Amy Houser Illustration

Happy 2012, Kickstarters ahoy

2012-01-03T23:12:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year, peeps! So much going on. So much to write about, and so little time. There are several exciting jobs I'm working on that I'll post more about in the very near future, but right now I'm going to say a little bit about the wonder and glory that is Kickstarter.

I think the phenomenon of Kickstarter is really going to grow in the future - it really is crowd-funding at it's independent best - and I hope this becomes the proto-model of the future when it comes to a new level of products and services in the world.

I've spent the last decade+ working for major companies designing toy lines that get hacked and slashed regularly when a concept doesn't seem appealing enough to "the masses" - read, it won't sell over 25,000 pieces, at the very least. The toys I've designed tend to sell more in the 100,000+ units range.
While that's awesome, it leaves little room for the "boutique" or "specialty" items in major stores. In the meanwhile, small startups can't find the funding they need to sell items or services that some people might be very interested in purchasing.
What's beautiful about Kickstarter is that, with the age of the internet and accessibility, people can truly use their money to vote on what items and services have enough draw to become a reality for small scale support and purchasing. When it comes to fine arts, publication, games - items of enrichment which may or may not be "luxury" items - Kickstarter allows developers to set the rules they want to live by, and it's up to them to find the funding.

When approached about the opportunity, I joined on to the "Fireside" Magazine concept and Kickstarter because the core of what Brian White (Fireside developer, journalist) is trying to accomplish here is making sure that his contributors get paid a healthy and respectful rate-per-word for the stories they write and the art they create. Comics take time. Stories take talent. In turn, those stories should be good, entertaining stories that make you feel excited and fulfilled when you put that magazine down.
What an awesome idea! How crazy, how novel - paying your authors and artists well, and getting a solid product!
Anyway. The Kickstarter is here (will open in new window) and it's close to goal - less than $1000 to make a professionally printed, high-quality, high-substance magazine come to life - and it needs your help in the next 48 hours to come to fruition. Take a gander, pass the word on if you don't have $2 to throw in, and let's support the idea that writers and artists should be paid a good wage for their craft, done well.

Cheers, and thanks for reading, folks!

More blogging to come in a couple days when I get my feet under me with the current workload. Much due immediately. Happy Freelancing!

Steampunk Lemming. Steamrodent. Lemmingpunk.

2011-11-05T03:52:00.000-04:00

This is no great commentary on steampunk culture or anything, this just came from a conversation on Faceyspace. Sometimes you draw things. Vodka and large quantities of chocolate may have been involved.

Stuff and Things and Halloweens

2011-11-03T22:34:00.001-04:00

Its been a while. Lots of work going on! This is a quick update with some work, but I'm making an eaaaaaaarly New Year's Resolution to start blogging more regularly and about silly things like cats and books and soup and such. Maybe I'll dress my cat like a book. Or soup. And take photos and post them.
Let's see... what have I done since the last blog post that I can talk about?

Oh! Did an illustration for the cover of Chuck Wendig's new novella series. The first installation of the story made me laugh and cry, literally. It took me back to the rough bits of high school, but made me daydream about being able to be more proactive in response. It was brain candy for 15 year old me, and I'm guessing it might be for you. I'd recommend picking it up, for the crazy low price it is.

Completed the series of promo posters for Penny Dreadful Productions' Remnant line (go see the whole series of five at the previous link). I'm still working on the process and project post for these posters.
That's a lot of P's.
(Have to find the photos I took in progress. Sometimes I catalog things on my computer in the darndest ways....)

I created a poster for the American Library Association's "Office for Intellectual Freedom" and their new campaign against banning books. The "Defend the Freedom To Read" poster was based on the 1942 Barclay "Uncle Sam" poster, as directed by the client. The reality of how many books are removed without challenge and then made unavailable for the public is kind of scary, and worth reading about here.

Lots of freelance toy design work going on. Can't talk about that stuff, but some of it has been Halloween themed, and that's exciting. It definitely makes things more exciting, even when the items are themselves fairly mundane, to be working on Halloween themed stuff. If I could be paid to paint pumpkiny things all day, that'd be a mighty fine gig indeed.

Speaking of Halloween, I did a piece for the "All Hallows Read" poster contest. All Hallows Read is a request for people to purchase a scary book for kids for Halloween, instead of giving out candy.

I'm normally opposed to "art contests" due to the fuzzy line between healthy competitive exercises (like Illustration Friday), and that dangerous and detrimental-to-professional-creatives practice of spec work. Spec work promotes free labor and devalues what professional creatives do, and that's not OK.

This particular situation was concepted by Neil Gaiman, though, a writer whose work toward creative rights and freedom of expression should be taken into account. No rights will be surrendered, and the potential for my work to be seen and to generate buzz/potential new work is quite possible. (Note to self: Write a post about my personal experiences with free work or promo work, and how it's worked out for me in very tangible ways.)
Anyway, I decided that this situation would be an exception for me, and that I would enjoy working (for at least a couple of nights) on a painting that I controlled and enjoyed rendering. I rushed it a bit, due to the desire to not spend many-hours on an unpaid job, but... all in all, it was fun.
Drawing Ms. Lupescu, I wish to do that more.

(Click to embiggen ze)

(close-up of the Hound of God, Ms. Lupescu)

There's more going on, but I've got to get back to it. I'll post again soon when I need the break, when I've got other more human fun things to talk about.

This post made me realize that I paint a lot of people. Looking forward to lots of upcoming things, like a boardgame project (lots of items and landscapey things) - crossing the fingers on them all being a go.

Really want to paint some goblins and landscapes and landscapes with goblins in them.

I'll leave you with an adorable puppy. (No, not my puppy. But if I find this dog, I make no promises I won't steal it.)

Punks, Portraits and Pilgrims

2011-08-06T02:56:00.013-04:00

It started with a Tweet. :)

I slept once. It was a Tuesday. It was awesome.

But seriously, things have been busy-bee. I didn't get to do a proper post after Steampunk World's Fair this year, but it's about time. I worked my bustle off, met some really fantastic people, and got to paint their portraits. Good times.
The lovely and talented S.J. Chambers, co-author of The Steampunk Bible, joined me at my booth to sell and sign books, hang out, and drink cocktails like good little writers and artists do. Coauthor extraordinare Jeff VanderMeer sadly couldn't be there, but the books still sold out mid-convention. After that, I think people kept coming over just to talk to S.J., since she's one of the most pleasant and engaging people on the planet. Luckily she lured them in, and I grabbed them and painted.

And painted. And painted. I can't even tell you how many portraits I did each day. The pressure of having a crowd behind me and watching was stressful but surprisingly enjoyable, and I had a line of people or was scheduling portrait times all weekend. I felt "retro" in the best way. Having people sit for portraits is so frickin' Tombstone. (Just call me Wyatt.)
I nursed my Painter's Claw™ for about a week after, but it was really, truly worth it. So many stories stand out in my mind - like the silhouette I painted for a guy who's been looking for a silo-painter for YEARS. His family has something like twelve generations of silhouettes, and now he can add his own to the history. That's so cool, right? I thought so.
Steampunk Boba Fett (a.k.a. John of Penny Dreadful Productions) also sat for a portrait, which was pretty hilarious to do (see the photo of His Prettiness below). I'm not putting up the results, since it was pretty rushed... but I'll get another shot, I'm sure. Anyway, due to the nature of striking up new partnerships in the weirdest ways, my next post will also feature them. They're a passel of great chaps and ladies who have a lot of awesome plans up their sleeves/bracers... and they've let me be a part of it. But that's for next post.

He always seems to be grabbing a nipple-gear in every photo.

