RNArrr! Bootylicious

...and his noble steed

Yesterday I had a lot of fun. A friend asked me to create a caricature for one of his coworkers based on the knight in shining armor motif.

More Bunnies!

About a year ago I was commissioned to paint a 'Thank You" card for MHoponHop, (they're a non-sports trading card dealer on ebay) And I was so pleased when they asked me to do another one. I love rabbids. Super fun!

2010... starting over again

It's a new year and with it come dreams and goals. One of my many aspirations for this year is to draw more and post more often. Sound like a good idea? I think so too :) I'm looking to sketch something, anything that's not project/work related, every day and allow myself the time to work on personal projects. It is so easy to just work on the gigs that pay and then go out and play, don't you think? I've had a few book ideas that haven't gotten to the dummy stage yet, so that's a big goal this year. I'm going to redesign my website and add a store for originals, prints and (hopefully) some merchandise. Big plans!

In addition to professional goals I've got a couple others in the mix. As with 98% of the population, I'm going to eat better. I've cut out soda, (and that was tough, let me tell ya. Mexican food is just not the same without a coke) and have started eating more fruits and veggies and meals at regular intervals. I know this might sound a silly resolution, but you're talking to a girl who can forget to eat all day. It's not good for the ol' immune system.

I'm also going to go to an acupuncturist this year. The idea of becoming a human cactus scares me a little, so I'm going to try it! I'm going to take accordion lessons and learn how to screen print. I've decided it's time to go to Europe so I'm already planning an August trip. And lastly, I'd like to buy a house.

I'm gonna sweep the leg right out from under 2010. Watch out, 2010 is gonna be off the hook!

So, what are YOUR dreams and goals for 2010??

Ho Ho, Ha Ha

A friend of mine asked if I'd illustrated her family's Christmas card this year. Of course! Especially when she told me how she wanted her family portrayed. She asked for her husband, sister and herself sitting angelically peaceful next to a Christmas tree with her 3 yr old daughter strapped to the top dressed like an angel. LOL, so funny.

Guys With Books

Who got to meet David Shannon, Jon Scieszka, Adam Rex and Mac Barnett? That's right, I DID. And 4 nicer guys with books you shall never meet. I found out they were in San Diego about 45 minutes beforehand and I raced down to La Jolla to see them in action. They put on a fantastic presentation full of reading (but more like acting out) their books, cracking jokes and drawing crazy animal mash-ups suggested by the kids. If you ever get a chance to go to one of their presentations, I highly recommend!

Star Wars... in color!

Just painted up some of my favorite Star Wars characters and thought I'd share them with you!

Inconceivable!

If you're in Pasadena on Sat. Dec. 5th You should come join me and a bunch of awesome people at the Rialto Theater for the Hey You Guys charity event. Doors open at 6pm and at 7 there will be a screening of Ghostbusters! "When someone asks you if you're a God, you say YES." Also, there's an auction of original artwork inspired by everyone's favorite childhood movies. I'm so glad I was asked to create a piece for this great cause! All proceeds go to benefit Donor's Choose, an online charity helps teachers keep the arts alive in schools. Pretty great, huh? I'm really looking forward to it.

Use your words

Thought you might enjoy seeing this simple words puzzle set I designed/illustrated about 10 months ago. I love this kind of project. The art director basically calls me up and says, "draw a bunch of cute animals and objects... annnnnd go!" I love it, too much fun.

If you'd like to check them out on Lakeshore's website (click here and enter FF288 in the search field).

RNArrr! Walk that thar plank

Pirate may have won this time, but Ninja will have the last laugh. Oh. Yes. He. Will.

RNArrr! Life's a beach.

Meet RNArrr!

Have you ever wondered what Robots, Ninjas and Pirates do when on vacation? How do they rest and relax? Their lives can't be filled with adventure, mayhem and villainy 24/7! No no, indeed they cannot.

After much beard scratching, technobabbling and sword dueling, RNArrr! have decided that this wench can tag along and document their leisurely outings. Isn't that nice of them? Whether on holiday, surfing at the beach or jetsetting around the world, I'll be there to give YOU, the viewer, the inside scoop. Yo ho ho!

Design Inspiration Interview

There's this great site called Design Inspiration, ever heard of it? It's dedicated to interviewing professional designers and illustrators. It's really a fantastic place to learn about different creative types and find out how and why they do what they do. You can't even imagine how excited I was when Jeff Andrews asked if I'd be interested in being interviewed. Heck yes, Jeff! If you'd like to check it out and learn a little bit more about me, just click here!

Mission Viejo Readers Festival

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the Mission Viejo Readers Festival. What a wonderful event! Free to the public, presenting authors and illustrators, vendor booths, people dressed up as classic literature characters walking around and great food.

My friends from Studio 5 made an awesome presentation and had a sweet booth set up. I was honored to be invited with my pal Ken Min to join them at their booth to draw illos for the kids. Sitting beside great illustrators and interacting with kids and parents was so fun. It took me back to my time drawing caricatures at Legoland, (though this time I didn't have to dress like a pirate, haha).

Check out the members of Studio 5! Marilyn Scott-Waters, Bob Singer, J.H. Everett, Andrew Mitchell, JR Johnson,

Invasive Species

I've heard that younger siblings can be horrible pests. I'm the baby of the family so I couldn't tell you if that's true. Wait... that means I'm the pesky critter. Huh. Well? Yeah, I guess that's pretty accurate, LOL.

Just Try It

When I was sketching, I was thinking this is a fed-up nerd boy with his 2 monstrous body guards. But now I see it could also be interpreted as the toughest gang at school and this kid is the leader of the pack. Kinda funny to think that a sock and flip-flop wearing scrawny nerd is the bully. But it works either way, I guess.

This piece was fun to do. Not only designing the characters, (I love drawing monster thugs, apparently) but using the liquify tool in Photoshop. I'd never used it before and it sure is handy. It really helped when making the reflection in the floor.

SCBWILA 09

What an amazing weekend I had at the SCBWI Los Angeles conference! SO GREAT! I only recently became a member of the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators and when I heard there was a summer conference in LA I just had to go! It was 4 full days of inspiring speakers and panels, schmoozing with fellow illustrators, agents and editors and staying in a beautiful hotel room. It was so delightful that I am tempted to save my pennies and go to the winter conference in NYC. It's a great opportunity for networking and getting your work seen and your name out there. If you've never heard of SCBWI or haven't gotten involved with it yet... I highly recommend!

I created this yearbook page image as the title page to the portfolio I hefted around all weekend. I admit a few of the characters are based off of friends from high school, so if any of you Lancers notice a resemblance... uh, HA HA!

Attitude

My new business card has some attitude! Double sided glossy with rounded corners. Yum Yum snazzy.

Woah, I finished one

For the last month I've been spending a lot of my 'free' time working on some new pieces for my portfolio... a portfolio I'm hoping to showcase at the SCBWI LA conference :) I thought you might like a little sneak peek at one of them, so here it is! I like to call this one 'Groovy Grandma' because it reminds me of my Great Grandma Howels who taught me to play the piano, ride a bike and play shuffleboard. Some of my fondest memories are the times I spent with her. Ha, we used to watch Lassie and eat bon bons. Man, I miss her. She was one hip lady.

SFG: Ad boy

Here's a little ad/illo I did tonight based on the theme "Vintage Advertising Characters" over at Sugar Frosted Goodness. This was a lot of fun and I can't wait to play ultimate frisbee tomorrow!! Hooray for flying discs!