And Never Brought to Mind

Here's a couple different costume designs for a character from Dinogeddon who's my favorite to draw right now.

obviously the second one is really sketchy. I mainly did it because I thought it would be cool for her to have maybe a more traditional old-school aviator outfit, but ultimately I think I'll nix it in favor of her original design, since the gang she's in is supposed to be really rag-tag and more road warrior-looking, while their rivals are the ones who dress more like uniforms.

Also got this! :D

 

 A two-sided superhero/super villain pony! XD I think it premiered at the San Diego comicon? I'm not totally sure about her origins, but I saw her and was in love. I think she's part of a line of high-end artistic ponies, sort of simulating the Pony Project.  I don't have the room to collect as many ponies as I'd like, so I mainly just grab the really unique or ones that strike my fancy, like this one. Oh, I also really want the Junko Mizuno pony! O___O

Oh yeah, and happy new whatever. Good riddance, 2009! Tomorrow I'm whipping up some greens and black-eyed peas, 'cause I need all the luck and moolah I can get!

the cute girl

something experimental...lemme know what you think.

Eating You Up

I realize I've been appearing too much in my own blog lately...but I just got my hair cut and I can't resist! XD

She cut my bangs a little shorter than I'd wanted, but I actually ended up liking them! I have this weird birthmark on my forehead that I'm kind of embarrassed by and grew bangs to hide it in the first place, but it seems nobody else even notices it but me, and anyways fuck it. and she styled it all awesome and gave me this volumized, retro look.

tiger undercut! XD my mom would be so mad at me, hahaha! I also found out I have a freckle on the side of my head I didn't know I had!

I normally kind of hate going to get my hair cut, and put it off for as long as possible. Not because I'm afraid of messing up my hair, but because I hate having to explain to a stranger what I want and then having to make awkward small talk with them while they work on my hair. I hate small talk, especially with people I don't know. But this time the girl was cool! She was super young and laid-back and awesome, I didn't feel that awkward with her at all. Well, one time I did, but it wasn't her fault; she just had to get really close to me and her crotch was rubbing all over my shoulder!

I am drawing things, but not as much as normal because of the fucking holidays and work and family stuff. But here's a sneak preview, or something.

Take no Prisoners

dinosaur oatmeal is the breakfast of warriors! XD

was going to get my hair cut today, but waited too late. there should really be 24-hour salons. oh well. i got all my dye, anyway.

today's make up:

I tried to mimic a bruise with the colors, because I have this sort of fascination with bruises. the lipstick is my own concoction too, but I kind of hurriedly put it on, so it ended up looking all sloppy.

finally watched KRULL last night. it was all right; i was a little disappointed with how medieval-ly and fantasy-ish it was. i was hoping it would be more cheesy sci-fi. i kind of hate fantasy crap like lord of the rings and like that (except Willow, omg, that movie's awesome!), but it was all right. i was mainly disappointed that the one and only female character in the whole movie is the same old princess in distress stereotype, and that all the characters were so boring and predictable: the prince, the band of thieves, the bumbling sorcerer. it's like, it's a movie set in fucking space! you can do whatever you want!! blah. at least it had a cyclops, and the fire mares were pretty cool. i liked the evil storm trooper guys that shot lasers and turned to squid things.

i have this habit with skittles, and really any kind of candy. i tend to eat them one piece at a time, and suck on them for a while until they get nice and soft, then i finally chew and swallow them. i think i do this with really any kind of pleasure in my life; i try to savor it as long as fucking possible.

fortunes

my cat is a doofus. but cute.

me, less so.

Green

A friend turned me onto Shiina Ringo in high school and I was really big on her, and just recently I remembered her and looked her up. She's still amazing!!! She's so inspiring to me, not only her music, but her visuals in her videos are so fucking cool!


live with Tokyo Jihen - I loooove her stage outfit! XD And I love how elegant and beautiful she is. Plus wtf instrument is she playing?? haha


Some other older videos of hers I like:
"Ringo No Uta" - I really think this one is cool because it shows her evolution as an artist, recreating her album covers and all her different looks from past videos. It really matches the reflective nature of the song well.