So, Do.
Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple was a Kickstarter I found out about by tweet, actually. Awesome gentleman Fred Hicks (of Evil Hat Productions fame) re-tweeted a message from indie games mastermind Daniel Solis, who requested volunteers to write the words "Dear Pilgrims of the Flying Temple" and scan/send them to him. I did, and because my handwriting is a little... er, odd? (top image) Daniel and I struck up a conversation that led to me being fortunate enough to work on this project.
It was originally listed as a Kickstarter with a goal of $4k. It raked in over $24k. Insanity. Never let it be said that a stellar industry reputation doesn't help you... friends, fans and strangers all over lined up to be a part of this book, and it's SO awesome to be able to have a small hand in it. Good people.

Fast forward to a couple days ago when I received the contributor copies of Do and Do: Book of Letters. Sweet buttery Buddha, these books are great. Really clever game, gorgeously printed (what... I like the paper - I AM A TACTILE PERSON. DON'T YOU JUDGE ME), really awesome stories in the Book of Letters (all contributed by Kickstarter supporters! You talented pandas!)... all in all, I was honored to be asked to do "doodles" for the Book.

Here's me with one of my favorite pages. This was a super quick doodle, but she's got a giant robo-superhero-mecha-suit. (I think she grows up to be Ripley.)

I've wanted one of these since like five years old.

I've done a lot of work for digital delivery and packaging, but to have a lovely, finished, printed copy of my drawings in my hot little hands... well, I got all a-flutter. It's a nice feeling in a digital age.

I've got lots of other things to report on, and lots of new work coming. I'll get there, pandas. Back to work.

SPWF, Do! and more

2011-06-20T14:21:00.008-04:00

I only have time for a super-quick post at the moment - but I wanted to take a second to say that I had a BLAST vending at Steampunk World's Fair this year, and I'm certainly going to attempt to do it again next year. Painting silhouettes of everyone's amazing costumes and characters and getting to hear everyones' personal "how I met your Steampunk" stories, the development of thier personas... wow. So cool. Reminds me of why this subgenre/fashion trend/community is sometimes awesome.
I'll make a post very soon about Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple, and how amazing a project it was to work on. Fred Hicks was once again a joy to work with, and I now get to add the cheerful and energetic Daniel Solis to the list of people I can't wait to work with again.

I worked on their "Book Of Letters" supplemental book (a special gift for the contributors of the Kickstarter), doing a variety of doodles and handwritten accents. Kickstarter supporters were invited to contribute letters of their own, and this resulted in a great assortment of stuff to draw - piles of pandas, scroll and magic inkwells, flying pilgrim shenanigans....

...oh, and battle hamsters.

Cheers!

Big breaks, the pre-growing season and the latest paint splatters

2011-03-15T22:50:00.011-04:00

I wish I could blog a bit more regularly, but it's one of the first things to get crossed off the Big Ol' List of Time Management (more specifically, it's #3 on the list.... #1 being "sleep" and #2 being "prepare food for myself that is more substantial than three cookies"). I'm pretty sure there are all ready too many posts about cats, whiskey and stress on the Internetz, so the world won't miss mine. When this round of deadlines settle down, I'd like to start a series of posts about freelancing and the trials and joys therein (no, I refuse to use the word "winning", you jerks). Yeah. When work settles down. Yeah. I'm also considering starting a Unicorn Hatchery.

There's a lot going on over here. I'm in Paintapalooza / Illopocolypse / Artageddon / whathaveyou while I get about 48,427 paintings done for the Ex Arcana card game that I'm criminally, bashfully behind on.

Couple card illustrations so far:

I've also got a lot of confidential work going on for the toy clientele (it's that time of year again, and I've gots bills ta pay). Feast or famine tends to happen a lot in the toy industry since the product development schedule is cyclical. Two toy seasons a year - Spring and Holiday - have lulls and swells that I've spent the last few years getting used to, but they still catch me off-guard occasionally. My fingers. They cramp so. Oh, the Drawing Claw™, she be back. Yar.

I can't wait to start putting up photos of the garden again this year... I feel like this winter lasted about 9 months too long. We had way too much snow, and I saw way too much night. I'm looking forward to the feeling of a little sun on the back of my neck as I till the soil and grow some vegetables. I bought a sprouting system and some new vegetables to try out (soybeans, carrots, different types of beans). I may or may not do pumpkins again this year, due to the infuriating battle I had with aphids and powdery mildew and making sure to pollenate them at just the right time and so on.

Pumpkins are prissy goddamned reality TV stars of the garden, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I swear. They're like the Kardashian girls except swollen and orange and... well, they're like the Kardashian girls.

More later, perhaps, when I get my nightly injection of caffeine over here in the Illotorium.

"DEATHLESS" comic up!

2011-01-20T17:46:00.007-05:00

Awesome news week over here... the "DEATHLESS" comic I did with Catherynne M. Valente for her to promote her forthcoming novel is live on TOR.com. Sweet! I can't tell you guys what a gorgeous, gorgeous book the novel is.

As for the comic, Catherynne gave a small number of signed copies away at Arisia this past weekend, and will also have them available at Wiscon. You can also go read it online in its entirety at Tor.com (couple people seem to have had a problem viewing it).

If you're having trouble with it online, you can also view it super low-tech as a slideshow set here, or even download as a PDF from here (just right click and "Save As" to your desktop and read it from there)!

Go read it at Tor.com now. I command you. Gooooooo.

"Casefile: Neutral Grounds" and my tiny, paper soapbox

2011-01-17T17:41:00.003-05:00

So much going on!

I did some character portraits for the Dresden Files RPG put out by Evil Hat Productions, and it's available now. I mightily enjoyed working on them, and I hope I get to do more with the lovely and talented Fred Hicks and his team of madpeople.

The character portraits laid into the notebook feel of the PDF well, I think. See? Coffee rings ADD to the beauty of something! (mumble, mumble, defending myself for spilling coffee on stuff)

Anyway, the PDF is FREE from DriveThruRPG.com, and it's a great one-shot introduction into the Dresden Files universe and RPG system. Check it out here.

I know I'm the last person on earth to start reading the Dresden Files books (written by Jim Butcher), but I do like his flavour of modern-magic-noir. There are two genres (sub-genres?) I can't get enough of in fiction lately: modern magic, and turn-of-the-century crime.

I do like noir fiction. When it comes to noir, however, there's a tricky topic I find myself fixating on. In Dresden Files, Jim Butcher manages to make women attractive without patronizing or diminishing them, or making them less intelligent, capable or, in some cases, deadly. That's refreshing, since so many newer noir classics like "Altered Carbon" (nuthin' but love, peeps) can't shake the slightly icky aftertaste of sexism, no matter how great a read, or how intense a world they've constructed. I don't consider myself a feminist, and I don't like soapboxes as a general rule; I do climb up a step sometimes when it comes to the conundrum of talking about women in noir fiction.

Anyway, they Dresden Files books, for that reason and others, are good reads. I'm on Book 2: Fool Moon. It's no secret I like werewolves ("there wolf, there castle"), so I'm latching on to this one. If he writes one about Cthulhu, I'm in love.

Next week I think I'm gonna look into those newfangled "Walkman" devices everyone's all a-tizzy about. Betchyer buttons.

Sneak Peak: Koschei the Deathless

2011-01-10T04:04:00.005-05:00

This is my most favorite thing of all the things I've painted or drawn in the last couple days. And guys, that's a lot of things. If I told you how much, you probably wouldn't believe me.

When I have finished the burning hot stuff on my plate, and then take a nap (for three days), I'll make a proper update.

C is for Catbirds, Commissions and Christmas!

