Dont Shop, ADOPT!

This started out as a fun assignment but turned into something better. I first got this assignment right before going home for winter break in December. I couldn't really come up with anything great, until I remembered an article I had read in my hometown newspaper about over population of cats in the shelter near me.

I volunteered at the Monmouth County SPCA from when I was 12 to 18. I started out doing 'cat socializing'. I raised hundreds of dollars a year doing my 'Pet Caricatures' at the annual Pet Walk. I charged everyone 10-20 dollars for a drawing of their pet and I drew them right on the spot. All the money went straight to the SPCA. It was a great way for me to use my art to help animals, which is my ultimate goal in life.

Once I was older (I believe 16), me and my boyfriend at the time went to the shelter almost every day after school to walk the dogs. We were both so passionate about every dog in there, but none of them compared to our Monday. Monday was a beautiful Pit Bull mix that I know will be in my heart for the rest of my life. She was all white except for an orange-brown tan spot over one eye and ear and a spot of her butt and tail. She was some-what banished to the back of the shelter because she has been exhibiting some aggression to the other dogs. Joey (my boyfriend of that time) and I knew her better. We took her out almost 6 days a week and socialized her with our own dogs. She loved to play more than anything and would do anything for Joey- even attempt to follow him up a ladder on a playground once. We brought her to the beach, the park, our homes. We would have given anything to keep her but unfortunately our parents were too afraid of the breed. This story has a bitter-sweet end; she did get adopted- which we were afraid she'd be put down first. We are so happy she is alive and hopefully happy... but we did not get to meet her adopters, or say goodbye.

When we walked into the shelter to see that she was gone, the mixed emotions had traumatized us. We spent so many hours over the months with her. Me and Joey could not help but sit in our car and cry for hours. As sad as we were at our loss we were also so happy she no longer had to sleep in a cage at night. We drove away and never looked back.

However, there are so many unwanted animals out there that are so wonderful. They need their 'fur ever' home so badly. I want to raise awareness that just because you get an animal from a shelter doesn't mean you cannot train, rehabilitate, or help them to be the pet you want. There are often even puppies and pure breds in shelters. Everyone should consider using PetFinder.com before going to a breeder. There are plenty of purebreds out there that have been abandoned. A lot of people do not know about puppy mills, which is why they go to Pet Stores to get their puppies. Awareness must be spread because no person would knowingly adopt a dog from a puppy store if they knew the condition of those puppies' mothers.

Going back to my painting though- this is more about cats than dogs. My family and I have adopted or accidentally adopted in the case of Furby, all of our cats. They have all be such a huge part of my life and are/were healthy. If anyone is thinking of getting a kitty I beg you to go to your local shelter and pick a cat, just because they are bit older doesn't make them used- it makes them wise. (And there are often kittens at shelters as well).

Don't Shop, Adopt- they will be a family member, you wouldn't 'buy' a kid would you!? Haha.

The Hunger Games- Katniss

I just finished reading the book of The hunger Games series a week ago and am almost halfway done with the second. I like it a lot! I am excited to see the movie and how they translate it into film. The visuals should be amazing. I decided to color my sketch of Katniss, because she's pretty awesome- and the only hunter I can forgive. ;)

Last Semester

So my final semester at Syracuse University has begun. Below is mostly things I did over the Holiday Break. Except the below painting was something I did my sophomore year but never uploaded. Its a water color of Kiba, its simple and very colorful- things I have hard time achieving still to this day.

The painting above is a commission I received over break. He's harlequin Great Dane. The moose image is for my sister for her birthday. She has a thing for moose.

The painting below I did last March. It's still in a bit of bad taste, but I figured its been long enough to upload it at this point. This was based off an article about Steve Jobs visit to a hospital and how people were worried what would come of Apple without Jobs, unfortunately we now know. However, when I painted this he was okay and my iV joke may have been remotely funny... now, not so much.

This drawing is for my Million Things assignment. There are only 29 cats I believe, but its going to be tough to color it all!

The above is some Hunger Games fanart

The last three pages of sketches were done while I worked at my Mom's Toy Store over break. Of course it was the holiday season so it was quite busy. However, every once in awhile I got to draw some of the interesting folks who came in to buy some toys.

The beginning of the end

So it has been a long semester. I wouldn't say I am pleased with my

work this semester. I really only produced one thing that I am proud of. I do hope that my final semester here will bring better art. I finalized my schedule today and its different than this year, less free time during the week, but I think the classes will be much better than this past semester. One of them will be a storyboarding class and I am more than thrilled for that o

ne. Another one is Narrative Illustration, which I have been trying to take since my freshmen year. Unfortunately I had to drop Wine Appreciation, but I suppose my parents will be pleased about that.

This is a birthday card I made

for my roommate today!

Happy 22nd roomie!

This assignment is

from a few months ago, its a

coloring book about Kiba!

Kiba Saves Furby!

I just finished my last piece for the semester, and I am actually pretty pleased with it at the moment. There are a few things that I think need work but I am going to give it a day to decide what to change. For now I am happy. This is the first time I have drawn my new kitty Furby. I rescued her a snow storm two Christmas' ago- tried to find her a home or find out if she had one but to no avail, eventually we convinced my parents to let us keep her. Unfortunately, my cat Pyewacket died about 6 months after we got Furby and because of that loss I really had no interest in bonding with Furby, so this past Thanksgiving was the first time I spent any real time with her since I rescued her. I am sure she will soon become as popular as Kiba is in my work. :)

Revisions to 'Chucks'

This is going to be on my promotional postcards that I will be sending out soon! The image unfortunately looks much better on the computer than printed out.

Revisions to 'Kiba saves Christmas'

I have been working and working and working on this to attempt to get a finished piece I actually like. It has been hard, but no where near as hard as uploading it has been. My apartment complex advertised itself as luxury campus living, but instead I got sub par living with internet that is slower than dial-up. This is probably the 8th time I've written this paragraph- it that helps you understand how frustrating this is. On the bright side, I am no longer stressed about the painting... oy...

also: the first one is a screenshot.. some how the file was corrupted during my million attempts to upload it so all i have is this- its also not right because the mouse is in he right hand corner and the lighting is off on santa... OY