"Honnou" - One of my fave songs/videos of hers ever. I love this video so much! haha Of course there's the medical/nurse fetish stuff and girls making out, but I also love that it has that touch of Japanese cheesiness and weirdness XD


 There are other cool videos, like an animated one where she's a retro spy kind of character with a pet robot cat that transforms into a gun (haha!) but I can't find them. :/

I admire her so much; I like that she can seem vulnerable and sweet yet tough and sexy at the same time. It makes me want to work on being a better woman.

Let's Live Forever

Boy Crisis "Fountain of Youth" - YouTube
I'm so in love with this video (and this song) right now. It makes me want to do a futuristic 80's-styled space story, haha!

I'm just getting over having probably the worst head cold I've ever had. :( Still feel yucky, but much better!

Drawing raptors is a lot harder than drawing t-rex to me. Maybe it's just because I don't look at them as much. T-rex, you're still number 1 in my heart, baby!!

I like the second, cartoony one, even though I'm not sure it would work for Dinogeddon. XD

I'm Going Hunting

Messin' around. Quick and Messy.

Burning Down

Most horrible day ever today. I feel horrible.

I've got to find another job...I can't deal with being verbally abused by customers all the time anymore. Today I almost snapped on this little yuppie girl who was barking at me because I tore the labels on her expensive bottles of gift liquor trying to remove their anti-theft devices. Fuck everybody. Fuck the holidays.

skinny thighs - youtube  O_O did she say "thighs of a four-year-old?"

Disabilities downplayed for 'Britain's Missing Top Model" - article  omg, this rules!!! I wanna see this show!! I'm kinda confused by the partially paralyzed girl. Like, does she only have to use her wheelchair part of the time, or would she just like wheel herself down the catwalk? Because that would be awesome!

Supersize vs Superskinny - youtube  I really don't know how I feel about this show, or if it's anywhere near a good idea....I just can't believe they make them meet each other in their underwear! O_O

Haha butt tassles! XD This girl is my hero!

All For Nothing

UUUUGH Another pair of pants bites the dust! :( I need to get skinny thighs if for no other reason than to stop the inevitable destruction of ALL of my favorite pants.

On  a semi-related note, I'm thinking about going back to eating vegetarian. I think I feel better when I do, and it shouldn't be too hard seeing as the only meat I really eat anymore is chicken. And the occasional tuna. Oh god! today at work there was free food in the break room for the holidays or whatever, and they had barbecue, the kind for sandwiches!! The southern girl in me flipped the fuck out. Normally Northerners don't know nothing 'bout no barbecue, but that shit was good!

So that this entry isn't completely worthless, I found this while digging through some old art shit recently:

This is a super-tiny sketch of Gambit I did like almost a year ago, and I didn't finish it 'cause I didn't like it, but I do still kind of like some of the pen work. I kinda miss doing traditional art stuff; I almost never do it anymore except for sketching because my art table broke, but I wanna dabble with it again, just for fun, even if I suck at it.

Oh, and here's a sketch of Nyla I also never finished:

 Changed up her design a bit. I really don't know why I didn't finish this one, heh.

Art Shooooooow!!!

Look, I know no one probably reads this thing, but I figured I'd give this a shot so that I can say that I did.

My friend Mike is putting on an art show that's a tribute to cult films, and it's the first real showing my art's ever been in. I only have one piece since there's going to be lots of artists and they need to conserve space for everyone. Anyway, here's my piece. I chose Faster Pussycat Kill Kill because at the time I did this I had just seen it, and it really stuck with me and I wanted to do fan art of it. I love the characters, and how crazy the plot gets.

If you're in the Detroit/Royal Oak area, you should come on out and say hi! It's mostly people I'm friends with and they're all really cool. And I guess if you buy art during the show you'll get to see a special midnight screening of City of Lost Children with us, the artists. Here's the info:

I Won't Be Defeated

I effed up my wrist pretty bad...feels sort of like a sprain, or pinched nerve or something. Hurts, but at least it's not my drawing hand! ;) I really like the soft, rhythmic, wooshing sounds my dishwasher makes, plus it's warm. It's like a womb or something. I just want to lay my head on it while I draw.

Finally finished this.