2010-12-29T03:08:00.002-05:00

There's a lot going on in Illustration-land lately. The perfect storm of work hit a few months ago, and I've had to multi-task my multi-tasks. If anyone's got a time-turner, pass that over, yo. I could use it right now.

One awesome thing that I worked on was the cover for the story collection "Irregular Things" by all-around-awesome-pants writer Chuck Wendig. Here's his blog post about it.

The book will be out in a few weeks, and I'll encourage people to purchase it then. The cover-story (featuring cat-birds and a fuzzy mint green bathrobe) was great.

I've been doing lots of fun, fulfilling private commissions... too many to post. A couple of my favorites, though, are shown below. I could paint cameos all day and enjoy it, tell you what.

A steampunk/Sailor Jerry-tattoo style mashup.

A Dungeons-and-Dragons couple portrait.

Another post will come soon, featuring the 569,483 illustrations I'm doing for Bridge & Tunnel Union's Ex Arcana dynamic card game, Evil Hat Productions and Cat Valente's promo teaser chapbook for her upcoming Stalinist-era fairytale "Deathless" due out this year.

Christmas was lovely. The in-laws visited from Boston, and we had a house full of people enjoying staggering amounts of food and drink, and conversations about the comparative sizes of bull-privates vs. other animals.

Happy holidays and happy new year, world.

Death: The High Cost of Sketching

2010-12-13T17:26:00.005-05:00

This is not a proper update. I will write one, I swear. It's coming, I assure you. But this is not it.

I needed a break from drawing-for-money, and this month's Dr. Sketchy's Philly theme was "Death" (as in, the Sandman kind) - one of my favorites to date. Good crowd (except for that one creepy guy at the bar that kept saying "this is my first time to one of these! I'm cultured!" but he had no sketchpad or drawing implement... ew), great music, plentiful rum.

I'm a Gaiman fan (shocking, I know) as well as a Sandman fan, and having a model as picture perfect as Stoya was the icing on the cake. The spooky, gothy, dark-as-my-soul cake. With black candles. And Robert Smith singing "Happy Birthday". And spiders in a gift box. But I digress.

Anyway, Stoya had a parasol and high shiny boots.

That's pretty much a great day, right? Thanks to the DS Crew for putting together a great one.

They do challenges, and I'll usually do them even if they're harder, because it hardens my "drawing on assignment" muscles. Drawing Marilyn Monroe from memory was a little harder than I thought it'd be, but I think she translates.

Sketches here on Flickr.

Stoya on Twitter (Warning: Stoya's a saucy lady & adult film actress).

Dr. Sketchy Philly's website here.

Like DS on FB here.

EDIT: I will truly make a decent post soon. A lot of what I'm working on is confidential right now, so I can't even talk a big game. I'm psyched about the work I'll be doing so for Evil Hat and the Dresden Files RPG, and other stuff.

In the meantime, I've been up for about 32 hours straight. My brain is turning into soft gelatin product (the kind with horse bits) and is oozing out of my ears. This is what happens when I don't sleep - I'm amused by crap like PhotoBooth:

Ugh. Time for bed, babykins.

A Sailor's Grave

2010-11-10T23:05:00.002-05:00

So there's this show happening this Friday night called "A Sailor's Grave: A tribute to Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins". It's happening at the Sailor Jerry store in downtown Philly (see details below). Of what I've seen so far, the show is fantastic. If you happen to be in the area tomorrow night, please stop on by. The store itself is gorgeous, and worth the visit just to see Adam Wallcavage's tentacled chandeliers alone. It's across from El Vez. Go see some art and fantastic chandeliers, then eat some guacamole at El Vez. That's a good night if I ever heard of one.

Working on a piece while listening to one song - in this case, the Decemberists' "Mariner's Revenge Song" on repeat will really streamline a piece into a single concept. I had this idea of a mermaid - no, not a mermaid. I guess she's more of a siren. Syren? Whatever. She will drown you and you will love her for it. This was a fast fast fast piece. I think I need to paint more of them, because it was also super enjoyable and I wasn't sick of it by the time I finished it.

Anyway, here's the show flyer!

His name is Malfred. And yes, he does windows.

2010-09-30T01:42:00.008-04:00

Another piece for the upcoming Savage Mojo sourcebook "Clockwork Dreams". This is for the Automaton Butler item/merit. He makes tea. (Oh how I wish he were real, and mine.)
Cranking out the work, cranking out the work.There will be a giant sketch and painting pile here around next week!

Jack the Gentleman

2010-09-23T14:24:00.012-04:00

The Autumn Society and the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society are teaming up for a show at Proximity Gallery on October 1, 2010. This will be a Halloween-themed show with over 30 artists displaying some amazing pieces.

Anyway, this is my piece for the show. I always loved the idea of the "original" Jack who carried the Devil's glowing ember around in a lantern (though I love pumpkins too much to not paint a pumpkin instead of a turnip). Over time, he turned into this Magritte / Sleepy Hollow abstract in my mind. (As shown here.)

Here are the goods:
Please stop by Proximity on October 1 for the opening or some time during the month of October when the gallery is open. Proximity is located at 2434 East Dauphin Street, Philadelphia, PA 19125. For more information, please contact Proximity, or you can go here for more info.

I'm so, so psyched... everyone's work looks so great. It's going to be killer.

Cheers, A

P.s. If you like this image and want a cheap print of it, it's for sale here.

EDIT AFTERTHOUGHT: Since I think it's funny, I'm posting this too.

Photo reference is sometimes tough to get right. Lighting, anatomy... these things can be tricky, and even the most talented of illustrators - far better than I'll ever be - get called out for bad photo reference.

So, what do you do when you've got an image of a person holding thier glowing pumpkin head over the place their head should be? HOW do you stage that? You make do. You go to the arts and crafts store. Or, like this, you find that crazy old ceramic pumpkin your husband's relative made (that's been hiding in the cellar), and you find inspiration. Ish.

Voila!

New product on Etsy: Custom cameo portraits!

2010-09-14T21:00:00.005-04:00

Have you always wanted a original victorian-look cameo portrait of you, your sweetheart, your child or loved one?
I'm now making available for order CUSTOM cameo portrait silhouettes (black outline, as shown in sample image above), designed and luxuriously illustrated for you! This makes an incredible gift for a mom, sweetheart, or a even a wedding or anniversary gift.
It's easy: You choose the color theme, then send me visual reference of the individual you'd like me to illustrate, plus any theme you'd like me to include (i.e. ivy, flowers, dragonflies) in the background pattern.

Click on the image above or the link here to visit my Etsy listing for more info!

Fashion

2010-09-12T20:25:00.000-04:00

Sketchins'....

2010-09-07T17:41:00.007-04:00

I've got a steam-locomotive-load (har, har... oof) of illustrations to do over the next couple of months. (I've been sparse for a reason). Luckily I'm allowed to put up works-in-progress. Expect to see a lot more in the weeks to come.
Here's a fairy larcenist. Little arms. Good for lock picking.

And a piece about fashion (complete with gossipin' jerks). I'm hugely keen on the idea that fairy fashion features wearing live animals.

More later. Have a spectacular evening, folks.

Clockwork Dreams: Finished!

2010-08-05T22:19:00.006-04:00

The cover is done, and type is being set! When I find out the release date, I'll be pimping it out here no doubt.

Details:

I *will* soon start pimping out the card-based game of steampunk magic extravaganza - EX ARCANA, however, and I am truly, truly excited about doing so - the concepts, character designs and overplot are really something special. The more I think about this system, the more excited I get about it's possibilities. Expect me to blather on about this a lot in the near future!

Pumpkinlings, dirigibles and Mars!

