Jax

Good Girl, Monday Pg 1

This is the first page in my children's story about a Pit Bull named Monday. The concept for her is below.

Venice Beach Project

Last week was my Spring Break- and it was the busiest Spring Break I've ever had! I traveled to the insanely-different-from-NYC, LA. I had the pleasure of meeting a lot native creative thinkers! I visited JAKKS Pacific and CDI in Santa Monica, Maker Studios on Rodeo Dr, 6 Point Harness in Hollywood, Cartoon Network in Burbank, and Cookie Jar Entertainment in Burbank. I received amazing advice and words of wisdom from people in the animation business as well as the consumer products business. I met some incredibly gracious people who I hope to meet again some day!

As terrific as all of my 'interviewing/information gathering' went- this post is about my adventures in Venice Beach. After a crazy day of interviews and driving around (getting lost and stuck in traffic, although thank goodness for the carpool lane!) my father and I decided to visit the beach. I live on the beach essentially in NJ so I did not know what to expect. We drove along the coast hoping to find some place interesting to stop- we found Venice Beach. I am sure most people know all about the 'rif raf' as my father calls it. I was surprised at how similar it is to Seaside heights actually. Aside from that, it was the people who truly inspired me- specifically the homeless- I was so inspired that hours before we had to return our rental car I begged my father to lend some one dollar bills so I could ask the homeless (I use this term loosely because I am not sure HOW homeless these people are) if I could take pictures of them and the dogs (and cat) they live with. I think the result is pretty inspiring.

Dotty & Basil

Piggly Wiggly, Dotty & Basil

Sarah & Ladybug

Mike & Baldwin

Paul & Angelica the Cat

Aphgan & MaryJane

Josiah & Ronnin

Dog & (no name)

Scotty, Cody, Crooked-dog, & Ladybird

John & Mateo

Cesar Millan says that he believes the homeless take better care of their pets than some millionaires. These animals are with their 'pack' 24/7. Most of them were in good condition and their owners all seemed to love them very much. I truly hope they all love them for them and not because they use them in the hopes of getting money from tourists. From the ones I spoke to, I do not think this is the case. One man- John just above, threw my money back at me when he thought I was taking pictures of his dog to try and get it a better home! To me thats a man who loves his dog- and dog who loves his man.

Kiba & Pyewacket

I had to do a 'promotional piece' again this semester. I was having the hardest time figuring out what I wanted to do. I decided that I should do something with a lot of character, a bit of a story, and humorous- and I also wanted to enjoy doing it. The idea behind these promotional pieces is to send them off to potential clients, so if they like what's on your card they'll probably want you to do something for them that is similar to the image on the card. I think this is the epitome of the kind of work I want- animals interacting, characters, funny, and definitely geared towards a younger audience.

For those people who knew Pyewacket, he was very fat, very loud, and loved torturing Kiba. He would nuzzle up to him and nibble on him on a daily basis. Kiba was attacked by Pyewacket when he was a puppy and never dared mess with him again! Kiba remained terrified of Pyewacket for the rest of Pyepye's life- but he loved him. When Pyewacket died, Kiba was very distraught. I was not there during any of this because I was at school, but I was told that he howled and howled while my family buried Pyepye in the backyard. Dogs need packleaders, and Pyewacket was Kibas packleader in my absence. I miss my Pyewacket very much, I dont think I'll ever meet a cat as great as him ever again.