El Monstruo!

Well here I am again after a long hiatus of posting! I haven't stopped drawing however, and several freelance projects have been flowing in which is always nice. Above is an illustration for a developing Spanish curriculum for elementary schoolers. 

This was fun because I made it entirely in photoshop using my sexy new Windows Surface tablet. Its pressure-sensitive screen is like drawing on paper once I got used to it. Best of all, I can finally eliminate the evil SCANNER! I foresee much less frustrated productivity in my future....

In other news I have returned to life as a student again. I am working towards a Master's in Art Therapy at Drexel University. Even though it's probably one of the most challenging adventures I've even embarked upon, I am loving it. It's an amazing experience watching people find a healing process through making art. Hopefully I have found my calling.

Happy New Year, 2013!

Hello hello there! It's been awhile, I see. How unfortunate! But never to fear, just because I haven't posted all year does not mean I wasn't busy! First of all, I continued to update my webcomic Lilith until May. I went on hiatus as I decided to re-organize how I'm going about that comic. I didn't think the story was flowing as well as I wanted from one comic to the next because I was working on them disjointedly. My new plan is to go about it like a book and write large chunks at a time, then work very far in advance so I can have a chance to go back and edit if need be. I have half of the next chapter written so keep an eye out for her return in the coming months.

I've been drawing a lot, but unfortunately for you, dear observers, most of it has been top secret! That is because it is all wedding-related (I got engaged in August!) and I'd rather not have my invitations, save-the-dates, etc. out there for all to see before I've even mailed them to my guests. I can tell you a bit about the invites though, because I'm very excited about them. They will be combining our two loose "themes," India and Philadelphia (the wedding will be Hindu, and we live in Philly). I have worked out a design with folk elements inspired from a colorful little dish my sister got me in Spain. 

Ah! Speaking of faraway travels, my fiance and I ventured to the beautiful land of Peru last summer! Talk about inspiring. Not only was there delicious food, wonderful people, and spectacular scenery (the whole Inca Trail felt like a dream), there was fabulous art. I was especially fond of the textiles, of which I brought many home. Their rugs were beautiful. My favorite souvenir was a rug we picked up at an outdoor market, with intricate geometric designs much like this one:

I have such a love of textiles. They are hands down my favorite thing to collect when I travel. Maybe I'll learn weaving one day.

Speaking of learning new media, I started an introductory clay class this week at The Clay Studio in Old City. So far I have the beginnings of a duck sculpture (our first assignment). It was fun because even though the instructor had us working step-by-step (the class includes all levels of artists and non-artists) everyone's ducks looked completely different. Mine was short and round and fairly silly. Pics will follow next week.

Well I guess we are all caught up! I'm hoping to update more regularly this year as a new year's resolution.

Soon to be new website!

So I'm working on a new website! Like, totally starting from scratch new. I happen to be in close cahoots with someone who makes a living doing fancy online computer stuff, and who has offered to help me make a super high-tech-running site! I will still be doing all the design side though, and I really like how it's coming along. I will be using my first-ever custom designed font, which I originally made to avoid having to handwrite all the dialogue for a certain nameless, all-knowing entity in Lilith, but which I have come to see as my own personal font as well. I'm not sure what that says about how I feel about being an artist--am I the god of my work?

I'll let you know when the unveiling happens! It won't be for quite awhile though as we are in the barest beginning stages.

Whale of a Valentine's Day

Made a sweet little valentine this year to give to the kids in my a.m. class that I see every morning. I typed their names on top of the spout for each one (there is no Lavender, I just happen to love that name).

My New Webcomic!

Wow, it's been awhile. I've been a little on hiatus from illustrating in the classic sense. You see, I've just begun to venture into new media: webcomics! That's right, I'm ears-deep in serially publishing my work (gulp).

It's hard for me considering I spent 2 years getting my first picture book just right. To make a comic, and then that same night release it into the world is like putting my sketchbook--which for me is like putting my most vulnerable part of myself, my talent--out in a fairly rudimentary, unedited form. I have planned ahead for the first fifty comics or so, but we are already at 28 and I am looking back thinking, "Oh I wish I'd done this or that differently." Well, too late! It's now set in stone--I mean, cyberspace, where anything can and will happen.

Let's hope it's good.

Lilith, A Webcomic
Lilith on facebook

Although Lilith and The Big Something come from the same dust-cloud, they seem to have inherited completely opposite qualities. For one, The Big Something is an omniscient, yet non-physical being. Lilith is a little girl. Grounded in logic, The Big Something has all the answers. But Lilith has all the power of the magic of the universe. The Big Something has a plan: it wants to use Lilith as a tool to build a new universe, intricately planned and governed by reason and logic. Lilith wants to let her imagination run wild in what she views as a blank canvas for her own subconscious creations. They are often at odds. With her friend Samael beside her, Lilith finds new ways to harness the universe's power with results that are sometimes beautiful, humorous, and terrifying.

Amen!

Something to be thankful for: a beautifully designed proclamation, signed by several prominent authors and illustrators, insisting on creating fresh, meaningful picture books.
(link to Children's Authors and Illustrators Proclamation)

I especially like "picture books are a form, not a genre" (that's especially poetic sounding to me), and "the tidy ending is often dishonest." I find that part in particular to be fairly inspiring. It makes me want to write a book that ends, if not truly happily, then maybe at least unsatisfactorily, as so many things end up in life!

via Quill and Quire via Drawn! The Illustration Blog.

Point One for Paper!

Came across an article on NYT last night about how while the world moves on to e-readers (myself included, god how I love my Kindle), actual "dead-tree paper books" are still the preference of tech-saavy parents. I have to agree. The benefits far outweigh the costs in this case. My top reason my children will read on paper for as long as they can: the illustrations! I want to see each one big and right out in front of me, not squeezed onto a limiting screen. But there will always be that delicious sensory and romantic feel of a paper book that you can't get from the screens we use for everything else all day. New paper smell is one of my favorites!


Some Things Should Stay the Same
via nytimes.com