2010-07-18T08:00:00.013-04:00

Lots of stuff going on, busy bee, busy bee. I just finished my part of what I know is going to be a really sweet project. The Mars Society, a non-profit organization (& branch of NASA!) focused on exploring and pioneering the planet Mars, approached the dudes over at The Autumn Society to do a coloring book focused on everyone's favorite red planet. These will be distributed in schools and youth space ed. programs nationwide. I was really excited to be asked to be a part of it.

The book explores topics like living on Mars, terraforming, the MDRS research station and so forth. Research (and a fine suggestion from the Mr.) led me to the topic of transportation on Mars. The surface is viciously rocky, so a lot of scientists are suggesting airships as the main means of transporting equipment (and maybe people!) over the Martian surface. Naturally, I could not pass up the oppourtunity to draw (and type) dirigibles. Seriously. Type it. It's fun. You use your index fingers a lot.

Anyway, there's that.

In personal news, trying to turn these thumbs green by starting a vegetable garden, as well as expanding our flower beds into something J.M. Barrie would be proud of. It's late in the growing season, but I decided to give pumpkins a try. I planted these seeds 3 days ago. THREE. (Reference: That pot is about 12" wide.) I really want to do a time-lapse photo or something... I hear these jerks can grow 6" a day. Wild. Here's hoping I can get a good jack-o-lantern or two by Halloween, right?

In Progress II: Clockwork Boogaloo

2010-06-23T20:20:00.005-04:00

Here's the progress snapshot on the cover piece for the cover of Clockwork Dreams. The background elements and back cover (left side) are roughed out, but I've finished about 90% of the figures.

I'm particularly in love with the lightbulb on the brass gentleman.

Dr. Sketchy's: Comics Edition

2010-06-13T01:51:00.005-04:00

Had a particularly wretched week, so today's Dr. Sketchy's was a welcome relaxation. Had a comic book theme, in honor of this weekend's ComicCon. The models (Lulu and Key from Peek-A-Boo Revue) have fan-frickin-tastic costumes - all the tails and spikes in my drawings were there for realz.
There are too many sketches to post... most of them were pretty mediocre. (The sketches. Not the poses.) These were the ones I particularly liked. I would draw them every day - they're super nice, they pose well, they have great costumes. I had beer. What's not awesome about this?

(The pseudo-comic book framed sketch was for the last 20 minute pose, which was a contest to do a quickeroo comic cover from the model's pose. So of course I add tentacles. Kinda a given.)

Couple more sketches over here.

The UK, the SCBWI-EPA (and other joined-up letters of the alphabet)

2010-06-08T16:18:00.022-04:00

I can't believe how busy I've been. When it rains it pours. Here's a quick "what's up with Amy" update:

- Random world travel is random. The Mister was requested at a business meeting in London, so, not wanting to pass up the opportunity, we went to London and spent the long holiday weekend there. It was our first UK trip, and we sucked every ounce of London out of the trip that we could.
I've got a photo set of about 300 of the more interesting photos over here on Flickr.
(Yes, 300 of the more interesting. I actually took about 1100. In five days. What!? It's for photo reference! There's a lot of paintable stuff in London.)

My favorite day was definitely the visit to Kensington Gardens and the Peter Pan statue (shown). "Peter Pan and the Kensington Gardens" was one of the first classic children's stories I read early in college that really cemented me on wanting to illustrate children's books. Visiting the park that inspired the story filled me with glee, and the statue (given by Mr. Barrie himself), made the trip for me. Even cooler, for almost the entire hour or so I hung around the statue, there were children climbing on it. It's like the statue was designed for kids to appreciate in a way only kids can.

The other illustrator's highlight in the trip was going to the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington. I went on a tip there were some great costumes there (was was a let down), but I DID happen upon a gallery of original paintings from Cicely Mary Barker, Arthur FREAKING Rackham, and more. I spent a rather obscene amount of time staring at them with my nose pressed to the glass. Some photos are over in my Flickr set. It was pretty amazing to see CMB's brushstrokes in a way no print can really show. So. Fulfilling.

- Last Saturday, I attended the SCBWI Eastern PA "Illustrator's Day" workshop given by Elizabeth Parisi, Creative Director of Trade Hard Covers at Scholastic Books. She couldn't have been more pleasant, not to mention honest and communicative about the industry, trends and her company. I got some phenomenal feedback from my individual portfolio review with her. I really hope to work with her some day soon, and hope that all creative directors are as easy to get along with.

- Working on the artwork for the upcoming steampunk-themed sourcebook soon out from Savage Mojo (formerly known as Talisman Studios). Here's an "in progress" iphonetograph. I can't wait to finish it. It's a gigantic painting (for me, anyway).

That's some stuff. Now, back to work. More stuff later!

And Mom's Day, and Kitties day too.

2010-05-11T23:39:00.008-04:00

Today has been a lot of finishing projects that were 80% done, sending emails and getting my ducks in a row.
Sunday was Mother's Day, and she got these lemon cupcakes with frosting and GIANT flowery sprinkles. They were good, and, shockingly, low(ish) fat. (Don't ask, I used dark, dark magic.)

Seriously though, my mother deserves a lot more than cupcakes, and hopefully I'll be able to repay her some day for all she's done for me. Right about now, she'd make a joke about "pound of flesh!" (a misquoted reference to some movie we saw a million years ago about a woman who's mom gets sick and she uses her blood to make her better). In all honesty, I was a terribly misbehaved teen. I know I stressed her out, perhaps more than the average teen girl stresses her mother out. I've grown up (mostly), and now I'M the one that worries when I don't get the "check in phonecall", and it makes me laugh to know she's getting her revenge. Anyway, happy Mother's Day, mom. Love ya.

And here's the painting I threw into the pot for the 3rd Annual City Kitties Art Auction (information here). I decided to revisit a drawing I did some time last year, because I'd never painted it before. It turned into this (captioned in script on the painting):

"Fig. 4: Professor Thaddeus T. Moswer's Raygun. Turns subject into tasty cat vittles. Highly Unstable Device."

If you look closely, you'll see what might be the visage of Prof. Mowser himself. Or maybe not. Could that be his Muse? The lovely, chubby, fuzzy lady that inspired him to stand up for cats everywhere, once upon a time? We may never know.

There's still time to contribute to the cause. Donations for the Auction are due May 23rd!

That's all for now. Back to the drawing board, literally.

The Wyverary and the Girl with One Shoe

2010-05-11T22:14:00.019-04:00

When Cat Valente mentioned that she was going to the Nebulas and had no jewelry to wear with her gorgeous orange gown, I jumped on the idea to do a side painting that was all for fun, and blew off some steam painting-wise. As I mentioned in this post, I have been pairing up with my lovely sister-in-law lovely Michelle Klein Houser of Magpie's Yard Sale to create cameo necklaces.

All of a sudden, this happened! After an email exchange, she said she'd like to see it have her beloved Wyverary**, and I couldn't resist. I'd paint A-L (the Wyverary's name) twenty more times at least, he was so much fun.

So here's the necklace and finished portrait.
I decided to send the painting along with Shelle's creation, because, hell, it's like giving Cat a framed photo of her kids or something.
I didn't post it until today, for fear she might see it somehow and it'd ruin the surprise.

And yes, the key and shoe over the frame IS important, actually.

Shelle chose freshwater cultivated pearls, faceted glass and more to make this beauty. I want one for myself, but it's strictly one-of-a-kind for Mrs. Valente.
EDIT: I've just been informed that the necklace itself is called ""I Don't Know About The Nebulas, But My Sister Does".

Here's one more.

** A Wyverary is a Wyvern raised by a Library. If you're interested in reading to see how that and many other amazing things exist, go here!

Coilephants? Elephachines?

