Holiday Card Madness

Increasingly with every passing year, Christmas seems right around the corner once Thanksgiving slips by. And here it is again! But this time I'm armed with CARDS. Oh sure, I've made hand-drawn Christmas cards before, but this year, I really went all out. (the ones pictured here are only HALF of them) I've lined them up on my coffee table for your viewing pleasure. (Please excuse the washed out shots my crappy camera created. I think its lens is damaged or something and I hope to get a better camera soon.)


Some are "nice". (Cutesy reindeer and talking stockings abound)


And some are "naughty". (Check out Santa's outfit)


An occasional menorah pops up for a few Jewish friends, and an occasional robot pops up because they're fun to draw, and Dolly Parton makes a Christmas appearance for a coworker who's her #1 fan. And yes, those are two huge ornaments she's holding up.


I finished them all just in time for the holidays with hardly any time to spare. I really hope they arrive in time for everyone!

You remind me of the babe...

BEHOLD: JARETH from Labyrinth!


My boyfriend Edson as Pan!


Our friend Dustin as a Gothic Lolita Harajuku Girl with a MONSTER!


Dustin's boyfriend Enki as the Mad Hatter and Kim as Amy Winehouse!


Edson again with Lu as a gypsy woman!


(my Drunk Bowie face)

It's after Thanksgiving and I'm just now getting around to posting pics of my Halloween costume. How sad.

I hope it's worth the wait. First of all, I hope you get the reference, and NO, I'm not supposed to be a drag queen. I'm going to embarrass myself by stating that I am a total Labyrinth geek. I've watched that movie about a thousand times since my early teens. I rememeber seeing the box cover for it on the shelf at our local video store and at first, I was hesitant. I had been traumatized a few years earlier by the bleak post-apocalyptic flick, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdrome, and somehow my teenage mind confused Tina Turner's face (and hair!) with Bowie's face (and hair!) on the cover of the Labyrinth box. Here's the two covers. SEE WHAT I MEAN? (Sorry they're so small.)










So initially, I thought Labyrinth was going to be some sort of terrifying sequel to the Mad Max series (I was such a wus), even though the words "Mad Max" weren't anywhere on the Labyrinth packaging. That shows you the power of visual merchandising on my young impressionable mind.

Thankfully, my Dad rented Labyrinth (probably thinking it WOULD be an intense continuation of the Road Warrior genre), and I was exposed to it. I think my brothers and my Dad were disappointed by the lack of violence, thrills, and things blowing up, but I was in HEAVEN! Labyrinth was my new FAVORITE MOVIE from that point on. Being a visual person and artistically inclined and all those cliché budding artist descriptions, I was enthralled by Jim Henson's GENIUS. He was a GOD.

Thus my Bowie/Jareth costume!


I even stuck a sock in my tights to get that conspicuous "Bowie bulge" ever-present in the film.


Not only did I chance upon the crystal orb at a local plastics manufacturing store, I also found an owl! (It's a bastardized "Hedwig" prop from a Harry Potter costume.) And if you're wondering if I bought the outfit as one of those pre-designed costume kit packages–I DIDN'T! It's all my doing, baby; pieced from various clothing articles and accessories found in various New York costume shops.


That's me on the right. Not the Bowie on the left. I think the girl is checking out our bulges.

So as you can imagine, Halloween 2007 was THE SHIT for me. I even marched with my boyfriend and friends in the official New York Halloween parade. It was amazing! I even saw another dude dressed as Jareth, AND he was holding hands with a girl dressed as Sarah from the movie. Almost Immediately I had the urge to rush over and smear his Bowie makeup and rip his wig off... but I restrained myself. Hey, Jareth's up for grabs for anyone, not just me. However, I did contemplate stealing "Sarah" away from him, not because she was nice or I liked her particularly; I just wanted her as an accessory.

Moving

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I just finished moving from the Lower East Side to Midtown West. (My drawing above sorta' reminds me of my neighborhood.) I found a fab studio apartment for a great deal. I'm shocked, actually. All my books, art supplies, and furniture have been carted across town and hauled up four flights of stairs. I hope to post pics of the new space soon...once the sea of boxes part to reveal a path to the promise land! FREEEEEEDOMMMMM... to decorate however I want! All my "ironic" kitsch treasures will crawl out of their hiding places and perch themselves proudly upon every surface, shouting "Unite! Unite! 'Good' taste shall be undone!" I will sit and lovingly admire each and every one of them, from detached baby doll heads to shiny, saucer-eyed fawns to plastic-molded, cartoon figurines. They will rally around me and serve as my minions. I can't wait. (Actually, I like good taste too, but bad taste makes me laugh.)

