Old School

Hey guys! So I was looking through some old sketchbooks and found a couple that I had gone through while taking classes with the always-amazing JT Steiny.
Some of these were done for our daily exercise of drawing from pictures with pen, without any prior sketching (I would later add random text or text from the accompanying article). Others were just for fun.
Anyway, just thought I'd share!






Also, I was recently invited to design a Christmas card, which will be up for sale early in November. More on that soon!

RE:FORM SCHOOL images

NotCot.com features some photos from RE:FORM SCHOOL, which happened this past weekend. I'm sad I couldn't be in New York for the show, because from what I can see it was a pretty amazing event.
Here's the link for you curious folks (the pictures shown are just a tiny fraction of the pieces in the show): http://www.notcot.com/archives/2010/10/reform-school-nyc.php

Here are some more photos from thelmagazine.com: CLICK

If I run into any more photos from the show, I'll update this post.

Also, even though the show is over, you can still help the cause and learn more about the efforts being made for education reform by visiting letsredu.com

Happy National Coming Out Day

Happy National Coming Out Day, LGBT community and supporters!

As you may know by now, news of the heartbreaking suicides of several gay youths due to bullying has hit over the past few weeks. In response to these tragedies, the It Gets Better Project was set up. The videos hope to reach out to struggling gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth to urge them not to give up and to let them know that, even if times seem overwhelmingly tough right now, it gets much better.

Stay strong, LGBT youth! I can tell you from experience that it gets better. You've got a friend in me and an entire community of people just like you who can help, so don't give up.

<3

The Horror! The Horror!

Enough with the teasing. Here's my piece for WWA Gallery's Horrorwood show, which opens October 15th from 7pm-10pm.
The show pays homage to the horror movie genre; my piece is inspired by the beautiful Swedish vampire film "Let the Right One In."



"Blood Bond"
Ink, acrylic, and gouache on paper mounted on wood
18" x 24"

Here's the sketch and a close-up shot, so you can see all the lines and textures:


Because the piece is relatively simple and has a lot of empty space above the figures, I wanted to play around with different textures, so it's a little more rewarding to get up close to it.
As for the scene, from far away I wanted it to look like the typical vampire neck-biting scene you'd see in any vampire movie, but if you get up close (and especially if you've seen the movie), you realize it's just a tender embrace between main characters Oskar and Eli.
Eli ended up looking much more sinister than I originally intended, probably because the creepy eyes, which were inspired by the really quick shot in the movie where she's standing in the dark and her eyes are reflective like a cat's eyes.

ANYWAY, I hope you enjoy the piece, because I had fun making it. Also, if you haven't seen the movie, what are you sitting around reading this blog for???

Hope you can make it to the show. For your convenience, HERE is the facebook event page. See you there!

LA Weekly's Best of LA 2010

Hi, all! I've got four spot illustrations in this week's LA Weekly, which happens to be a super-sized "Best of LA" edition.
The issue gives tips on the best things to do and best places to see in LA, while shedding light on the history behind those places. Each section is inspired by one or two decades; the sections I worked on were "Places" (1930s and 40s) and "Shopping & Services" (50s).

First up...sketches:
Shopping (50s):


Services (50s):


Places (30s & 40s):


And here are the finished spots, in the order they appear in the issue:









Art direction by Darrick Rainey.
The issue is out, so grab a copy and check out the amazing art by the other illustrators who worked on it as well!

A Little Tease... + Giveaway

WWA Gallery is gonna get you into the Halloween spirit on October 15th with Horrorwood, a group show that pays homage to the horror movie genre. I'm excited to be part of the show along with so many of my friends!

Here's a little tease of my piece. Can you guess what movie it is?



Be the first one to guess the correct answer by commenting on this post and I'll send you a zombie print! Only two guesses per person. If no one guesses it by 1pm pacific time tomorrow, I'll give a hint and people can keep guessing (and you can try again with two more guesses if you already used up your two guesses prior to the hint).

I'll post the final piece some time after somebody guesses the movie. Good luck!

EDIT: Contest over! That was fast. Congrats to Jason Edward Davis for correctly guessing "Let the Right One In"!

RE:FORM SCHOOL

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be a part of Manifest Equality, a show that aimed to bring more attention to the issue of LGBT rights. Now the TaskForce crew responsible for that show is at it again, this time tackling the issue of public education and the need for reform with RE:FORM SCHOOL.



They've been putting up interviews of the artists (with school/childhood photos!) on their website over the past couple of weeks. You can read mine HERE.

Here's the sketch and the final piece for the show:




"Tabula Rasa"
Mixed media on paper mounted on wood
16" x 20"

The show is open to the public on October 9th to the 11th, so if you're in New York, check out my little chalkboard boy in person, as well as the work from the amazing line-up of artists. Proceeds from the show will be donated to the URBAN ARTS PARTNERSHIP, which brings art to underserved public school students across NYC. So buy some art and support a good cause!

Why, hello there...

Long time no post! Sorry for the long silence without any updates, but I've been keeping busy. I promise I've got a bunch of new things to show you, and I'll be gradually updating the blog over the next few days.

First, My piece "Death, or a Murder of Crows" is featured in the very first issue of Pique, a magazine created by friends James, Travis, and Sinden (who wrote her own interpretation of the piece). You can see it (pages 16 & 17) and the rest of the issue here: http://www.piquequarterly.com/

Stay tuned for more news very soon!