2010-04-22T01:57:00.003-04:00

This piece is going back to the drawing board for an overhaul, but I really liked some things about it. Onward and upward.

Inspired: Lori Nix

2010-04-12T14:07:00.011-04:00

I've been meaning to post up here when I'm awed or inspired by artists doing great stuff. I usually forget. Pretty much always forget, actually.
But not today! (Lucky I was on cereal break)
Lori Nix shoots miniature sets in themes like the post-apocalyptic "The City" and the spooky-sweet Insecta Magnifica. I don't think I've ever seen apocalyptic wasteland imagery quite this perky, but I likes it.
The modelling and camera work are both truly, truly top-notch.

This has been your PSA inspiration post of the day.
(found via BloodMilkJewelry)

Autumnus, the progression.

2010-04-11T05:33:00.007-04:00

Multitasking, she's a cruel mistress!
I was doing lots of other things and getting my schedule back under control, not to mention working on the rest of this initial landscape series, and forgot to update the "progress" shots on the landscape I posted about here.
After giving the initial washes a little time to dry and the paper time to tighten up again, I go in with the inks. I'm going with sepia inks for this project because, well, it just makes sense. Placement of more-foreground trees are most important to work out the little fiddly knobbly bits (yeah, they're the most fun, they really are).

Then there are brushes and paint and all of a sudden I'm here.

I decide the segmented pools in the front that I had initially sketched in just weren't working for me, so I went in and resketched out a fallen, broken clocktree and a farmstead built up nestled up against it. I felt that added the right amount of "civilization" without losing focus on the trees, which are the most important part of the image.

Here's the finished "Clockwood".

I'm a fan of the idea of this farmer harvesting the giant cogs and springs from the guts of the fallen tree to sell to the dirigible-manufacturers and such. (That's not from the writing team, that just came to me as I was working.)

I'm finished the other paintings in the set as well, but have to get the final paintings scanned and the "in progress" photos uploaded. I'll be putting more up as I go over the next week or so.

Pretty shiny things for you to wear

2010-04-08T00:50:00.008-04:00

Quick post here, as I'm busy busy busy!

I've partnered with the lovely Shelle over at Magpie's Yard Sale jewelry shop on a line of illustrated, handmade cameo necklaces based around my "Elementi" portraits.
Her work is really lovely - a lot of her pieces reference her many literary or historical inspirations, like "Sheherezade, Tell Me A Story" and "Saharan Spice Trade".
The four necklaces, "Rituals of Spring", "Song of the Sea-Queen", "The Warmest Room" and "Frostbreath" are available by clicking the name here, or just check out her whole shop here.
She also does custom jewelry, and we're chatting about offering custom illustrated cameo commissions. Send either of us a message if you're interested. Mom's Day is coming up, you know. Your mom probably deserves something pretty.
Here's my fav at the moment:

And here's a closeup of the cameo art itself (prints will be coming soon to my shop):

Thanks for looking!

Back to work.

Autumnus landscape, process 1.

2010-04-04T00:58:00.003-04:00

I've been crazy busy with toy work this and last week, so I haven't been able to take the time to put up the process posts I'd have liked. A friend once recommended to me to post process blogs because people really like to see that, and it was said again to me recently by my art director/editor from his perspective, so here I am, trying to get into the habit of stopping to take photos or scans.
I've got a photo of the pencils for this piece, but I have to upload them. In the meantime, here's this.

Sometimes my pencils are very tight and precise, like this piece. Sometimes they're pretty loose, because I like to have the freedom to noodle out organics in mid-process. As this is a landscape, I need a lot of freedom to be loose.

Once I lay down a light parchmenty wash over the page, I work in my richer background color bases to build on, throw some salt on there to draw out some texture, and let it dry. Once it's had some time to set, I'll go back in with sepia inks and my upper layers of color.

To be continued tomorrow, when it's done. For the moment, it's me, the painting, the inks and a Battlestar Galactica marathon. Wee, caffeine!

Another test piece...

2010-03-21T04:02:00.003-04:00

Aether Goggles!

Clockwork Dreams

2010-03-19T03:35:00.002-04:00

Now that I've been given the green light, I can talk about a new project I'm honored and excited to be working on - I've joined the team over at Savage Mojo (formerly Talisman Studios), and will be illustrating some upcoming sourcebooks and short story anthologies for their roleplaying game universe Suzerain!
I'm super excited to be involved with such a creative team, and the subject matter is just about the most enjoyable assignment I could've hope for. The aesthetic is steampunk, which means I'm going to enjoy the next few months immensely. I'll post more as things develop.
In the meantime, here's a test painting to try out style and palette.
Tons more illustrations to come!

Dr. Sketchy's March: Vargas Girls Edition!

2010-03-16T00:29:00.010-04:00

Dr. Sketchy's was an utter joy this month with their tribute to Vargas girls. Traditional pin-ups are something I don't draw enough of. Drawing them live with a delicious oyster stout at hand, awesome genre music and really great models... well, can't ask for better than that.

Here are the 1 minute, 2 minute, 5 minute, 10 minute and 20 minute sketches.
(I'm terrible at remembering to write the time in the corner of each page, so I can't remember how long each one took perfectly.)

The Flickr set is here.

Steam Punks. With big ears.

2010-03-03T10:04:00.008-05:00

Since I've had a heavy toy-design plate these last couple weeks, I haven't had a chance to paint. I decided I'd paint tonight, hell or high water, and I wanted to do some speed paintings to test out a near black-and-white colour palette (with the sepia-print flavor), and I had steampunk fairies on the brain. (I spent this afternoon discussing the new game sourcebooks my brother and his lovely and talented wife will be developing over the next few months.)
Here's what a couple hours yielded.

Since the reference photography wasn't shot by me (even though I took a lot of liberties, and changed up their faces and, well, added horns and wings and such), these are just sketches. I'd like to retake them, however, since I know the models have so much lovely wardrobing I can dive into (hint hint, Matt and Gen). Going to tweak the poses, re-sketch, maybe give a longer painting session a try.
Buckles and striped stockings give my painting-OCD great joy... they were a lovely change from plastic toys tonight.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland.

2010-02-26T04:57:00.005-05:00

In other news, I suppose there was enough collective grumbling about global warming and "no more decent winters" in my area, that Mom Nature paired up with her girlfriends and crashed our party. We keep getting hit with Nor-easters (I think I should be spelling that with more apostrophes) and it's iced us over, broken our trees and caused a whole lot of people to park their cars at very odd angles indeed.

Here are a couple iPwn shots I grabbed while out driving in my neighborhood today, in Snowpocolypse-2010 round, what, four? Five?

I took these the morning after Snowpocolypse round 3, I think. The snow looks lovely in the tree boughs, but it looked a little less lovely when it brought down about 30% of our redbud tree. Our neighbors had a 40-50ft pine fall over, rootball ripped up and all, onto some powerlines. Joy.

The Boys are NOT amused.

In the meantime, I'm waiting out the weather with some amazing toy design projects, and working on sketches for a Seekrit promo project for a very talented author I've had the joy of becoming friendly with this year. I think I have enough hot chocolate in the house to last out the Snowpocolypse, but I won't be surprised if I still see white stuff on the ground in April.

Fonts to the Rescue!

2010-02-26T04:26:00.019-05:00

SoTA , or the Society of Typographic Aficionados (ooh, fancy) has come together and brought such fabulous fontographers and letter-magicians as Alejandro Paul (creator of some of my favorite fonts in the world) to create a font pack called Font Aid IV: Coming Together.

I'll let them say it, because they've said it best:

The font consists entirely of ampersands, to represent the idea of people coming together to help one another. Type designers, graphic designers, and other artists from around the world contributed artwork to the font.

