Art Blog

Partly Cloudy, an adorable animation

So cute it made my eyes glisten at work!! How could I have missed this? I guess the mistake I made was not seeing the Pixar movie "U"P in theaters since this was shown before it. Also no one told me about it (glares at whoever that might have been). But, I accidentally came upon in down the rabbit hole of the internet...and if there are others like me who missed out on this, I share with you now.



Partly Cloudy is a Pixar CGI animated short film directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Kevin Reher.

Update with Finger Art

Happy FRIDAY! As you have seen, there has been a bit of silence on the internet on my end. I am preparing diligently for my first group show. It would be wonderful if you could come! The event is here on FACEBOOK.

I am trying to finish the new art I started for it. Yep. NEW ART!! I will not be posting the finished product here until after the show - so people coming get to see it in its live glory first!

I do, however, feel guilty for not posting regularly, even if its just a doodle. So here is a scribble from my heart, onto my fingers, and into the internet...for you! Fell the power of tiki-wrestlers in dapper outfits!

Treating Life As Art

In following the blogs of artists, creative thinkers and makers, I run across much eloquence. I would like to now share some of that with you to help survive this Wednesday. The need to create, to make, is a common experience and one I believe to be very important.

As said by Todd Henry of Accidentally Creative:

I’m less concerned about the actual dynamics of creating for a living than I am about what my experience of those dynamics says about me as a human being.

It is impossible to separate the experience of being human from the intrinsic need to find expression. We are – it seems – wired to make. Something. Anything.

This is what I did to make myself feel better about not painting as quickly as I like, but accepting that is my pace:

Elephant Plays with a Galaxy Note!

Do I need to even write anything about this? Nope.

Wondercon Day 2 – Sunday

I hoped to finish this post last night - but the whole experience of Wondercon was more tiring than expected. So, a day later, but still relevant - I present to you what I did: talk with artists. And there were so many! I met those I follow on tumblr, Facebook, and other reaches of the internet, as well as some that amazed me and I felt a twinge of shame for not knowing about them earlier. First, I present the artists that really blew my socks of; new finds that made me a new fan:
Katherine Brannock, and Sho Morase.



Katherine Brannock was sitting demurely at her booth, drawing in her sketchbook. At first I wasn't aware of the black and white camouflage of her art fortress. But as soon as my eyes could focus on the detailed lines, glossy from repeated ballpoint pen strokes, stark against a clean white page - it was love. She is already well known and appreciated by a large fanbase - and her work is stunning.
If you are like me, and didn't know about her, check out more of her art at her website and facebook.



Sho Murase had a small booth, and a few banners, but was like a magnet from across the convention hall. This poster is for a joint show and you can see why I stood in line for a while until I could get a photo. That fox with the woman-face-mask - I still think about that image. Haunting...cute...magical.

She is having the joint show in Santa Monica which I plan on attending. I hope you will consider it!
Check out her website and her facebook.

I met William Stout. Yeah, THE William Stout. He was kind, personable, and actually invited me to some drawing workshops! Hopefully I will have some drawings from those posted soon



And now for some great artist who happened to be quite excellent conversation as well:

Minefield Wonderland with Tony Chavira, Allison Reimold, and Axel Ortiz! A great group who had live painting, drawing, sketching right there at Wondercon. A personable, chatty, and inspiring trio.



Ben Soto with Black Sheep Comics, and fellow Otis Alumn Jerrell Conner


Toonehole with Chris Allison was a hilarious group with a business card that actually made me chuckle. Check 'em out for some laughs! And Lazy Bones Studios who has an Anne Frankenstein chick who kills Nazis and has a Facebook account. Yeah, you read that right.


Evan Dahm with his online comics and Lonnie Millsap and his humour.


Yes. Mike Mignola.


And SteamCrow's booth was glorious and colorful!


The League Of S.T.E.A.M., in the flesh!



And finally, the contents of my bag last night...with all the cards I got to go through to make sure I spelled everyone's name right.




In conclusion: I had a great time. Hopefully I will have a booth next year, and maybe I will get to see some of these artists I managed to meet in person. There is really something satisfying about meeting the artists I follow digitally. It brings them into the real world and off my monitor.

The only artist I saw in person that still retained a mystical and aloof distance, covered in magic sparkles and lit up like an angel was when I saw Hayao Miyazaki at a Ponyo screening a few years back at the El Capitan in Hollywood. I was actually kind of mad. How can he be so magical?? I guess I have to meet him a few more times to bring him in from deity to human. Here's hoping. I digress. WONDERCON: you rock.

First Day Ever At Wondercon

My first day. EVER! And I am still in a dreamy haze. I will be going tomorrow as well, but I simply had to post the highlights.

