The Magical World of Jenny SRP

Animated Valentine

2012-02-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

I made a really silly animation using the super-user-friendly-but-awkward animation software Xtranormal (which we dissect and frankenstein to animate the Micros) for my LOng Distance Love, Matt, all the way across the globe. ... enjoy... if you can =P

Tangled up in your LOVE

2012-02-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

A little early Valentine from me to you, so you have plenty of time to soak up all the love.

MWAH! <3

I did use some sketching from my sketchbook finally to make a .. mostly.. finished piece.
Happy Valentine's Day to you all!
I'll be watching <3 Tangled <3 ^-^

P.S. Anyone have any tips on downloading brushes that have a good fountain pen/pressure look? Want to experiment with different ways of doing line work for drawings...

(PPS Character owned by DISNEY!!)

Everypony's Free!

2012-02-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

Two in one day!? I'm on a roll! .... don't expect it to keep happening that way... =P

Squash N Sketch theme this week is Nudity... so... I did this. ^-^ I find it so hilarious when people turn cartoon characters into sexy things with anatomy and stuff. OMG so silly. So this is my joke on that.

HEADDESK oh well

2012-02-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

No artwork to post from January!? Oh well, it was a very busy month. I'm finishing up some projects that I will get to share soon. ^-^

Keep wishing on stars, y'all!

Mr. DJ, I'd like to make a request....

2012-01-03T18:04:00.000-08:00

Today I have dedicated my Tumblr blog to my boyfriend... all the way in Frankfurt. There are only 13 days left until he arrives at Denver International Airport, and into my arms. Never thought I would be in a long distance relationship... especially 5,000+ miles distance, but with Matt it's easy. ^-^ Can't wait to see him.

and for those following for my art, these pieces were done because of him...

2012 Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ahh... breathe it in.... that's the smell of a brand-spankin' new 365 days laid out right in front of you... scary? exciting? joyful? all of it... I'm looking forward to this year, lots of new beginnings and adventures in store for me!

In the Spirit of the new year.. I've created a blog for my more spiritually related posts... I've developed a hobby for Tarot, as I am enamored with the story of the Fool and his journey through each turning point in life, and how that Hero's Journey can be applied to each of our lives. A lot of you know I've had quite a few big events in my life which have led me to asking a lot of questions, and I find a lot of answers, or comfort, or just pure entertainment, in Spirit.. for all it's meanings, serious and silly, magical and mundane. So anyway, my blog is called Spritely Spirited as I envision myself somewhat like The Fool starting his journey, with a spring in my step, bouncing forward with both a widely open mind, but also a healthy dose of skepticism right there by my side to make sure I don't just leap off the cliff (into insanity, probably...).

January will start off great, as my annual 12 + 3 card reading indicated, with Love (6M The Lovers). Two weeks of good animation work to start off, and then I have two weeks of a long-awaited vacation. I need a big does of FUN in my life, and it's right around the bend.

SLONJAVAH and good health to you, my friends! Wishing you a very happy, health, creative, and JOYFUL new year!!!!!

2011 Art Calendar

2011-12-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

I saw a few of my fav artists on Deviant Art putting these together for their work, so I decided to too! It's nice to see I've actually been creative this year!

January: a soft and spiritual start to a new year, a new adventure, filling up the dark sky with little dots of light as I go... a great metaphor for my healing journey and new start in Denver.
February: Serendipity aligned and I got to work with The Micros this year, a perfect job to keep me creative and working from home. I love working with the team and look forward to seeing where things go in 2012!
March: A brand new spark of magic in my life: My niece Emma Rose Madison Sanoja was born! I am totally mesmerized by her!
April: I began working on a series... that didn't go anywhere. I drew "The Fool" tarot and intended to do a full deck, but my subconscious is wrestling with whether or not I should spend my time with characters that aren't my own! But then I try to do my own and struggle to get inspired! Ah well.. we'll see when tarot card number two comes around.... Tarot has been a huge hobby of mine this year. Anyone want a reading!?
May: The royal wedding, sure was inspiring!? right!? I drew this my little pony with it's very own fascinator...
June: I had so much fun on my trip back to LA that I had to draw my Disnelyand Outfit... since I'm not much of a fashionista, the "outfit of the day" theme didn't carry on too much longer ...
July: This year I've been so inspired by the Girls Drawing Girls blog, and have been trying to keep up with lovely ladies to one day be a part of this blog! Nothing I love more than lovely girls being lovely.
August: This month I did good... I filled a page-a-day in my sketch book, to get the pencil mileage going. It was a good month but not a lot of completed works came from it... a great practice though!
September: I started the Squash n Sketch blog which has been a great way to keep the creative juices flowing. It is so much fun seeing all my old classmates post artwork to the different themes! This one was for the "kittehs" theme!
October: I'm always inspired by Halloween, so GREAT! My little sister Chrissy loves zombies, so I stepped away from the sickeningly cute and cuddly for this piece, and glad I did!
November: What a magical month. November was the start of a hugely wonderful and magical relationship with my boy, Matt. He makes my heart so happy! I drew this picture for his birthday on Nov 3, which also is now our anniversary <3 ... ahhh amore!
December: Love stardust moose! I'm so glad I took on this task for a Christmas card. It is probably the most complete and intensive piece I did all year. Yay portfolio addition!

Looking forward to more creativity, magic, and wonder in 2012!!!!

Happy Hogswatch!

2011-12-23T15:24:00.001-08:00

Drawn for the squash n sketch blog theme, Unhappy Holidays.

Death is such an amazing Protagonist in The Hogfather!

I did this in just an hour or so... a quickie for the blog!

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas!

2011-12-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

Our fav song in the house since last Christmas has been the Christmas Hippopotamus song! Only made better by the video below.. the limited animation just makes me laugh!

I also did a couple of versions, playing with effects and colors... what do you like best?

White Christmas

2011-12-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

We're almost there! And just in time too... we got over 6 inches of snow last night, ready for a white Christmas. Let's see how the ponies measured up....

Stardust Moose ATTACK!

2011-12-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

This giant masterpiece took me about 13 hours over a week to complete... so many details! I made it for my boyfriend who sent it out as a holiday e-card to his co-workers at Konami, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Team. They have a character called the stardust dragon to which I based all the design elements from after I constructed a basic moose figure... anyway, there is some internal joke about a moose that I'll leave for the secrets of forever.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

(Here's a progression of the piece!)

Random (but very important) Rules of Life

2011-12-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

Elements of Harmony by CottonBoon

Great rules that make your day easier, your life better, and you more fabulous overall.

I like to follow the four agreements first...

1. Be Impeccable with your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using words to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Be HONEST. ALWAYS. Your word is super powerful... the words you say really do manifest in your world, because what you speak is your truth. Pay attention to the words you use during the day and see how this correlates with what you see and how you feel as well.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret. This rule has been so helpful me to eliminate worry of future regret.

Then I like to follow that with a rule about what you say to anyone. This can be especially useful in dealing with the family during the holidays!

Before opening your mouth to say something... ask yourself...

1. Is it True? (capital T, don't say it if you think there's a chance it's not true...)

2. Is it Kind?

3. Is it Helpful? (or Necessary? I think this was said by Socrates..)

If it doesn't follow these three rules, it might be better to keep your trap shut.

Granted! There's no guaranteeing that others will follow these rules, so in that case, another Rule (LTD) is to Listen politely, say Thank you for your opinion, and then DO whatever the hell you want. That's important to remember. Don't let someone else's demons activate yours. You can sit in your perfect presence and see the other person as they are and say thank you and just be whoever the hell you know you are, without putting up any kind of fight. If you sit in your being and don't retaliate, their demons will fizzle into nothing faster than if you did, and then you can get on with making Merry for the holidays!