The font is being be sold for $20US and is available through font distributors Ascender Fonts, Veer, FontShop, and MyFonts. All proceeds from the sale of the font will go to Doctors Without Borders, to help with their relief efforts in Haiti.

The “Coming Together” font contains over 400 glyphs and is supplied as a single, cross-platform OpenType font. All glyphs are accessible using OpenType-savvy applications, Unicode-savvy utilities, the Character Map utility on Windows, and FontBook on Mac OS X.

There are a ton of great little bits and bobs in this font set, and if you're thinking of donating to the Haiti disaster funds and haven't yet (or have the wampum to do so again), it's a great way to donate and support these art-based charity actions at the same time.

SCBWI Conference!

2010-02-01T18:34:00.008-05:00

I started writing this post back right after the thing, but never finished, so here I finish it now.
I'm back from the 2010 SCBWI winter conference. Tired, overwhelmed with info and inspiration. It was good. I had no idea there were so many people in SCBWI, but to be surrounded by so many people with like interests was a comforting (and a little intimidating) feeling.

Some quick highlights, because there it too much:

Lots of people. They gave us lunch. It was lovely. Good rolls.
Amazon donated money. That was nice of them.

(photo: from the SCBWI blog team)

I was mesmerized by Edward Necarsulmer, who talked about contracts for a couple hours. It was INSANELY informative.
Author/illustrator Jim Benton (of Happy Bunny fame) is a hoot, and this image cracked me up.

I got a compliment from Lisa Desimini regarding my piece for the Illustrator's Intensive exercise, so I'm pretty psyched about that. I learned some good stuff, and I hope to be in a much further-along place this time next year.
The portfolio exhibit was a great opportunity, and I hope at least a few of my postcards were taken by ADs and such that liked my work. My biggest criticism is that, unlike the writers' intensive, the illustrators had no personal feedback regarding our portfolios themselves. We got a followup email from the team with great pointers, but they were sort of general "Portfolio 101" tips. Still, the ability to put my portfolio in a closed room with up to potentially a couple hundred ADs, editors and publisher-biz folk was not to be missed, and I'm grateful to the SCBWI for putting it together. Thanks!

Cupcakes and Goblins and Gears, oh my!

2010-01-27T03:52:00.009-05:00

Self-promotional piece for my portfolio.
Getting ready for the SCBWI conference in NYC this weekend!
Wee!

In the Court of Wolves.

2010-01-20T20:49:00.008-05:00

Friend and author Peter Woodworth has been working on a new book - while not at liberty to necessarily discuss just yet, I have been coming up with some concept art in the hopes that he'll get it published and I'll illustrate it.
The real-life benefit of concepting while he's writing is that we're sharing and defining the story and characters together as we go. The imagery in the story thus far has been so fabulously quirky in that way only a story about Victorian magic can be, and that's resulting in some really lively characters and images that I'm happy to be surrounded with at the moment.

The Queen is one of them, and her wolves... well, I feel safer just having them around. :)

Cupcakes!

2010-01-17T05:02:00.001-05:00

I recently realized that my blog header declares that I make "illustrations, toys, cupcakes and a ruckus"... yet, I show you none of my cupcakey goodness. That's a cryin' shame!

I've uploaded some random cupcakes and baking adventures, and some other garbage I wanted to get up there but kept forgetting.

I think this week, I'll treat myself to come experimental cupcake-baking, since I haven't had any events to cupcake-for lately. I'll document it when I do!

Lanterns.

2010-01-14T03:37:00.011-05:00

I don't know exactly where this piece came from. I'm updating my children's book portfolio for the upcoming SCBWI conference, and today I sat down to do a 2-page spread that doesn't really need words. All of a sudden I was thinking about the paper lanterns set afloat (the Japanese Festival of Obon, I believe it is) to guide ancestors back to the spirit world after visiting during the Festival. I thought about how great a kids book this could be, and just started painting. I did this one in a sitting, a little more fast-and-loose than usual, but I really felt joy creating lantern after lantern.
Gonna start on an outline and script for this when I get back from NYC. I think February will be a month of scripting for dummy books. Looking forward to that.

Details:

New! Year! Resolutions!

2010-01-09T23:51:00.014-05:00

Since 2012 is already slated to be catastrophic (you know, end of the world and all), 2010 and 2011 should be AWESOME, right? Right. So Happy New Year. The Mr. and I brought in '10 with three days of house guests (we call Dan and Jay "our baby birds"), games and good food and drink. I'm paying for it now with a terrible cold, but c'est la vie.

"New Year's Resolutions" have this doomed connotation, but I think it's all a matter of what you resolve. It's all about discipline and making sure you're making gradual and livable changes -i.e. don't "diet"... change your nutritional habits. Anyway, a couple "nutritional improvements" for my studio:

1. Sketch at least 1-2 hours a day. Aside from the current project I'm working on, getting my sketches together for the next projects and just sketching in general (even if it's studies of cupcakes and yaks) will keep the brain and hands feeling top of their game.

2. Remember that art is my job, and I can leave the office. I understand the old pseudo-adage of "the dreamier the dream job, the harder you have to work to get it." I am no stranger to the 80 hour work week. However, making sure I leave the office and, uh, live, is a struggle for me. (I'm so "all or nothing".) Sleep is my friend. I sometimes think it's my imaginary friend... so I guess it's good I'm going into children's publishing.

And so forth. Those resolutions will keep me busy, but they're reasonable and I feel good about them.

Aria, complete!

2010-01-05T21:04:00.000-05:00

I finished the Elementi series of with "Aria", finally... I'm thinking of making them into a greeting card set for sale later in the year. Water, Earth, Fire and Air signs are an element of birthdays, and I think it'd be an interesting and possibly desirable way to say "Happy Birthday" to your favorite art-lover. Yes?

May Your Holidays Be Mighty ...

2009-12-22T02:06:00.003-05:00

Wow! I was just informed that I'm featured in the "Lotus's Workshop" blog featuring different themed gifts every day up to Xmas (today is Yule-themed gifts, so my Odin cards have been included).
There are some really fantastic collections here, so I feel honored to be chosen to be a part of it. This has only encouraged me to paint a lot more Vikings.

Check it out!

Speaking of, the card sets are available for sale now, so I should probably put up my card to you all.

So, in honor of the Solstice and in case I don't get to post again before the New Year...

Happy Yule, Season's Greetings, and have a raucously good time with your cherished friends and family. Go ride an armored polar bear and drink Glögg and give boots filled with presents to those younger or less fortunate, dammit!

Clockwork Wings.

2009-12-18T12:33:00.001-05:00

So, this was the big winner when I had a table at GenCon a couple years ago. Sold a lot of prints of it, and I'm working on ideas for the next of the series. If anyone has any thoughts of what you'd like to see done along the lines of clockwork and windup things or things that shouldn't by any common sense be clockwork or mechanical, but are... well, let me know. I've got a list but I'm wondering if I've missed anything!

She's like the Wind. (RIP Master Swayze.)

2009-12-15T05:21:00.000-05:00

Trying to record my process more, so I see what my patterns are and where I can improve and shave time (when appropriate).
So here's the sketch for the last of the Elementi series, "Aria". For now. I might want to do a whole different interpretation on the Japanese elements, or the five Chinese elements.

This is the second painting in a week that I've decided to execute in greys - I associate my "style" as being very tied to vibrant colors, so having a drab palette helps me focus on my execution and detail. I'm going to enjoy painting her.

Fuoco.

2009-12-14T04:01:00.002-05:00

The third lady's done in the series of anthropomorphic elements, and I'm very satisfied with the radiant color happening here, so I can't wait to dive into the next. She's a bit more stylized, but I don't really mind. Firey salamanders don't really exist either, I've been told.

