Sunday, October 28, 2012

fathoms below

...from the Little Mermaid soundtrack

as we sit here to brave this supposed "Super Storm," all i see in my head is the storm sequence of the Little Mermaid. "HURRICANE A-COMIN! Stand fast! Secure the riggin!" (matter of fact, i think i'll be poppin in that movie while i work today.) i don't think i'm a fan of folks referring to it as a "super storm" though. because of what i do for a living, referring to things as a super-anything just makes me not take it seriously. "super storm" to me sounds like "lightning babe with ultimate power." =/

anyways, thought i'd share what's on my art table! that's right - its my shiny brand-spankin new wacom cintiq!! i can't tell u how ridiculously excited i am about it. the hubby seems to have a lot of faith in my art and he truly believes i will more than make up for the cost of this bad boy. what can i say, i love my husband!

Cover Girl from GI Joe commission

Strength from "A Once Crowded Sky" commission for Tom King

THE best Rogue cosplayer i have seen yet! she's even better than the Rogue at Universal Studios

our last con of the season was yesterday at Annapolis Comic Con - the Halloween edition. had a fantastic time and felt some local love. the boys* even did a panel about how we all work together as a studio and did a little demonstration for the people. unfortunately i couldn't watch cuz i stayed at the table, but from what i understand they had a great time! i even did a couple of commissions while i was there. one was for the writer of "A Once Crowded Sky" Tom King. it was of his character "Strength." i know its cheesy that she's holding a random 2-ton weight at the end of a large chain, but her name is Strength! =P i guess i could've gone for the even more obvious of holding a car up, but i thought this was obvious enough. =) i was quite flattered that he wanted me to draw one of his characters and i was more than happy to do so.
the folks that run Annapolis Comic Con are friggin great. we always have a fantastical time at each show. if ur in the area, u should definitely check it out when they have them.

i hope everyone on the east coast stays safe as this crazy storm hits. wish us luck here! i really don't like leaving my home, especially not with my gorgeous new cintiq fending for itself. =P

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

anything could happen

sung by ellie goulding

ID STUDIOS CREW! (from left to right) me, Jerry Gaylord, Bryan Turner, Dominike Stanton

i've finally had some time to breath! had 2 days off after not having one since my birthday on the 1st. it was necessary cuz the hubby was in danger of losing a limb from my enormous green rage monster. (though i would never mess with his right hand cuz that's our money-maker. kakaka)
as a quick recap, we went to Hershey Con in Hershey, PA on Sept. 29th, the weekend after we went to WV Pop Con in Morgantown, WV on Oct. 6 & 7, then 3 days after we got back we headed out to NYCC from Oct. 11-14th. that was an insane set of weekends. Hershey Con was a nice little show, met some real nice folks, but i think the only reason we would do it again is just to see our friends that live out there. WV Pop Con was a great venue. it was the first of its show but i can see it had the potential to get bigger. the show coordinator was a fantastic dude and we had a pretty good time out there! had my very first Cracker Barrel breakfast and i gotta tell ya - if u haven't had their pancakes, DO IT! cuz it's hella yummy! received lots of Fanboys vs Zombies love! we'd love to return next year. but NYCC - insane! it started out slow and we were very worried at first because of the show's decision to move Artist Alley in a whole other part of the building. but it turned out to be crazy insane once everyone managed to squeeze their way out of the main exhibitor hall. it was crazy enough on Friday morning in there but i dared not venture into it on Saturday. from what i hear, it's quickly becoming SDCC-caliber insanity. of course the Javits Center is smaller than the San Diego convention center, but it may be getting there as i heard rumors of expansion for next year. luckily, Mike Negin is a fantastic Artist Alley coordinator and i'm sure he'll be lookin out for his artists as the show gets even bigger still.

huge thanks to everyone that came out and showed support. we sold out of lots of things, one of which were these Avengers posters set! we were really surprised at how much love it got considering how reluctant people were to buy the set at Heroes Con.

even bigger thanks to everyone that picked up their copies of my mini artbook Art Mignon. i have once again sold out of those. which is great because it will give me the opportunity to make the bigger book again for 2013! i can't tell u how humbled i am that people are willing to part with their hard-earned money to take my art home with them. i know it's no small thing to spend your money (for most of us anyway) and i hope they understand that i truly appreciate it.

one of the nights that the crew ventured out for dinner in NY, we somehow wandered into Times Square. its hard not to get caught up in all the lights and excitement of that area. so though my feet were killin me, i forgot it for just a few more blocks as we walked through it. there's really nothin like it at night. and right in the center, the lights are so insanely bright and there were so many people there that it really feels like it's daytime, even though we were there at 11pm. it was just amazing.

so as not to take up too much of ur scrolling time, i've put most of my pics from the con in collages. enjoy!