Remember, what other people do is THEIR karma, what you do is YOURS. In practicing these "rules", you'll spend so much less time with monkey mind in regaurds to other people, and instead be open and present to what truly IS, which is the brotherhood and warm-snuggly-ness of this happiest season of the year.

When in doubt.... ask yourself... what would a my little pony do?
=P

Tarot: Power

2011-12-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

The Fourth Card in the Major Arcana has been "stalking" me, as described on the Tarotize blog... and I haven't really given it a chance to sink in and tell me what it needs to. I can do a little of that right now, but frankly, I think I'm too tired today to let anything sink in... it's going to have to process over the next few days or so.

A little background on this card. Traditionally "The Emperor", but in the two decks I use most often, they are "Authority" and "Power" and have come up often in both, especially paired with either the sixth card (The Lovers, or Love), or some other supporting emotion card in the cups series (The princess, prince, knight, queen, and king of cups, as well as Love Begins and The Heart Chakra in the psychic tarot). At first I thought the warning was not to become to opressive or hot headed or egotistical involving a relationship, but now I feel the cups cards are an emotional support to my harnessing the power of the Emperor.

Basic Tarot Story

The Fool was given options by the Magician, and decided on one with help from the High Priestess. He learned how to develop it thanks to the Empress. Now it has reached as stage where he must find a way to manage it. How to do this? He approaches a great Emperor seated on a stone throne. The Fool is amazed by the way the Emperor is instantly, eagerly obeyed in every particular, at how well his Empire is run and organized. Respectfully, he asks the Emperor how it is he does this. And the Emperor answers: "Strong will and a solid foundation of laws and order. It's all very well," he explains to the Fool, "to be imaginative, creative, instinctual, patient; but to control one must be alert, brave and aggressive."

Ready now to lead and direct rather than be led, the Fool heads out with new purpose.

Basic Tarot Meaning
The Emperor, as Aries, the Ram, naturally follows the Empress. On the one hand, he is Mars (the planet that rules Aries) to her Venus, her lover and compliment, father to her mother, civilization to her nature, imposed order to her artful creativity. He is the "All Father" giving his children the structure they need in their lives to help them become responsible adults.
Aries is also, however, the first sign of the Zodiac, metaphorically the "infant." Like an infant he is filled with enthusiasm, energy, aggression. He is direct, guileless and all too often irresistible. Unfortunately, like a baby he can also be a tyrant: impatient, demanding, controlling.
In the worst of circumstances, the Emperor is a despot, imposing his will capriciously on his subjects. In the best of circumstances, he signifies an intelligent, enthusiastic leader that everyone wants to follow, the great monarch of an orderly, lawful, thriving Empire.

What's interesting about the combo in the Goddess Deck is that Freyja is also the goddess of Love and Beauty. Hopefully the harnessing of power is toward a beautiful, productive future, though some part of me feels like the image of Galadriel freaking out when frodo offers her the ring could be true too. I have no idea what that means for me, but I feel most drawn to this Kingdom Hearts Emperor card ... the kid sitting there in the King's seat, not really sure what he is doing there or even if he wants that crown on his head. I'll sit with that for now and see what else comes up as we move forward.

Strategic Placement...

2011-11-29T19:52:00.001-08:00

This week's squash n sketch theme was Boobies... so my first thought went to wonderful cartoon strategic placement. When you can draw anything, you have to come up with creative ways not to show tooo much depending on who the audience is! =P I took my inspiration from the Pastoral Symphony and drew some disney-ish girls.
Had to throw in a rainbow of course... it's kind of my thing. Getting a little more comfortable with this style/ new technique but working some things out. fun fun fun! Enjoy.

http://shermantank13.deviantart.com/art/Girls-inspired-by-Girls-271624101

I'm going to go watch Thor, and his rainbow bridge. And pray that rainbow brite shows up in the DVD version.

Hairbrush

2011-11-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

A little bit of Rapunzel in this one, drawn for the Squash n Sketch blog theme "Hairbrush". Tried a new technique today with the chalk, I liked it much better than my line, and then adding very subtle line at the end works... tho it is hard to edit where exactly the lines should go. I'll play around with this technique a little more!
Enjoy!

Crazy or Divine? That's a thin line...

2011-11-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Matt and I met at the SIGGRAPH conference we volunteered for in summer 2010. We got along really well, but nothing came of it because we live on opposite sides of the globe. However, thanks to the magic of the interwebs, we have stayed in touch and on my birthday (Oct 11) he made me a little video. He got all dressed up in a shirt and tie and filmed himself telling jokes and saying anything to make me smile. Since then we've been chatting every day, and have had a few skype dates. He lives in Frankfurt, right now, so that's even a little further than the UK but I guess over the internet it doesn't matter.

He makes me smile, our conversation flows so easily, and seeing his face on line just makes me so happy. It's one of those things that not one single neuron in your rational brain can explain, but something in your gut just keeps saying "this is right".

Long story short, we decided yesterday that yes, in fact, this is a relationship, and trying to deny it or question it any longer was just impossible. The only way I can describe it is that it is totally like my life is now a runaway train. I can either fret with worry and fear, or I can enjoy the ride. Last night I started getting overwhelmed with the thought of having to somehow save money and travel and Windows ME and snowball thinking took over, making me feel worthless again for not being able to give everything I want to... what's going to happen? how is this going to work? what am i going to do?

I did my prayers, meditation, EFT, and finally relaxed into what was happening. When I did... something very strange happened. I'm not really sure if I was laughing or crying... maybe it was both, but I just sat there... cry-laughing for a good half an hour, realizing "What in the good earth makes me think that I have EVER had any control over any of this?! Everything that has happened this last year has beeen a complete and total miracle, happening DESPITE all my doubts and fears! WHO on EARTH am I to think that I have ANY say in what is happening!" I just was totally flabberghasted by the humour of it all. The song "Jesus take the wheel" came into my brain and I started laughing even harder. I threw up my hands and said "YEP It's YOURS ! It's always been Yours! I'm just here for the ride!"

I continued to get ready to finally go to bed and in my brain I just had the happiest, most relaxing thought, "Just be. Stop doing. Just be. We've got this."

Thinking I wouldn't be able to sleep for hours, as soon as my head hit the pillow I was fast asleep and had the most refreshing 7 hours I have had in a very long time.

I want to end with this quote from Martha Beck that always reminds me to shut the hell up and just sit and be for once.

"I made the ritual bow to the Buddha statue and noticed his half-smile, his round belly, his relaxed shoulders. His expression was so kind, as if he was saying "there there. come. sit and rest. You don't have to try so hard. You don't have to rush anything. Take a seat and see what happens."

and then I saw one more quote today that seemed very fitting. Another great reminder:

"Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight." - Benjamin Franklin

Rabbit Rabbit

2011-11-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wishing you all a lucky November.

Been talking to someone special who really makes me happeh. The cards have been lining up in very serendipitous ways, and I have a big smile on my face.

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

wowowow! I made TWO halloween drawings this year! YAY!

Well I really wanted to get the Devil Tarot Card done, so far I have only done one card this year LOL! If I do two a month I can get the major arcana done in a year, but we'll see if that happens. OH WELL. Tarotize blog has a great interpretation of the Devil Card which I really agree with. To me it is more about fears that hold us back. The traditional tarot represents "the chain that is freely worn", which I originally interpreted as "you deserve the bad that you get because you asked for it" which doesn't jive with my soul, so instead, I realize now the Devil is more of a humorous and helpful card that helps our fears just melt away. I have spent a lot of time studying dreams and being able to be conscious in them, and in the dreams I am actually able to face my fear, the fear ends up being something really lovely or lovable, or at least really harmless. The devil doesn't represent the situation, it represents your own willingness to be fearful of it. You can be fearful of a skeleton for what it represents, but you know, upon touching it, that it will simply crumble and have no more influence than a rock or stick.

