Illustration Friday - MONSTER

I was at the airport over the weekend and couldn't help but draw this lovely monster: she was waiting for her flight in the most hideous pink outfit with a great big purse with an embroidered dog on it. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

I drew a more traditional monster too. His name is Stan, and he likes to play with fish. This time he played a bit too rough though.

Berry Schiavo

What? Too soon?

Illustration Friday: FEET!

This is my first official entry to Illustration Friday. The topic is FEET, so here is Baby Big Foot learning to put on his Big Socks.

Sweet Haverchuck

This is my imaginary dog, Haverchuck. He is a Boston Terrier! We can't, in good conscience, have a dog in the city, so I just have to be happy with this for now...oh, and sorry for all the eraser dust!

It's cold out!

sketch pad nonsense...

Shopgirl

So my main focus right now is the retail sale of the children's book that I illustrated and self-published, The Unordinary Elephant. This is the hard part about self-publishing when you're not a born sales person. I'm on amazon.com, of course, and Gallery Nucleus is carrying them (and selling really well). I love Gallery Nucleus - what a cool store and gallery space. Everyone in the area should visit this Saturday night for their Unicorn Gallery. I'm not in this show, but I will have some paintings there in the show in June.

Anyway, I just sold to store # 2 today! 8 Ball in Burbank is carrying my book in their cute little children's section. Weeee! The store is really cool and the owner is planning on builing up a gallery space in the back there too.

The book is really unusual because it's in Japanese and English (my friend in Tokyo wrote it). If you know of any appropriate stores, have any connections, or are an interested retailer, please let me know!!

Veronica Mars Doodle

Over the weekend I was doodling and found myself drawing Veronica Mars. Stupid little drawing, but the show is awesome!

Mom's OM-topus

So my little sister wants to get my mom a tattoo for my mom's birthday! Of course the tricky part is getting my mom to actually do it. Gina wants her to get an om - I'm not much of a yoga person, but I guess it's sanscrit and all meditatey or something. Since mom loves octopi, this is my OM-topus design for her new tattoo. If she gets it, I'll post the final picture....haha, I'm not holding my breath.

Where is my Cherry?

I Once Was a Teenage...

This series was in my 2004 solo show at Nickelodeon. It's one of my personal favorites. And no, I'm not vegetarian! I like to think of this more as a class reunion. They're just discussing "the good ol' days"!

Grieving Sandwich

This is one of my more popular paintings. I applied a magazine picture to a wood panel and painted over it. I'm planning an upcoming series of paintings based off of this one.

My process

I usually sketch stuff out before I paint. Here is an acrylic I did for my 2003 gallery at Nickelodeon. It is called "Self Absorbed".

Open Water

Here is a painting I did a little while back. It was during one of our really heavy rainy seasons (last winter, if I remember correctly). I think I was feeling a little soggy. Somebody thought the boy was retarded, but it was meant as more of an incredulous look.

Book Illustrations

As I try to figure out what paintings and drawings to start uploading for your enjoyment, I thought I'd start with some illustrations from my children's book "The Unordinary Elephant".
My friend, Rikako Yamada, wrote the book in Japanese and translated to English for my illustration. In these two pieces, you'll see Jack the elephant who's ears are too small to keep him cool in the hot savanah.

Best Blog Ever.

So I thought having a blog was super nerdy (a title I am not entirely distanced from as it is). However, today my good friend Ben Balistreri introduced me to the concept of an "art blog" and my interest was piqued. Today I will use this piece of nerd currency to display my artistic wares and hopefully get some valuable feedback.

Plus now I can actually say, "This is totally going in my blog!"