con sketches and public appearances

a couple of people managed to convince me to do little drawings in the back of the books they bought from me. here's what one lucky girl got for her efforts:

in related news, i will be making a special guest appearance at my old school in the great Owen Smith's class next wednesday. i'll have sketches and tissue drawings galore, and will talk about acrylic mediums as well as what to expect from life after school

here's another random sketchbook drawing to keep things interesting:

lastly, i'll be dropping a few copies of Love Story in the Woods off at my neighborhood comic book store tomorrow, so if you're in Oakland get down to Dr. Comics and Mr. Games and support your local comic book artist!

thanks for stopping by! official webstore and online portfolio coming soon!

A.P.E. part two: pictures

we got to the convention center around nine in the morning to set up. i donned my trusted headband and prepared for the day ahead (headband and pictures courtesy of the lovely and amazing Stef Boone)

my roommate, sculptor, photographer, and entrepreneur Lea Zalinskis set her stuff up quickly and was ready to slay the hordes with her photographs of sculptures made of photographs and wool (they're cool, check 'em out!)

a few tables away, my pals Jose Moreno and Michael Manomivibul were working furiously to get their stuff ready. if you want a killer screenprint or need a custom, handmade sketchbook, email Jose immediately. if you are into sea creatures, check Michael out right now

before long i had my stuff set up and was ready to rock and roll

look at these incredible five foot tall banners that my friend and publishing partner Andrew McCormick of Chronophobia got for me! that sketchbook in my hands now contains my first ever con sketch. i hope Ryan comes back to ask for another sketch in a few years, i should be way better by then!!

and lastly, here's me standing like a gaping-mouthed nerd as Allen Spiegel writes some important info in my personal sketchbook. if you look closely, you might see a familiar comic book under his arm ;)

the show was tons of fun. everywhere i looked there was great art and cool stuff and i really, REALLY wish i could have walked around and visited with people more. maybe next year...


next week i should have my official website and internet shop set up, so check back soon!! thanks for stopping by!!

A.P.E. (the quick and short of it)

i spent all weekend hocking my book, Love Story in the Woods, at the Alternative Press Expo and can't help feeling like it was a total success! i sold a bunch of books, met a ton of awesome people, and when i approached Allen Spiegel (rep of about half my favorite artists) to give him a copy of the book he totally recognized me from last year!! not only that, but he came back and bought another one!!

other personal highlights include the incredible Shelly Wan purchasing a book and telling me that she really likes my work, and my first ever con sketch for Ryan of Eidolon Fine Arts. his sketchbook was full of stuff by heavyweights like Jim Mahfood and Nathan Fox, and now it's got some dweeby drawing by Grim Wilkins. HA!

i'll give you guys a more in-depth post with pictures in the next day or two, along with info on how to buy books, prints and t-shirts online, but for now i have to leave you with the blurry picture i took at 7am yesterday morning before the con

thanks for stopping by, and huge thanks to everyone who talked to me or bought a book this weekend. i really can't put into words how much i appreciate it!!

guest teaching for Barron Storey

heyo,

so Friday was the fated day when my pal Michael and i got to substitute teach Barron's pre-college illustration class. this is the third time we've had the opportunity to do this and each time is more rewarding than the last. the kids this year were so much more energetic than previous years (with the exception of our young friend and future superstar Minnie) and had tons of questions and overall seemed genuinely pumped to hear most of what we had to say.

if any of our students happen upon the blahg here, let me apologize now if i don't recognize you when you see me around. getting in front of a bunch of people you've never seen before and trying to convince them to listen to things you have to say is nerve-wracking!!


in related news...

(pages 5 and 6, scanned)

thanks for stopping by!

special appearance next saturday!

you heard right. yours truly will be at the CCA Craft Fair (california college of the arts [and crafts]) in Oakland, next saturday, april 24th. i'll be hocking a cute little series of images i cooked up that directly addresses humankind's relationship with gigantic, maneating salamanders

(i know how much you all just LOVE my disgusting little tissue paper sketches)

see you there!!

guest teaching for Barron Storey

So today was the day that my deep buddy Mike Mano and i got to sit in for the legendary Barron Storey's pre-college class at CCA (california college of arts). We did it for him one day last year also and both times have felt super, super rewarding. Not just rewarding, what's that other word... oh ya, AWESOME. Getting to hang out with these youngsters for a few hours and tell them what we know about going to school, life after school, and talking about things like the importance of looking at other artists all the time and figuring out what you want to do with your art was all so sweet.

Mike and i have both agreed we'd love to get into this teaching racket somehow, we're just not sure how or what we can really bring to the table right now anyways. But man, after spending time with some of these kids who are just overwhelmingly pumped to learn whatever you have to teach them and seem to genuinely appreciate your input, it's easy to see how some of my old teachers got to be so passionate!

Oh ya, i pulled out a handful of goodies for them to play with and got some sweet souvenirs in my back pocketbook <3