The Dramatic Monarch: The Works of Jenna Sokalski

Giraffes Make For Great Gifts

2012-01-12T18:59:00.001-08:00

Woohoo! My first upload of 2012!

Well, technically, I started drawing this about a month ago but then, well, holiday craziness combined with utterly bizarre medical issues crept up on me and prevented me from finishing this earlier.

Anyways, this is a sketch for the lovely LAMunster926 (of DeviantART and an all around good friend) who asked me to draw a giraffe and incorporate herself and her boyfriend (the super cool, also an all around good friend Anthony R., he of the web series "Music Freak"). It was great fun drawing my good friends as well as the giraffe itself. No really, they're freaking cool animals.

Hope you like it, Lee Ann!

Holly

2011-12-17T15:05:00.001-08:00

Why yes, I was in a rather Christmas-y mood when I was drawing this. What gave it away? ;-P

The Burlesque Critic: Oh dear...

2011-12-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Oh deary me, it looks like I got into that keg of rancid crack again.

If anything must be blamed for this fusion, it's that fan-freaking-tastic musical review of "Moulin Rouge" the Nostalgia Critic did last week. MaroBot's title card wasn't helping matters either.

There's a demented part of me that wants to make this costume a reality...but I'm not quite sure if I'm willing to go pantsless in public. I also have one more idea for a TGWTG-based burlesque costume that's been rough drafted in my sketch book. Here's hoping I'm...insane enough to go through with it.

PS: that garter belt also doubles as a gun holster.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 25: Pizza Face

2011-11-25T23:46:00.000-08:00

Heh. So it turns out I was able to upload this in time for Day 25 of Sketchavember.

I know it's super silly and super punny but hey, you gotta roll with whatever comes to you. X-D

The arms are very "Adventure Time"-esque, no?

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 24: I Totally Can't Remember...

2011-11-24T23:27:00.001-08:00

Day 24 of Sketchavember had me turn to one of my tried-and-true methods for battling a mini-art block: when in doubt, draw something "Sailor Moon" related. (Or bunnies.)

Once again, I took inspiration from the always goofy and outrageous "Sailor Moon: The Abridged Series" (why haven't you checked it out yet?!). Hence why Mina here looks...skankier.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 23: I Was Raised By Culture Snobs

2011-11-23T22:22:00.001-08:00

Turns out Day 23 of Sketchavember was another day that was asking for a color explosion.

Well, more like an explosion of bold, flat primary colors (though those giant dots in the background came out more orange than the Honey marker I had originally used). I also felt like doing a more loose and elongated style much like the one I used in "Biba".

The jury is still out on whether that look translates into color or not.

Note to self: do NOT use Canson Universal sketch paper for markers again in the near future.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 22: My Mouth Is So Metal

2011-11-22T22:05:00.000-08:00

Weird. I'm not scrambling to finish, scan and upload a drawing before the clock strikes midnight. Here's hoping Day 22 of Sketchavember is the start of actually drawing and posting at some decent hour of the day. X-D

Heh, I think this may be my first crack at drawing braces. I wonder if the delay is because I've never had to wear braces at any point in my life.

Is that a flaming pitchfork flying towards me?

If there's one thing I really hope I was able to get across in this drawing, it's the blackheads and the little acne scars.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 21: Red Blooded Kappa

2011-11-21T23:57:00.000-08:00

Oh Day 21 (of Sketchavember), why so stormy tonight?

Heh, I guess you could say that's largely the reason why I took the minimalist approach to this drawing. The lights already flickered out once tonight and damned if it's gonna happen again!

Anyways, you have no idea how long I've been wanting to draw dear ol' Sha Gojyo here. I've always flipped flopped between Gojyo and Hakkai as my favorite one of the Sanzo ikkou but after rereading the first manga series and completing tonight's drawing, I think it's been determined which one is my favorite after all. ;-)

Still love Hakkai though.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 20: Somebody Sure Digs Reptiles

2011-11-20T23:52:00.000-08:00

Yee-HAW! With Day 20, I've reached the home stretch of Sketchavember!

This is another one of those times where everything just came together beautifully. The inspiration for this one comes from the deliciously 90's track (must be the repetitive use of the word "jump". XD ) "Reptile Theme" by Skrillex.

What can I say? I was a total "Mortal Kombat" kid back in the day (even against my mom's best intentions ;-P ).

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 19: Fun Wallets

2011-11-19T23:48:00.001-08:00

Day 19 of Sketchavember was a weird one...but I won't bore you all with any details. :-P

Ladies, are you with me on this one? If you claim that you've never stored at least one small item in your bra at least once in your lifetime, then you're clearly lying. X-D

Yeah. I beat clocks on a frequent basis, don't you know? ;-)

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 18: Did You Know That Flamingos Are AWESOME?

2011-11-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

See? Told you I'd post something tonight to make up for my Sketchavember boo-boo yesterday. ;-)

Once again, Day 18 proved to be one of those days where everything seems to just fall into one glorious place of "right". I guess you could say the direction I went for this sketch card was Lisa Frank with a Tumblr attitude.

Though if I really wanted to go full-out Lisa Frank, I would have added more rainbows, sparkles and animal prints.

Still, the colors look suitably like late 80's/early 90's vomit, don't you think?

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 17-ish: Another Batch of Toony Stew

2011-11-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

Whoops.

Sorry for the Sketchavember schedule slip-up, guys. (To make a long story short; what was originally meant to be game night with friends turned into a night at the movie theatre watching the newest "Twilight" film. D-: Yeah. Alcohol did help, though.)

However, I did technically work on these sketches a good majority of the day yesterday.

To make up for my faux-pas, I'll do another drawing today and post it tonight as well.

Heh. I should do more of these toony people. ;-)

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 16: Violet Wrath

2011-11-16T23:42:00.001-08:00

If this ain't a total contrast from yesterday, then I don't know what is. ;-)

If there's one thing I've learned on Day 16 of Sketchavember, it's that it's near impossible to listen to speedy punk music when you're in an antsy frame of mind. With a change of music (Sisters of Mercy to be exact), the tone and general look of this drawing began to change.

Ahh, I love her impractical but awesome hair. In fact, who doesn't love hair that's awesome but impractical? ;-)

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 15: There's a Pinkie in My Pie

2011-11-15T23:04:00.001-08:00

WHEE! Day 15! I'm halfway through Sketchavember!

You guys have NO IDEA how long I've been suppressing the urge to draw this.

Well okay, it all happened when I was coloring that human!Rainbow Dash (#4567 on the Internet) and suddenly I was stricken with the intense urge to draw human!Pinkie Pie as an uber-accessorized, pastel and pastry print drenched, over-the-top Sweet Lolita.

"Noooo," I protested to myself. "The Internet's already clogged with fan art of humanized ponies." Well, sometimes you just gotta go with what's good ol' fashioned fun and get that goofy imagery out of your brain and onto paper.

I'll admit, this really was crazy fun to draw and color...even if one of my primary pink markers was about to dry up at any given moment.

From now on, I better not get any more urges to draw human!ponies!

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 14: Oh, Monty...

2011-11-14T23:13:00.001-08:00

Mmmkay, so I've been working on a drawing that's gotten a little too detailed to be completed in one day...but I just couldn't walk away from Day 14 of Sketchavember empty (drawing) hand...ed.

So here's a goofy little cartoon of my hyperactive attention hound (technically a miniature schnauzer) Monty (full name Charles Montgomery Burns). Excellent.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 13: Blotty Dotty

2011-11-13T23:14:00.001-08:00

I may have spent most of the day out and about but I still managed to squeeze in another drawing for Day 13 of Sketchavember.

In case you were wondering about the title (because I totally know that you are ;-P), I was trying to go for leopard spots on her cardigan but they ended up looking more like blots you'd see on a Rorschach test. If there's one thing I've learned tonight, it's that leopard spots are trickier to pull off with inking pens as opposed to markers.

Have fun looking for my signature. ;-)

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 12: Biba

2011-11-12T23:12:00.001-08:00

Day 12 of Sketchavember ended up becoming some sort of classic movie bender day. (Translation: Turner Classic Movies has quickly become one of my favorite TV channels. Throw in a PVR and I'm a happy camper.)

One of the movies I watched today was Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times". I've always had a huge love and appreciation for silent films and today's drawing kind of reflects that. Also a strong influence for this drawing is one of the photographs in Kevyn Aucoin's book "Making Faces" in which he and Kate Moss recreate the look of "The Biba" (as in the 60's era London boutique). Here's the photograph in question.

