Illustration Friday : Dance!

Good lord! It's been a while since my last post.
I know, but I'm getting ready for 2 upcoming artshows, so my attention has been diverted away from my blog... but also I was having some major problems with Blogger and I couldn't publish any of my posts! Chaka mad. Chaka REAL mad.
I'll apologize now to all the animators out there for this post, but it fits the Illo topic of the week. I won't dare call it 'animation'. I'll just call it... 'cycling images'. Hows that? And for those of you that tell me "Hey, this is old! Those were on your 'coming soon' page for the past 2 years!" I apologize.........wait a minute...no, screw you guys!

Illustration Friday : Sorry

Oh YIKES! I'm Suhry about that buddy!

Illustration Friday : angels & devils

Well, for this Illo Friday's topic, I decided to go for a hybrid or sorts...
a flyin' evil angel! Yeeha!

Links Friday...er... Saturday!

I had a bunch of links to post this week, but I enjoyed this one so much I had to post it solo... just to make sure you wouldn't miss it.

[1] Fumi and the Bad Luck Foot.
Hilarious Animated short... I could't stop laughing.

Okay... there was too much goodness here too:

"What the hell do you want now?"

Hey everybody! I took a stab at the Illustration Friday's topic: Under the Sea.
'Miles' of Stumpytown is taking on the role of Aquaman...
...poor, irritated fish is asking... "what the hell..."

Spring is here...

A couple of weeks ago, around 3am, Dev and I were spooked by the squaking of a distressed duck. We ran out back to find her swimming frantically back and forth in our pond, and a raccoon with an egg in its paws and broken shells at its feet. (I wanted to kill that little fucker.) The duck had made a nest in an old tree stump... we were too late, the nest was empty.

BUT, surprise, surprise. Yesterday we woke up to find 11 DUCKLINGS in our pond! The cutest things you could ever see. They were swimming happily beside their mother eating the bugs along the bank of the pond. What do you know, she managed to build a second secret nest in a tree stump just 20 feet away, closer to the water (remember the movie Contact? hahaha) I couldn't believe it. She won! (Screw you raccoon!)



See them in action!

Links Friday, BABY!

I know, I know, it's been a while. I've missed you too.

Everybody shout: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM! " It's my sister's birthday today! (She's having a blast in San Francisco! Hi Kim!)

[1] PlushYou.
YEEha! I'm taking part in a group PLUSH Show this fall at Schmancy Toys. Here's a shout out to Kristen! Thanks Kristen. I still don't know what I'm going to make yet... but I can't wait.
[2] Stick It Make It Ice.
Rad sick, Marcos Perez, Carl Is the Awesome has a blog! I can't believe he linked me - YEEHA!
[3] Jeremy Tinder.
I bought one of his paintings at APE! Love, love, love his stuff. "Bleeding clouds, cathing it on your tongue" painting is my favorite...
[4] YetAnotherDot.
80s lyrics baby! Okay, this is a VERY long quiz, but you KNOW you can't resist. Do it, Do it. (Thanks for the link Lisa!)
[5] Japanese Inventions.
Hilarity! Dev sent me this, and damn, the Japanese ARE completely out of their minds (Its okay...its okay...I can say that because they are my people.)
[6] Fluid Effect.
Check out the Portfolio, Before and After section. It is pretty crazy. Its nice to see that the celebs aren't as "perfect & flawless" as thought... but, alas, I still feel utterly and completely inadaquate. Oh well, I'll keep working on my PhotoShop skills. So, uh, I got that going for me...

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto

Here's my take on Illustration Friday's topic, ROBOT.
(Miles in a box!)

Stumpytown @ Blue Bottle Art Gallery!

I'm so happy! Some of my Stumpytown artworks are now at Blue Bottle Art Gallery + Store! CLICK HERE!

They have a fantastic selection of artwork from local and national artists - from paintings, prints, plushies, t-shirts, magnets, journals, cards, jewelry, etc. Check out the boutique when you're up on the hill!

Spotted!

Hey everybody!
Here's my take on the Illustration Friday topic: Spotted...
it's more like "Busted" but, oh well.