Cranking out work, huzzah.

The Mister and I are hand-making some of our holiday gifts this year, and working together on it is kind of nice - having art hobbies other than "what I do" is nice, since it's a break from art, WITH art. His big gift from me this year (a woodburner with full set of tips) was opened early, since he's using it on the gifts. The scent of the wood he's burning in the house is a great smell, and it makes me a little sad that we bought a house without a fireplace. Oh well... that much more of a reason to save our pennies and get a woodstove installed this year.

A friend posted a Facebook comment recently of "making Christmas, making christmas", so now I have the song in my head. It's kind of motivating, though, so that's fine.

I do have a finite amount of time I can work before needing a break just to stretch, walk around, have some coffee and so forth, but this week will be best used if I barricade the studio door, start the long and excellent journey through the first seven seasons of X-Files on DVD, and keep the pencil to paper. Oh, and block any and all social networking sites.

Making Christmas, la la la.

Updates, updates, jiggity jig

2009-12-12T03:12:00.000-05:00

So, it's weird when the best reference you can find of a particular thing is a photo of "the Beastmaster" Marc Singer. It's not like I can find a hawk and do a photo shoot with it, so The 'Master will have to do.

Trying to find the motivation to work according to daylight/normal people schedules is seriously difficult. My most productive hours consistently lay somewhere between 11 pm and 5 am, every night. When it's daylight, I feel like I should be cleaning, organizing, making a pot of soup, that sort of thing. I suppose it could be chalked up to Pavlovian training of the art-school late night painting sessions. All-nighters equal good paintings. Odd.

I meant to take progress photos of this year's holiday greeting card from sketch phase, but I started painting and forgot until the base wash was down. So here's the sketch with the base wash:

And here's my very helpful cat, Jonas, helping me paint. Very helpfully. (That's his "emotional support" face, I think).

Fricking Lasers!

2009-12-04T02:55:00.002-05:00

It's 2-something am, and I should be sleeping. I am getting laser beams shot into my eyes tomorrow. They're going to cut flaps in my eyeballs, and flip them over, and zap them some more, and flip them back. It's really kind of just occurred to me today how horrifying that is, and that I'm really absolutely terrified about this.

I've never had any real kind of surgery before (getting a mole removed doesn't count). I am terrified that I will be one of those amazingly small percentages of something going wrong, and I will end up blind. I will be a blind artist, and I will not take it well, and I will not become the "based on a true story" inspiration for some movie with Daniel Day Lewis and Kate Winslet in it. Perhaps Kate Winslet will win an Oscar. She'll probably wear a really gorgeous dress to the awards, and she'll invite me to accompany her because she's so gracious, and I'll look terrible and disheveled and overweight, and people will say "oh Kate is SO much better looking than the real Amy". And I'll cry. I'll cry pitiful blind tears.

Hmm. That was rather insane. Reel it in, cupcake. Reel it in. So... anyway...

I have no idea how long it will take to recover REALLY (the doctor gave me a "this is approx. how long it takes to recover" speech, but I think, of course, that my surgery will go poorly and it will take me twice as long to recover), so I don't know how long I'll be out of commission to the world. I will, as they say, be Away From Keys.

Yikes.

City Kitties needs your help!

2009-11-04T20:19:00.005-05:00

City Kitties (the Philadelphia-area rescue organization I've written about before) is in trouble, and they need your help. I realize my blog is fairly under the radar, but every little bit helps. Please read the release from CK below, and consider skipping your morning lattes this week and making a small donation. Anything will help, even $5.

Thanks for anything you can do!
------------------------------------------
City Kitties is currently facing a financial emergency: AT THIS POINT, CITY KITTIES IS UNABLE TO ACCEPT ANY FURTHER RESCUES UNTIL WE RAISE FUNDS FOR THEIR CARE.

In the past month, in addition to our usual rescue costs, City Kitties has taken on several cats who have ended up needing extensive vet care totaling thousands of dollars. The necessary dental surgery to remove 10 teeth to alleviate Hutch's constant tooth pain was nearly $1000. Twig, the kitten found by a local community member, has been in horrible condition with extremely painful infections in his bones, and has needed constant (expensive) vet care for weeks and is still not completely well. Bamboo, the starving young cat with the worst case of ringworm we have ever seen, currently has an ominous lump on his shoulder that is potentially cancerous and he needs very expensive treatment. It is not an understatement to say that these cats could have died horrible and painful deaths on the street without our intervention and care.

City Kitties relies solely on donations from our community. The weather is getting colder, and there are many more suffering cats who deserve loving homes and need our help. We hope that you will consider skipping your morning latte, and donate that $5 to City Kitties, or more if you can spare it. Your donation will help save the life of a real live stray cat here in your community. If you are looking for holiday gifts, donations can be made in someone's name (and you can print out our custom gift cards to give them). Very shortly we will have gorgeous 2010 calendars on sale at Studio 34 and on our website. Alternatively, please come to our Drink Beer, Save Cats fundraiser next Friday (the 13th) at Doobie's bar. ($5 suggested cover, 8-Mid, at 2201 Lombard St - List of raffle prizes at CityKitties.org)

We at City Kitties work to make our community a better place and stop the needless suffering of animals of who already suffered enough at the hands of humans- we hope that you will take this message to heart, reach into your wallet, and donate. All donations are tax-deductible, and can be made online at http://www.citykitties.org/donate.html

Our sincere thanks,
The City Kitties Team

Dia De Los Muertos: A Gallery Show!

2009-09-04T12:22:00.002-04:00

Hey All!
I know October is always a busy month, but on Friday October 2nd (First Friday!) I will have a piece in a phenomenal group gallery show at Proximity Gallery (the reception is 6 - 9 pm, and I'll post when I'm going to be there closer to the time).
The show's theme is "the Dia De Los Muertos", or Day of the Dead.
I'm really excited to see all the skull-related-art, and maybe buy something for my own personal Halloween offering (as I do so love Halloween!) - If you're free and considering coming out, give me a shout.
Here's the flyer. The show was organized by the Autumn Society of Philadelphia.

Cheers!

Dia De Los Muertos piece (in progress)

2009-09-04T02:07:00.005-04:00

So, this is mostly done, but I might take the background up to a mandala-level of filigree detail. We'll see, I'll test first. But her scary eyes freak me out more than her skellington-bones. :)

This is CLEARLY not for my children's publishing portfolio. It's just for fun, for the DDLM gallery show, and to exercise the anatomy muscles.

Circumnavigating Fairyland

2009-09-01T23:11:00.009-04:00

I've recently had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with an extraordinarily talented author named Catherynne M. Valente. Putting aside the numerous other books she's written, she's now finished a young-adult novel-come-internet phenomenon called "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making", and my goodness gracious, it's a wonderful story. I was in love the moment the Green Wind stepped in through the window of the main character's kitchen.
(EDIT UPDATE: Which has since been purchased and is due to be published by Feiwel and Friends next year, woo!)

After reading and discussing particular dreams and possible projects involving the story, I did a conceptual piece for it (which I was honored to have Miss Valente ended up using for her printed promo materials at WorldCon this year).

Drawing the dilapidated, quirky, wind-blown buildings of the cloud-city of Westerly was pretty fun, I have to say. I could draw domes and cupolas all day, truth be told.

I enjoyed it terribly, and you will too, whether or not you are a Heartless little girl like me.

Sketching September

2009-08-28T21:57:00.002-04:00

Just playing with my ideas of September from "Circumnavigating Fairyland".

The Garden Chronicles, Part 2: The Apocolypse, and the Great Hereafter.