Heh. So all in all, I drew some psuedo-fan art of Kate Moss (even if I don't have any particular feelings about her) today. That's Sketchavember for ya! ;-P

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 11: Poppy

2011-11-11T23:13:00.001-08:00

This time last year, I did a more minimalistic drawing with a Remembrance Day theme in mind for Day 11 of Sketchavember.

Admittedly, while the significance of today still played the role of an influence (hence the poppy petals), I was also heavily inspired by the abundance of fall leaves swirling around in the wind. The wind also happened to be astonishingly strong at certain points; so much so that it blew my hat right off of my head ~~and then I slipped and instantly fell right down on my butt.~~

True story, by the way. Really.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 10: Just...FFFFFFFUUUUUU---

2011-11-10T23:40:00.000-08:00

*sigh*

Ever have one of those days where it seems like everything you draw turns out completely wrong in your eyes? Day 10 of Sketchavember was one of those days.

They're frustrating as hell but as soon as I channeled all that irritation and annoyance into this ridiculous little doodle, whatever crappy mood I was dwelling in slowly melted away. I hate to dust out an old cliche but tomorrow's another day!

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 9: Loli Safari

2011-11-09T22:30:00.001-08:00

Apparently, Day 9 of Sketchavember was driven by my unrealized desire to see more wild animal prints and safari themes in lolita fashion. Who knew? ;-P

Heh, the execution of her face and the coloring seems more blatantly anime than usual. Methinks it's the hair. FYI, the blouse is largely inspired by one I own in real life. It totally reminds me of piano keys.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 8: ...By Night, He's Epic Beard Man!

2011-11-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

It's Day 8 of Sketchavember and I come deliver exactly what I promised last night; the uber-hirsute, superpowered alter ego of Arthur Swanson: EPIC BEARD MAN!

Yup. Epic Beard Man. Totally sounds like one of the names they'd throw into a game of Superheroes on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", isn't it? It's so gloriously silly...and I wouldn't have it any other way. ;-)

Somewhere Sam Beam and a majority of ZZ Top are crying steaming hot tears of envy.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 7: By Day, He's Arthur Swanson

2011-11-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

EDIT: The lack of shine in his spiffy glasses was bugging me too much.

Yeehaw! I survived the first week of Sketchavember!

For Day 7's drawing, I actually got the idea while I was in the midst of last night's sketch card. Well, okay, it's not really so much of an idea as it was an urge to draw a guy with a massive beard.

As the title suggests, his name is Arthur Swanson, your average twenty something guy based out of Portland. However, his beard isn't exactly average.

By night, he (and the beard) become...well, you'll just have to wait and find out. X-D

(Oooh, I'm such a bad, bad teaser.)

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 6: A Girl Like Me

2011-11-06T22:21:00.001-08:00

Ever had a random piece of dialogue that you've been itching to work into a poem, story, song, comic or prose of some kind? Yeah, I just had to get it out of my head and onto paper for Day 6 of Sketchavember.

It's been a while since I last did one of these single panel, devoid-of-context "cryptic comics" but they're always so much fun to do. I love pieces that let you draw your own conclusions and let your imagination fill in the blanks.

What do you guys think?

I will give you one hint: I listened to a helluva lot of Depeche Mode. "Music for the Masses" era Depeche Mode to be exact. ;-)

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 5: I Wrote a Letter to Daddy

2011-11-05T23:45:00.001-07:00

So yeah, I bet you can guess what movie I saw tonight. ;-)

In all seriousness, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" an absolutely excellent, riveting movie. If you can find it, I highly strongly recommend it. I love it so much that Baby Jane Hudson herself had to become my subject for Day 5 of Sketchavember.

Hope I did Bette Davis justice here! Let's face it, she totally owns that movie.

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 4: Something Worth Losing

2011-11-04T22:42:00.001-07:00

For Day 4 of Sketchavember, I returned to one of the sketch cards I was working on during one of the conventions I was at. In this case, it was Comix and Stories back in August.

At first, I was going to make this a black and white ink sketch card but a random challenge of sorts popped into my head as I was finishing the inks tonight: to see if I could create an unsettling mood without using dark colors or blood.

I successfully avoided both elements but I'm not a hundred percent sure if I captured an unsettling vibe. A sense of bittersweet nostalgia, maybe? (The mad color balance/saturation experiments in Photoshop certainly helped in that respect.)

Let me know what you guys think in the comments. :-)

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 3: Whatever...

2011-11-03T22:04:00.001-07:00

Thrilling title, I know. :-P

Ever have one of those days where you're completely stumped as to what to draw? Yeah, Day 3 of Sketchavember ended up being one of those days. But I just gotta soldier on, y'know?

Whenever I'm at a loss of what I want to draw, I just let my hand and my pencil do their thing and sometimes it all falls into place. This expression and her messy hair came about and I just went with it.[/cool story, bro.]

Heh, now that I look at it, her coloring does look pretty similar to Zoisite in "Sailor Moon"...if he were a woman. ;-P

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 2: Dash, Rainbow Dash!

2011-11-02T23:03:00.001-07:00

DISCLAIMER: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" and its characters belong to Hasbro and Lauren Faust.

Day 2 of Sketchavember rolls on with what the Internet is in dire need of: more "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" fan art! Now, I'm fully aware that humanized!pony fan art has been done to death a bajillion times over...but consarnit, I just had to jump on board the fluffy, sparkly winged bandwagon.

The reason is largely because I felt my good friend Joe could use some cheering up after the crappy month he's had. And what better person-err, pony to draw than Rainbow Dash!

Hope this brings a smile to your face, Joe! :-)

SKETCHAVEMBER 2011 Day 1: Miss Polly Pegleg

2011-11-01T21:34:00.001-07:00

It's baaaaack!

That's right folks, I'm joyfully subjecting myself to another round of Sketchavember! Don't know what it is? Morbidly curious? Learn more about it by clicking here. Take on the challenge...if you dare.

Anyways, this initially started out as a random character design. Of course, having the overactive imagination that I do, I ended up conjuring this whole story in my mind of how Polly Pegleg (that's her nickname) came to be and what hijinks she'd get herself into. I'm actually pretty tempted to turn it into some short comic story. We'll see. 8-)

Cecilia

2011-10-29T16:22:00.001-07:00

Ahh, freshly posted artwork! Is there any better form of proof that you're still alive?

It's funny how a single image can go through so many different iterations in the creative process. I initially imagined her as sort of a "light" counterpart to my Cyber-Kei Cutie piece during the pencilling process, most of which I did during my Comic Critique stint at Word on the Street. (To make a long story short; let's just say it didn't quite go as planned but I still made the most of my time.)

As soon as I started coloring and fiddling around with the arms and the plushy (which went from a teddy bear to a cuddly little rat), the character went in another direction and she became Cecilia: friend and ally to all rats.

(Cue "Ben" here.)

You might just find out what's under her mask sooner than you think.

The Most Embarrassingly Belated Journal Entry EVER

2011-10-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

Daaaaaaaaamn.

I knew I was getting bad with updating journals on here but I sure took it to a new extreme this time, didn't I?

I figured I'd post this entry just to let you know that no; I didn't die, get kidnapped, or join a travelling carnival on a completely spontaneous whim. I guess you could say that after doing three conventions all within virtually a month-long span wiped me out much more than I had anticipated. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED doing them all but man it's exhausting. Usually after I've done a con, I keep a considerable distance from my drawing table for a few days.

Somehow those few days transformed into weeks and as a result, it ended up becoming something of an unintentional hiatus. Again.

I feel kinda bad for letting myself drift away for this long but on the other hand, I suppose I needed the vacation. (Even though it wasn't in Disneyland or somewhere else equally fantastic.)

I do have a drawing or two on the pipeline (including one I worked on during my stint on Word on the Street) and Sketchavember is creeping up ever so closely. That was such a blast to do last year and you can bet your sweet tush that I'm gonna do it again this year. ;)

Speaking of events that are creeping up ever so closely, anybody excited for Halloween?

The Word on the Street (and Under the Street)

2011-09-21T23:40:00.000-07:00

So here it is; the last of the three shows I've been doing from late August until now!

The Word on the Street is a huge Canada-wide festival celebrating reading and all forms of the written word. It's only natural that Vancouver would be a part of that fun. ;-)

It usually happens on the last Sunday of September (which in this case is the 25th...and it's creeping up ever so closely) but this year it's been expanded to include some events on the Friday (September 23) and Saturday (September 24).