commissions/sketches from NYCC. my fav is the chibi Captain America i drew for my friend who specifically requested it be done in copics! theFranchize drew the pose, i did the rest. SO CUTE!!!
super cool cosplays and shots around the con. the lady Clark Kent is my absolute fav shot! her tie stays that way so as she walks around, it looks funny. but when she does the pose - classic! and that Wilfred dude w/the teddy bear, close 2nd!

and i just had to take a picture of this crowd of DUDES. there's never a shortage of chicks willing to walk around in their underwear. and even less shortage of dudes ready to gawk uncontrollably. sigh.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

madness

sung by the muse
come find us at NEW YORK COMIC CON this weekend 10/11 - 10/14
ARTIST ALLEY TABLES P3-P4


reminder - i'll be debuting this alternate version of my Storm print at New York Comic Con this weekend! i changed the BG to a more reddish sky because the original bluish version kinda washed her out more than i liked when i put her in the white outfit. i ran out of the first run of the Storm print after Baltimore Con and i hope New York will show it the same love.


also, fun news! i just got more copies of my ART MIGNON mini book for the con this weekend! i sold out after Otakon but just got more in time for NY! i'm only selling them for $15 each so if ur interested, i got one for ya. it has some pieces in there that hasn't been included in the other 2 books i've put out. this will be my last run of this particular book though. i'll have a new book for next year and it is tentatively scheduled to be another big Hot Cakes book.

i can't tell u just how SHOCKED i am that NYCC is flippin tomorrow!!! i'll tell u who ain't ready - ME! i feel like i haven't had a chance to breath. we just got back from the WV Pop Con this weekend and now we're headed back out to one of our largest cons this year. i'm super excited about it and can't wait to be there. but i haven't even left yet and i'm already looking forward to being back home. now that's madness.

whenever i do get home, i will do a nice long post about the cons that we've just had back to back to back. as of right now, i still gotta pack, i gotta refill my copics, and i gotta get some sleep or this weekend will be unpleasant for all those involved. =P i hope to see lots of faces there, new and familiar.

by the way, for all u FANBOYS VS ZOMBIES fans, i heard that Jerry "theFranchize" Gaylord - lead artist on the series - is doing a promo at NYCC this year. if u come by our table at the show and tell him "WRECKING CREW 4 LYFE!", he'll sketch u as a zombie - for free!!! but please, just one per person. can't overdo it and break his drawlin hand. =P and while ur there gettin drawn, check out our other stuff.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

catching feelings

sung by justin bieber (don't judge me. it's a really decent album!)

so i'm a-whole-nother year into my 30s and its not too bad so far. after a slow comic show out in Hershey, PA, the hubby and i went to Hershey Park and it was neat to just walk around. its not really for adults cuz most of the attractions were targeted to kids, but it was nice to spend the beautiful day surrounded by fun times.
my birthday was yesterday and it was pretty chill, which is exactly what i wanted. but ever since i got my first tattoo on my back, i've been talking about getting another one. fast forward to 6 years and i've FINALLY gotten my second one. this one is designed by me (if u remember my previous blog entry), the first one was designed by my BFF. she designed an ambigram of my first dog's name JANA (u can read it right-side up and upside down). (see below)
first tattoo - may 2006
i figured i'd keep the idea of an ambrigram but i had to incorporate stars. cuz stars are my favorite shape and symbolizes a few other things for me. i won't bore u with those details. anyways, the tail of the main star is actually a J when i look at it but it's a P upside down (those are mine and the hubby's initials). i figured as our little family grows, my kid(s) can get their own star(s) with a tail of their initial on my arm. and the trail of stars that lead up (or down depending on how u look at it) to my hand is like a trail of magic when i draw. i know its kinda childish but its really something that is very important to me. i feel like this year i've really embraced being an artist. it's not a game, it's not a hobby, i'm never going to be anything else but. and if this isn't a permanent symbol of that, i don't know what is. the tattoo guy was very courteous and said "it's a pretty big deal getting it below ur elbow, especially ur hand. are u sure ur ok with it, like for work?" (this was before i told him what i did full time.) and i was very happy knowing that i get to make those kinds of call, not some boss person.
before i go, i just have to say that it really hurts like an S.O.B. getting tattooed on ur hand. at least for me it was. i was afraid it would hurt way more on my forearm, which it did. but the hand part was worse. didn't know that going in but apparently that's common knowledge (as pointed out by Jerry and the tattoo artist and the girl at the front desk of the tattoo parlor after the fact). i'm glad i didn't know it beforehand though cuz i would've talked myself out of it i think. can't say i recall that my first tattoo hurt this much at all.

if ur in the Annapolis, MD area, i got this done by Orange Tattoo Company. cool folks, clean bright place, and an all-around good second experience. i recommend! =)
guides (the easy part)
guides (if only it were this easy)
the dude (his name is Brady)

midway (ouchie)

still not quite to the really painful part yet

all done!
phew!