ANYWAY HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I love this holiday and this time of the year. Enjoy!

Hello from Denver!

2011-10-26T10:36:00.001-07:00

A little video I did of the changing leaves and first snow... enjoy!

happpppeh Halloweeeeeen

2011-10-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

I texted my lil sister this morning to ask her what my halloween picture should be this year and she suggested a little zombie eating the brains out of a pumpkin. I like the concept! Had some issues with the wacom but overall a good exercise! I love halloween.

Roxy is Queen

2011-10-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Our latest squash n sketch post was "If my pet were human..."
My sister's dog Roxy is quite spoiled, as I let her sit on my leopard print snuggie on my bed. She always reminded me of the Queen of Sheba. Here she is!

The Real World

2011-10-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

In my time on this planet, I've had a few people mention to me "just wait until you get to the REAL world". I wonder which world they think I'm living in? I smile and am relieved with "No Such Thing" comes on the radio:

"Welcome to the real world", she said to me
Condescendingly
Take a seat
Take your life
Plot it out in black and white
Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
And the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me
Is still hiding
Up my sleeve

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
But something's better
On the other side

I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you've got to rise above

So the good boys and girls take the so called right track
Faded white hats
Grabbing credits
Maybe transfers
They read all the books but they can't find the answers
And all of our parents
They're getting older
I wonder if they've wished for anything better
While in their memories
Tiny tragedies

I am invincible
As long as I'm alive

I just can't wait til my 10 year reunion
I'm gonna bust down the double doors
And when I stand on these tables before you
You will know what all this time was for

And here is a great cover:

And here is an image because there should always be an image. It made my heart happy.
This is Warm and Real and Bright by koinogenki

super kuwaii

2011-10-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog. I have been so all over the place.

I turned 27 on Tuesday and got a super special card from my parents that made me cryle (smile + cry).

My parents always know how to make me feel special. They got me this uber special Wizard of Oz ruby slippers necklace that I just adore.

When I was a kid, my sisters and I would always BEG for sparkly red shoes, and when I got a pair, I loved them so much that I wore them to bed. The Judy Garland Oz adaptation is spectacular, but as I kid I was more struck by the film Return to Oz which featured the wicked witch's minions as lanky giants with wheels for hands and feet, and evil rocks that came to life. So the annual family hiking trip to Yosemite became a super-adventure when I was convinced all the rocks we hiked over were about to chomp off my feet. Wearing these ruby slippers around my neck will ever-protect me from rocks nipping at my toes.

It was amazing to hear from my friends all over the world, sending me love and well wishes over the interwebs. I had happy birthdays from England, Germany, France, New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, New York, Los Angeles, it is really mind boggling and wonderful.

My life as of late has been crazy as I've been working with one of my BFF's Natalie on illustrating a children's book. The deadline is early next week so I think I'll be able to rebound then.

So in the mean time... I wanted to share this piece today that I found on Deviant Art...

Game Girl by Sakimichan

It makes me happy =D.

TOODALOO!

Strengthened by Life

2011-10-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tarot Strength VIII by SavingGraces

I have been so exhausted, and in reading my prayers today came across the line "May you be strengthened by life" and had to pause...

The thought "Strengthened by Life"... seemed so strange to me... the thought of living a life in which life actually gives me strength, vitality, oomph... that is what I want. So today I prayed and prayed and prayed... please God (or the Universe, or Science, or my Conscious, or my dog! anyone!) please show me how to gain strength from life. Please show me how life can be lived without depleting me, whithering me, exhausting me, please show me how to live a life that increases my energy and vitality, please show me this life! Please help me be STRENGTHENED by life."

I will continue to meditate on this, and continue to live from a place of Love. It has been challenging this week to find the balance between Love and being taken advantage of with my work, but I have to Trust in what is truly right, Trust in balance, and remember what is really important.

8 Strength by Nendil

VIII Strength by Odessa

As long as time endures, and as long as sentient beings exist, may I be a source of Love that Heals the miseries of this world.

Peaceful in the Dark

2011-09-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

OK! So I finally did my submission for the Squash n Sketch blog Dreams and Nightmares theme...

I'm not sure if this was a dream or a nightmare. The situation and everything was scary: Here's this girl from a ball or prom or gala, and she's dead, and she's got a giant hole in her head, and she's sitting on this dock in the dark and the cold waiting for something.... but I love her. Having this dream I felt love and peace and softness and tender sadness, so it's a bit of both. This girl suffered something tragic, but here she is in peace, just waiting by the dark water.

You might remember her from an earlier sketch post , as seen below.

I spruced her up a bit in photoshop and added a background. At first I wasn't sure if I should add a glow but she needed something since she was drawn on white and colored pencil. I think it worked out pretty nicely.

Enjoy!

Oh Hello There

2011-09-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while since I have properly blogged and so I have created a piece just for today. Last night I had a great dream where I was just really relaxed and happy. A cute prince of some kind of luxury tropical island proposed to me with a giant rainbow diamond.. I mean I know, it is like the ultimate cliche, but the important thing is that I had a good dream and I drew something, OK!? (not cliche: the diamond had inside of it a claymation slug with googly eyes. My subconscious had to make sure that humour was not lost on this dream).

I did this very quickly in photoshop as to not get too obsessed with making something perfect. Pencil mileage is more important at this point than perfection! wewt!
And if you haven't checked it out yet, make sure to check out the new collaborative art blog I started, where this week's theme is Dreams and Nightmares. This is not my submission for that, as it's not high brow enough to share with my fellow artists, but whatever, at least I'm in the theme.

Pascal Campion made this piece today which echos my wonderful dream. So beautiful!

I have been busy working on an illustration project that I cannot share with anyone yet, but that just means there will be more to come at a later time! Toodaloo!

good advice

2011-09-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

“If we think only of ourselves, forget about other people, then our minds occupy very small area. Inside that small area, even tiny problem appears very big. But the moment you develop a sense of concern for others, you realize that, just like ourselves, they also want happiness; they also want satisfaction. When you have this sense of concern, your mind automatically widens. At this point, your own problems, even big problems, will not be so significant. The result? Big increase in peace of mind. So, if you think only of yourself, only your own happiness, the result is actually less happiness. You get more anxiety, more fear.”

—	Dalai Lama

Please Be Advised

2011-09-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Please be advised that one of my favorite events of the year has been scheduled for 11/29...

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!!

Designs courtesy of Victoria's Secret.

I am excited . Also I will accept merchandise and/or store credit for this endorsement.

Drawering! Tygra loves Nyan Kitteh!

2011-09-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hmm.. how many places on the web do my drawings need to be posted on?
Tumblr, DeviantArt, Facebook, blog....

=P This was made for the Squash N Sketch collaborative blog. Enjoy! (and follow us! Lots of really fantastic artists and peoples near and dear to my heart posting art!? What could be better?!)

Ready for some FOOTBALLL!!!??!?

2011-09-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

There's finally a slight crisp in the air, you know what that means right? FOOTBALL!!
... this is the right team, right?

I know who I'm rooting for!!!

PEACE!

Happy Birthday Mama Bird!

2011-09-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my Mama, my inspiration, my support, the woman who taught me how girls run the world. Love you Mama Bird!!!!

Live into the Answers

2011-08-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

"I know nothing with any certainty, but the sigh of stars makes me dream" -Van Gogh

Milky Way by Meago

"I beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart, and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers which could not be given you now because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."
-Rilke

Run The World

2011-08-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

I love this song and video. It makes me feel like awesome fire inside.
BEYONCE! Who run the world?! Girls!