The main festival itself will still take place in and around Library Square and the CBC Plaza right downtown in Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday, September 25. It runs from 11 AM until 5 PM and, perhaps one of the best parts of all, it's totally free!

I'll be there on Sunday as part of Word Under the Street, the marketplace and exhibitors devoted to independent and alternative comics and zines. This will be located inside the library, downstairs in the Alice MacKay room. Not only will I have all my goods in tow (portfolio, mini comics, greeting cards, original sketch cards, bookmarks, prints and some buttons! Everyone loves buttons! Hooray!), I'll also be taking part in the Comic Critique sessions. If you have any unpublished comics that you would like some feedback on, bring them over and you'll have an awesome oppurtunity to have professional creators and artists look at them and give you plenty of advice and input. For more information on the Comic Critiques along with all the other things going on Under the Street, look here.

Of course, there's plenty more things going on outside the library (and trust me, that's an understatement). There will be hundreds of vendors, exhibitors, readings (from authors, poets and storytellers), panel discussions of all topics under the literary sun, publishers, live performers...and that's just immediately off the top of my head!

For more information on Word on the Street and all the events and programs involved, check out the main festival site (specifically the Vancouver branch) here.

I checked this out last year as an atendee and there was so much to explore and take in. I absolutely enjoyed every moment of it and I can't wait to step over to the other side of the table. ;-)

See you guys there! :-)

An Embarrassingly Belated Follow-Up on Vancouver Comicon

2011-09-16T00:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah. If there was a title that stated the obvious, it would definitely be this one. I would have posted this earlier but random colds are a total snot to deal with.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I just want to thank everyone who came down to the Vancouver Comicon last Sunday...even during the crazy hot weather that fell on that day! Though strangely enough, the Hertiage Hall didn't feel as balmy as it did during Comix and Stories. Maybe it's because the artist/creator tables were placed under the ceiling fans.

Anyways, I also wanna extend a huge thanks to everyone who stopped by my table that day. Whether you gave my work a glimpse, took a business card or flyer, chatted with me or bought something, every little bit is greatly appreciated and it makes my days at the cons all the more memorable. You people are awesome.

Speaking of awesome things; over the last few Vancouver Comicons I've been to, I've noticed a small rise in cosplayers. There was a movie-verse Wolverine, a girl in a Supergirl costume and a pair of steampunk girls (of all the days I choose to break out my badass goggles!). I totally approve of this trend. Keep 'em coming, Vancouver.

A shout out goes to Frank who asked me to draw a sketch in the vein of my "Do It Yourself, Dammit" piece. Luckily, I took a picture of it just before I gave it to him...but I still have to upload it onto my Photobucket.

Overall, another fun con experience. I still find it hard to believe I've done this many in such a relatively short frame of time (a year could be considered short, right?).

Two down, one more to go! And trust me, this one's gonna be a pretty freaking massive one...and different from anything I've done before!

You're intrigued, no? ;-)

Con #2: Vancouver Comicon, September Edition

2011-09-08T23:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the second of three conventions I'm doing this late August/September.

Once again, I'll be doing another appearance at the September edition of the Vancouver Comicon this Sunday (September 11) at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The show runs from 11 AM until 5 PM and admission is $4 person but you admission is free for kids under 14 or if you have a new or gently used grade school appropriate graphic novel to donate. Those books will go towards Vancouver public schools.

I'll have my usual goods in tow (prints, greeting cards, mini comics, original sketch cards etc.) as well as some brand spanking new material such as my cyber gothed out bookmarks and, if I'm lucky, some buttons! Yup. I'm the proud new owner of a DIY button making press. I can't wait to help further the button addiction epidemic (for which I pray there will never be a cure). Plus, I'll also have my portfolio filled with all my original art work, comic pages, concept art and character designs for you all to browse through. Perhaps even a sketch card or two will be drawn on site.

So come on down, check out the comic-y goodness (perhaps you may even win one of the hourly door prizes!) and don't hesitate to give me a shout. I'll be sure to remember my industrial sized water bottle this time! :-P

For more info on the convention itself and all the creators and guests involved, you can check out the main convention site or direct your gaze to the spiffy flyer just below all this text.

Hope to see you there! :-)

Attack of the Bookmarked Cyber Goths

2011-09-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

WHOO! I'm on a roll tonight! :-P

Anyway, you ever have certain characters that you just love to revisit every couple years?

Yeah. Clearly this cartoony cyber goth gang fits that bill for me.

Here's their last iteration (in 2008!):

Blast from the past, yes?

I actually had a majority of the pencils completed last summer with the intention of making bookmarks. This year, I returned to them, did a few revisions and tweaks and colored them in.

I'm gonna be selling these bookmarks for $1 a piece at the Vancouver Comicon this Sunday (September 11) at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver, British Columbia. More info will come in the next post.

There may be a new addition or two this gang. Stay tuned. ;-)

Art Trade: The Nurse Will Take You...

2011-09-08T20:34:00.001-07:00

Okay. I promise this will be the last thing bloody and nurse related I'll post for a good while. Really! :-P

Anyways, this is my embarrassingly late half of the art trade I have going on with CureMyBlackendHeart (on DeviantART) who wanted me to draw a nurse from the "Silent Hill" games.

I will admit, my only real knowledge of the "Silent Hill" games comes from watching my older brother play the first game when I was a young 'un and the copious amounts of fan art and cosplays of characters like Pyramid Head and, of course, these fabulously creepy nurses.

After completing this drawing, I'm really starting to wish I played the games before. ;-)

When looking for reference pictures, I didn't realize there was more than one character model/design for the nurses so I tried combining a bit of the Bobblehead Nurse with the classic designs. For any big "Silent Hill" fan (and CureMyBlackendHeart), I apologize for any inaccuracies in the detailing.

On a technical note, I'm so happy with the skin (especially the veins if you squint hard enough).

Hope she likes it!

Comix and Stories 2011: A Sorta Belated Follow-Up

2011-08-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

Well, Comix and Stories has come and gone. I have been a little busy getting more stuff together for the next con but I thought I'd take some time to divulge a little on last Sunday's show.

Firstly, I wanna give a huge thank you to everyone who came down to the Heritage Hall on Sunday. While the attendance might have been a bit...sluggish (hey, it was a gorgeously hot summer day out after all), I still feel pretty fortunate enough to have had plenty of people buy my stuff, check out my portfolio and even just give my table a browse through. You folks are awesome.

It also always serves as a wonderful opportunity to meet new friends and get input from fellow comicking peers. A special thanks goes out to Albert Art for being an awesome table buddy and providing lots of Gummy Bears. Oh man, did those Gummy Bears get us through those droughts of hunger and the slight zombie-like delirium that comes with being at your table for a few hours inside a balmy building. And a shout out to Julie for being a sweetheart with mad business skills!

Note to self: next time bring a hand held fan and don't forget to bring your giant water bottle. Trust me, I was longing for it by the end of the day.

Overall, I'm still pretty happy with how Comix and Stories went this year. :-)

One con down, two more to go!

Comix and Stories 2011

2011-08-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Remember those not-so-oblique references to a cluster of conventions I made in my last journal (that was a month ago)?

Well, here's the first one out of three conventions I'll be hitting up this late August/September.

Once again, I'll be appearing at Comix and Stories; a day long celebration of all things indie and small press be it comics, cartoons, animation, zines, artwork and culture. It's going to be held at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver, British Columbia this Sunday (August 28). Admission is $4 per person and it goes from 11 AM until 5 PM.

Not only will I have all my prints (including my most recent "Oh, Usa"), original sketch cards, greeting cards and mini comics on my table for sale, I'll also be offering everyone a sneak peek of a few character designs I've whipped up for my upcoming book...character designs that haven't even been posted online! Not even on here! (Ooooh!) Of course, my portfolio will still be there for you all to browse through and I may just whip up a new sketch card or two on site. Perhaps I may even sketch out an oh-so-creepy "Silent Hill" nurse if I have the time.

As always, don't hesitate to drop by my table to give me a shout. ;-)

For more information on the show and all the especially awesome and talented creators involved, visit the main convention site here.

Then again, you could always scroll down a bit and take a look at the spiffy flyer just below all this info.

Seriously though, I loved doing Comix and Stories last year (hard to believe it was that long ago) and I can't wait to do it again this year! :-D

Hope to see you there.