Good Times @ APE! San Francisco baby!

Hey Everybody!

So, remember when I mentioned that we met a ton of cool people @ the EmeraldCon? Well, I lied. There wasn't anyone cool there at all.
...I'm kidding. There were so MANY cool cats there, as a matter a fact, a few of those lovely folks told us about an Expo "you cannot miss" in San Francisco called "A.P.E." (Alternative Press Expo).

"San Francisco, you say? We're there!" Suzanne, Augie, Dev and I decided to GO-FOR-IT and got a table together. What the hell! We also had good company. Special guest stars Gene and Shane!

Come on everybody, here we gooooooooooooooo

APE. April 8th - 9th. 2 jam-packed days at the Concourse. Wall-2-wall creativity I tell you. Plush, silkscreen, original paintings, prints, handmade books and zines, tees, etc. etc. etc. you name it. It knocked me down! I was excited and eager to jet home to get working on new projects... and overwhelmed at the same time, wanting to cry heavily into my open palms from art shame. Would I go again? Absolutely.


So, here we are! Look at all our glory.
Suzanne brought some of her original wood paintings, sketches, archival prints, zines and buttons - she got a lot of response to her originals in particular! She also met one of the owners from Baby Tattoo who LOVED her work. Suzanne! Submit your ABC book ASAP!
Augie brought along a portfolio of some of his sketches and paintings - I can't tell you how many people asked to buy art prints. AUGIE. HEAR MEH NOW (in Arnold voice) for the love of god, make some prints of your paintings (or do I have to print them for you?) Hee hee.


My Madan! He had his original Frankie pages as well as the Monstertown P.I. comic and did quite well! I love the pitch: "Frank Neil Stein. He has the mind of a poet, but no vocal chords..." A lot of people loved his work. Another interesting thing... a young guy said "Dev Madan...Dev Madan, that name is familiar...." and then, KABLAM! "...YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE!" He asked Dev draw one of the characters in his sketchbook. How cool!


Oooooh titillating........HA! Suzanne and Augie up to their shenanigans!


This one is for you Trav! Marcos Perez. Can you believe our luck? Sitting right behind us... creator of rad-sick, Carl Is The Awesome! One of my favorite quotes: "Ladies demand my sexuals!!" Here's a 'Shout-Out' to CARL for giving us a true gut-buster! You are high-larious!


We also managed to see a few things around town as well... breakfast w/ the locals at the Moulin Rouge Cafe. This picture isn't as clear as I had hoped. The ceiling was draped with slats of wood with some shining lights from behind. Kinda creepy, but kinda cool.


Augie took us to the White Walls Gallery on Larkin St. for a Shepard Fairley show. HOLY! Such a good show. I remembered the OBEY GIANT logo from years ago, but never kept up on his career. What a leap he's made. I LOVE that he still integrates the Andre logo in all the background patterns and such.


More kick-ass screens...and affordable to boot. But alas...the shaft. A SOLD OUT show.


The adjoining gallery had a group show called SALON STYLE. Beautiful work. I especially like Patrick Segui's work. He does some incredibly textured, detailed work with... you won't believe it...cardboard. And, one of Dev's favorites, "Chewie & Lando" by Wesley Burt. Did you see it? Are you smiling? I know you must be smiling...


We also made a stop at the Super7 store and what do you know, KAZOW! Bwana Spoons was there hanging up his gallery show! I love his work. We got to chat w/ him for a spell and he recommended another shop called National Product which we checked out shortly after. The Super7 guys were soooo nice, they gave directions and printed maps for us.


DoublePunch. A funky little shop with zines, limited edition vinyl toys, plush & toys from Japan! We also made it to KidRobot (sorry no pics) Vinyl toys, toys and more toys!


Dev got a BIG WELCOME HUG from Tim! Hi there Tim!
Blurry snapshot again.... curious thing, for my photography skills are
extra-ordinary. Oh, uh, what I meant was, extraordinary.


Look at this cute thang...and the plush is cute too (HA! jokes...) I LOVE this little two-headed baby! How can you not love this? This little guy was made for Tim by Jess Hutch. They were once available on Doublefine's website... but no longer. I love her work. I'd buy it all up!


