looking forward to the weekend

Welcome to the weekend, friends. I'm happy to report that my plans for the following days include relaxing and baking, which is a nice break from last weekend's major (enjoyable) frivolity. To celebrate, I made this little drawing. Yay!!! 

Here are some links to get your weekend going right:

-First put on this crazy awesome Korean girl group 2NE1 and get your dance on. I love the fashion (bling'd out baseball bat! hair horns! THE SHOES OH MY GAH) in this video, and the song sounds a little like current day Robyn, which I love. I'm falling down the Kpop rabbit hole, guys, and I don't think I want to come out of it.

-Are you the drinking kind? I've been making a whole lotta mulled cider with some whiskey poured in for a little extra happiness. My premade mulling spices just ran out, so now I'm looking to put some together myself - this recipe looks good.

-This adorable story about a dad who hacked into a Legend of Zelda for his daughter - cute and nerdy!

-Totally going to try to dig out the sponge rollers and try this out, the Beauty Department always has such good ideas!

In other news, yesterday I was featured on one of my absolute favorite illustration blogs: Pikaland! What a nice surprise :D - they always have such fun an interesting posts, you should seriously check them out some time.

make it work

Just popping in for a quick "art life" update. I've been working on quite a few projects of late - and am desperately trying to improve my time management skills! Anywho, I finished two illustrations recently that I'm super duper satisfied with, which is a nice feeling. WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM?

On the left we have the new header image for Erin's lovely blog, Babes in Thriftland. She was a joy to work with, full of fun ideas and lots of wiggle room for me. Plus I got to draw Ace, her uh-DOR-able dog. I like drawing pupsters. Thanks for working with me, Erin!

On the right is the finished version of the little work in progress I posted about last time. You can see the full image here. I've been working with Lisa tirelessly (read: on and off) this whole month on a zine we're calling It Will Be Known to Us. It's all about our interest in crystals and visions and keys and spirits and other creepy things. It's going to be in greyscale, so no color this time around. But like I said, I'm really enjoying the challenge! I'll keep you updated on the progress of this one, bloggie.

What are you working on?

void

After Illustration Bootcamp one of the biggest things I had written down (and underlined many times) was to totally rehaul my website and update my blog on a weekly basis.

Yep. That's going pretty well.

I'm hoping to start getting better though, and soon I'm going to start posting some new work and process pieces for a ton of stuff I have waiting in the wings. Speaking of, I'm going to be in not one but TWO upcoming shows at Light Grey Art Lab: the Exquisite Corpse show and the Tarot show! I'm super excited about both - especially since I'm really enjoying my foray into the dark and mysterious.

To make this blog post worth something (it's really not, sorry!), here are two photos of my ideal summer life, which I am currently living: beach trips and froyo! BEACH TRIPS AND FROYO FOREVER.

Also here's a little sneak peek at what I'm working on now. It's very secretive, but now you know it's going to be greyscale, which I am LOVING. Why didn't I know how great greyscale was before?

rad

Who knew radishes came so small? There they were, at the bottom of the first box from my CSA, no bigger than a ping pong ball. I tried to use them sparlingly, maybe slicing one up for a salad, but soon enough they were all gone. Luckily, I recorded them in all sorts of media - including a some watercolor doodles (pictured above, which I am officially counting as part of my analog project because I can) and on the brand new camera the boy and I purchased, but that's a story for another day.

p.s. speaking of the analog project, something that should come out of that is living here. More details on that in the future, for now we're keepin' it real spooky-like.

unlisted #3

Okay, I still haven't done my first analog challenge yet. Maybe tomorrow? In the meantime, I'm catching up on some of the things occupying my brainspace. (previous versions: here and here)

from left to right

Room in Paris from AirBnB: So now that I've taken a week long vacation (my first in ages), I've got the bug. A certain someone (name starts with a B and ends with an oyfriend) is afraid of flying, but we have a system down now - three tablets of Calms Forte and he's out by the time we take off! So why not take the plunge and go to Paris next? This room on AirBnb is calling my name HARDCORE. I mean, look at that wood paneling behind the bed. C'est genial!

Adventurer's larder from Hchom: This one's for you nerds. I've been pouring through the archives of Hchom with the sort of glee I only experience every once in awhile. Marian Churchland is an illustrator and comic artist, and Hchom is her illustrated/photographed log of everything she wants - normally food or fancy jackets. I especially love her list of food in Skyrim and this menu of food for her imaginary cafe. Foodies + video game nerds unite!

Honey Wheat Cake: More food. I want to eat anything with honey on/in it.