How I felt hanging up my Hasbro contract on my wall today. dream come true!

healing anniversary

2011-08-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Phoenix by Amorphisss

It has been one year since I started working intensely on my healing with a clinic that specializes in nutrition and psychology practices for people with ME/CFS. It has been a really long road and I was hoping I'd feel great when it came time to write this blog, but writing it has also been therapeutic. It's hard to see on a day to day basis how life has improved but taking stock over the last year really helps me see how far I've come.

Since starting the program, this is how I have improved:
-My fibromyalgia disappeared after 3 months.
-I lost any excess weight (between 15-20 pounds) almost immediately, in the first 3 months.
-My brain fog lifted considerably after about 5 months, I can now read and work on my computer for great lengths without to much issue. I used to always forget my phone number or email address and now that problem hardly happens.
-the overall Pain and Poison feeling has really dissapated
- I have had at least a dozen days here and there where I actually felt really WELL
- in the last few months my cortisol has subsided enough that I have started to gain muscle (despite minimal exercise, the muscles are growing on their own)
- Miracles have happened: I've had jobs pop up that allow me to work from home, other little miracles have awed me on so many levels.
- I sleep very well most nights, and my horrible anxiety and nightmares have nearly evaporated completely.
- I seem to recover better from set backs, quicker and more completely.
- I don't spend most of my time in bed. It went from 4-6 days a week in bed, to 1 day a week in bed, to very recently maybe a few days a month in bed. Now I can spend more time on the computer working and outdoors.
- My thinking has shifted from a world full of rules and "supposed to's", to a world of miracles and endless possibilities.
- I got over my addiction to sugar and caffeine after about 3 months of nutrition guidance.
- I used to vomit quite frequently, for no apparent reason. I couldn't tell if it was a stomach problem or a brain problem (balance or neuro-toxin or exhaustion), and now I hardly ever get sick like that.
- Any use of my muscles, lifting my arms to hang clothes or do dishes used to be unbearable, so much pain and poison feeling, now even if I'm tired they just feel tired and I know to rest, rather than feeling that awful pain.
-I've had moments where I really thought "I'm not ill anymore", and I know more and more of those moments will come.
- This time last year I could not stand up to shower. Now I rarely have to take baths, I can shower 4 times a week and be fine, without needing to nap for an hour afterwards. Now I can meditate just 10 or 15 minutes afterwards and be ready to dress and move forward.
- the four previous years I had the flu about 3 times each year and was on antibiotics twice each year.. in the last year I have not had the flu or had to take antibiotics.

This journey to recovery is grueling and I have to be disciplined on every level imaginable, but I have seen beauty and appreciation for life also emerge from this experience, as I wrote in a previous blog. I like to fantasize that I'll get the last 5 years of my life back with interest, and envision a future full of activity, travel, wealth, health, friends, people, experiences, and more. I plan to make up for my lost 20's and see my life as being better for the experience, and know I will treasure every moment even more because of the hardship I've seen.

I want to take this moment to thank my family and friends who have been so unimaginably supportive and continue to endure the confusing times they've had with me through this process. I have an enormous amount of love and respect for all of you.

Bless.

Lizards and New Blog to follow!

2011-08-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

This week I started a new collaborative blog with my fellow UCLA Animators, so keep it in your favorites, follow it on your blogger, or add your email to the site to get updates when there are new posts. I think this will be good!

Follow us at http://squash-n-sketch.blogspot.com/ . Toodaloo!

Pixar Stamps!

2011-08-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

I got my pixar stamps today! woo hoo! So much fun.

my only friend

2011-08-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

sketch of the day, Rapunzel with pascal, her only friend. Also, Lotte (Charlotte) from Princess and the Frog and then my doggies. =)

May be the last sketch for a while since I'm starting on a new project tomorrow and will be all drawing-ed out by the end of the day.

Friendship is MAGIC-al

2011-08-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

here is my sketchbook for today, and to make up for yesterday I also did some color. These are human avatars of the My Little Pony characters.
A good start but I'd definitely like to do them differently. I was playing with different proportions and styles. *shrug* I unabashedly share my sketchbook, even the pieces I don't like, so that I'm forced to keep working and get better!

Here are some examples of other ponies works.

And here is a link to even MORE pony work!!

color my sunday

2011-08-14T12:23:00.001-07:00

worked with color today. so much more satisfying than wrestling with photoshop, though the color did not scan very well.
The ghoulish girl is from a dream I had last night about a bunch of kids who had been horribly butchered by various things, and they all had different personalities/reactions to their injuries... I think I had the dream because a preview of Final Destination was forced upon my brain. yuck. i hate that stuff. anyway, I guess a good character came out of it. She's very corpse bride-ish.

Of course needed to add some rainbow brite for the color part =D

mermaid sketches

2011-08-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

Mermaid sketches today! I should probably start using body models so I stop effing up anatomy but I didn't want all my drawings to be references. The only reference in this sketch is the peter pan mermaid.

old is new!

2011-08-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Decided to post some old works on my deviant art page including a compilation of my zodiac series. There are some anatomy issues but this was 6 years ago (when I was studying in England, gosh how time flies!) so I think I've learned a little since then =P Enjoy:

SYTYCD Finale swoon

2011-08-11T21:11:00.001-07:00

Don't worry, no spoilers here, I just thought I would share my fav routines of SYTYCD past and present, and feel like one of the "jidges"!
Enjoy!
Courtney and Mark "The Garden":

Randi and Evan "The Butt Dance":

Twitch and Alex "Outta Your Mind" (can't embed here)

Kayla and Max "Hot Like Wow":

Top 8 Season 8 "Circus":

Hawk and Jaimie "The Hummingbird and the Flower":

Neil and Danny Two princes to "Are you the One":

Top 10 Girls Season 8 Geisha Dance:

Top 10 Boys Season 8 Red Door Dance:

Ok enough for now FUNNNNN =D

3 day catch up

2011-08-11T17:37:00.001-07:00

(click each drawing for a full size view =D )

I did the last three days worth of sketches today so I got kind of pooped out. -__- will sleep well tonight.

Sketching moree

2011-08-08T18:11:00.001-07:00

Couldn't upload for some reason but I'm back! Enjoy the sketches =D

help me marry a brony

2011-08-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

please.

Sketch of the day! =D

=D

I have a dream!

2011-08-03T19:42:00.001-07:00

Had to draw from Tangled today, as I kept singing the " I have a dream " song to my doggies... *embarassing* but I just love the scene and the ruffians and the little old cupid man! Couldn't wait to draw him =P

Sketch of the Day

2011-08-02T08:13:00.001-07:00

Sketchbook from ... well technically yesterday but I did it late last night. Hope to make it a more regular thing =P

Tumble Me Tumblers

2011-08-01T13:04:00.001-07:00

I now have a tumblr to post pics and quotes and stuff of my favorite things.
http://jennysrp.tumblr.com/

Follow Meh! And give me a link to yours!

Work In Progress: Steam Punk Girl

2011-08-01T12:02:00.001-07:00

Getting really behind now on the Girls Drawing Girls themes, because I'm trying to do paintings that take like 5 -10 hours. I'm going to go ahead and try to do the other themes in short paintings like an hour like my 4th of July post.
So here is a work in progress that will hopefully get done one day....

Here is a close up of some of the steam-punky details on the original sketch.

The bird and details were inspired by an artist I saw at the Cherry Creek art festival, a series called Mullanium by Jim and Tori.... see some of their works:

A lil peak

2011-07-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a lil peak at what I've been working on recently. I've really enjoyed rotoscoping! Now I want to roto my doggies rolling in the grass. lol. we'll see if that happens.

in other news, my luck may be changing. Stay posted. =)

Be Simple, Be Kind

2011-07-27T17:09:00.001-07:00

"Impossible is Nothing" photo by Lentilcia

The Maharishi said:
Keep your desire turning back within and be patient.
Allow the fulfillment to come to you,
gently resisting the temptation to chase your dreams into the world.
Pursue them in your heart until they disappear into the self, and leave them there.

