Downton Abbey

I just finished watching the first and second season of Downton Abbey. I just cannot seem to focus on my work at the moment so I decided to do some good old fashion fan art! I am trying to play around with different styles and techniques so this was an experiment at best.

G is for Graceful Greyhound, H is for Happy Hedgehog!

I have been given a second chance to finish my alphabet! For a class assignment we are actually to do an alphabet, surprisingly, and I now I am ahead of the game. These are also my first paintings that were done completely digitally thanks to my new Cintiq (and wonderful grandparents).

Momotaro Cont'd & another New Yorker Cover

For the New Yorker piece I was trying out a more graphic cartoony style. I am getting a Cintiq from my amazing grandparents and am so excited to use it- I am hoping it will enable me to do more simple finished sketches and studies. I am finally done with my Momotaro series.

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.

Spring Break

I finished the second painting in my Series Assignment and my first New Yorker cover. I am some what pleased with both. Spring Break is less than a week away- and I need it! I need some down time and more time to think about my after graduation plans. But most of all I miss my town, my family and of course Mr. Kiba!

Law School Newspaper Illustrations

So I met this really nice guy at a bar a few months ago. He told me he is a law student- I told him I was an undergraduate Illustration major. He then asked me if I was interested in doing some work for his school's newspaper. Well, Faegans (the bar I frequent) has a night called 'Flip Night'. Basically the bartender flips a coin and if you guess correctly you get a free beer. Long story short- I had been winning a lot this night and have a huge soft spot for Franzikaner Heffeweizens. I answered this law student with an emphatic 'yes!'

I do not regret saying yes, but I did not realize how hard this would be for me. I am not a political/editorial artist really at all. It was hard for me to visualize the articles I had to illustrate. I decided that my Illustrator skills would better suit me for these assignments than my drawing ability. I actually really like the outcome- I think they are clean and to the point. (Which, from what I've learned, that's what you want out of a political cartoon or illustration).

The first Illustration is based on an article on how many of the owners of major oil companies used to be a part of or have connections with the formal KGB. The second Illustration is about how the withdrawal from NATO is in 2014 and how Afghanistan, Pakistan and the USA are trying to fight for how to deal with North Waziristan. The third illustration is based on a paper about how Obama has succeeded in weeding out a lot of terrorists but they have started to adapt to our tactics. The final image is my favorite one and it is about Pakistan's suicide bombers.

Whimsical World

I just finished my "whimsical world'' assignment. Of course mine is a dog sanctuary! We only had 2 weeks to work on this, so there are a few things I dislike about it. I do (obviously) like how Kiba came out. :)