David the Android video: Fassbender, dear readers. FASSBENDER. He's holding strong on my top five, and for good reason. We saw Prometheus last night, and I'm happy to report that he was my absolute favorite part. Never have I felt more love for a (possibly flawed) robot! My fellow moviegoers were less than happy with the movie overall, but I enjoyed it in the way that perhaps only someone who didn't grow up with Alien could. But really. Watch this "viral video" (ew, I hate that phrase) they made starring Michael Fassbender and I think you'll understand why he's so great.

Hand Carved Coco Bead Necklace: Thief&Bandit is one of my favorite sellers on etsy. I have one of their keychains and it is ever so charming... and just look at this necklace in all of its tassle-y wooden bead-y goodness!

This cat: I wish I knew the original source for this little darling. I love it so much, I even made a little version of it myself.

hand maiden

Isn't the internet great? Thanks to the internet I met Lisa and got to work on a cover for her amazing chapbook, thanks to the internet we kept in touch, thanks to the internet we started scheming about something pretty cool. Seeeecrreettsssss......

While scheming, Lisa invited me to do something else with her: the Analog Challenge! In a twist of fate, this project is about doing something weekly for the entirety of June off of the internet (and then, of course, logging back on and reporting about it on our respective blogs). Spending all my time on a computer has changed the way I think and create, and that's a double edged sword.

I'll still be online and probably creating things digitally this month as well, but each week I'm going to take care to enjoy myself away from my computer. You should do it, too! I mean, look at these things that I'm going to attempt:

For this week: cook something new out of a *gasp* COOKBOOK. I know, I won't have the endless chasm of my recipe board on Pinterest, I'll have to pick something from a finite book. It's going to be great....

Okay this one's cheating, since I've already started taking photos with a film camera AND posting them here. Instead, I think I'll either order some polaroid film and use that instead of Instagram for a week OR learn how to use this fancy camera we have stashed away somewhere.

This one might seem like cheating too, but I honestly haven't made full illustrations outside of a computer in ages. It's going to be a big challenge!

I'm not sure if I have too much for the whole month or not, but either way.. I want to write some people letters.... do you want a letter? I can write you one! SNAIL MAIL AND EVERYTHING.

(p.s. if I'm going to be doing all this painting and such, I'm going to really need a new scanner. I might be the only one that noticed this, but it has a BLURRY spot, which is really against the whole point of having a scanner.)

hit return

I'm home! A week of sunny vacation and a whole day of flying have really taken it out of me, though. Hopefully I'll have some sort of update to feed to my sad, malnourished blog soon - but it may be awhile.

In the meantime, Katie did a mini review of our amazing LA to Solvang 2-day trip. It was seriously epic. I can guarantee that I came into contact with many margaritas, celebrities of a surprising sort, and so much more. Oh, plus a car of hungover folk all laughing themselves to tears. How did I end up with such great friends?

TOTALLY UNRELATED: check out this amazing post on dark, gloomy, and delicious food photography over on Miss Moss!

weekend update

an apple a day

Phew. I just have to make it to Saturday, friends. Why Saturday? Well, on Saturday I'm leavin' on a jet plane for CALIFORNIA. I've never been out west at all before, and I'm lucky enough to be staying with the boy's family in a pretty house in an even prettier sounding town. Of course, we'll stay a day with Katie, too.

I know there's not much time to plan my wardrobe, but that hasn't stopped me from going pin/blog crazy the last couple days. Expect a full report in the coming weeks, and in the meantime here are some of my major vacay inspirations...

  

frichic // the quirky stylista

 

steffy's pros and cons // kendi everyday

p.s. I got the first Game of Thrones book for the plane/poolside. We'll see if my love for ol' "I'M THE QUEEN I'M THE RIGHTFUL QUEEN" windbag Danaerys on the TV show holds up in literary form.

busy work

phew. It's been a long couple weeks. Things started up on Wednesday two weeks, and didn't slow down until Friday! There were birthday parties, grilled cheeses, karaoke, haircuts, brunch, shopping trips, multiple visits to the neighborhood bar, parents in town, pokemon to be seen, museums visited and SO so so much food consumed.

I'm pooped. So here, look at some photos I've taken on my phone. I know, I've been a delinquent blogger - I promise to be better!

brunch at bar abilene with the ladies - I'll wager it was one of the best ever!

I got this dress from modcloth and this awesome poetry package from my best online poetry buddy lisa cicarello on the same day! SERENDIPITY. Those little square poems are stickers... I can't wait to use them!