More cartoons to come...

Let's talk about feelings

Tagged!!!

Cutesypoo (go see her fun creations) tagged me earlier this week. To show I appreciate the love, I'm gonna play...

The rules:
1.) Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2.) Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3.) Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4.) Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Here we go...
1.) As a kid I drew LOTS of dragons. (Here's another one up above.)
2.) I have so many allergies I might as well live in a bubble.
3.) My day job is creating these crazy backgrounds for a kid's show.


4.) I like making cards for people, especially people who I know will appreciate them.
5.) I didn't learn how to drive until I was 21. (I was a spazz behind the wheel.)


6.) I like grapes, pineapple and kiwi fruit, but I hate cucumbers, green peas, and celery.
7.) I'd secretly love to be a gifted chef like Remy the rat in Ratatouille (an amazing film), but I just don't have the drive –or time –or space.


Here's who I am tagging: (sorry!)
1.) Dave DeGrand, who is an amazing cartoonist whose doodles never fail to crack me up
2.) BIG AL'S SPOT, where Al Pardo animates funny characters
3.) D'Home, home of Stephen D'Andrea, the world's most talented teacher
4.) Kansa-Shite, where a cool fashion student named Gilda muses about the world
5.) Tirui, because her designs are great and she's cool
6.) Misadventures of Dee, because she's an awesome background designer
7.) The Ward-O-Matic, even though I'm sure Ward doesn't have the time

Something smells funny...

High Fashion and Poop

Well, it was OBVIOUS that I had to continue the adventure of this little turd. He appeared earlier, but now he's going to have his own little story.

While I drew robots, unicorns, and poop this weekend, my boyfriend checked out some collections during NYC's fashion week. I got a chance to see some of the designer lines as well, and boy, there was some pretty impressive stuff. It's so interesting to learn more about an area of design I'm less familiar with. I love hearing my boyfriend talk about the silhouette, cut, and details of clothing. It's mesmerizing how much thought and planning goes into some of these shows, too. There's such an eager audience for these events! People arrive and wait with bated breath to get a glimpse of their favorite designer's new creations. I can't say that I've seen many fine art crowds as passionate and impatient to view the latest creations by a living artist.

It's really interesting to me how the fashion world forces its audience to charge ahead and stay with the times. If fashion shows bared any resemblance to most American art museums (and their patrons), the styles walking down the runway would be forever stuck in Victorian England's fashion era...or maybe even caveman skins.

Let's go Shopping...

I hate grocery shopping, but I tried to ignore that when I was making these supermarket backgrounds.

Here, have some CHEESE!!!


Actually, I went to the acupunturist the other day, and she said I should try to cut cheese out of my diet. She says my body type is "hot and damp" and "easily accumulates phlegm" and cheese engenders dampness in the body perfect for phlegm production.

Yum.

A Doomed Relationship?

Hey, check out the awesome take on my unicorn character by Albert Pardo. He's an incredibly talented animator who does work for the kid's show I design backgrounds for. I'm honored that someone would do a stylization of one of my characters... and a hilariously silly one, at that!

Little Ditties

Hey folks, I've been gone a few days vacationing in Provincetown. It was a beautiful Labor Day weekend. I hope you all had a pleasant one as well.

I'm workin' on more adventures with Robot & Unicorn, so sit tight! For now, I'm posting a little doodle that was half-way transformed into a finished illustration. When will the people at work realize I need to devote ALL my time to these Mythfits??? ;)

In addition to that, here's a few sketches from NY City and the beach!


There's really no better place than NY to draw strange people...well, maybe Las Vegas?




Ugh...the woman on the right ended up out of proportion. She was supposed to have more of a midsection than that.

You know what I realized while sketching on the beach? There sure are a lot of fat Americans out there.



Below is a photo of my friend, Luciane, who I sketched above while lying on the beach. She liked the finished drawing, so I'm going to give it to her eventually. (Don't tell her, but we're also trying to find her a girlfriend! She's single, ladies!)

It was great to relax in the sand and practice some figure drawing, although I think my drawing of Lu came out a bit stiff...but I like the movement in her hair and skirt. Gotta' loosen up.


I'm trying not to get sunburned.


Fishing sure looks boring to me.