Hallmark? More Like "Hellmark"

2011-08-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Guess what I'm planning to do with this image. ;-P

Anyways, my mixed medial kick marches on with this little experimental foray into semi-collage work. When you can't find gift wrap paper with the right patterns you want then cut/tear/rip apart gift bags that do.

Oh, Usa

2011-08-18T14:12:00.001-07:00

DISCLAIMER: Usa belongs to me, baby.

Another addition to the list of "subject matter I'm not totally done with playing around with and drawing yet": bunnies.

Well, okay, I technically drew this piece about a month or two ago but I only recently decided to recolor the backdrop so the black looks more stark and solid.

For those of you who have been following me on DeviantART and/or Twitter, remember my little offhand mentions about an upcoming book? Yeah, you're looking at the drawing that kick-started this idea. It all stemmed from my attempt to draw something "bubble goth-esque" but it ended up turning into something a little more Harajuku raver than I had anticipated (must have been due to the music I was listening to at the time).

Before deciding on a color scheme, I wanted to draw a full-body sketch of her outfit. I was faced with the temptation to draw this character standing in front of a portal in the ground with a floating digital sign flashing the word "WONDERLAND".

And so an idea was born.

Surgeon Dress Design

2011-08-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

Nope. I'm still not done with my morbidly cute surgeon kick. Nor my lolita fascination.

Old habits will die hard...WITH A VENGEANCE!

So yeah, one day I want to be able to have the mad sewing skills to create a dress like this for real...and then splatter some fake blood on it.

Print Design: Sweet Surgery Symphony

2011-08-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

D'awww, look at the cute widdle bunny rabbits...wielding massive scalpels. If anyone must be blamed for planting this imagery in my head, it has to be Mr. Vorhias and his Dr. Squid audio logs. Seriously though, check 'em out.

Now the reason I call this a "print design" is that I drew this like you would a printed fabric design complete with the flat colors and wrap-around imagery...though I don't think I got that across well enough. Simplicity and unsettling sweetness was the key. Now that I think of it, I totally should have added a heart rate monitor somewhere.

I do plan on incorporating this design in a future image. Just you wait and see.

Pro-tip: blood stains do an excellent job covering up bleeding marker edges.

Piper Whacks...

2011-07-26T18:04:00.001-07:00

New artwork?! From me?! What has this world come to?!

Okay, this is my first drawing since recovering from a post-wedding hangover. I figured I'd start off light with no real plan for a specific image in mind. I'd let my hand guide me and my imagination go where it wants to.

At first it was going to go in a Dieselpunk direction (though I suppose you can still see shades of it if you squint hard enough) and then it became some mechanic girl...but I wasn't satisfied with any typical mechanic girl. How about a mechanic with a murderous, vengeful streak?

A backstory of sorts came together as I was working on this: Piper (HA! Geddit?!) and her father (who raised Piper after Piper's mother died shortly after giving birth to her) ran an auto repair shop in a small town just outside of London until one tragic day when young Piper witnessed her father get beaten to death by a group of thugs. She continued to run the auto repair shop but took up another job on the side that required just as much precision and attention to detail as her day job: a hitman for hire. While she takes pride in being quick, efficient and clean in both of her occupations, Piper still longs to find the very thugs who beat her father to a bloody pulp and offer them the same service, only with a (bloodthirsty) smile.

On a technical note, I'm extremely happy with the coloring (though I may have done a little too much dodging on the blood splatters in Photoshop) and her muscular arm.

Whoops...

2011-07-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

Um, sorry about that (very) unintentional hiatus, you guys.

It's funny how weddings can pretty much transport you to a whole other planet just by being involved with one. This is especially evident when you're a bridesmaid...and your sister is the bride. Everyone eats, sleeps, breathes and bleeds nuptials and eventually it catches up with you. By the time the big day finally rolls around, you just can't help but feel the excitement, joy, giddiness and happiness of such an event. All the stress and anxiety pays off in the best way possible culminating in one of the most fantastic and memorable experiences you'll ever be involved with.

But even with such a wonderful occasion, the inevitable post-wedding hangover occurs. (For the record; tequila in any form, even just a single shot; never, never, never, NEVER AGAIN!) Let's face it, weddings are exhausting and can wipe out even the most busy of bodies. Which is to say my drawing table and materials gathered a little bit of dust in that time.

However, I haven't been totally neglectful of my art. Up until the week of the wedding I had been working on a few character designs and concept sketches for an upcoming one-shot mini comic I hope to have completed by the end of September (or late fall at the, well, latest). I might share a few of them with you if you ask politely enough. ;-)

Now that I have emerged from my post-wedding hangover, I'm ready to hit the drawing table once again so prepare to see a lot of new stuff as well as some more convention news.

"Convention news?!" I hear you muttering (or not, I don't have ultra-doggy hearing senses). That will have to wait for another journal.

Ooh, I'm such a tease. ;-P

Wounded Though Winsome: Threadless Version

2011-06-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

EDIT: Uploaded a much better scan.

What the hell?! A new image?!

I am planning on hand sewing a border but I thought I'd upload a threadless version before I tackle this drawing with a needle and thread. I guess you could say that this is technically a work in progress but the way I see it, this is an "alternate" version of the same piece.

As for the influences, well, all those hours playing "Bioshock" and reading countless lolita fashion blogs all had to culminate into something eventually.

She may look a lot like a Little Sister but trust me, she's not. She'd look much grungier if she were.

Out of all the substyles of lolita, guro (gory/grotesque) lolita is one of my absolute favorites. While I was highly tempted to put a tiny dab of blood somewhere, I decided to hold back on the gore and just focus on the fragile "broken dolly" aspect of guro lolita. Going soft but delicate was nice change of pace for me.

Be on the lookout for the "stitched up" version soon.

Too Trololololicious For You...

2011-05-31T17:12:00.001-07:00

Nyan Cat, can you handle this?
Numa Numa Guy, can you handle this?
Drama Prairie Dog, can you handle this?
I DON'T THINK YOU CAN HANDLE THIS!

Don't act like you didn't see this one coming! I gave you people fair warning in one of my recent journals...well, if you could call it that.

This may be both my goofiest and most blatantly cheesecake drawings that I've done.

I promise my next upload will have much more substance to it. ;-)

Ecstasy and Entrails

2011-05-23T21:05:00.001-07:00

OONTZ! OONTZ! OONTZ! UUUUUUGGGGGHHHNNNN....

Ahh, who doesn't love a technicolor zombie raver? ;-)

I spent a fair portion of the last Vancouver Comicon inking this sketch card but I wasn't totally sure if it should be an explosion of color or if it should stay inked. Clearly, I went with the former.

Fun(nish) Fact: I was intending to make the skin a lighter shade of green but I grabbed the wrong marker and by the time it hit the paper it was too late to go back. Still, I think I managed to work well enough with it.

Gazing

2011-05-18T20:07:00.001-07:00

Ahh, living proof that I'm not dead or lazy! :-D

I'm still genuinely amazed that I was able to complete this comic all in one week. Well, technically, I wrote the script about two months earlier but a good, hard kick in the butt (in the form of an upcoming convention) was the motivation I needed to push myself and finish the comic.

I swear, this is my most detail oriented work to date. And no, I don't think I've gotten out of my grey tone phase just yet.

As for the scene itself...I'll leave it all up to you guys. Interpret what you want it to be.

Vancouver Comicon Aftermath Plus Other Goodies

2011-05-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, another convention has come and gone and I just want to take this time out to give a HUGE thank you everyone who came on down to the con this past Sunday. Whether you bought something, browsed through my portfolio or even just gave my table a glance I truly appreciate every bit of support I'm able to get. You guys are awesome.

If there's one thing I've learned from my most recent con ventures, it's that the Trolololo song is my lucky charm. No really, I started off my days listening to that song just as I was getting ready to head out in hopes of a little extra spring in my step. I got more than an extra spring. I ended up winning one of the raffle prizes and got the most devastatingly beautiful Trollface sketch from my tablemate Enerjak (I'm already concocting a follow-up. Oh, just you wait.).

Now, it's back to work on more art, comics and fuelling my "Bioshock" addiction.

Oh crap. You weren't supposed to know that.

Yes, I'm aware of how gratuitous this is...but I can't help it!

Vancouver Comicon: May Edition

2011-05-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well; look who's doing another convention?

