Merry Christmas!

We went to L.A. Live and found this neon colored Christmas tree (it changes colors). There was even an ice skating rink. I wish everyone a happy Christmas & best wishes for the new year.

Drawing

I've been drawing. This is a good thing. I want to do more fashion illustrations but for now I am still intrigued by faces.







I didn't think to document the drawing until I was already done drawing the eyes. I usually start with the eyebrows because I like them. I also like drawing the mouth.

Omocha de Cha Cha Cha

I have a piece in the Toy Show a.k.a. "Omocha de Cha Cha Cha" presented by Cafe Mode, currently on show at Cafe Bolivar in Santa Monica. It's a great little space that serves Venezuelan coffees and other delights. Drop by if you're ever on that side of town!

ARTIST RECEPTION SEPTEMBER 12, 2009 7-10PM

August 17, 2009 - September 26, 2009

open Mon-Fri 7am-7pm xSat 9am-6pm xclosed Sundays
Cafe Bolívar 1741 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405

Rainbows

I was shoe shopping online and came across these Stuart Weitzman flats and fell in love.


I continued browsing for things and discovered a theme for the things I was attracted to at the moment... rainbows! Not necessarily literal rainbows, but multi-colored things, especially for shoes ans bags.

Culver City Art Walk

I went to the Culver City Art Walk yesterday. I work in Culver City and pass by these galleries all the time, but I hadn't been to many of them so this was a great opportunity. I met up with Monique and Gretchen at Royal/T Cafe, got a decadent cup of Royal T milk tea to go, and we were off. We parked by Helms and walked up Washington to La Cienega, and back. I think we covered about 20 galleries total. Some were good, some were whatever, but all in all it was great to see so many people spending their Saturday afternoon strolling around looking at art.

Of the 20 or so galleries we visited, one of my favorite shows were Conor Harrington & Chloe Early CHASING CASTLES at Kinsey/Desforges. You can actually see a set of photos fron this show here. Their work to me was like a combination of graffiti, CG, and painting. I especially loved how Chloe Early captured the nostalgia of past summers with overlapping imagery and collage that depicts how memories live in your mind far more accurately than the actual imagery that we think we remember.

My other favorite show was at Taylor De Cordoba Gallery. I walked in and was immediately drawn to the intricate paintings on the walls. As I glanced at the title on the wall, I realized that the artist's name sounded familiar. It was Jeana Sohn, who's blog I have followed for a while now. I don't even remember how I came upon her blog, but I always enjoyed the beautiful photos she takes of her daily life. Her paintings at the show were breathtaking. They were so delicate, each painted with love. It was Monique's favorite too. The show is up until June 27th, so you should check it out in person. Get real up close to it.


A jpeg does not do it justice.

Earthworks 03: Impulse

I am participating in a group show that's opening tonight in Little Tokyo.

Earthworks 03: Impulse presented by Cafe Mode
opening reception MAY 7, 2009 [5 to 11 PM]
May 7, 2009 - July 7, 2009

SHOJIN restaurant
333 S. Alameda St., Suite 310 (3rd Floor) Los Angeles, CA 90013
open everyday 11:30am - 10pm [except M-F between 2:30-5:00pm]
www.theshojin.com

Curated by Kio Griffith

Birthday Weekend

Yesterday was my 30th birthday. Thirty!! It was funny how everyone who was older than 30 kept telling me how awesome your thirties are. I believe it though. I felt really blessed that I was able to spend yesterday with so many good friends.

William got me some beautiful roses. I arranged them in my round vase. Very spring time colors.



Another Sketchbook Pro drawing.

Monotone Floral Pattern

This is a pattern I did a few years ago. Drawn by hand, vectorized in Illustrator. Repeat pattern created in Illustrator. I love looking at patterns, but I also like making them too. They are almost like a puzzle, and I get a sense of satisfaction when I am able to create a nice pattern.

Sexy Girl Repeat

On Friday I stumbled upon a blog called A Print a Day. Awesome. I love prints and patterns. (I also love Print & Pattern.) She makes patterns and kits for downloading, and it really inspired me that she was creating all these designs almost everyday. It inspired me, so here is my first pattern for this blog. Not much of a pattern, but I will post some more in days to come...

Set design for Flower of the Season

This was last month, but I worked on the set design for my friend and dancer Meyu Kobayashi's performance for Flower of the Season at Electric Lodge. I had fun making it, and the dance was amazing. You can see photos of the actual performances here.

The $100,000 Animation Drawing Course - Lesson 1 Practice

Still on Lesson 1 trying to draw heads. This time I found an image of Snagglepuss and decided to try to draw him using the same technique.