Something Totally Different

A week ago, Edson and I did our first collaboration. The end result is definitely a hybrid of both of our styles! We were approached to create illustrations for AVENUE magazine. The article we were to illustrate was about a snotty Madison Avenue book party. These two illustrations are the end result. Edson whipped up several of his stylish fashion figures and I designed the apartment backgrounds and furnishings. The color palate and the fabric textures applied to each figure's outfit were decided by both of us working together, scanning in various textures. I think we're pretty happy with the end result...but even more so, we're thrilled that we can work together successfully! It really requires careful compromising and sensitivity to work with another artist. I'm glad we didn't step on each other's toes!

The illustration above was the opening illustration of the article, and an introduction to the party crowd. The illustration below depicts the main character, a stylish Charleston, South Carolina woman visiting New York, and how she took pleasure in the fact that the host was unaware of the mousy salesgirl who was ruining a priceless designer desk with a rusty cash drawer.

WOW! A Unicorn!

This was my first attempt creating a Mythfits strip. Obviously, the robot hasn't shown up yet.

That turd might show up again later. I like him.

A Match Made In Heaven?

...Then a Robot Appeared.

Here's part two of the beginning of my strip. I hope you like it.

Note: first panel best viewed while imagining Richard Strauss's "Also sprach Zarathustra" (from 2001: A Space Odyssey) playing in your head.

Yeah, yeah...I know, that's a tired cinematic cliché, but it makes it all the more ridiculous.

In The Beginning, There Was a Drunk Unicorn...

I like unicorns that drink to kill the pain. :)

This is my attempt to materialize my new endeavor (mentioned a couple posts below). I hope you like it. I think it will be an on-going series. A friend alerted me to a similar concept being developed out there in the zeitgeist, so I thought I'd boogie to get mine started.

Happy Anniversary, baby

Okay, so it's only been one year, but that's a good start. I want to do a tribute to my sweetie, my boyfriend, on our special day. He came into my life almost exactly a year ago, and everything has been wonderful since. Having originally hailed from Brazil, He exudes a warmth that I feel lucky to be the recipient of. He has taught me so much about life, living in a new city (the Big Apple, no less!), art, fashion, and the culture of Brazil. On top of being such a kind person with a good heart, he is undoubtedly talented and inspiring. Oh, and if I may so so, I think he's such a hottie too! Ha ha...or as you'd say in Portuguese, a "lindo Gato". But that is just the tip of the iceberg, because with him, I feel like I've found someone to really connect with, spiritually, intellectually, artistically, and humorously as well. I hope we get to celebrate many more great times together.

Here's a sampling of my gatinho's work. I am so proud to have a boyfriend with such talent and style. He has even given me pointers on my wardrobe, which I eagerly welcome! Hanging out with him is like hanging out with a sweet, fun-loving Project Runway star (yet much more demure). He has an excellent eye for design and I admire that. It's been nice to share artistic visions with another artist different from myself. I can rock the cartoons, and he really rocks the fashion creations. His elegance as a designer...and as a human being is effortless. Definitely not of the "put-on" variety.


I first met him at the Phoenix Bar in the East Village. As far as bars go, you can't really get less laid back and attitude free than that. That's what I love about the place. I might be wrong, but it has always seemed like the kind of place where real, pretension-free guys stop to grab a beer and catch up with friends. It's casual, a little bohemian, a little rough around the edges.

Anyway, I happened to be there with a friend one night when I caught a glimpse of him across the bar. We didn't talk that night, but the following week, we saw each other again. He approached me in the cutest way, and I got the sense that this guy was really sweet and really real. What can I say? After that and a date, we were glued at the hips. The cool thing is how natural it all felt and continues to feel. I normally don't like to gush online about my personal life, but darn it, this makes me wanna put up a banner. I promise I won't get all mushy on ya folks (is it too late for that?). I just thought I'd spend a few moments sharing what brings me a smile each day. And if you're reading this, I love ya babe. I can't wait to toast over dinner tonight!

A New Endeavor

As an Illustrator, I get told what to draw a lot (duh). It's not usually what I would sit around sketching at home, so lately I've been experimenting with character creation. For some reason these two little guys keep showing up in my doodles! I always loved unicorns. I always loved robots. Maybe I'll do a little cartoon with them.

mooooorrre Kid's Show Art!

It's fun creating art for kids. I find that I can be as colorful and whimsical as I want. Here's more backgrounds for the show...some as sketches and some as finals. Hope you enjoy.






During one episode, all the the puppets magically travel into one of the character's mouthes to watch a film on dental hygiene. Here's the "mouth theater" as a sketch and then as a final animated background.








Lastly, I think it's amusing when small, small buildings have impossibly LARGE floorplans. For instance, this floorplan above is for the Playhouse below!