Yup, once again I shall be at the latest Vancouver Comicon this Sunday, May 15 at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver, British Columbia. The show runs from 11 AM until 5 PM and admission is $4 per person but you can get in for free if you are under 14 or have a new or gently used school appropriate graphic novel to donate. The books donated will go towards Vancouver public schools.

Not only will I be there with all my prints, sketch cards, mini comics and my portfolio to thumb through but I will also be unveiling some new stuff including a brand spanking new comic. I don't want to give away too much but I will say this: it may be short but it's easily one of my most detail oriented pieces to date. You're highly intrigued, no? As always, I'll also be creating some sketch cards on site (hey, you never know if I end up drawing another dead raccoon fetus in a jar. XD). If you drop by my table, don't be afraid give me a shout and say "hi".

For more info on the convention and all the creators and the special guests involved, go to the main convention website or take a look at that pretty little flyer just below all this text.

Hope to see you there!

Cyber-Kei Cutie: V. 2.0 (Plus WIP Pics)

2011-04-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

By a show of hands, who here remembers my "Cyber-Kei Cutie" drawing? Well, in case you don't remember (it was four years ago) here it is.

As you can see, I felt like revamping one of my older drawings not only to fix some of my own errors (those damn fingers!!) but as a challenge of sorts to see what I can do to update it with my current drawing style and techniques. Once again, I felt like trying some more grey tone stuff.

Heh, four years from now I'll probably be revamping this again but for now, I'm still pretty satisfied with how this came out. At least I got the fingers on her left hand in their proper places.

Toony Stew

2011-04-23T17:12:00.001-07:00

Here's a fun little drawing exercise I picked up from jeinu's excellent tutorials on DeviantART.

Draw a bunch of odd, random shapes and try to create a face out of them. They turned out much more cartoonier than what I usually do but y'know what? It's really fun to get super cartoony every once in a while. It also helps that I was watching a lot of episodes of "The Critic" ("Needs more love" is an understatement) so I had a lot of their looser, cartoony character designs in mind while working on these.

With all these bizarre shapes, I wanted to draw a range of different ages, genders, shapes and characterizations.

Top left corner is a mall loitering sceney-bopper (you know 'em when you see 'em), top right corner disapproves of your lower middle-class shenanigans and waistlines, middle right became some sort of willowy, pretty boy Michael Jackson goth type, bottom left corner is a mopey sadsack working a soulless 9 to 5 desk job and bottom right corner is such an adorable little Jabba (as in Jabba the Hut) girl.

Let me know what you think.

Rorschach's True Identity

2011-04-11T18:17:00.001-07:00

Okay, you're all probably wondering HOW THE BLOODY HELL this idea came to me. A few days ago I came across an all-too funny image done by banshuwa of DeviantART which made me look at ol' Rorschach in a whole new horrifically hilarious light (see for yourself here).

There was no other choice than to render America's favorite teenager into America's favorite vigilante.

On a more technical note, I was trying to go for the flat colors you would see in an issue of "Archie" or "Watchmen". Hope I succeeded at this!

Good luck trying to unsee the resemblance. RRAAAAAARRLL!!

Look at These Hipster Disney Princesses

2011-04-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, here are Ariel, Belle and Auror--er, Briar Rose together in all their indie-than-thou glory. Why yes, I did draw all of them on the same sheet of paper.

I may or may not have a couple more ideas for hipsterfied Disney princesses. We'll just see how snarky I'm feeling.

Until then, if you want a closer look at them all, from left to right...

-Ariel (the one that started it all...and loathes everyone else for it)
-Belle (who soon followed, will likely collaborate with Ariel's crab BFF)
-Auro--BRIAR ROSE (still denying her lineage)

Aurora, Er, I Mean Briar Rose is Such a Hipster

2011-04-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Gasp! A second upload today? Well don't I just feel like jolly ol' Saint Nick today? :-P

Yup. Another Disney princess has been given the Hipster treatment. I warned you all about it, didn't I? If it looks like Aurora, oops, I mean Briar Rose got zapped by the American Apparel ray gun (which I imagine would be covered in silver foil and Dov Charney's slimeyness) then my mission is highly accomplished.

Ennui in Ebony

2011-04-07T13:03:00.001-07:00

"Why do you keep doing this?"

(Semi) funny story, I actually had the pencils for this sketch card sitting at my drawing table since late August. I had been inking and penciling this one over the last two conventions I was at but I never managed to complete it all...UNTIL NOW!

I love drawing totally open ended pieces that let your imagination wander so I'm curious to know what kind of story you guys have in mind for these characters: who are they? What is their relationship? What events led up to this moment? What's gonna happen afterwards?

Let me know in the comments.

Even More Art News: Vancouver Comic Jam Art Show

2011-04-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

Here's another piece of news about what's going on with my stuff...

The Vancouver Comic Jam Art Show will be running throughout the month of April (the 2nd to the 29th) at the Wallflower Modern Diner in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. What's this about a Comic Jam Art Show?" you're probably asking me. Well, the Vancouver Comic Jam is a monthly event in which local comic artists and cartoonists meet up and mingle, drink and draw round-robin comics. Or "jams" if you will. A jam is when one takes a piece of paper, draws a comic panel and passes it onto the next person so that they can add onto the comic and so on and so forth.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, this art show is comprised of stand-alone panels of artwork created by many local artists (including yours truly :-P).

Tomorrow night (Saturday, April 2) is the opening night of this event so if you're in town, come on down and chat it up with many local talents in the comics scene, have a drink or two, maybe even buy some original artwork (including my most recent work "Deep Sea Drama"). It'll be a jolly good time.

For more info on the event itself and all the artists involved, go to the Vancouver Comic Jam's main site here.

Peace out, lovelies. :-)

Deep Sea Drama

2011-04-01T22:46:00.001-07:00

"How is Papa Seahorse going to handle this clam of a bombshell? Tune in next week to DEEP SEA DRAMA!" (But don't hold your breath.)

Ahh, who doesn't love cerebral melodramatic animal humour? XD Seriously though, there's a ton of stuff I'm happy with in this piece, especially when it comes to the coloring.

We Just Got Disneyfied

2011-03-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

Ahh, it's about time I've finished this embarrassingly beyond belated sketch for my good friend Joe who asked for me to draw "us as Disney characters." (His exact words.)

At first, I wasn't sure which direction he wanted to me to take the "us" portion of the sketch ("us" as in just us two or "us" as in our circle of friends etc.) but once I finally settled on something, I needed to figure out how to tackle the Disney art style.

Let's just say it was even harder to figure out an approach to the sketch as well as mastering the style. Well, okay, more like trying to adapt to the style.

Hopefully I managed to pull it off in some way.

Yes, that is me on the left as sort of a sorceress/villain type and that's Joe on the right. He would SO be a Disney prince a'la Eric. He's got the pipes for it, that's for sure. ;-P

Comicon Aftermath and Announcements Galore

2011-03-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry for that lull of silence but I just wanted to take this time out to give a big sincere thank you to everyone who came down to the Vancouver Comicon this past Sunday. It was probably one of my more successful con ventures in that I not only sold quite a bit of stuff but I engaged in quite a bit of interesting conversation with congoers. I also did some of the most fantastically depraved sketches. If you must know, they were of the Joker (with robot nipples. Yeah, I heard "robot nipples" somewhere and the mental image just would NOT leave) and a dead raccoon fetus in a jar (I must blame my friend and table mate for that influence :-P). I also ended up winning not one but two of the door prize raffle draws. It felt like I rigged an election or something.

Overall, another great con experience under my belt.

As for the announcements, first off, I'll be taking a bit of a break from conventions for the next little while to focus more on improving my art but to begin work on a rather massive comic related project.

That's right. I'm working on a comic mini-series. I'll likely be going the self-publishing route via a print on demand site like Ka-Blam Comics or something but yes, I've been pretty busy fleshing out my characters and plot for this prospective series.

"What's it about?" you may ask. I think I can sum it up in one sentence: undead zombie rocker chicks.

Yup, I'm taking those "Bitches in Stitches" sketches I did last year and putting them into their own storyline.

Intrigued, no?

Stay tuned for some more info and possibly some more concept sketches. And more comic based work.

Thanks again for all your support.