It's kind of a re-do of the original piece that started this whole Dinogeddon thing. I know it's not perfect and there's probably tons of anatomical and perspective errors, but I'm just pretty pleased that I imagined something in my mind and it came out almost exactly like I envisioned it. It was also a pretty big learning experience. +25 EXP

For the first time in years it seems like I'm beginning to get my shit together and form a plan. I want to save up and print some mini comics and start going to cons. I was thinking about maybe also printing the above image as mini posters to sell at cons, but we'll see.

I also need to make a logo for Dinogeddon, and I suck at making logos. Blergh.

At Large

Work was so fucking crazy yesterday. There were all these really crazy-looking people, and many of them were some of the worst-smelling people I've ever had the misfortune of being in close proximity to. At the end of the day, someone gave me a plastic bag with what appeared to be clothes tied up in it, and when I asked what it was I was told they were clothes that an elderly man sat on after he'd peed himself.

I sketched some of the people I dealt with...they probably don't really look like this, it's just how I remember them.

Can I Change Your Mind?

I REALLY WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE haha oh god it looks terrible!!!
A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL - YouTube

Although I'm kinda grossed out by how much they keep playing up "pre-pubescent," like it's sexy or something. ick.

I'm also super-interested in seeing this movie, even though I didn't think I would be!
Babies trailer - YouTube

It looks soooo beautiful! And really interesting. Plus the babies are so cute! XD haha, omg, the babies so seriously grinding those rocks or whatever at the beginning!<3 I'm really interested in seeing the Namibian and the Mongolian babies. Their homes look so amazing! It kinda reminds me of when I was little and I spent a big chunk of my childhood on my grandparents' farm, and back then they had a log cabin with no running water or anything. So we had to drink from a well and stuff. It's kinda weird to think about, but I might be one of the last people in my generation in the U.S. to use an outhouse!

Anyway, way to get off track, but um...this is so fucking cool! A hermit crab tucked up in a see-through shell! :) I wish I could just carry around everything I'd ever need with me on my back....

I'll Fight

In doing research for Dinogeddon! I've come across a bunch of really interesting articles about feathered dinosaurs, or dinosaurs with primitive feathers. I find it pretty fascinating because I never knew there were so many specimens out there, and possibly even more we might not know about. Here's some articles if you're interested in that: Feathered dinosaurs on Wiki  Evidence of feathers on early dinosaurs - Nat Geo news

Things to come.

  Don't really like the second girl's outfit...probably fix that later.

Haha...I was thinking about putting a scene like this in the comic, but I don't know if it would be in bad taste. Or maybe that's a good thing. :p Not sure what Ronnie's raving about, but she's really shaking that tea cup around!

I wanna be

Last night I had the coolest dream! I dreamed I was living in this super cool futuristic dome house out in the desert, and it was like an artist commune, but like all my favorite artists were there with me! It was so cool and chill. And a lot of them seemed to be hot guys for some reason haha...stupid brain. But I ate cereal with this tall guy, I can't remember who, but he was wearing tight black jeans. And I sat in the desert with one of my favorite artists and just talked about something totally dumb, but I can't remember what...then we had this awesome anti-gravity room that me and some other people went in and started playing around in...and it was so cool, like I was bouncing off walls and shit! ...Then my alarm went off, heh. I was kind of pissed. I haven't had a dream that cool in a long time.

I don't think I could really live in a commune though, even if it was full of hot artists that I admire...I just value privacy and being alone too much. I guess I'm kind of a hermit or something. Then again, I don't see an artist commune as being that lively of a place, haha. Everyone would probably just be locked away in a room drawing all the time. Do you get rooms in communes? I have no idea. That'd be pretty sweet.