It may take a little self-discipline, but be simple, be kind.
Attend to your inner health and happiness.
Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things toward you.

Allow your love to nourish yourself as well as others. Do not strain after the needs of life - it is sufficient to be quietly alert and aware of them. In this way life proceeds more naturally and effortlessly. Life is here to enjoy.

Jellyfish Niche at Comic Con Today

2011-07-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

COMIC CON (envy and mourning!!)

2011-07-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the universe does not want me to go to comic con. Comic Con has been on my dream board since college, and the last three years I have had films playing there, meaning access to 4 day comic con passes were in my reach, and yet alas, another year and another unavoidable reason for me missing my beloved comic-con.... UNIVERSE WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!??!? . LOl. Enjoy this geekiness I made today to mourn another year of lost fun.

(also notice my hair is very big in this drawing. It is humid in Denver recently.)

If you are going to Comic-Con this weekend, go to Room 9 on Sunday at 11am to see my film Jellyfish Niche and support the San Diego International Children's Film Festival. Also playing are films by my fellow Master's Grads from UCLA.

Artist of the Day: Pumpkiiin Wadim Petunim

2011-07-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

Wadim Petunim (aka Pumpkiiin) is a 17 year old guy from Germany, making amazing digital portraits with fantastical colors. His work reminds me of the fantasy and romanticism in Japanese Gothic and Lolita, as well as Harijuku, even though there is nothing about costume in his work... for him it's all about the makeup and the hair, the eyes and the lips, they seem to say it all! This kid has a very very bright future ahead of him, and I love being able to see his growth as an artist in his gallery.

Artist of the Day: Michelle Hoefener

2011-07-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

Michelle Hoefener is a 26 year old US artist ... an amazing illustrator and digital painter. I love her concept work and original paintings! Such great color and detail!
Visit Michelle's Blog Here (cool sketches and works in progress), and her DeviantArt page Here.

artist of the day: burdge-bug

2011-07-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

BURDGE-BUG
Today's artist is stuck in the stone age with her insistance on continuing to use pencil only, but it works for her! Swept away by her romantic Harry Potter fan art, a lot based on fan-fiction I know nothing about...(but so nice and romantic none-the-less) I'm sitting here dewy-eyed and sighing... *swooon* Thanks girl!

Harry annd Ginny

Ron and Hermione

Harry and Ginny

Ok now even I'm getting a sweet tooth. But I enjoyed it mucho!
I really appreciate that her boys look like boys....

And one of the three of them for good measure. LOL ^____^

Freedom to be Sexy Ladies!

2011-07-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

Teee heee. On my search for independence day and 4th of July artwork, you can imagine how many string bikinis I had to sort through, and still ended up with pin-ups, but you know what!? That's America boyzzzz! LOLs.

☼ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ☼

INCLUDING THE PURSUIT OF SEXINESS: BEHOLD!

By Chatgr

By 14-bis

By #UdonCrew

Now i'm going out in search of a hotdog real bad. Have a great day and an AMAZING night everyone!!! Enjoy the sunshine and the fireworks!

Photo by eener22091

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

Er... I mean I know it's the 2nd, but I drew a picture so I have to put it up today. =P

This is also me trying to do the themes posted on the Girls Drawing Girls blog so that maybe I can get in on their blog next year... at least it's good to have the exercises to keep going. The new theme is circus girls, but it seems a lot of the artists get really busy during the summer with conventions and don't really do the themes... but anyway it is still fun!

I wanted to play with a simpler technique, brushing quickly the color, highlights, and shadows instead of drawing from an outline and then coloring in. I like it!

Ahhh summer

2011-07-01T14:33:00.001-07:00

Today when I took the doggies out I saw two guys driving out with their Kayak's tied to the roof of their car... OH ENVY! I love water.. lakes, oceans, rivers, fun in the sun in general! Today I want to say hello to summer with my fav summer paintings by Pascal Campion.

Enjoy!

Micros Karma... keep on ROLLING!

2011-07-01T11:41:00.001-07:00

As you can see.. I did not get to work on this episode, you'll also notice a certain sponsorship is missing... oh geez! I was so entertained by this episode and I'm not even in the poker world! I would love love love to keep working on this series, so if you have an extra million or so laying around, please consider donating it to Showdown Monkey LLC. =D

I tip my hat once again to John Wray and Jay Rosenkrantz. I know this is not the end of the line for your brilliance.

Ta!

work in progress: peter pan

2011-06-30T17:08:00.001-07:00

So here is my peter pan work in progress. I usually would never post a work in progress because I get so self conscious, but because I'm trying different things here I wanted to post this to see if I could get any tips or feedback. I'm not used to doing backgrounds really, and I'm trying to play with brushes to get different textures. My original inspiration was trying to get a light through the leaves look but I think that is a last minute thing.

I guess the trick is really to just keep inching forward but I definitely get stuck trying to figure out what's next! So painting tips welcome. *shrug*

A little PSA

2011-06-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

"magic hands" by B1nd1

I have an amazing life. And I am not being sarcastic in the least. I sleep in until I'm ready to wake up every day. I get to spend every day with my older sister and her husband, and their two dogs, who have become my own two little companions. I live in a beautiful city full of new things to explore every day. I have a job that keeps the perfect balance between creativity and hard work. I have my own bedroom full of little knick knacks that remind me of all my loving friends and all the things I love. I have a closet full of clothes which have mostly come to me without buying them, and they remind me of all the ways I have been so lucky and cared for.

There is another way to say all this though. I have a miserable life. I've been nearly housebound by an illness which keeps me in pain and agony 24/7. It's an illness which is so misunderstood by doctors I have an extraordinarily hard time finding support for my condition. My parents could no longer take care of me so I had to move in and be a burden on my sister. I'm unable to work a regular job so I currently have about $20 in my bank account and $100K in debt. I'm completely isolated from all my friends. All of my clothes are hand-me-downs.

The first version of the story is my Truth, though both scenarios are factual. It has been 5 years since June 20, 2006, the day I went surfing with my roommates in Newport Beach and got so ill I never recovered. Part of the reason I never recovered is because I was the kind of person who just kept pushing. I was working a job at an architecture firm, an ice cream store, and attending summer session to finish up my undergraduate degree. When I got sick I continued going to work, knowing I could just push through it. I kept telling myself things like 'people work three jobs and have kids to raise and STILL get through it, I can do this'. Having this attitude instead of listening to my body and my heart is what eventually led to a crash of my entire neuro-immune system. If I wasn't going to listen, my body was going to make me listen. (This was mirrored by my Mother's experience as well: a massive stroke she had in 2005 which ended her lucrative career as a powerful attorney and left her paralyzed on her left side, creating a life long journey of healing for both herself and my dad and the rest of our family.)

Since then I have been on the most important journey of my life. It has been about learning what is really important, how to listen to my heart, and how to not let anybody define who I was or what I could do. Moving from Fine Art, a world full of No's, into the field of Animation, a world full of Yes, was a major turn for me. I definitely got some flack in Grad school from people who did not understand my limitations and thought I was just taking the easy way out. They didn't know how much it killed me that I couldn't take advantage of the same opportunities they had. Today, even though I am not recovering as fast as I thought I would, I am better than ever. My spirit is so bright and my heart is so full. I finally found a clinic whom I've been working with for 9 months on improving my health and it is working greatly. My body looks the best it has in half a decade, and it is probably the healthiest it has been as well. I am surrounded by the love of friends and family who constantly show me their love and kindness in ways I never expect. I am always surprised and delighted.

