Pokemon Battle Royale!

The Pokémon Battle Royale show at Light Grey Art Lab opens this friday! Here's my Drowzee! (who I kept on my Leaf Green team almost solely because I loved the noise he made)

Apparently Drowzee is based on the looks & psychic powers of the Japanese Baku spirit: a dream-devouring tapir-like creature. Spooky! I wanted to show Drowzee in more of an environment, and although Drowzee is a primarily a grassland pokemon he is also sometimes found in ancient ruins and tombs. Paying homage to Drowzee's scarier mythological counterpart in a crumbling temple seemed appropriate!

I have a limited edition of 15 prints for sale at the show. I wish I could go, There's gonna be so much fun art from 151+ (!) amazing contributors. Check it out if you're nearby!

The Dead of Winter

Did you ever read Nancy Drew? When I was a young'un I looooved reading about her teenage detective adventures. The pulp-y covers always juxtaposed Nancy with a precarious situation or mysterious 'spooky' objects, but they had the desired effect of prompting kid-Kali to find out WHAT was "The Secret of the Forgotten City"?!

WHO was "The Invisible Intruder"?!

And what the HECK is with "The Crooked Banister"?!

I love looking at the word & image interaction in book covers and old posters, and thought it'd be fun to create my own mystery novel cover for an imaginary heroine.

Here's hoping that someday I get to make a real one! Kudos to Sam for helping me think of a title that had just the right amount of pun, and to Andrea for giving me a fresh set of (smart) eyes!

Liberal Arts trap?

Another recent illustration for the Boston Globe-- this time for an article by a Masters in Music Composition postgraduate about his struggles finding jobs that relate to his major. Thanks again to AD Ryan Huddle!

 He writes that the whole major was a sort of pyramid scheme: there was no music composition positions he could go into upon graduation other than teaching music composition to the next round of students. He also added that liberal arts majors might be better served in other more directly applicable fields like science, technology, and math.

The article was interesting to me, as a fellow liberal arts graduate (and teacher!). There's definite pros and cons to choosing a career you're passionate about, but that may not hold as much monetary promise as other careers. (though I have no regrets) However, as difficult as the illustration field can be, it seems like there's a lot more jobs in visual arts than music composition, so it's not quite the same situation.

Sketches:

Color test--I actually kinda like his figure here, I just realized:

Bonus-- I just looked up a photo of the writer, Adam Ragusea, and was delighted to find that my illustration actually appears pretty similar! I had no idea! I guess my imagined image of a music composition major fits pretty well with the real thing.

Ship Ahoy!

My contribution to Jimmy Giegerich's Bits in Multiples of 8 videogame zine! As a kid I never owned a gameboy, N64, or any other game system, so all my exposure came through friends or as an adult. I'm late to the party and just started playing Pokémon Leaf Green this year, but I love the idea of little kids off adventuring in a magical/cute/dangerous world.
And yes, I know that Wingulls aren't in Leaf Green, but they are way too cute not to include!

Also, I think I will always be a fan of doofy-looking pokémon. Just keep splashing, Magikarp, someday you'll be a Gyarados!

The kids are alright!

Hey, how about some young, stylish people having fun?

This is a recent piece for a short essay in Philadelphia Magazine about how, despite increased unemployment, not all young people are unemployed and scrounging for money. Some have jobs, nice apartments, spending money for a night out, and are doing A-OK!
Thanks to AD Colin McSherry for this light, fun assignment.

 I will always enjoy drawing nice apartments and fashionable people! For this piece I just had to make sure that they weren't toooo nice, and still looked affordable for people in their 20's/30's. (though I wish I had that orange moto jacket, or the hunk's cardigan...)

Sketches:

Plus, lime yellow & pink. My new favorite color combo! I can't get enough of it. Expect more pinks from me in future posts!

Happy Valentines Day!

Alternately titled "Just because it was a boat doesn't mean it wasn't true love."

Fire and Water

I recently completed a 4 page comic for a 3rd-5th grade reading textbook. The story is based on a Hawaiian myth about the fire goddess, Pele, and her sister, the sea goddess Makole.
The company provided me with the layout and content for each of the panels, and I'm showing my art here without all of the dialogue bubbles, reading notes, and external design of the page.
Big thanks to AD Olga Zeltser!

 The story starts with Makore as she discovers that Pele has stolen the love of her man. Love triangle! Pele's brother warns Pele of Makore's wrath, and she sets out to escape in his canoe.

Pele finds a likely island to make a volcano home on, but Makore floods her out and Pele sets off again. Finally Makore stops pursuing Pele, and Pele weeps tears of fire because of her exile from her original home and family. Kind of a sad note to end on, but I think the actual myth continues from here. (and this is only a simplified version)

Sketches:

I had an awesome time drawing all the waves. I love drawing water now! Who knew!