Tim has such a cool ride. We managed to squeeze all 6 of us in there. Hey, there's our pal Gene! Dang, the pic is all blurry again! What voodoo is going on there Gene? Here's a final San Francisco Shout-Out to Tim and Rachael. Thanks for hangin out with us. We love you guys!

SPRING

The Illustration Friday topic this week is Spring. This painting was in my past 50/50 artshow with Suzanne but, it seemed appropriate for the spring we're having in Seattle. WOOHOO! And... and big "thanks mah" if you're reading this. She was a sneaky little thing and bought this piece without me knowing it. (I would've gladly given it to you!)

Hey there everybody!

The Emerald City Comic Con ended. What a weekend it has been. It seemed a little less energetic and bustling this year but, we met so many great people it was worth it. A BIG THANKS to everyone for coming out and showing your support! Thanks also to those of you who signed our mailing list. We'll keep you posted on the latest events. Please feel free to check our sites too, as we've been trying ever so hard to update frequently. Here are a few snapshots from the weekend (sorry, they are mostly blurry as-per-my-usual)
I'm happy to say this was Suzanne and my 3rd Con, and this year we had our good friends (and my recent-to-be husband) sitting all in a row.

Lady Suzanne! ROCK ON! She and I had spent days on end hand printing and hand binding all of our zines...we came to the conclusion that we NEED to find a printer. That, or and intern. Or Dan, can you stay in town a bit longer? HA! Suzanne's latest zine is called Knocked Up. Based on her pregnancy experience w/ Eleanor 6 months ago. It is HIGH-LARIOUS. The tight pants page is my favorite. A definite 'must see'.

MY DEV! Signing his latest, Monstertown P.I. It is a full-size comic of all 3 Frankie P.I. Stories. I think the 3rd is the best one yet. Really tight and stylish. I'm SO glad he decided to print it full-size - the only way to do it justice. I still think he should've numbered them, as they are a limited run of 150. I'd advise you to snag a copy before they're all gone.

Augie and Dev! Atomic Lead and Monstertown P.I.
Poor Augie! He's workin hard on his upcoming solo artshow @ All City Coffee2 in June, he didn't make it back to the show on Sunday. Make sure you hit his blog to check out his latest beauties. I think he really needs to make prints of some of his paintings next year. They are stunning. (Don't forget to eat & sleep Augie!)

Edwardand Paul! Ed had some killer new prints (sorry, they are a bit blurry in this pic), mini zines and funky keychains (don't forget our trade Ed!) And a big THANKS to Edward for spearheading the Atomic Lead #1. He managed to wrangle all 12 artists into one amazing book I'm so proud to be a part of. And Paul! He has a brilliant T-shirt idea. He had a blank Post-It Note type square printed in the center - if you buy one, he'll draw an original image with Sharpies. Check out their sites to see more, more more!


Bart and Gene! HURRAH! This was their first time to join the Artist Alley! They put together a fabulous collaborative sketchbook. Really cool stylish kick-ass stuff and interactive to boot. Flip it over to see one sketchbook, flip it over to see the other. FLIP FLIP FLIP FLIP! A few of Bart's pieces remind me of James Jean. And don't miss Gene's nipples. Uh, his character's, that is. Don't miss this one. Uh, make that two.

Shane and Dan! Good lord. Shane is unstoppable. Will there ever be a day he doesn't update that blog with his painfully good art pieces? Make sure to check out his book North Country. And let's all WELCOME Dan from NY. He's a good friend of Dev's and co-creator of Young Heroes in Love. ...oh and Dan, here's another 'shout out' to you for the most-awesome shrinky dink cutting job ever. I'm certain it was the reason people picked up my zine. And if any of you out there has the color version of Stumpytown Vol.1, take note of Dan's impeccable craftsmanship.

