Fast Forward from 2008

YAY!! You've successfully made it to 2013!

Back in fall of 2008 I started attending art school - our first assignment was to draw/express our Selves on a 6x6" canvass square. I was so determined to do something awesome. Something that combined my love for creating stories, my recent exchange to Japan, my general quirkiness, etc.
And I thought I did a really good job with just acrylics. Our squares were collected and stitched together in a quilt that hung at the school until recently. (Apparently I'm old now?)

Since I spent so much energy on it and didn't want it sitting in storage forever, I requested it back. The school was happy to accommodate me. I remembered it as being better than it was...luckily I already had plans to revamp it digitally to go along with my new(ish) branding - and I really love how it came out. This is due to having worked my butt off to finish school and my continuing education/mentoring with Chris Oatley. (Go sign up for Magic Box - it's awesome) : D 

I will make prints of the renewed image (above) for my family and the school (If you reeeeeally want one I might be talked into it) for this Christmas. The old piece (below) I will keep in my suitcase of Japan - that is the suitcase I had to buy there to bring back all the things I bought or was gifted. 

I think I made some progress, don't you?? 

As a parting thought...some of you may know...this March I will be an auntie. Today I learned that I will have a niece. Very excited to meet the adorable girly in 2014!! : )

Taste Test Round II

 

Ah Ha! The last taste test before I start posting pages regularly - a little ways off now that I have a tighter schedule, but still closer than I was before. ^^ I struggled a bit with the visual content of this page, whether or not I should just jump into the action or not, and decided for pacing purposes that this was best. Who is this woman? What impact does she have on this story? More than you would imagine - but you'll have to follow along to find out!!

ASUBB: Insect Sketches

A random sampling of slightly older sketches from ASUBB while I keep working on the final output. All the kids in their party clothes plus Mama and Papa Fa Floridian looking grumpy as always. I feel like my feet are dragging on this one, which is very unfortunate, but I still aim to have a large enough buffer so I can start posting pages at the end of July. I guess that means it's time to stop commenting here and get back to work!

The Last Cat and Some Sequentials

 So here is the finished cat. He's more of a spirit, vanishing like the Cheshire Cat of Alice's Wonderland, a psychopomp who guides the spirits of the dead to the next plane/life. I toned down the Dia de los Muertos theme on the black jaguar, but really wanted to keep the bow tie because I imagine him to be a little playful, a little mischievous while he goes about heralding peoples. I'm tempted to name him Felix.

Below are a couple storyboards: The first is the Angelic War which features the designs I did for Michael and Lucifer. The second is the Public Service announcement that features Katherine and Owl. Obviously one has a more serious tone than the other. (I am not advocating any particular religious belief, nor is this what I believe actually happened, just ran with the story in a way that I thought would be most visually interesting) I enjoyed the challenge of them both. ^^

Still plugging away on story completion. Last 2 weeks worked strictly on portfolio to submit to Dream Job and sent it off this morning...nervous, anxious, excited, hopeful, only somewhat confident. All out of my hands now so back to working on the stories and local job hunt. Enjoyed going to Denver ComicCon, much bigger than I anticipated but not yet as impressive as Armageddon was in New Zealand, especially when it came to the COSplayers. (Thank you, Raul, for going with me even though I know you didn't want to be in those crowds any more than I did) Kudos to all the awesome artists who showed! If I'm still in Denver this time next year I'll see what I can do about getting a booth too. As a last note, I just wanted to say that I'm super excited for Pixar's Brave coming out soon - can't wait to see it!!!