Wondercon: the annual comic book, science fiction, and motion picture convention. It is usually in San Francisco, but this year its being held in Anaheim, next to Disney Land - just a few hours drive from where I live and work. And drive we did! Despite the crazy wind, rain, and hydroplaning drivers, we got there safe.

Wondercon is for aspiring and established writers, artists, publishers - its an amazing collection of talent with a much more mellow and respectful-of-my-small-stature crowd than Comicon. I would be thrilled to score a booth at Wondercon, and try I will! Who knows what next year will bring.

And the best, best part was going to the Womanthology panel, then buying the Womanthology book hot off the press, in all its glorious enormity, then getting it signed by those same artists and writers who were ON the panel, and then bringing home that intense, heavy Womanthology graphic novel collection and realizing that it went beyond women collaborating to make great stories...it has articles about making your own comics from scratch, drawing tips, and interviews with established and successful female comic artists and writers. I have quite a bit of reading to do.



Archaia Publishing had a sale - got some oldies I have had my eye on for some time:



Got to meet "Cheeks" Sean Galloway with my friend Timothy Beard!


And now for some choice photos: (to see them all, they are in my events flickr stream)





Goodnight. Looking forward to tomorrow.

ALL – My First Group Show!

Come join this one night event that is my first group show ever! There will be artists, food trucks, sponsors, and art enthusiasts. Los Angeles artists fill the walls of the gallery with our work. Ten percent of all proceeds will go to the local non-profit : A Place Called Home.
Also, there will be be new art there that will not be posted on my site until after the event. If you are able to come, you will be the first to see it!

Saturday, April 28, 2012
7:00pm until 11:00pm
1135 Weddington St. Suite #112

There is also a FACEBOOK event, so you can RSVP and share with friends. Start off a night in Los Angeles with art!

Only $5 entry. Link to $1 off pdf printable is on the website.

OFFICIAL SITE | GOOGLE MAP

SPECIAL THANKS to the talented Steven McAdam, whose hard work is making this happen and who will also be one of the artists exhibiting. http://brandstinky.com/

ABOUT A PLACE CALLED HOME: A Place Called Home is a safe haven in South Central Los Angeles where underserved youth are empowered to take ownership of the quality and direction of their lives through programs in education, arts, and well-being; and are inspired to make a meaningful difference in their community and the world. APCH provides educational programs, counseling, mentoring, music, dance and art classes. We also have a recreation and athletic department. One on one attention is at the heart of all APCH programs and activities. Our goal is to increase the likelihood that they will stay in school and go on to higher education and viable jobs. (www.apch.org)

Joseph Kony 2012 – EDITED

One think I can thank the KONY 2012 campaign for, is igniting the internet.
Hiffington Post Article

This video is igniting awareness, which I still firmly believe is incredibly important. However, there are issues with Invisible Children and how effectively it uses the money. Take a moment to read THE DAILY WHAT and http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ which critizies how the money is being used, and the way the information is being presented.

Exerpt:

"Is Kony fundamentally bad, and is IC fundamentally good? Yes, absolutely. Should you support IC? If you want to, sure. Personally, I feel that other organizations focused on active aid are more productive at this stage in the conflict, but that’s your decision. I just want you to talk about it. I urge you to meet with other concerned people in your community to discuss some of the articles I link to in my article and the KONY 2012 video and decide what you want to do. Thank you."

Here is a list of charities recommended by the Daily What that have an excellent rating for efficient use of funds:
Children Of The Nations
Africare
AMREF USA
Water.org

And now from BoingBoing:



I will keep reading, listening. I will try and spread my awareness. There is so much in this world, and I am grateful for the voices being shared.

Spirit Fingers

Wouldn't it be nice if I started drawing every day and posting again?

COLORING BOOK IS PUBLISHED!!

Its is done. It is published. World, I hope you enjoy it. Color, create! I am on to the next growing horizon of projects, so that Arty can have much more to share.

DIRECT FROM ARTIST means Krisztianna gets a slighty larger percentage of the sale of her book since you would be purchasing it directly from her publisher at Createspace.

Buying from Amazon is always a popular choice, due to its fantastic reputation and customer service. If you do purchase from here, please rate the book as it helps sales. Many thanks!

In these pages you will find fantastical creatures from all over the world. Meet those you may already be familiar with like Dragons, Unicorns, and Gryphons. Be surprised at others you may not have met before, like the ferocious Wyvern from Europe or the mystical Itsumade from Japan. There is no right or wrong way to color, so let your choices bring these ancient animals to life.

Here are the coloring book characters: