Save the Date

greetings from the future: I scheduled this post not thinking about when it would go up. Though it feels weird to leave it here, I'd rather celebrate things I love and artists doing cool things in a small way. I'll also be donating $10 for every calendar sold to the Southern Poverty Law Center!

Greetings blog! I have some fun news for you - I've got two illustrations in Studio on Fire's 2017 desktop calendar!! This was a super fun project for me, and also a big honor. Ever since college I've followed and really admired Studio on Fire's work. Now I get to be a part of this great annual project, along with quite a few other talented illustrators and designers. SO COOL SO COOL!

I'm going to be selling these calendars in a little "pop up shop" I opened just for this great product. Did someone say Christmas present???? GUYS IT'S PERFECT FOR EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST.

(pssst... want free shipping? Just enter code HELLOBLOG when you check out!)

Here are some more photos, including both my illustrations and examples of the different accent colors on the stand (you can pick between silver and black).

here's the silver accent

and here's the shiny black accent!

young americans

 Hello hello! I come to you, oh interwebs, with an offering of FUN! I recently worked with American girl to whip up a set of illustrations revolving around a super rad summer kick off party! I read American Girl as a kid and it was a complete and total dream to get to work on my first piece for them.

Here's another little snippet from the article! Go find it at your local bookstore to see all the pieces I did - there's quite a few! Oh, and I illustrated a fortune teller (you may know it as a cootie catcher) insert that is so dang cute I can't even handle it.

In other April/May news:

-My extra talented husband has been working on a monthly Spotify playlist project, which are SO GOOD seriously. Follow him, you will not regret it. Here's a link to May's playlist, how handy. He also makes cover art for each one, those you can find on his instagram. 

-I participated in another Light Grey Art Lab show - Botanica! I chose to illustrate the blackthorn, because it has some sweet witchy connotations. You can buy a print of my piece here.

bloody brilliant

A few important facts about my Ideal Bloody Mary:

-The mix itself should be spicy & substantial, but you can still taste the tomato. Also not a lot of horse radish.

-The add-ons need to be more than just a celery stalk, but not insane. We're talking cheese cubes, not cheeseburgers.

-Definitely need a pickle.

-BEER BACKS. Seems to be something I saw more in Minnesota than out west, but I'm convinced that they are a necessary balance for the bloody. 

It's been a lot of radio silence on the blog, which I think is something I mention in every post... so this will be the last mention of it! I feel like a lot of the things I'd normally reserve for blogging end up on Instagram now... has anyone else noticed this? I'd like to keep up with the blog, but it may be round ups of my goings on instead of more regular weekly posts. You can still follow me on instagram for the silly stuff though!

Ideally I should have a handful of things to show off in the near future though... stay tuned!

bagel & talks

New year, new blog!

I'd like to try to do some process posts again this year - specifically showing my process for pattern and animated gif making. Obviously I am no animation master, but personally I love seeing people's process... even if it's way different from mine.

Here's the most recent sparkle food I made! I had BAGELS ON THE BRAIN... specifically bagels from Bagel Broker, but perhaps only because that's the only place I've had bagels since we moved to LA. But they're GOOD BAGELS. REALLY GOOD.

In other news: Lisa and I have a new pin! Okay this is sort of old news if you follow our instagram account. SORRY, I'm bad at blog updating etc etc etc.

But anyway, this new little bebe is based on Medjed. What, you haven't heard of this obscure Egyptian god who's mentioned only one time in the Book of the Dead? WEIRD. JK, I hadn't heard of him until Lisa brought him to my attention. Apparently he's experienced somewhat of a revival thanks to Japan and the internet. Know Your Meme explains it better than me.

We'd love to make more pins and OTHER FUN THINGS in the future too. If there's something you'd like to see let us know! We're friendly, I promise.

365

In the last couple days, thanks to some much needed encouragement from Bryan, I started working on a little experiment to see where I could take my art and technique next year. Since this is a pretty big challenge for me (I get pretty set in my ways) I decided to make it something FUN and draw my girls Sailor Moon and Luna having a heart to heart.

Do you want those tattoos now? I do. Anyway, I'm happy with how this turned out and it's making me feel like I can start the year off fresh and new.

Yesterday I was lying in bed, thinking about the year that just passed by and realized that maybe it seemed so quick because SO MUCH STUFF HAPPENED. We had visitors, we made visits, we planned a wedding, I turned 30, I got a new job, I worked my butt off on freelance, I saw Coach Taylor on the street, etc etc etc

(the Kyle Chandler sighting was, seriously, the highlight of my year. Sorry, new husband, you'll be replaced soon with America's Favorite Coach Dad Police Officer)

Here, have a giant dump of photos of Things that Happened This Year.

discovered my new favorite donut spot / made valentines stickers

visited the getty / started trying on wedding dresses

traveled to Minnesota for the wedding, reunited with favorite people & places & beers

Marriage'd!!! Go check out our photographer, Jonny Edwin

saw so many lovely friends & family in from out of town that I lost count

went on lots of LA adventures. LAdventures?

 spent a lot of time making masks and gifs for Halloween

Saw the releases of a couple books with illustrations by me: Crocodile's Burp, Leopard's Snore &  How to Break A Heart

Celebrated Thanksgiving in Ohio &  Michigan. Celebrated Christmas in Minnesota.

Celebrated 30 inside of a photobooth at the Little Tokyo shopping center with some of my special babies.

spaceballs

In my head I have a popular talk show called "Weirdly Specific Things I Have Googled" in which a rotating cast of celebrity guests and myself talk about that time we googled "how long is a baguette" or "how to spell a wookie sound".