I know a lot of people who think going on this kind of journey is a process of lowering your standards or learning how to experience disappointment. It is absolutely the opposite. My life now is full of more color and joy and beautiful experiences than I ever had before. My life is now a life of Flow. I used to suffer horribly from anxiety, trapped in my own cartoon jail bars that kept me in fear and a constant state of not-good-enough.

No matter how much some of my peers have, they are sure they are one step away from being a homeless bag lady. I am so much more sensitive now to people's states-of-mind and can see so clearly the bars that people build around themselves. They're standing in the middle of a beautiful garden, building a tomb of worry-stones right around their little bodies and I want so badly to open my heart and offer my hands to help them bring down those walls. All I can say is that I have seen rock bottom, and it isn't really all that bad.

JK Rowling said "Rock Bottom became the foundation upon which I built my life."

Your mind says "You will only succeed if you shed blood and sweat and tears" and your body says "OK we'll do that, as long as you don't mind taking 20 or 30 years off your life."

Either you will come to a point where you will get an "aha" and make an effort to re-balance your life, or life will break you open without your consent.

Let go of your plans. Let go of your expectations. Joseph Campbell said "You must give up the life you had planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you".

This doesn't mean I'm telling you to just sit back and watch your life pass you by, trust me, I've been forced to do enough of that for all of us. What I'm saying is to listen to the YES inside of you and follow that with all your beautiful will and energy. If something in you says NO NO NO NO NO! when you set out to do something, PLEASE LISTEN! Do not shed a tear or drop of blood in the direction of NO!

And about your student loans? Don't worry! We live in a society where a person who has $900,000 in student loans and a mortgage is (somehow) a WAY more responsible American than someone with no debt paying their rent on an apartment every month. Plus even President Obama just finished repaying his loans like last year! It's going to take some time! IT's OKAY!

And finally I'd like to share with you all a little blessing by Elizabeth Lesser:
May you be blessed on your brave search for the truth.
May your soul lead you to pools and rivers and oceans of wine.
May you drink and be intoxicated by love.
May you swim and be strengthened by life.
May you grow bolder and kinder.
May you be grateful.
May your body be charged with health and energy
and your life with Purpose and Passion.
May you know the dignity of mindfulness,
The openness of heartfulness,
the freedom of soulfulness.
May you remember who you are.
May you awaken.
May we all awaken.

Recommended Reading:
The Seeker's Guide by Elizabeth Lesser
Steering by Starlight by Martha Beck
Finding your North Star by Martha Beck
The Art of Happiness with HH the Dalai Lama
Broken Open by Elizabeth Lesser
Loving What Is by Byron Katie
A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson

Tuesday needs a REBOOT!

2011-06-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Today the massive alphanumeric box set of Reboot: The Complete Series (Seasons 1-4) was released on DVD and I WANT IT ! ^__^ As Mike the TV would say, "It's absolutely FREEE for only ninety nine, ninety nine, ninety nine!!!" (it's actually only $45.99 on Amazon)

Reboot was one of those series I was obsessed with as a kid, and since my uncle and dad made sure my sisters and I were all up on computer shiz we understood all the little nerdy-nuances in the show. (Though I'm not as up on the computer-science world today, I did set up nearly my entire dorm's computer systems way back in 2002). According to Reboot's official Fansite, there is still a Reboot movie in the works, though it's been stuck in the Hollywood ether for ages. All I have to say is, I'll wait forever if you make sure it is a damn good movie.

So all you geeks get out there and get your box set. Maybe that will inspire Rainmaker to push ahead on the production of more reboot stuffers. *sigh* oh nostalgia.

Here is some great concept work from Matt Rhodes. Enjoy!

(I also want this release-of-the-day T_____T <3 LOTR extended blu ray box set yay!)
LOL by Phobs

Monday Joy: Fairies!

2011-06-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

This month, Pixie Hollow (an online game created by Disney Interactive Media Group) hosted a contest to create a new pixie outfit. While I have logged about 2.5 minutes on the game, I have a particular attachment to the game since one of my mentors was an animator at DIMG for Pirates and Toon Town and would always make fun of my love for tinkerbell, yet affectionately sending me gifts and photos of interesting tid bits in the pixie hollow corner.

All the pixies wear clothes made out of bits and pieces from nature so I decided to make a pansy dress inspired by all the pansies my sister and I planted in our flower boxes this spring.

and here is my fairy:

(being recently blonde I thought the rules required the submission to be totally hand drawn, expilicitly saying "no screenshots" but my friend Natalie explained to me it probably meant no screenshots from the game. *shrug* happy to get my colored pencils out anyway)

and here is a fairy I drew way back in 2003:

I pretty much used to exclusively draw fairies and got many a request to draw templates for tattoos (though I don't know if anyone ever got the guts to actually do one!). Going back to my old sketchbook reminded me of days of old when I had more energy to draw, and gives me so much hope that once I'm fully recovered my vim and vigor will translate to my animation and painting. Right now it seems like the more I try the worse I get, but a lot of that has to do with my mental clarity and energy as I go through this bigger journey in my life.

ANYWAY, how about some great fairies from other artists!

By DarkMello (she has some great fantasy work)

By Imaginism, a very cool Canadian concept artist.

And then there is one of my fav painters, Josephine Wall, and her ridiculous fairy paintings here.
Coming up: I've been working on a digital painting of a famous fairy-boy and his pixie companion. I have some freelance work to do for now but if I have energy I'll have the new painting done in a couple of days! =D

Artist of the Day: Destiny Blue

2011-06-26T20:13:00.001-07:00

Alice de Ste Croix is an anime artist from the UK. She has a couple of pieces I find super cute.

Just a nice lazy sunday post today! Enjoy =D

Artist of the day: Sakimichan

2011-06-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sakimichan is another 20 year old genius digital painter, who is currently going to school somewhere for animation and art. *GAH GIVE UP NOW!*
She's amazing and an inspiration. I really am glad she posted this body guide as well for drawing basic figures. After devouring all her hundreds of works with my hungry eyes I went back to the painting I'm currently working on and immediately went... *headdesk* ..... WHAT AN AMATEUR!

This girl is 20. I figure though if I keep up at the pace I've been going at I can be like sort of decent by the time I'm 30, and I won't even be at my mid-life crisis yet! YAAYY.

Without further ado... please enjoy Sakimichan's beautiful work.

Also, here is the link to Sakimichan's BlogSpot... (please notice how she has 400 followers. I have 12. and they're all my mom.)

Friday: FREEDOM DANCE!

2011-06-24T09:59:00.001-07:00

My "zen moment" memory that I access whenever I need to go to a happy place is Friday afternoons when I was in Junior High. Junior High is a particularly mortifying time for most, and on Friday afternoons when the school bell rang to let out for the weekend, I would hop on my 10-speed bike with super high-tech mileage counter and ride downhill all the way home to my pizza, cartoons, and TGIF TV blocks. That is my happy place.

ANYWAY since So You Think You Can Dance has been back on the air, I've felt that happy place zen moment watching all the dancers do their stuff. So amazing! And last night, my college friend Ryan Feng danced with Quest when LMFAO performed, and that gave me such a happy feeling of "Yes! We can do it! We can live our dreams!"

I drew this piece with ink and water for my sister for Christmas a few years ago:

These sketches drawn while watching this season's Top Ten Boys perform.

And now some REAL awesome artists and their works that say "Freedom" to me...

Artists: mehmeturgut (a macabre style, love his "dance in the shutter" series), LightformGR (digital art designer), Serena-Kenobi (painterly movie moments) , Infinite705 (Great digital photos w/ effects, hip hop style dancers and more!), and Strawberry93oo.