Vancouver Comicon: March Edition

2011-03-18T21:25:00.001-07:00

Yup, that's right. I'm back again at the Vancouver Comicon this Sunday (March 20) at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver, British Columbia. I'll be there from 11 am 'til 5 pm selling all my prints, mini comics, original sketch cards (including my most recent sketch cards and the Coupla Couples set) and my portfolio for gazing and gandering as well as whipping up some new cards and sketches on site. If you spot my table (or a head of red and black tips), don't be afraid to stop by and say "hi". :-)

Admission to the show is $4 per person but if you're under 14 you can get in for free. You can also get in for free if you have a new or gently used school appropriate graphic novel to donate towards Vancouver schools. How's that not awesome?

For more information on the convention and all the creators and special guests involved (including Steve Rolston, of "Ghost Projekt", "Emiko Superstar" and more. Fun Fact: he was also my instructor in the radtacular Comic Book Production course I took at Van Arts) go check out the main website or just take a look at the banner just below this big block o' text.

Hope to see you guys there!

Coupla Couples: All of 'Em

2011-03-12T21:43:00.001-08:00

ATTENTION: Colossal art dump complete.

So here they are; all the couples I've drawn over the last while assembled into one picture (through the most ghetto-noobish fashion possible ;-P).

This was a fun little project to take on and looking at all of them now, I can't help but be reminded of the movie "Love, Actually". Hell, these characters could practically be part of an ensemble cast in such a movie.

From top left corner clockwise...

David and Jonah
Bruno, Mindy and Leo
Laurent and Shadow
Tracy and Wanda

Andie

2011-03-12T21:39:00.001-08:00

ATTENTION: Colossal art dump still in progress.

Y'know how I've been trying to make an effort in trying to draw more dudes that look like dudes? Well, I decided to toss all that out the window and attempted to draw a lad in the spirit of all those androgynous, doll-like glam rock boys of the 70's and early 80's.

I couldn't help but OD on the music of David Bowie and T. Rex (especially "20th Century Boy") while working on this. I also had a lot of Kevyn Aucoin's makeup books (particularly his "New York Doll" and "Damsel Primitif" looks in his book "Face Forward") in mind.

I have the feeling that Andie has confused sexualities and broken the hearts of girls and guys everywhere he's gone.

The text around the border says "You can look at me, you can touch me, you can caress me all you like but I will break your heart."

Coupla Couples: Laurent and Shadow

2011-03-12T21:34:00.000-08:00

WARNING: Colossal art dump in progress.

Finally, I have completed the last pairing of my Coupla Couples series of sketches!

Laurent and Shadow couldn't have come from more vastly different parts of the globe: he was born in Quebec while she was born in Morocco. Both moved to British Columbia at a young age and while they shared a lifelong passion for music, it wasn't until after college they had met each other through Vancouver's music scene. Laurent played guitar as part of a jazz/flamenco fusion band but for one particular track, they were seeking out a female vocalist. Enter Shadow and from then on sparks only flew higher and higher then BAM! It was love, plain and simple.

For the record (heh), that's his hat she's wearing. Bowties are never not awesome.

Wanna Get Derby With Me?

2011-03-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

Oh man, that's probably one of the worst titles I've ever bestowed upon an image.

Anyways, this is evidence that I am, in fact, still alive and drawing. This time, I decided to try something a little different by experimenting with some grey tone-like effects (with a hint of inspiration from Ross Campbell). Did I pull it off? Is there anything that could be improved the next time I try to do some grey tone work? I'm very open to critiques.

Now that I think of it, my gallery's been going through a major pink/blush phase so far in 2011. Then again, haven't I always been in a pink phase?

PS, if I were a roller derby girl my stage name would be a toss-up between Ginger Slice or Jenna Cyde.

Belle: Also a Total Hipster

2011-02-19T17:26:00.001-08:00

I told you I was planning on drawing more hipsterfied Disney princesses now, didn't I?

After completing Hipster Ariel, the next princess begging to get the treatment was dear ol' Belle. I decided to put her in her villager outfit as opposed to her famous ballgown because gold taffeta is so lame. (Unless it was for a totally ironic 80's prom dress party night, then game on!)

I've got one more princess in mind to add to this bizarro mini-series. Anticipate it. Fear it. ;-P

Coupla Couples: David and Jonah

2011-02-19T17:24:00.001-08:00

Ahh, I would have liked to have posted this earlier in the week but alas, stuff happens.

Anyway, next up we have young David and Jonah. The two boys first met each other during tryouts for their high school's volleyball team. At the time, unbeknownst to each other, they were struggling with their own sexualities. Having developed a strong friendship throughout their time on the volleyball team, David and Jonah ended up coming out of the closet to each other. From then on, that friendship slowly developed into something more.

Now, with both of them headed off to different universities, David and Jonah are determined to remain faithful to one another and keep their relationship alive no matter how wide the distance was.

Fingers crossed...

By the way, Jonah's hoodie says "LUCK". Not the other thing. ;-)

Coupla Couples: Bruno, Mindy and Leo

2011-02-12T21:11:00.001-08:00

Whoo! I'm on a roll tonight!

Well, technically I finished this last night but I didn't get a chance to scan it in until this evening.

Moving along on the whole Coupla Couples series of sorts, we have a different sort of relationship going on here. It's the reason why the "It's Complicated" status exists on Facebook.

Mindy and Leo (who you may recognize as the comic loving couple from "Love a'la Comic Mode") had a pretty good thing going on for a while. It wasn't until that fateful fall night when the two got into a heated, nasty argument at that gig of Leo's friend's brother's cousin's band. Before storming off from the show, Bruno (one of the "males" in "You've Got Male") noticed Mindy's distraught state and asked her what the matter was. What began as a mere venting session turned into a two hour conversation about comics, video games, bad exam experiences and other surprisingly common interests.

So you can only imagine the disbelief, anguish and jealousy Leo felt when he discovered that not only did his girl Mindy leave the club with Bruno that night but that they had started hanging out more often without Leo's knowledge. Sure they exchanged plenty of hugs and a kiss or three on the cheek but nothing had gone any further between Bruno and Mindy.

To sum things up, after meeting one another and still having strong feelings all around for Mindy, the three had agreed to one solution; an open relationship!

You got all that? Good!

Ariel is a Total Hipster

2011-02-12T20:37:00.001-08:00

Okay, I took a little detour and got struck with the urge to work in a fairly recent goofy Internet meme: it's Hipster Ariel, yo! Confused? Intrigued? Morbidly curious? Go to the link and check out what all this happenin' noise is about.

Drawing a hipsterfied Ariel was remarkably fun to do. So much so that I'm considering giving some other Disney princesses the same treatment.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Coupla Couples: Tracy and Wanda

2011-02-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

The usual associations of this month are starting to creep up on me and it's showing through in my art!

So yeah, anyone remember Wanda? Chances are you probably remember her big-ass glasses.

Not only did she get a new, smaller pair of glasses (those other ones were fake plastic ones) but she also found a new girlfriend at the optometrist's! D'awww. It all began with Tracy's observation of the Sailor Moon button on Wanda's purse which led to a mutual geek-out session, then coffee, then dinner and so on and so forth. Sailor Mercury's their mutual favorite.

I might draw a few more couples. We'll see.

Tattoo Design: Time Heals...

2011-01-30T17:36:00.000-08:00

While I was working on "Healing", I felt like doing a more detailed closeup on one of the tattoos I designed in the piece.

Yup, it's fairly simple but I hope the message is conveyed well enough.

Healing

2011-01-30T17:27:00.001-08:00

Okay...there's quite a bit of stuff that went into this one so let's jump straight to it.

I first drew the image on the left in the last few weeks of 2010 and, suffice to say, I wasn't exactly in the best frame of mind during that time. It wasn't until after I had finished sketching that card that I realized that drawing was a manifestation of all these different anxieties, fears, worries and confusion that were about to plague my mind in the time to come.

The drawing on the right came to me after I had wrapped up all the stuff with the last convention I went to. A lot of the unpleasant stuff was beginning to get resolved once and for all but what really set the wheels in motion were the concept of "cover-up" tattoos. The kind of tattoos that covered up any scars, wounds and bruises of past injuries, surgeries and any other traumatic experiences. The idea that you could ink a permanent symbol of a new beginning onto you really inspired something within me so I went straight to work on the more recent drawing.

I've also really been itching to try some more experimental methods with my artwork and thought this would be a good place to start. The border is comprised of colored gift wrap tissue paper with half of it stained with tea. In a perfect world, I would have loved to have used actual flower petals but 1) it's winter and flowers aren't exactly blooming right now and 2) the dried ones would crack and fall apart inside the scanner.