Go it alone

Here's the (sort of) main character for my post-apocalyptic dinosaur comic...which I've decided to call Dinogeddon. ;)

Veronica "Ronnie" Riot. She's the leader of the main gang that the comic's about, called the T-Riots. I'm working on doing sketches like this of all the other characters and maybe when they're all done I'd like to do like a little character line-up thing. I wanted to draw her t-rex Rexxie too, but I drew like the worst dinosaur ever so that'll have to wait a bit. XD

Sometimes I wish I had a writer or co-writer, or even somebody to just bounce ideas around with...hrmph.

take my hand, Paree

I love the movie "Gay Purr-ee." For those who don't know, it's an animated film written and produced by Chuck Jones (of Looney Toons fame) released by UPA in...1962, I believe? It's sort of a classic romantic comedy musical set in Gay Nineties France, but starring cats. I saw it on tv as a kid and became obsessed with it (it may be what started my France obsession? haha) until I managed to procure it on VHS as a teenager. And now fortunately we live in the future where everything is on the internet. See the whole movie here: http://www.trilulilu.ro/iculici/5003b2306f146c

The voice acting is just superb. There's the incomparable Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, and I absolutely adore Paul Frees as the villain. But most of all, there's the wonderful Judy Garland as the lead, Mewsette. The wonderfully written music in this film is made even more unforgettable by her legendary voice.

Even more than the voice acting, I just love Chuck Jones's animation and art direction. He's one of my heroes, and I really consider this one of his masterpieces. It even cost him his contract to Warner Bros., but he still made it. The backgrounds alone are just gorgeous to look at, and resemble the impressionistic painting styles popular when the movie takes place. I love the contrast of the Van Gogh-esque countryside to the cityscape of Paris resembling the work of Lautrec. This one scene alone is enough to make art history buffs cream their pants: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_CvqjjNjUU

fucking beautiful!

I'd REALLY like to have the LP from the movie. The cover is a sweet piece of design work as well!

blue feather

I haven't been drawing much lately because I'm starting to get the it's-getting-dark-at-4-o'clock blahs. Well, that's not the only reason, but it's a factor. Mainly Harvest Moon: Animal Parade has taken over my life, because I have been a complete and total whore follower of the HM franchise since I was twelve.

So naturally, when I'm not playing it, I'm drawing fan art from it. :D

 I love the Witch Princess, she's so effing cute! Plus she's pretty boss for wearing her panties around all the time. :D

Phoebe, the inventor girl who likes to mine. She's actually a bit of a boring character disappointingly, but I mainly just like her design and her outfit.

And my two of my fav dudes from the game, Chase the bitchy waiter with the barettes, and Julius the fashionista. Okay, this one mainly came from me having a hankering to draw porn again lately, ha. I dunno why. I really miss drawing couples, and just people interacting with each other. Maybe it's a sign of my drawings pining for more intimacy, haha! XD

I still need to draw the Wizard because he is effing awesome, and maybe I'll do some pr0nz, I dunno.

This song from my high school days has been stuck in my head really bad lately.  sugar water  plus the video is really cool, I think :D

bon

This is my favorite France Gall song, and definitely my fav to dance to. :3



The April March cover is okay, and I love the sweetness of the Julien Doré version, but this is just the ultimate. That peppy organ music! I love it!  I love this video too! I've been practicing the awkward dances the kids do in the video along to this song for quite some time (and have improvised moves from the other silly dances I've observed for the parts where there's no dancing shown). Not that I'm a dancer...it's just fun! Maybe one day I'll make a rilly embarrassing video of me doing my dance to this song. XD

more sketches

sketch party!

punk girls, lasers and dinosaurs...

Oh yeah, I forgot...I took a break from drawing things I should have been working on and decided to just draw something fun for myself, something full of my favorite things...and this happened.

Strangely enough, everybody seems to like it, and of course it was really fun for me to draw, and my mind kinda ran with it...so long story short, a silly post-apocalyptic, laser-toting, half-naked punk girls riding dinosaurs comic is in the works. ;p

Tha's All

I guess today is Animation Day, so I celebrated by finally watching "Sita Sings the Blues." It was just as amazing as I'd heard it was! And even more so after I read about all the hardships the artist went through to release it. If you have an extra one and a half hours, do yourself a favor and see it.

Sita Sings the Blues

Over, Under, Sideways, Down

Been drawing a ton of shit lately...none of it's finished though, heh! I'm thinking about redoing my online portfolio, something simpler, but not sure about the design yet. Hmm.

Nothing too exciting, but here's the preview of the second page!

I'm not sure whether to use gray tones, or leave it stark black and white. I like how clean and crisp the b&w looks, but I think graytones would make for more dimensional storytelling. 