Photolettering's amazing brochure, Aoife ready to attack.

general Pokemon Battle Royal bad ass-ery with Bill and Chris, plus my Omanyte and a little peek-a-boo from Marisa Seguin's Porygon. You can see all the amazing pieces here!

Katie and I got haircuts at the same time while she was in town - it was adorable. Also adorable: this oven mitt my parents brought for me.

let's end this post on a food related note. Froyo with mochi, grilled buffalo chicken and blue cheese sammies.

ladie's night

Jessie Schneider

Going to art school has to be one of the greatest times of my life. It's so wonderful to meet people who really care about creating and actively discovering great artwork, past and present. I met a lot of great folks at MCAD, and have continued really meaningful relationships with a lot of these folks beyond school. Recently I've been reconnecting with a few that I haven't seen as much since graduation, and man. There are a lot of really talented ladies! Of course there were talented dudes too, but since I'm a lady and I love ladies, I think its time that some of my favorite MCAD girlz got the spotlight!

(I'm only posting a few, but I should seriously make this a regular series... when I went back to edit this I realized that I left out SO MANY talented MCAD women. Keep your eyes peeled!)



 
Jessie Schneider again, this girl has an enviable knowledge of color.... and also has some very enviable hair. Seriously, I think I need her hair cut.
 
Kelly Abeln is a whiz at skee ball and illustrates regularly for ROOKIE, making her my hero
 Sami Foust, you make graphic design and rollerskating look like a breeze.
 
Carla lives in the apartment below me, makes amazing/haunting photographs and is the best dancer you've ever seen. 
 Annnnnd of course, my best ladies: 
Katie Wilson is one half of Dude & Chick. She's visiting in a few weeks from LA and my excitement is tenfold!
 
You probably know Allison from her blog, dotluv, but I met Alli BEFORE the blog - we've been friends since our early college years! She's a fabtastic photographer, but I didn't have to tell you that.

guest book

Hey bloggies and blogettes! Today I'm featured on Babes in Thriftland as one of Erin's "Other Babes"! I managed to pull out a few of my thrifted treasures for this fun little feature, and big ups to boyfriend Bryan for photo takin'! I think they look pretty good, because I like to brag. Check it outttt!

poster child

You may have seen my minor (major) freak out on facebook... or twitter... or tumblr on Thursday, but this poster (available FOR SALE, go buy one!) that I created with my buddy and art partner Bill was featured on Mint and then (omgomgomgomg) on APARTMENT THERAPY. Bill and I shared a quick paced online "oh my gosh oh my gosh we need to update our website" chat when we discovered this. We're so grateful for the press!

And yes, in case you looked at the Apartment Therapy post and said to yourself "I wish this pattern WAS a dress", you can head on over to our (still under construction) website and hire the Perfect Pair to design a pattern for you!

music to my ears

Last night I wrapped up the cover art for Matt Jones' newest album, Half Poison Half Pure. It's been a joy for me to be able to work TWICE with a musician whose music I truly listen to! The Black Path was probably my most played album of 2009, and I'm happy to say that I'm still proud of the work I did for that cover as well.

You should listen to the album now, really. It's different and dark and insightful and I love it.

cel style (#1)

I've said it before, but I was a tiny bit of a nerd in high school. The kind that kept sketchbooks filled to the brim with manga-style girls with angel wings, which might seem embarrassing but I try to keep it all in focus. My interest in anime and manga sparked an interest in art in middle school, which lead me on the path to MCAD and Minnesota. I love it here, and sometimes I think I have the animators and artists of Japan to thank for that. This means you, CLAMP.

One animator/director/mastermind that I'll always love is the ubiquitous Hayao Miyazaki. Even if you haven't heard his name there's a good chance you'll have seen at least one of his films. Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are probably the most well known. The other day I realized how fashionable his characters are, and realized I had to do a series of posts on how to dress like a Miyazaki character!

Nerds + fashion = go!

Here's an outfit inspired by Fio (pictured above on the left) from Porco Rosso. She's a spitfire lady pilot with a pig as a best friend - what more could you ask for? Studio Ghibli films do such a great job with the look of the early 1900s, and Fio's fantastic tomboy style is no different. Straw hat, blue jeans and gingham shirts? Yes please. You should seriously go watch this movie if you haven't yet, it's terribly charming. Just look at it!

backpack / hat / similar jeans / blouse / sandals / bracelet was from tiffany's, but I can't locate it!

BONUS: a drawing I did in (eek) 2003, and me playing game boy and wearing a tiara. That's just how I used to roll, folks.