Thanks for the inspiration! Happy Friday! BE FREE!

Artist of the Day: AliceXZ

2011-06-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

Alice X Zhang has a great painterly style, and her subject matter of course includes my fav movies like classic Disney and Harry Potter films. Love her color and light.

So inspiring. Love your work girl!

Artist of the Day: CartoonGirl7 aka MyRollingStar

2011-06-18T10:31:00.001-07:00

Joanna is 20 years old, sells her work at conventions, has an art career that blows mine out of the water, and is a Radiological Sciences major in school so she can have a stable life and career. Gahhwahhh!?

Anyway... this girl does Anime style drawings in usually traditional mediums, between studying chemistry and radioactive biology or some **** like that. Good grief. Props to this girl, and this is just my opinion, but honey I think you'd do just fine making yourself a bona-fide well-to-do artist. Props to you though for also enjoying hospitals and... like... radioloicialitistimology or whatever you study.

(Click on any of the works to see their much larger much better versions!)
See her deviantArt page here at CartoonGirl7, and her Tumblr page here at MyRollingStar.

(maybe i should go back to school. I'll get my phD in C++ and hair simulation like the woman from UCLA Math department who worked on Rapunzel. There you go!)

Aloha! Hawaii Drawings

2011-06-17T18:00:00.001-07:00

This time last year, my bff Danielle took me on an awesome trip to Kona, Hawaii to celebrate my graduation and for her to run a marathon. I did some sketches and spent the last two days giving them some color. Love the girl!

I tried digital painting first but just couldn't get it to look right. Then I remembered a piece of advice reminding artists to get back to basics and work with hands and tools-in-real-life so I got out the colored pencils my pal Debra got me for my birthday. Enjoy!

This would be the perfect day ever.

Zoo Fun!

2011-06-15T17:27:00.001-07:00

Became a member of the Denver Zoo today! Had a great time watching all the animals. See my video of the Tiger Habitat Here! Now that I'm a member I will hopefully become a pro at drawing animals... as long as they sleep in positions that I can see! I definitely got better as the day went on. Got to talk to a lot of people too, which was a nice surprise! I told all the kids to keep drawing!

I found a new favorite, a bird called the Paradise Tanager. He looks like a daft punk creation! The color is just so brilliant, and he looks like he's wearing a neon green face mask. An even better surprise is when he lifts his wings, underneath it is bright red orange and yellow!

Another bird I really enjoyed for the texture was this grey bird who looks like he's wearing armor, but then he turns around and it looks like jewels on his tail! I'm not really a bird person but these creatures got me so excited!

Haven't done much work with color and texture out in the field so maybe that will be a task on one of my many visits over the next year of my membership =D
Now I need a nap.

Artist of the Day: Brianne Drouhard

2011-06-13T10:24:00.001-07:00

Brianne Drouhard

My friend Natalie gave me a precious gift when I was in LA, a fabulous print of Brianne Drouhard's magical work, and as I was doing my Brony research I saw she was friends with Lauren Faust on DeviantArt (I recognized her Billie the Unicorn Icon) and now I've been stalking her for half a day looking at all her super fun work. She blogged one week about watching Rainbow Brite and Thor and how they should totally become one in this amazing piece below uniting the rainbow bridge from both films.

Yes, starlight, you ARE magnificent!

Brianne has also done fan art for The Last Unicorn, one of my fav animated movies!

*sigh of relief* This morning I prayed I'd have some direction to move forward with my life, and after looking at Brianne Drouhard and Lauren Faust's work, my heart feels so happy!

Brony Love, News of the Day!

2011-06-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

Daft Pony by Fox-feathers

Wired online published an article on the trend of "Bronies", boys who love My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. ... UM WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT!?!? These fan boys aged 3-93 unabashedly fill the webspace ether with their adoration of the little rainbow ponies, and I could not be more excited.

One brony explained the love due to the “perfect storm of ’80s nostalgia and cultural irony.”

The only sad thing this article published was that creator Lauren Faust (past work on The Powerpuff Girls) finished her stint with MLP at the end of season 1, so hopefully the awesomeness can continue without her. The article also mentions how DeviantART has exploded with fanart deviations, and I decided to post some of my favs! Enjoy!

By Flick-the-Thief, a brony from Russia...

By Lady Amaltea

By Hezaa

By AMSLizrah

Though I've only featured one brony as these artists, there are plenty out on the web. See the Wired article for great Brony links!

Have a magical sparkle rainbow pony day!

Disneyland Outfit

2011-06-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

Had a great time on my CA trip last week, especially DISNEYLAND! Like my fav artist bloggers, I thought doing an outfit drawing every now and again will keep me in practice. Love my mermaid Tokidoki shirt from Natalie!

Artist of the Day: Lord Ry

2011-06-12T10:37:00.001-07:00

Today's artist was found on DeviantArt, Ry-Spirit, aka Lord Ry from Australia. Lord Ry has done a different theme every month, including Zelda and Pokemon months. I especially think the Astro Boy is very cool. Love the brush-stroke style and the great lighting. Props for being disciplined to creating a monthly theme and sticking to it!

Artist of the day: Noah

2011-06-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Orange County native Noah is our featured artist of the day, found on KULT studio. He loves working on Disney characters, inspired by Walt Disney's world seen on Main Street, Disneyland.

I love seeing artists succeed in creating a career by making work based off of famous characters, essentially creating fan art for a living. I love it!

Congrats Grads!

2011-06-10T10:56:00.001-07:00

Congrats to all my friends graduating from UCLA today!

Started with a sketch, outlined in photoshop, converted to a trace in illustrator where I played around with stuff, then got frustrated and took it back to photoshop to play with brushes. A long way from being .... well... good.... at illustrator... but practice makes perfect!!!

Love all my MFA grads!

still drawering!

2011-06-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am getting out of my tower and flying to CA to visit all my friends! YAY! To celebrate, some Rapunzel sketches. She looks like a different princess in each drawing, but I guess that's disney! Gosh it is hard to get those nuances down. I love Tangled!

If you don't have the book yet, you must get The Art of Tangled right now!

Artist of the Day: PocketOwl

2011-05-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

This entry started out as a search for logo art, but I ended up going on tagents in every area of design and packaging, so I decided to stick to one artist... PocketOwl (Becky Dreistadt) is a DeviantArtist with a very cute aesthetic. She has a dry-brush style that reminds me of Little Golden Books, but also ventures into other types as well. She has a HUGE gallery on DeviantArt which I truly admire. It made it very hard to choose just a few pics to share! Enjoy.

Now I'm off to purchase an ice cream unicorn shirt. Tooodalooo! Happy Weekend!

Artist of the Day: Gilmec

2011-05-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Daniel N. Djanie aka Gilmec on Deviant art is my featured artist of the day. This artist from Germany has a huge range of skills in illustrator and photoshop, doing both character and background design. Very nice!

Art(s) of the day

2011-05-23T10:17:00.001-07:00

Today I feel like I'm on vacation because the sun has finally come out here in Denver. I decided to do a search for some great vacation pieces!

A cute fun photo by Le Voyageur (DeviantArtist)

These two are from blogger fav, Pascal Campion

And these from Brittney Lee

Ok I'm going back out to enjoy sunshine! YAY!

*update: half hour later it is a crazy thunderstorm. *sigh* must wait a little longer for real summer.

Artist of the Day

2011-05-20T16:28:00.001-07:00

Artist Inspiration of the day is StrongStuff, an vector/illustrator artist who is reminding me why I am learning this darn program in the first place. It helps that he is an animation/star wars/disney fan as well!