VAGINAS

I think I need to find a new place to put my tablet, because whenever I draw for a while it starts killing my shoulder. But I can't really think of anywhere else to put it. hmm. I've been drawing like a fiend lately! It feels really good after having a sort of block for a while. Thanks to everyone who's been so supportive of my art and my comic thus far! It means a lot, and has really helped me to keep going. <3

And now for something completely different. XD A friend of mine pointed out this weird etsy shop to me: vulva love 

I guess it's a feminist shop, in which everything is basically artistic representations of different female organs; breasts, uterus, and particularly vaginas. Now maybe I'm missing the point or something, but I don't really get how crap with vaginas on it is necessarily feminist. I can appreciate it artistically on a certain level I guess, but the feminist message is kinda lost on me. Isn't it more like it's propagating the idea that women are defined by our bodies and physical attributes? Does vagina = feminist?  Of course not. 

But I guess it's trying to say that part of feminism is revering women's own unique private parts...but I'm not really into that. Not that I find vaginas ugly or shameful or anything, just that I don't find them particularly pleasing to look at. It's the same with penises. If some guy went around wearing a "dick pride" necklace I'd think "wow, what a fruit loop!"

I do, however like the uterus plushies, hehe. But that has more to do with me liking internal organs and gross stuff in cute plushie form than feminism, heh. To each their own, I guess. I bet Georgia O'Keefe would love this store.

comic preview and self-doubt

Here's a preview of my comic. It's coming along slower than I'd like it to, but I'm really taking my time with it because I want to try and do the best that I can, and grow as an artist. I haven't worked on a comic in a long time, so it's kind of hard to get back into it.

Also, I have a lot of hope for this comic, which gives me a new set of insecurities. As pretentious as it may sound or whatever, I'm kind of considering this my masterpiece...it says a lot about me as an artist, I feel, and it's probably the happiest I've been working on a comic since years ago. There's definitely a lot of me in there, both as a writer and an artist, and for that reason I'm incredibly scared of failure or rejection. I think that's what's had me frozen from doing comics seriously for so long. Ever since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be a comic artist, and it's pretty frightening to come to terms with the idea that you may just not be talented enough to fulfill your lifelong dream. It's been crippling to me in the past. But nowadays, there are so many options for artists, especially with the internet and all, that pretty much if you make something, someone, somewhere, will find it interesting. So that's encouraging. 

And recently I've also realized that sometimes in our human flurries to fulfill our wishes, meet self-imposed deadlines or worry about supposed expectations, we can lose track of why we enjoy that thing which do, that we hope to build a career with. The point in doing comics is to have fun, and to express oneself. And I'm letting myself do that again now. :)

So any comments, concerns, pointers, feedback whatsoever on my page would be most appreciated. Like I said I'm very seriously working on it and want it to be the best it can be! And sometimes you stare at something so long you lose all objectivity. 

Sorry for the long, rambling post! I'm very tired and my hand is cramping up, so good night!

evolution

The evolution of a character.



I'm happier with her modified costume design, and can't wait to finish these! (Forgive my horrible, sloppy sketches. D:) I know there's a lot wrong with them that I need to fix, but I'm just happy to have so many ideas lately. :)

José González

Sadly I'm just now discovering the work of José "Pepe" González. I'm not usually into really realistic, classic "comic book" style drawing, but there's something absolutely beautiful and captivating about his art. I guess it comes from him having been a classic painter before getting into comics. He had an incredibly soft, sensual touch.
I love this page! It's everything comic erotica should be! Look at those beautiful, expressive faces and passionate poses! You can almost feel their skin.

I'm particularly fond of his work with charcoal and pencil. I love the retro-ness, the mysticism and sensuality it has. I know whatever I saw with this guy's art on it, I'd definitely have to pick it up!


And although I'm not very fond of the same old overly sexy, objectified versions of female characters that so often fill comics (especially from decades past), there's something exhilarating in González's depictions, though it's hard for me to pinpoint just what. Perhaps it's the confident, regal air most of his females seem to carry themselves with, or the way in which he seems to genuinely care about his subject, faithfully reproducing every curve of a (albeit well-endowed) woman who looks as if she could really exist, instead of an extremely fetishized exaggeration whose only purpose is titillation.

Catching Up