CTN Holiday Group Show!

As I mentioned earlier, a couple of my pieces will be featured in this year's Creative Talent Network Holiday group show at Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks, CA. If you are in the area, stop by on Thursday, Dec 6th between 6 and 10pm for an evening of holiday cheer, food, and some awesome comic and animation art!
There will also be a selection of original mini canvas ornaments for sale, with 100% of the proceeds from those purchases going to the Starlight Starbright Children's foundation, whose mission is helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear, and isolation through entertainment, education, and family activities. But that's not all - there will also be a 10% discount on any item in stock in the West Gallery during the show. Admission is free, so come support a good cause and get some holiday shopping done at the same time!

You can find more information on the show here.

Excess

This was originally going to be my submission for last week's Illustration Friday topic - "Zoo" - but it unfortunately took longer than I had hoped. Luckily, I think it still works well (maybe even better!) for this week's topic - "Excess".

There is a bit of a back-story for this illustration. Apparently, I look like a lion. Really. I was informed of this in the sweetest way possible by a co-worker's wife one day while standing in the kitchen at work. I was also told that if anyone says otherwise, they are lying. So don't even try, because it won't work. Basically, I have A LOT (i.e. "Excessive"amount) of hair. It looks like a mane. So much so, in fact, that at first glance it might be startling. You might think that a lion is walking around the corner. But really, its just me. So don't worry too much.

Here I am with a lion. We do have quite a few similarities, but I hope this illustration will help you to tell us apart. Thanks for stopping by everybody! Have a great weekend!

Small Scale

I was asked to paint a 4x4 inch canvas that will serve as a tree ornament at an upcoming gallery show in LA (More information on that to come shortly- I promise!). It has been a looong time since I worked on something at such a small scale, so I thought this might fit nicely with Illustration Friday's topic this week. I tried to make something that might work well with my other two pieces that are in the show which are both - you guessed it - mermaids. I'm kind of ridiculous. Anyhow, enjoy!

Finished.

not much different than before, but a little more interesting I hope.

Hats!

Here is my IF for this week. I've been telling myself to work on my Christmas card design for a while, and this topic gave me the perfect excuse. I'm not quite satisfied with the design for the card just yet, but I figured I would go ahead and post it since I'm running out of time before Friday. I'll post the final design whenever its ready. Yay for elephants :)

Have a great day!

Trick or Treat!

All week I have been trying to make something for IF's new topic - Trick or Treat. Alas, it just wasn't meant to be. Between work and outside projects and Halloween planning and celebrations I have not had time to paint anything new. However, we did have a Halloween party tonight at work, complete with a pumpkin carving contest. While my pumpkin didn't win anything, I think it will work fine as my entry for Illustration Friday this week. This little green pumpkin decided to trick or treat as Medusa this year - a costume that works well with its complexion:) Maybe I'll post another small painting before Friday, but in the meantime....

Happy Halloween!

Ofcourse I painted another mermaid

What else would I paint? Actually, I painted this little lady over the weekend for an upcoming gallery show in LA. (More details on the show to come later...) Since I had already decided to enter one of my previous mermaid paintings in the show, I thought it would be appropriate to go all out mermaids for this one. This piece was painted with watercolors and acrylics on watercolor block. I'm not exactly sure where the inspiration came from - I was looking at a lot of portrait images over the weekend. Anyhow, Enjoy!

Update:
At the time of this post I didn't want to give away my Halloween costume. No, I wasn't a geisha-mermaid, but I was a geisha. That means this counts as a "Trick or Treat" illustration, right? Certainly this mermaid could be dressed up for some trick or treating. Why not? Anyhow, I hope all of you IFers enjoy this one. TTFN!

Extremely Good Cause

Another stretch for Illustration Friday, I know. My friend Bill and I have been working on several pieces each for the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society's 2nd Annual "Purrr-casso" Art Sale and Gala, and I FINALLY finished mine. The only stipulation was that the art needed to be cat themed, so this is what I came up with. The proceeds from the show will benefit the animal shelter, which runs on donations alone. I love having the excuse to make art for a good cause....makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Anyway, if you live in the Bay Area and like what you see, come to the show on Sunday, Nov. 4th. You can read more about it here. Hope to see you there!

Have a great weekend!

Wedding

I'm back after a very busy, exhausting, and ultimately fun month. When you only go home to visit once in a year, there are a lot of things to do and people to see in a very short amount of time!I was actually only gone for two weeks, but I needed another two weeks to recover after the trip. Plus I have been sick for the last week, so hopefully I may be excused for my lack of posts...

I actually have some other projects a-brewin' that would better suit this week's Illustration Friday topic of "Wedding" but none of them are finished....or have even been started for that matter. If I'm feeling especially ambitious, I might try to get one done and posted before Friday. I might.