Smiling

2011-05-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

This video made me smile after pulling my hair out for the last three hours trying to learn illustrator.
I'm pretty sure my personality is 1/10 Avril Lavigne.

Artist of the Day

2011-05-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

Carlos Ortega Elizalde from Mexico was featured today on CGSociety and I am enjoying looking through his work. I love seeing artists that put their time into making great pieces, and really can appreciate the talent that goes into being a full-on CG generalist like this. How fun!
I'm a fan.

The Micros, now for sale =P

2011-05-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

$ buy buy buy $
Very excited to see the opening of The Micros Store today, and even more excited to see my designs up there on t-shirts and sweatshirts!
Most everything comes with a choice of a zillion colors and styles. LOVE IT.
I personally can't wait to get my paws on one of these:

a sweatshirt and chase fish shirt please! KThnxBai!

[Almost] Famous.

2011-05-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

Behold, my name in print, along with my fellow Micros-ians in this month's Bluff Magazine. Found at Barnes and Noble!

Very exciting, and what a spread! 4 whole pages dedicated to The Micros!

The Micros, Episode 5

2011-05-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

Yay! We have launched Ep 5!!!

Photoshop of the Week

2011-05-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

Love this photoshop made after the royal wedding, I especially LOL'd at the stepsisters.

But 'lo! Do not be fooled, these are absolutely doctored, take a look at the originals here!

Facinating Fascinators

2011-05-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

Had a big weekend of plays, derby, and flowers as I went and saw a production of Chicago, went to a Kentucky Derby party, and then went to the Botanical Gardens on Sunday. All that in combination with the amazing hats called Fascinators present at the Royal Wedding had me inspired to do a fascinator sparkle rainbow pony.

Still really getting used to painting in photoshop, I'd love to get into painting with textured brushes more often. I'm also really wanting do dive into Illustrator because as my art teacher said, I couldn't draw a straight line if I tried, so I adore Illustrator and Flash for the self-correct line and want to do more with that...

These are the hats my sister and I made for the 2011 Kentucky Derby (we went to a great bar where they had raffle bets and mint juleps of course, darling!)

Denver Botanical Gardens, lovely on Mother's Day

Ode to Kristin Tercek

2011-05-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

I believe I have blogged of her amazingness before, but I just LOVE Kristin Tercek and her line of morbidly-marshmallowy-cute paintings dubbed Cuddly Rigor Mortis.

She posted the above drawing on her FB page today, thinking no one would get it, but guess what, everyone loves it and it's now my new profile pic for the time being. I love what she does and I love that she can live her life and make a living making these amazing paintings and drawings. Go Team Kristin!

Geek Zodiac

2011-05-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

I thought this was pretty fun; Concept by James Wright, designed by Josh Eckert.

Found on ICanHasCheezeburger

Somberly

2011-05-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

.. Praying for Peace ...

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Albert Einstein

‎"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." -Tolkein

‎"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mahamrityunjaya
Om tryambakam yajamahe
Sugandhim pusti-vardhanam
Urvarukam iva bandhanan
Mrtyor muksiya mamrtat

Honoring the three fold expression of Life
(Shiva - creation, maintanance, destruction)

To surrender, is to experience the sweet fragrance of life.

my soul is encouraged by that which is nourishing
and blind to what is not

Like a cucumber that falls off the vine when it's ripe

Death falls out of our awareness.

We remember ourselves as infinite beings

much-ado

2011-05-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

More to talk about, but first, the long awaited Seiborg Video! Congrats to my fellow team mates for turning out an amazing video.

Warning: You will be addicted to this song, whether you understand poker or not!

Micros Plug-Of-The-Day

2011-04-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

Waiting not-so-patiently for the release of The Micro's music video featuring Erik Seidel. Seiborg is now available on iTunes, written and tuned by mix masters SrslySirius and DRybes

Today is also co-creator Jay Rosenkrantz' birthday! Happy Birthday Jay! I conjured this up super quick this morning with the help of Xtranormal, photoshop, and the beloved Shutterstock.

not BLUFFing!

2011-04-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

A ray of sunshine in these dark days. Behold: Bluff Magazine Cover FTW
Congrats to John, Jay, and the rest of the Micros team!
(and thanks to awesome Micros fan Tina Brown who found this mag and sent us the pics!)

breaking....Open....

2011-04-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Beautiful DeviantArt by Uver

I wanted to share this beautiful passage from "Broken Open" by Elizabeth Lesser (I highly recommend it!!) This is very relevant to where I am right now...

"The great loneliness- like the loneliness a caterpillar endures when she wraps herself in a silky shroud and begins the long transformation from chrysalis to butterfly. It seems that we too must go through such a time, when life as we know it is over - when being a caterpillar feels somehow false and yet we don't know who we are supposed to become. All we know is that something bigger is calling us to change. And though we must make the journey alone, and even if suffering is our only companion, soon enough we will become a butterfly, soon enough we will taste the rapture of being alive."

Pokerpocalypse

2011-04-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Department of Justice pulled a fast one on the online poker industry yesterday, meaning that..... Honestly I have no idea what it means. I know virtually nothing about virtual poker... what I do know is that the sponsor of The Micros animated web-series (for which... I work...) is Full Tilt Poker, the head of which was indicted yesterday for multiple charges....

ANYWHO.... as far as I know, the Micros will LIVE ON! Hooray! But the future is still uncertain as far as production scheduling and plot-lines go... Alas, life is always uncertain so I'm not too worried. =D

I love love love working on The Micros. I love the writing, the characters, the creative ways we work around the limited animation of Xtranormal software, the fun photoshops we get to do... the great music and artistic choices made for each shot... this is exactly the kind of job I hoped for. The team is a great group of creative minds, and seriously good guys.

I may as well share also one of my workings-on for Micros T-Shirt designs... I'm struggling to learn Illustrator, so may make my way to the Denver Library very soon to get an instruction manual.

(I am prepared for the 90% male population of the poker world to scoff, but I do what I think is cuuute. :P )
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Hobbity Hobbit!

2011-04-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

YAY A great video on the starting production of The Hobbit. I am so looking forward to this. I would so love to be a part of a production like this! How wonderful...

Love This, Steal Like an Artist

2011-04-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

Here is your inspiration for the day, a little jolt to get you bein' all creative and stuff.

How to Steal Like an Artist, and 9 other things nobody told me.

Happy Monday!

*extra props to those who can follow the instructions of minds like these, of working your 9-5 then perusing your passion in off hours. Dunno how all my fav artists and role models also happen to be the people who can live vibrantly off of 5 hours of sleep/night. T____T green juice here I come!

You FOOL!

2011-04-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

YAY I DREW!
Tomorrow is April 1, The day of the FOOL of course! In honor of the day, I set out to create a piece of art following the tarot card, Major Arcana 0 "The Fool".
Take a look at some other great versions!

This one is the traditional card:

Kingdom Hearts Fool by Autumn Sacura

By ShingoTM

Another Zelda inspired Fool by Malu_CLBS

The fabulous Russel Brand as the Fool found on www.PolyVore.com

By Ellaine
I love how this one shows the young/feminine quality of the boy, I think it's just beautiful.

Both of these done by HelloBaby

The Fool Card Tarot Meaning
Basic Tarot Story

With all his worldly possessions in one small pack, the Fool travels he knows not where. So filled with visions, questions, wonder and excitement is he, that he doesn't see the cliff he is likely to fall over. At his heel a small dog harries him (or tries to warn him of a possible mis-step). Will the Fool learn to pay attention to where he's going before it's too late?

Basic Tarot Meaning

At #0 (or, in some decks, #22, the last card as much as the first of the Majors) the Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he needs to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning.

But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. While it's wonderful to be enthralled with all around you, excited by all life has to offer, you still need to watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.

So...watch where you're going! =P