Baptism Card custom order

I got the order last night, thought about it over brownies & whiskey, and painted it this morning in time to watch an episode of Veronica Mars before delivery. Sweet. Must have been the Tony Toni Tone! on repeat.

My Illustration Portfolio!

At long last I've started putting together my illustration portfolio specifically for children's books. May the children's book hustle begin! I did quite a bit of research, and found a good portfolio should have 10-15 images of:

• people, especially kids doing all sorts of things (check!)
• animals, different sorts & in various settings (sort of check)
• double truck spreads & single spreads to show composition
• color & b/w pieces (eeeeep)
• consistent characters (pieces showing the same characters in different scenes to prove you can draw consistently... check!)

It was hard to determine if a popular print made for a strong portfolio. I guess time will tell. I'm new to this whole thing so wish me luck!

Happy Birthday Kevin Biggers!

I don't do too many birthday shout outs but this one (Kevin Biggers) definitely deserves one.

a few things fun facts about kevin:

• ex boyfriend turned best friend
• has a high pitched squeal when tickled or touches hot things (that's what she said playaaaa whut!)
• so into stripes he reserves a section in his closet for striped shirts he's so into stripes
• likes to fall asleep when watching tv:
• 
  responsible for making fridays enjoyable with his thursday night comedy gif recap emails
• he cooks a mean pork chop in pomegranate vinaigrette reduction (too soon?)
• my muse for clink & literary fort
• semi-closeted little spoon

so cheers to kevin for being.

Preview: Ahoy! A Narwhal!

Conceived the idea while traveling in Hong Kong, finally sat down to do it in San Jose, then added the finishing touches in Los Angeles. I just have to edit the two scans together, then it's off to the etsy shop for you!

aaaaand here's the etsy link :)

New Birthday Card on ETSY!

Hoorah! A lovely new card to accompany a special birthday delivery.

Away in the Hills

I've been quiet for the past few days because I've been retreating in the Hollywood Hills, where the internet is slow and the scenery is pretty.

The house is blessed with a deck but the mean LA weather has made it rather unpleasant to lounge out of doors. TODAY however! Oh boy! I did yoga outside & curled up in my blanket (sunny but windy! ow!) & painted at long last. Oh brother it felt so good to paint! I finally tackled that birthday card I've been meaning to make:

soon to be on etsy!

My head's crazy trying to figure out which craft fairs to do, which cities to fly/drive to & such. I know I want a mixture of big fairs & small towns, but we'll see how far I'm able to go. I'm thinking Los Angeles, New York, Philly, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, and the small towns & fairs in between. If you know of any sweet fairs, feel free to holler :)

Hong Kong, pt 5: the final post I swear!

baby's first hainan chicken
ocean park
these next pictures are by jamesour blue moose friend
where our tofu came fromthe visitor & the groom reunited
So, on our last day in Hong Kong, we checked out, left our luggage at the hostel and explored kowloon one last time. We drank delicious coconut milk, indulged in food and street markets. We sat along Avenue of the Stars watching the city skyline light show:It was a great way to end the day, all the while preparing for a 15-hour flight & intense culture-shock/transition. We scrambled to the hostel to get our stuff and right before we hopped into the lift, I took one more look at our itinerary to confirm the time. OOPS! OOOOPS! We were actually leaving the next day.... haaaaaa! Time adjustments, leaving on Feb. 3rd at 1am aka Feb. 2nd but it was actually the 1st.... Confusion! MY bad! So we hobbled back into the hostel, asked for our room back and sat in bed laughing for a good amount of time, repeatedly asking, 'wait, so what do we do tomorrow?!'

Turns out it was a very pleasant surprise. There's actually a lot you can do in an amazing city in a day and without the pressures of 'we gotta do this before we leave!' because we had already done it. It happened again back in the states when James's flight was delayed due to weather, buying us an extra day together. Happy extra days.