This is actually a piece that I was hired to do as a birthday present. The recipient is from Virginia (but living in California) and misses the turning of the leaves that you don't see as much here as on the East Coast. I can relate to that - fall is beautiful in Pennsylvania. I thought it would be appropriate for the "Wedding" topic because of the couple in the image. That, as well as the fact that I am going home in a few weeks for an autumn-themed wedding. The oranges in this painting are the colors for that wedding, so it all fits....sort of. Anyhow, enjoy!

Have a great Monday!

Emergency!

One of my very favorite movies is M. Night Shyamalan's Signs. It still scares me every time I watch it. Since this week's Illustration Friday topic is "Emergency", I decided that an absolutely frightening situation would be appropriate. The alien invasion just slightly beat out my nightmare of being chased by velociraptors (which I have had repeatedly since I was about nine years old.) I used the house from Signs and even put Bo on the swingset. She doesn't even see the aliens attacking!

Busy, busy week, but I'm finally going home tomorrow! Hopefully I will be able to post fun things from PA.

Have a great Thursday!

Mom

This is the second in a series of paintings I'm working on for my mom. Originally, these were going to be for her birthday/mother's day (which are two weeks apart), but I decided to take my time and deliver them in installments. Here she is on her porch with her dog, where you can find her on most summer mornings...

There was absolutely no way that I could work this into the Illustration Friday topic of "Emergency", so maybe I will do something quick for that and try to get it up within the next couple of days. I'm going home for a couple weeks on Friday (hooray!) so hopefully that means I will have a lot more time to draw and doodle and make pretty things to post. Or I could be lazy and do nothing. I'll try to find a happy medium somewhere.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Moon

Yes, I am one of the many Harry Potter fans out there. After reading the final book last week, I decided that I really wanted to paint something in honor of the series. I decided that I would couple that with this week's Illustration Friday topic (Moon) and this is what I came up with. Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday Everybody!

Mermaids and Poems!

For the last couple of weeks, I have been working on this painting for my friend, Meg. She requested a mermaid painting back in March, and I've just now gotten around to it. The mermaids are playing hide and seek, and I have a sneaking suspicion that one of those little fish is going to give the mermaid in the foreground away - I just know it. I may tweak a little more here and there, but I think its mostly finished... I think...

Anyway, in order to make it fit into this week's Illustration Friday, I found a poem to go along with it:

Mermaid

by Walter de la Mare

Leagues, leagues over the sea I sail
Couched on a wallowing dolphin's tail.

The sky is on fire, the waves a-sheen,
I dabble my foot in the billows green.

In a sea-weed hat on the rocks I sit,
where tern and sea-mew glide and beat,
and where dark shadows the cormorants meet.

In caverns cool when the tide's a wash,
I sound my conch to the watery splash.

From out their grottos at evenings beam,
the mermaids swim with locks agleam.

Happy Friday!

Twist!

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "twist", and it just so happens that I also started taking yoga for the first time ever this week. Yoga makes for a perfect "twist" illustration topic. Part of this illustration is inspired by real-life, and part of it is inspired by the current book that I am reading called "Eat, Pray, Love". Its a really lovely book and I highly recommend it. Anyway, I will have lots of other things to post in the near future, but I better get this one up before midnight or else I'm gonna miss my deadline!

Surf's Up is Amazing.

At this point I highly doubt that there is anyone reading my blog, but if there is anyone who does stop by please go see Surf's Up in the theater. You won't be disappointed.
Most of my friends went to see a sneak preview of Ratatouille last weekend and absolutely loved it. I missed that screening, so I cannot possibly compare the two, nor can I tell you which one to see if you are only going to see one or the other. My suggestion would be to go see both because that is certainly what I am going to do. What I can say, however, is that Surf's Up is definitely the best movie I have seen so far this year (followed closely by a film called "Once") and that it is a complete delight from beginning to end. Does anyone remember heart in animated films? I do, vaguely. I thought it bordered on extinction after "Lilo and Stitch", with the yearly Pixar film being the rare exception. But Sony's got it! They really do! Not to mention the beautiful animation, art direction, and stellar voice acting. Please don't miss this gem in the middle of all of the summer blockbusters that, I promise you, will not be half as entertaining.

Her Paradise

After my last post, I received a request for a painting with a Native American inspired theme. The subject of the painting grew up in the Southwest and has deep roots in that culture. This is what I came up with and I hope it does her justice. This is a birthday present, so hopefully I'm not spoiling the suprise here :)

Also, I thought this would also fit well with this week's Illustration Friday topic of "Your Paradise". I have many ideas of paradise, and one of my favorite places is Phoenix, AZ. My cousin lives there and I love to go visit her whenever I can. Yes it is hot, but I love the heat and the landscape is just incredible. So I guess this is a double paradise illustration - both for the girl in the painting (whose name is Ashley) and for me.

Happy Wednesday!

Birthday, Mother's Day, and Citrus All In One

So this is my attempt at digital painting. I decided a while back that I would do a series of paintings for my mom for her birthday/Mother's day (which are only two weeks apart). The theme of the series is her with our dog (Maui) going about their daily activities at our lake house. That seems to be where they both are happiest and that is how I like to think of them. I initially started painting them on watercolor paper, but I got so frustrated with the results that I decided I needed to try something new. And here is the first completed piece created completely in photoshop.... enjoy! I will post the rest of them as I finish them.