A piece of this nature can only be therapeutic to work on and indeed it was. For the record, I'm feeling a lot better and while there are still little threads to be resolved, it's not causing me any anxiety or reason to panic.

On a technical note, there's a lot of things here that I'm really happy with in terms of coloring and blending.

January Vancouver Comicon: The Aftermath

2011-01-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, now that I'm fully recharged from my busy, busy weekend, I just want to give a huge thank you to everyone and anyone who stopped by my table at the Vancouver Comicon this past Sunday. Whether you bought something, flipped through my portfolio or picked up a flyer/business card, every little bit of support is greatly appreciated.

I was actually told that the typical attendance of a January convention was pretty slow and minimal. So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when the overall attendance was much higher than anticipated. For my third go around with conventions, this exceeded my expectations and I still enjoyed every bit of it, even when the inevitable zombie state kicked in. ;-)

I can't wait to do this all over again and I definitely want to hit up more conventions throughout 2011. I'm even aiming for much larger scale conventions, just so I can get a feel of the energy and atmosphere of one. That and I've determined that there just aren't enough opportunities throughout the year to get decked out in costume. ;-)

Onwards and upwards, baby!

Wouldn't YOU Like To Know?

2011-01-18T17:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a sketch card I completed at the Vancouver Comicon last Sunday. I've had this image in my mind for quite a few years but just had to wait until it was totally developed...or at least developed enough to satisfy me.

As you can tell, I was totally gettin' my Lichtenstein on. ;-)

Vancouver Comicon, January Edition Reminder

2011-01-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

Hey lovelies, just thought I'd remind you all (especially anyone and everyone in the Vancouver area) that I'll be at the next Vancouver Comic Con.

Yup, I'll be at it all over again this Sunday (Holy smokes! That's tomorrow!) at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver, British Columbia. The show goes on from 11 AM 'til 5 PM and admission is $4 per person while kids under 14 get in for free. You too can get in for free if you donate a new or gently used grade school appropriate graphic novel to go towards Vancouver public schools. Sweet, eh?

If you see a redhead with a bowler hat and/or spiky cyber goggles atop her head while sketching and inking away on some shiny new sketch cards, don't hesitate to stop by and say "hi". She'll also have plenty of prints, original sketch cards and mini comics to sell plus her portfolio for you all to take a gander through. ;)

Okay, I'll stop referring to myself in the third person now. =P XD

For more information on the convention and all the creators and special guests involved (including Ken Steacy, of "Star Wars" and "Iron Man" comics) go check out the main website or just take a glance at the flyer below this text. ;)

Hope to see you there and I'm excited to do this!

Turning to Twitter

2011-01-05T14:49:00.001-08:00

Oh look, it's my first upload of 2011! Is it just me or is that still a really weird year to hear, write, see and say? "Twennyleven!"

This is more or less an accurate portrayal of my 180 towards Twitter minus the body and soul possession by Kermit the Frog, of course. At least I haven't sacrificed proper spelling or grammar in my tweets so far.I hope it remains that way. ;-)

Updates Out the Wazoo

2010-12-28T22:39:00.000-08:00

EDIT: Uploaded the revised flyer. Turns out it had the wrong date written on it.

Well, well, well, I've got quite the bundle of updates to fill you guys in on!

First off, after much resistance I've finally succumbed to the Twitter pandemic. Yup, I've decided to branch off to Twitter to further my conquest for world domination, er, I mean, to use as a means of more exposure and updates on my work in ultra-condensed form. For you Twitter inclined folks out there, head on over and follow me at the oh-so consistently titled DramaticMonarch.

Secondly, I have another convention on the horizon! Yes indeedy, I'll be at the next Vancouver Comicon on January 16. More details will be revealed once the date gets closer but you can still have a look at the very pretty and colorful flyer. It's a safe bet that I'll be in full-force worker bee mode over the next few weeks. ;-)

Finally, I'm doing some writing work on a collaborative article so be on the lookout for that very soon.

In case I don't post something before 2010 bites the dust, I just wanna wish you all a Happy New Year. Party safe.

Christmas Comic 2010: The Christmas Song Debacle

2010-12-25T16:50:00.001-08:00

Man, I really oughtta start working on these Christmas comics much earlier. I swear, each year they keep getting bigger and more time consuming. Oh the pitfalls of being a detail hound.

Blame the scanner for cutting the edge off just slightly.

Anyways, the idea for this one came to me when I was listening to "The Christmas Song". Everyone always likes to make jokes about chestnuts roasting on an open fire but I decided to mutilate, er, jab at another set of lyrics tucked way back at the end of the song.

Just me or does this lady look like a crotchety middle aged version of Ivy?

In case the comic and my last journal entry don't state it enough, hope you all are having a fantastic holiday today. Spend some time with loved ones, have a good meal, some laughs and lots of memories to share. <3

The Gingerbread Lolita Improved (With WIP Scans)

2010-12-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

I was going through my old Christmas Lolita card designs earlier this month and I couldn't help but notice how, well...amateurish they looked. I had a lot of weird things going on anatomy-wise, the coloring looked a little shoddy and some of the eyes looked lop-sideded. Sure, there's always room for improvement no matter where you are with your craft but looking at those cards elicited memories of older drawing and coloring techniques that I've long since drifted away from (my skin tone pencil crayons are probably happy and well rested because of this). They just no longer fit in with my current work.

I didn't have a whole lot of time to revamp the entire set so I just decided to focus on one design and update it just for my own personal sake.

For reference, here's how the Gingerbread Lolita looked three years ago...

Hope this is considered an upgrade of sorts!

Sailor Moon: The Abridged Toon

2010-12-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

Yikes! It's been a while since I've added anything here since Sketchavember wrapped up. Face it, drawing non-stop for a month straight can totally wipe a person out. :-P

It has also come to my attention that I've never uploaded this delightfully deranged drawing on here yet and so I bring you "Sailor Moon: The Abridged Toon".

I remember drawing this when I was in a pretty mopey place and I left that place as soon as I completed this piece. How can "SMA" not cheer up a soul? If you have no clue what I'm talking about or are desperate for some kind of context for the insanity plaguing the scouts (er, senshei for you devout otakus out there ;-)), go check out Megami33's "Sailor Moon: The Abridged Series". It will ruin your childhood in the best way possible.

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 30: Triumph: Sketchavember Style

2010-11-30T22:05:00.000-08:00

So this is what it's all been leading up to. Day 30 of Sketchavember has wrapped up with...

...a goofy comic strip.

It's a pretty fair approximation of my creative process today...I mean, without the whole falling asleep at the drawing table bit. I would have liked to have done a nice, big colorful work to finish off the month but I couldn't settle on just one idea and time was already nagging away at me. Besides, it's been a while since I've done any artwork of the sequential nature.

Overall, I'd say the Sketchavember challenge was absolutely worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I highly reccomend it to anyone who wants to get back into a regular drawing groove, to challenge themselves or those who just love to draw plain and simple.

A big thanks goes out to Croaky for concieving this challenge and to all of you for sticking with me throughout all this glorious madness.

Don't think the art will stop here. Oh hell no. I've got ideas up the wazoo for future pieces and projects. Just you wait. ;-)

PS, that is so totally my drawing face. :-P

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 29: Scurvy Bunny (plus Stitchy Bunny and Bunnies Spew Rainbows/Spewey Bunny)

2010-11-29T22:09:00.000-08:00

Day 29 of Sketchavember has proven to be a day of sorts for resurrection. I'm returning to a series of images that kinda fell on the wayside this time last year: a bunch of "cute-but-not-necessarily-cuddly" bunnies!

"Scurvy Bunny" is the most recent addition to the bunch. Doesn't disease, mangy matted fur and rotting teeth fill you up with warm and ooey-gooey fuzzies? ARRR!

"Stitchy Bunny" was where I last left off...or at least the last one I was most happy with. There was one I completed last year but never posted since I was never completely satisfied with it. Expect that "missing bunny" to get a complete overhaul. Back to this bloody little bunny; what was intended to be a cyber-esque bunny ended up going in a guro-nurse/B-grade horror movie direction. For the record, the bunny is NOT beheaded.

Finally, here's the one that started it all in the first place: "Spewey Bunny" (or "Bunnies Spew Rainbows"). Many days and nights watching "Superjail!" are to blame for this cheerful abomination. ;-P

Expect at least three more bunnies to be added to the roster soon.