Sample Image



Drawing with a pen tablet is still harder than a real pencil. Difficult, even.

A Snagglepuss episode that reflects our tough economic times. Lions have it hard too.

The $100,000 Animation Drawing Course - Lesson 1 Part 2

Here is another sketch I did this weekend. What is this character? William thought it was Droopy but Droopy's face is a bit more square.




While looking for old cartoon characters, William told me about Snagglepuss. I had never heard or seen it, but it's hilarious. I like the way he talks. Love it, even.

The $100,000 Animation Drawing Course - Lesson 1

My coworker who told me about Sketchbook Pro also told me about The $100,000 Animation Drawing Course. I am not an animator but I know animators can draw (even though
John K. is saying that a lot of them don't). I've never really learned any theory about how to draw. It was more like "Here, here's a flower. Have fun." I do think there is a beauty to just sitting there with your subject and figuring out for yourself how to go about translating that onto paper. I've even thought that learning the theory on how to draw was kind of like cheating. But I got curious. What if I do learn the rules and follow them?

This is my attempt at learning how to draw. I'm going to keep working on Lesson One before I move onto Two because I don't think I have it down yet at all. (All drawings done on Sketchbook Pro using my Bamboo Fun.)


Brer Rabbit



My attempt at drawing a cat following the rules (bottom left corner). CREEPY.



My attempt at drawing a human head following the rules.

Sketchbook Pro

My coworker told me about Sketchbook Pro so I downloaded a trial version. Very simple and fun. I want to try to sketch more on the computer because I'm sitting in front of one all the time anyway. Plus it feels more casual and less daunting. It helps a lot that William gave me a Wacom tablet for Valentine's Day. I've been using one at work for a few years now but never had one at home. It's the smallest one (Bamboo Fun) but I love it!

This is a super rough sketch but hopefully I will have more to come.

Transformation

Currently showing at a group show.

Earthworks 02: Transformation presented by CAFE MODE
February 26, 2009 - April 26, 2009
SHOJIN restaurant 333 S. Alameda St., Suite 310 (3rd Floor) Los Angeles, CA 90013
open everyday 11:30am - 10pm [except M-F between 2:30-5:00pm]

2009

Happy New Year!

2008

I can't believe there are only three more days left in the year. Of course this blog only got updated 11 times this year. 2008 was good, despite the unexpected lay off and the declining economy. I now have a new job that I love and enjoy, and this country will have a new president in about three weeks.

David came down from SF to hang out for the holidays and I think we did our fair share of partying. He brought some awesome Christmas gifts- "Little Big Planet" and "The Last Remnant"! LBP is super cute but I need to up my gaming skills because the simplest movements are so hard for me.

Yesterday I got to go to Joshua Tree for the first time although it was rather brief and COLD! It was beautiful out there though, and I had fun watching William and Angeline ride this crazy bike that Kio and Alan made and shot for their film.

Autumn

Last summer I made a few posts about gardening. My lavenders are still doing ok, but the potted plants have long gone. My yard as seen in this post was overgrown, but imagine another year had gone by without any maintenance. Yes, it was out of control. My landlord finally said something about it, and so I made yet another attempt to improve the situation.

It's literally back-breaking work dragging over 60 palm fronds that are between 15-20ft long with hard spikes on them. I was out in the yard again today trying to clear out the back end of the yard (which I rarely visit) and found this.



It's hard to tell from the photo but I think it's slightly larger than a cat. ...But a skull? What is going on in my own backyard??

Smena Symbol

I'm not a that good of a photographer but I own a lot of cameras. Off the top of my head, I can count 9 cameras. More then half of them are Lomography cameras that I've collected over the years. I also have a nice SLR that I barely ever use. I use my Lomo LC-A the most, but lately I've been trying to use my Smena Symbol more.

I'm always excited to see what kind of images I get, and I was especially pleased with the results from my last roll of film. I've gotten a couple of double exposures here and there, but this time the entire roll was double exposed. I love the accidental combination of images.

Silk screening: step two, attempt two

I realized that after cleaning the screen, I blew out some of the detail of the image. I wouldn't be able to get a nice crisp print like the original painting I did with the drawing fluid. Regardless, I wanted to make the best of what I had left, and I think I managed to get one decent print. My standards have become pretty low at this point...







The lesson I have learned from all of this is as follows:

- choose a design without thin lines in between

- use enough screen filler (I didn't, and I ended up having to coat the screen more than once which is not recommended)

- be careful when washing out the drawing fluid or cleaning the screen so as not to blow out the image

- don't give up


I definitely want to try this again. Despite the mess, I had fun.