For those of you who know my mother (ahem, Lainey) please don't say anything to her about what I'm up to. I am getting this one printed and will be taking it home to her next week, so until then keep this hush hush. I am fairly certain that my mom doesn't get online for anything uless it is completely necessary, so I'm hopefully safe there. If not, Happy Birthday/Mother's Day, Mom!

And finally, since I haven't posted to Illustration Friday in FOREVER, I thought that I would make this fit into this weeks topic: citrus. The palette is "citrusy" right? And also, this is a painting of morning at the lake, and I gaurantee that later on this particular afternoon my mom will make margaritas, which are made with lime juice, which is a citrus fruit. So there.

Happy Wednesday!

Lunchtime Doodle

Today I was listening to music from "Wicked" during lunch and doodled this. Good music is so overwhelming - I wish I could capture that emotion in my doodles. I try.

Green...ish (part 2)

with a little retouching in photoshop. Still not quite finished...

Green....ish.

This is a work-in-progress painting I've been working on for a couple of weeks. I have been reading James Michener's "Hawaii" and have gotten really interested in island culture. This particular painting is inspired by an early 90's musical called "Once on this Island" about a peasant girl who falls in love with a boy of high class. Its a really fun show with a lot of great music. I plan on doing more paintings inspired by island culture soon.

Anyway, since Illustration Friday's topic this week is "Green", I thought this might fit. It would work a lot better if the topic was "Greenish-Blue", but you can't win them all.

Also, does anyone know how to replace a thumbnail on IF? I was a moron and uploaded a low quality version that looks all soupy and yucky and now I'm stuck with it.

scribble doodle

Just trying my hand at some scribble drawings. I have found that this is a good way to stay loose and open to new shapes and compositions. These are just a few that I have done recently - I will post some more sketchbook things soon.

Over the weekend I saw "Meet the Robinsons". I was pleasantly suprised at times and very disappointed at others. Honestly, I came out of the theater not knowing exactly how to feel because I wasn't exactly sure of what I had just seen. I guess my feelings are best expressed in the words of my 4-year old cousin who also saw the movie this weekend. In the middle of the film, he turned to his grandma and asked "Why they make this movie, Grandma?".

I think that about sums it up.

Girls

I am trying to keep up with my "doodle-a-day" routine, but today I am resorting to some older sketchbook drawings that have never seen the light of day. These are a couple of ladies I saw in the city on my way to work one day. I felt so bad for the girl with tulips - she looked so sad.

The weekend is so close, I can almost taste it....

Totally......Jung-a-licious

And by that I mean totally wacky. This started as a lunchtime doodle on Monday and progressed to a lunchtime doodle X3. Now i just have to make up for the two extra days of posts that I missed. Happy Wednesday!

Ghost

So yesterday, Dave and I were coming up with different themes to sketch, and he gave me "Ghost". Being that yesterday was the Ides of March, I thought it was only appropriate to pay homage to Julius Caesar. Enjoy!

Lunchtime Mermaid

Another lunchtime doodle. She is certainly unhappy about something. But I'm not, because today is Friday! Happy Friday everyone!

Wired

Here is one for illustration friday. I've been so busy that i had to do this on my lunch break. It was fun trying to get something done so quickly. Anyway, enjoy!

Gravity

"Set me free,
leave me be,
I don't wanna fall another moment
into your gravity.

Here I am,
and I stand
so tall
just the way I'm supposed to be.

But your onto me
and all over me..."

Fashionistas

These are a few concept sketches I did recently for a project at work. Its not a style that I'm used to, but it certainly is fun to step away from the norm once in a while. Enjoy!

We Never Forget...

Here's something I did for my buddy Sean for his birthday. He once called me an elephant, and neither one of us will ever forget that. Happy Birthday Sean!

Welcome to 2007

I know, i know... its been way too long. But that is going to change. One of my New Year's resolutions is to post more often, and i'm starting today. 2006 was a great year, and 2007 is going to be even better.

This past weekend, I flew back to Rochester to see all of my Encore girls perform in their second annual Bellacappella concert. It was a fantastic time and a completely amazing concert. I am so unbelievably proud of them.

During my flight home, I sketched what I stood out for me about the concert, and here are a few of my drawrings...
This is jess in her 80s's attire. Nothing that I could have possibly drawn could have done justice to that sweater. It was complete glittery fabulousness, which was perfect for her.
Sarah, Audrey, and Sarah #2. I don't know Sarah #2 so well, so i hope she doesn't mind me drawing her. Sarah #1, however, rocked out on "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" which is one of my very favorite songs. Audrey was wonderful on "In the Waiting Line" as well.

This is patti during "And So it Goes". One of my favorites - I miss singing it.

There you have it - there is more to come very shortly.