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 28: Zacho Fedro, Go

2010-11-28T22:02:00.001-08:00

Oy, technology decided to be a finicky little bitch on Day 28 of Sketchavember. That still didn't stop me from completing this sketch of excelladon's (of DeviantART) original character Zacho Fedro.

I gotta say, Zacho's pretty different from what I usually do but I had quite a bit of fun playing around with big, thick, sharp lines like his hair and the lightning powers. I apologize for any inconsistencies with the character but I hope he likes it!

THUNDER!! Na na na na na naaa-aaahhh THUNDER!!

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 27: ...eserever ni olah...

2010-11-27T23:30:00.000-08:00

Some days you just need to dive into a well of your own favorite cliches. Day 27 of Sketchavember just happened to be one of those days.

"You wear guilt
Like shackles on your feet
Like a halo in reverse..."

These particular lyrics from Depeche Mode's song "Halo" popped into my head earlier this evening and thus this drawing was born.

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 26: Have a Deathrock Day! (Plus CYB3R-SMIL3)

2010-11-26T22:09:00.001-08:00

Just a quick little doodle for Day 26 of Sketchavember. Why am I losing track of time all of a sudden?

Anyway, if you folks don't know I drew a little cyber smiley (or "CYB3R-SMIL3" two years ago...

I decided to give it a cousin of the deathrock persuasion. Just because. ^_^

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 25: That Wasn't Part of the Act...

2010-11-25T21:53:00.000-08:00

Day 25 of Sketchavember sends me back...way back into one of my old high school sketchbooks! I remember drawing this creepy little clown girl back in Grade 12 so I decided to revisit and update her a bit. Clowns, no matter the gender or style, always give you ample opportunities to amp up the morbid factor.

It's a good thing my fear of clowns was eradicated over the years thanks to frequent Krusty the Clown sightings on "The Simpsons".

Onwards and upwards to the final stretch of Sketchavember!

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 24: Copypasta Love

2010-11-24T22:50:00.001-08:00

Day 24 of Sketchavember filled me with the urge to draw something simply silly. Nothing complex or extravagant. Just giggle-worthy goofiness.

For all you 'net savvy folks out there; I can't be the only person who gets sudden pangs of hunger each time they see someone use the term "copypasta", right? :-P

I bet you're getting hungry just looking at this drawing now, aren't you?

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 23: Sweeney Bob

2010-11-23T23:49:00.001-08:00

WHEW! Didn't think I'd complete this one in time but here's Day 23's picture for Sketchavember!

Sideshow Bob has always been one of my favorite characters in general and I've always wanted to draw him in something. Sweeney Todd just seemed like a marvellous fit. Sure helps when you have the movie poster right beside your drawing table. ;-P

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 22: Minnie With a Rockabilly Twist!

2010-11-22T21:29:00.001-08:00

22 days into Sketchavember and it's evident that I still haven't gotten Disneyland (nor mice in general) out of my system. :-P

I was reminded of my Minnie Mouse inspired lolita design from a few years back and I thought it would be interesting to meld her signature look with more of a rockabilly/pin-up girl type flavor. Did I pull it off?

Oh hey, a hidden Mickey!

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 21: Dead as a Mau5

2010-11-21T22:30:00.000-08:00

Day 21 of Sketchavember has struck me with the urge to draw Canadian electronica musician/producer Deadmau5.

Yup. Nothing much else to say except that he's the coolest mouse, er, mau5 with a giant red head around. ^_^

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 19: Wanda's Big-Ass...Glasses!

2010-11-19T23:47:00.001-08:00

Barely defeating the clock once again, Day 19 of Sketchavember has me drawing some very large, very colorful glasses.

I gotta admit, I love this little spur-of-the-moment character design. I think I gotta use Wanda in another drawing some time. ^_^

Modern Day Judy Jetson

2010-11-18T21:59:00.001-08:00

EDIT: Re-uploaded with a much, much better scan.

Here's an older pre-Sketchavember madness drawing I had lying around my drawing table. It's my take on how I think "teen of the future" Judy Jetson would look like in this day and age.

She strikes me as a total teeny-bopper, go-with-the-flow, trendy type with the typical teen fascinations like shopping, iPods, Lady Gaga and the solar system. ;-P

I might do a few more "twists" on classic cartoon characters some time down the road. We shall see. ;-)

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 18: Child's Play: "Mother?"

2010-11-18T21:48:00.001-08:00

For Day 18 of Sketchavember, I got my tush in gear and finally completed this sketch for shoppergurl at DeviantART who wanted me to illustrate a scene from a fan fiction for "Child's Play" called "Mother?"

To be honest, I don't know a helluva lot about "Child's Play" or its canon (other than the fact that there's a killer doll named Chucky and that there were was a "Bride of Chucky" and "Seed of Chucky" movie done a few years back) so I had to go by a lot of the descriptions I was given plus a few Google image searches so I apologize if there are any mistakes or inconsistencies.

I had no idea how my Chucky (or Glen for that matter) was going to turn out but I gotta say, I'm pretty pleased with how Chucky's nasty eye turned out.

Hope she likes it!

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 17: Fancy Funeral Fudge Cake

2010-11-17T22:36:00.001-08:00

Not gonna lie, I was feeling a little stumped as to what to draw today but inspiration for Day 17's drawing for Sketchavember came in the form of The Most Dangerous Cake recipe and repeated listenings of bands like Dead Can Dance, Black Tape for a Blue Girl with a little helping of Voltaire.

Thus, the fancy shmancy funeral themed cake was born. I've always admired the work and craftsmanship that goes into all those crazy elaborate cakes and I've always wanted to take a crack at designing something in that manner.

Not sure I exactly have the baking skills to live up to it but I'm working on it. ;-)

Hungry yet? :-9

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 16: So Very Much Spirited Away

2010-11-16T22:10:00.000-08:00

EDIT: Re-uploaded with a much better scan.

Oh hey guys! Guess what movie I just saw today? XD

Yup, I decided to channel all that "Spirited Away" awesomeness into Day 16's drawing for Sketchavember.

There's so much to love about that movie (including its protagonist Chihiro) and I just couldn't resist drawing those cute little soot creatures. I also decided to try something a little new with the eyes. I held back on the "eye comets" this time so let me know what you think.

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 15: Ain't Feelin' So Hot

2010-11-15T20:43:00.001-08:00

Ugh...I feel like mucus and all kinds of other lovely things but I still decided to pump something out for Day 15 of Sketchavember because I'm a big tough girl like that. :-P

I hope I have it in me to draw some more ornate and extravagant stuff soon and I most certainly hope I'm not coming down with a cold.

But hey, at least it's something.

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 14: Maude's Mods

2010-11-14T22:34:00.001-08:00

I may have been out all day but I still managed to squeeze in a little something for Day 14 of Sketchavember!

Once again, my love and admiration for magnificent dreadlocks comes through in this drawing. The overwhelming need to draw some super stretched out earlobes was also apparent. Resistance against a punny title was more than futile.

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 13: Trixie Workin'

2010-11-13T21:09:00.001-08:00

'Twas the 13th day of Sketchavember that I finally completed a sketch for CureMyBlackendHeart (of DeviantART) of her original character Trixie.

Okay, okay, I'll stop with the faux-Christmas narration (oh crap, am I finally getting desensitized by the ever-so-early bombardment of Christmas?!). The point is that I had a ton of fun drawing this mechanic from the future, complete with random splotches of motor oil.

Hope I did Trixie justice!

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 12: Bloody Butterface

2010-11-12T23:44:00.001-08:00

EDIT: Re-uploaded with a better scan.

Bizarro ideas ensue on Day 12 of Sketchavember.

Sometimes weird, weird ideas like a bloodhound with the body of a bikini model hit you at strange times of the day. Or, um, night in this case.

Interpretation of this one is totally up to you. ;-P

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 11: Remembrance...

2010-11-11T16:11:00.001-08:00

It's only natural that Remembrance Day would play a role in Day 11's drawing for Sketchavember.

Lest we forget.

SKETCHAVEMBER Day 10: Little Tramp

2010-11-10T22:13:00.001-08:00

For Day 10 of Sketchavember, I strolled down a different path from what I usually do.

I wanted to try not only drawing a guy but a rather powerful, sensual kind of guy as well. I've been known to dip my toes into the "sexy girl" sketches so I only figured it would make sense to see if I can translate that into my guys.

Hopefully I managed to straddle a line between smokin' sexy and tasteful.

I can see this guy as part of a boylesque troupe (yes, they really do exist! Google it!) under the stage name of "Little Tramp".