
Live in Los Angeles
I love electronica music Particularly Justice and Digitalism
If you would like to contact me, look me up on Myspace, Facebook, and Deviantart
I'll do my best to update this blog with my work! :D