The former I did for this VERY ILLUSTRATION, in celebration of that space wars movie or whatever that's out today I guess. JK GUYS, I'm no die-hard Star Wars fan but I do really love the movies and all the stupid dinky droids that live in the universe (MSE-series anyone?). Although I haven't seen the new movie yet I'm reeeeaaaalllyyyy hoping that it's just a buddy cop comedy film staring Chewbacca and BB-8. 

p.s. in case you were curious, my Jedi name is Emmrt Brann... according to the internet.

boston magazine

A recent map I worked on for Boston Magazine. Such a fun assignment - I could draw ice cream and fancy cocktails ALL. DAY.

In a more seasonal vein I did this fun little illustration of a family (maybe or maybe not slightly inspired by Crosby & Jasmine from Parenthood) taking a walk by their winter cabin. Someone bring me that dog NOW.

talking turkey

Happy Thanksgiving, internet! I hope you have a lovely day, full of food and good people. If you'lre looking for something to do, pllease enjoy my favorite piece of Thanksgiving media ever.

unlisted #9

Another set of items occupying my mind grapes. Previous versions: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

picnic at hanging rock | I knew I would like this movie before I even saw it. The poster! The trailer! YOU GUYS. It's on Hulu, watch it immmmmmediately if you are in the market for a moody, mysterious film full of gorgeous imagery. Inspiration for days.

sweetgreen | Let's be real: this is a salad restaurant. LOL OMG, LIKE LA LIFE, RIGHT? But seriously: this place is in walking distance from work, you can order online ahead of time, and they make a darn tootin' delicious salad. True, it's kinda spendy, but sometimes you just wanna drop too much money on food you know you can make at home.

casually gorgeous | I have never been an expert makeup applier. My guilty pleasure as of late is watching VERY COMPLICATED, VERY INVOLVED makeup tutorials on youtube. We're talking contouring, multiple eyeshadows, fake eyelashes, the whole shebang... things that I would neeeeever actually do on myself. They're weirdly soothing. Casually Gorgeous is an instagram account that focuses on simple, effective makeup tips that I feel like I really would do. It's a perfect combo!

geometric drink rocks | Surprise surprise. I like a geometric rock thing. These ones go in your whiskey or whatever - I guess I would even put them in water, because they are geometric rock things.

cleaning furball | Imagine a Roomba, but cuter? This is that thing.

Theodore Kittelsen | I don't know how I'd never heard of this Norwegian painter/illustrator before, but now I have and I'm smitten. He had an eye for the spooky and ominous, but also made some really sweet and beautiful images. And those color palettes! GUHHH. Here are some more examples of his work, because I can't help it:

via wikipedia

knifepoint

Sorry it's been all quiet around here recently! I've been working full time during the day and freelancing my lil' patootie off at night... AND (in whatever spare time I have left) I've been hard at work designing an enamel pin with Lisa!

Maybe you remember this special lady? She was a part of the 10 gif poems we created for Dear Claudia a couple months back. Lisa contacted me one day suggesting that this illustration in particular should have its moment in the real world as an enamel pin, and so we dove head first into upping our #pingame.

And now, finally, she's ready for you to purchase! Because we love spooky dates and things you can buy the pin starting today, Friday the 13th. AND because we love spooky dates A LOT we're offering FREE SHIPPING (no code required) until the next full moon (November 25th). You even get a lovely backing card with the poem that inspired this pin in the first place! GUYS WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR.

p.s. watch our official instagram/tumblr for more photos!

both photos by Lisa

old haunts

It's October! YAY, you guys, IT'S FALL! I don't care if it still gets up to 90 on a weekly basis, I love Fall and all the stuff that comes with it... including gloomy doodles! I've been doing a terrible job drawing something spooky every day (Bill is doing WAY better), but I wanted to show off a couple of my recent doodles!

Spooky podcasts have been inspiring me a lot this month, I started listening to Lore (nonfiction scary story origins), Limetown (fiction journalism about a strange town and its disappearing inhabitants), and most importantly Knifepoint Horror - this one is another fiction podcast, but each episode is a different terrifying tale written from one point of view. They are the ultimate campfire stories, with twists and open ended mysteries, I'm totally obsessed.

Also accomplished this month in the spooky realm: I watched the Blair Witch Project for the first time ever and survived! ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED.

moon child

After a flurry of texts and sparkley eyed excitement (as we always do), on Sunday Lisa and I decided to do a quick last minute blood moon gif poem - say THAT ten times fast! 

I just realized that I never posted our original gif poems, the ones that started this whole gif poem obsession! We made 10 of these bad boys for Poor Claudia, and it took me fifty million years to finish them but now they're one of my most favorite things. 

 

(Bonus: if you go to Poor Claudia's website there's some extra info about our process when we work together. It involves a lot of sparkle eyes.)

fall in love

Ahh, fall. The leaves, the temperatures, the food. I know fall is arriving for many folks, and to celebrate I drew this happy little mouse enjoying some sort of tasty spiced tea in his wellies. 

I said fall is arriving for "many folks" because has notttt quitttte arrived here yet. We have a couple more months of summer weather in LA before the temperatures drop (in "winter"), but a girl can still make a fall fashion inspiration board if she wants to, right? 

My wardrobe is slowly but steadily getting upgraded/downsized, and I've been doing a lot of online window shopping in hopes of figuring out exactly what it is I want. The answer is all black everything I guess? I'm boring now? Whateverrrrr, go look at some stuff I've been ogling from a variety of places (some of it on the unaffordable side, but that's why it's window shopping.. amirite??)

Apiece Apart | Zara | Xuanqi

Rachel Antonoff | Target | ASOS 

Forever 21 | Bonlook | Local Parity Goods