Saturday Night. Morton's Steak House. HOLY. The bill was worthy of a snapshot... I've never seen anything like it. At least we were a group of 20 people - this wasn't the outcome of just me and Dev. HA. I was tempted to step out for a smoke break... and bolt. It was worth it though. Our bellies were happlily full of steak and many-many-many-a-drink. Good food, GREAT company, a wonderful evening. (Though in the back of my mind I was also thinking.... "Come on Sunday! Somebody buy something from me pleeese! Yamagiwa has some bills to pay" )

YEAH! It's Vicky of the killer bee PlexiPixel. Suzanne and I met her at our first ComicCon and we've kept in touch ever since. Here's to you Vicky! You ROCK so hard (but you don't MattR. Hahahaha!)

Laura and her sister Lisa. We also met her at our very first ComicCon and she never fails to pay us a visit. THANK YOU! Sorry the pic is blurry, she has an amazing Aquaman shirt with KILLER SHARK!

Mia, Augie's god-daughter. OMG. What a little heartbreaker. I can't believe it - the last time I saw her she was a little football in Pat's arms.

Special guest stars Carmen (CANADA) and Matt. Love you guys as always.

A Good Hard Push...

WHEW! I had a VERY late start on my 2-page contribution for the Atomic Lead Comic but, I finally finished. And, luckily, it fits the Illustration Friday topic! YEEHA!

Links...uh...Sunday!

...come on everybody! Here we go!
[1]Dave Cooper. God, I love his stuff.
Here's a really cool step-by-step guide to one of his paintings.
[2] Etsy. Sell & buy all things handmade!
Checkout the "Newest" (BUY section) very cool interactive menu design.
[3] CartoonSaloon. Don't miss this!
[4] Sacks10. Oh my god. A Fat Albert art competition.
[5] Keiichi Ohta. Creepy-cool!

Kitty update: Still on the run...

LOST : PT2

LOST

...nearly done coloring ye old Stumpytown Vol.1. and sadly... this panel is so fitting. Our kitty is lost. I CRY! We haven't seen her since Saturday night. I called the local shelters and vet clinic. No luck. I'm pretty durn sure she's in heat, so hopefully she's just out there gettin sum...

Not so S-M-R-T

So, I thought I had the bright idea of painting a full color version of my Stumpytown Comic #1 for the Con. It is taking a VERY long time and I don't know if I'll be able to finish on time... we have 3 weeks until the Emerald City ComicCon and 1 week for the Atomic Lead comic deadline (which I haven't started yet) ACK. Hairball!

Links Sunday!

...i'm a couple days late...but that's ok

[1] House of Cool. Crazy cool art.
[2] Iam8bit. Just plain awesome.
[3] Automata. Love this stuff. Someday I'll make one stumpytown style...

Stumpytown

Dev took these pics while I was working on the last pieces for the 50\50 show... As you can see it is a complete disaster... but at least I can FINALLY say my studio is set up! YEEHA!

Power of the JUJI

So, other than 'spaz cat' and 'freak cat' we've been calling her Juji.
As in the Fruit. HA.

Thanks fer yer support!

Hey y'all!
A 'BIG thanks' for coming to the show! We had a good turn-out! 50\50 will be up for the rest of the month, so those of you who didn't make it out (and you know who you are) can drop by when you get a chance. I forgot to take pics that night, so I have only a few to post...and they are all blurry too. HA! Oh well, here you go...

Don't forget to drop by tonight!

The show is called 50 / 50. Fifty paintings in fifty days, 5x5.
Suzanne and I will be showing at All City Coffee in Georgetown for the month of March. Please stop by for the opening 7 - 9pm! Yeeha!

Links FRIDAY. YIPEE

...it's that time!
[1] MaryBlair. Love her love her love her. Dev found this for me!
[2] BeerMats. Very cool gallery show of beermats.
[3] Genepool. Gene's gallery show of beermats!
[4] BlueBunny. I'll list it again! Kim's blog!
[5] Yun Bai. 'Porn flower' collages from mag snips.
[6] Moleskin. A sketchbook exhibition in Japan...
[7] Fallen Rappers. Custom PEZ
[8] JessHutch. Cute crochet (do ya recognize DoubleFine's baby?!)
[9] RoseyGrier. Pam Grier's cousin...needlepoint for men.
[10] HerbRitts. I'd forgotten about him...but loved his work...
[11] Capsula. ECO burial capsule. Lovely.