Momotaro First Painting/Series

I finished the first painting in my Momotaro series.

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.

Momotaro- The Peach Boy

For my Narrative Illustration class this semester I am doing an interpretation of the Japanese Folk Tale, Momotaro. I had actually read this story when I was taking Japanese when I was in High School. I've certainly never been a fan of this story which is why I am changing it around quite a bit. The story follows a boy who was born from a Peach (Momotaro translates roughly to Peach Boy). I always found this to be very strange- so I've decided to focus completely on the journey of Peach Boy and the three animals who help him. They travel to Ogre Island to defeat the ogres. My peach boy will actually be based off my 14 year old brother. It will be very American oriented with subtle Japanese easter eggs planted here and there. These two are my interpretation of the Monkey and Pheasant that he befriends. My previous post is the Dog that helps Momotaro- who I obviously based off of Kiba (who is japanese!).

Keeble Weeble

I miss my puppy a lot. I am sad to almost be a graduate, but also so excited to move back home and have a dog be apart of my daily routine again. Life is just so much better with a canine around. They just know how to live in the now and enjoy the simple things.

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.