2009-07-10T13:58:00.007-04:00

Accomplished:
Tearing out and digging up about 16 miles of ivy away from the house (OMG Murder)
Digging out about a thousand wild daylilies that choked out the whole front yard (Scott calls them "feral lilies")
Ripping up and re-sculpting the lily-of-the-valley and creeping myrtle in the front flower bed
Tilling it all under, covering it all with weed-killer cloth and laying new mulch beds
Sculpting the remaining lilies into a border

Planted:
A new hedgerow of azalea (common flowering and Silver Sword)
Two hydrandea bushes where the dirty spruces used to be
Coneflower Echinacea
Large flowering Phlox
Black-eyed Susans
Stonecrop
Flowering Sage
an assortment of Foxgloves (they smell incredible!)

Still To Do:
Put in hanging structures for herb garden and some vegetables
prep and plant pumpkin patch
Buy and install birdbath and stepping stones
Plant a tree, maybe?
Re-edge it all with brick pavers and sculpt out edges
Build a raised, bunny-proof vegetable bed
Then move on to the side gardens....

I Do Believe In Fairies, I Do, I Do

2009-06-16T17:50:00.002-04:00

These were self-promo illustrations for Peter Pan in the Kensington Gardens... still one of my favorite stories of all.

ZOMG PINK!

2009-05-29T09:55:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure what I'm looking at, but it was probably a hallucination formed from the pink dye seeping into my brain. I did this Saturday, but had to re-apply since I was starting to fade, and I wanted to be sure that planes could land by the light of my hair color.

Warning: My eyes aren't actually that insanely large. I'm almost anime in this photo, aren't I? Anyway, it's scary, sorry. The expression was supposed to be a "What's that behind you, cammera-man?" not a "my brain has tumbleweeds" expression. FACEBOOKPHOTOFAIL.

I'm off to the Auction tonight - hopefully I was able to add something good to the already-awesome show. Every time I've donated something to an auction, I seem to develop a creeping paranoia about having zero bidders, and being publically humiliated as the "dud of the show". I picture a vast hush coming over the room - perhaps there's a single, embarassed cough - with the auctioneer eventually verbally whittling the minimum bid down to "two-bits" which is then begrudgingly accepted by an old blind man for fireplace-fodder.

This is how a lot of stuff goes in my brain.

Maybe I should've made some cupcakes to go along with it. People would pay for THOSE, I'll bet. Especially the peanut butter chocolate ones.

Now I want cupcakes. Sigh.

Art for teh Kittehnz

2009-05-28T03:11:00.001-04:00

(image from the city Kitties site, from last year's auction)

When artists can contribute their services towards philanthropic or humane causes, it's really a win-win situation. The financial benefit goes to the cause, and artists get great exposure to a totally new cross-section of viewers.

So, I'm excited and feeling fortunate to have the oppourtunity to make art for a good cause (if only all my work had such a good end in store!). West Philadelphia-based City Kitties is a non-profit no-kill animal shelter and hospital dedicated to bettering the lives of the significant population of West Philly stray and feral cats, and it's having its Second Annual Art Show and Auction this Friday.

I was first introduced to City Kitties a few years ago through my friend (awesome writer and epicurean galore) Mike VanHelder and his roommmate (the also-contributing photographer and super cat-philanthropist Kyle Cassidy. I was blown away by how much a few awesome women can do through a small donation-based outfit, from providing veterinary care for hundreds of cats (some literally healed from within inches of death) to organizing a network of foster homes and adoptions to loving homes. I'm super happy to have a way to donate my services to such a worthy cause.

The piece I'm contributing is a small one, but it was super fun to paint. I had the idea of doing some sort of Francis of Assisi / St. Gertrude / "Patron Saint of Animals" thing, but I wanted it to be fun and light-hearted.

So, introducing Mme. Gertrude Von Skeffington, Patron Saint of Stuffed Animals. She's a sassy lady with a whole story in my brain (sometimes I wish I had the writing prowice to do her justice - she's a very interesting lady indeed, in my brain). The auction is for the original watercolor, approx. 8" x 10" framed in a simple black oval moulding.

Hopefully it fetches a few bucks for mah kittehn frendz.

Thanks for reading!

The details are below - if you're around and are looking for an awesome, unique night that you can be proud of having attended, please please please come - see some art, bid on something (the auctions start at incredibly low opening bids) - so snag something awesome for yourself or for a gift! What could be a cooler gift than one that benefits animals?
____________________________________________

2nd Annual City Kitties Art Show & Auction
Join us May 29th at Studio 34 for the 2nd Annual Art Show & Auction to Benefit City Kitties!
* Buy great art from talented artists
* Win fabulous raffle prizes
* Listen to great music
* Eat and drink with everybody who's anybody
* Support a great Philadelphia charity

When: Friday, May 29, 6:30 - 10:00pm
Where: Studio 34 at 4522 Baltimore Avenue
How Much: $5 at the door (which goes towards any winning bid)

Cheers!

Dr Sketchy's, April 17th

2009-05-04T00:17:00.002-04:00

It took me forever to get around to scanning these, but I had some time tonight while tidying up and cleaning my studio, which looks like a bomb went off.
Dr. Sketchy's Philadelphia is a grand fun time when I get the time to go, which is not enough. April's theme was "Totally 80s!" and was modelled by some kick-arse Philly Roller Girls - this meant a tremendous amount of hairspray, neon fishnet and some sweet music. The girls were great models, and I found myself in awe of the general impressive size and rock-like nature of their calves. Those girls are cut. Crikey.
I won some drawing challenge, which was unexpected and fun, and I won free dinner for two, and two tickets to the Roller Girl Warrior Cup Championship. That was pretty sweet.
I had a great time sketching from life, and having a few beers with some great people during and after. I'm going to try to make it to May as well.

Take Our Hands.

2009-05-03T04:36:00.003-04:00

I worked out some new things in this painting that I'd not thought about before - so this was a "win". It's finally scanned and a print is going into a group show tomorrow.

"Heart Earth", at Mugshots Cafe in Philadelphia, opens May 7th. Featuring 2D art and video documentary dedicated to loving our Earth, the show features over 40 artists from multiple countries.See the adorable flyer here.

Here's the finished painting. The sketch is below, for the heck of it.
Man, dandelions are fun to paint! When I think of moments I commune with my planet more than ever, it's when I'm lying in the tall grass, running my fingers through the blades, listening to music. I like to imagine the blades of grass are running themselves through my fingers on their own accord, too.

The Garden Chronicles, Part 1: Weed Apocolypse

2009-04-28T03:08:00.002-04:00

This is our first Spring in the new house, and so the last couple weeks have brought new mystery flowers. I'm not sure what everything is, but it's terribly exciting to see that the previous owners either left the garden to It's own devices, or actually tried to plant a couple things (and they succeeded). Photos of the best couple finds are below.

Also, I am Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds, Gozer the Destructor of weeds. I didn't so much as start the new gardens the other day as just start RAZING the entirety of what was there before. There's a fresh patch of mostly cleared area in the front garden now (though wild onion grass has this pesky trick of hiding it's bulbs RIGHT under tree roots, so it's ultra-hard to dig them out, erg), and that's where the vegetable garden will go. Soon.

Here are the Bleeding Hearts that made me hop with glee.

Ghostly white spidery flowers.

Behind me is the start of the cleared area, halfway through. All are Punished. Well, except the creeping myrtle. She's mostly spared. For now.

Terra.

2009-04-13T17:47:00.000-04:00

So here's No. 2, painted. Rabbits are much more fun to paint than I had suspected. More rabbits must be painted. Fuoco was going to be saved for last, but I've got the reference I need for it, while I'm still hashing out what kind of face I think represents what I think of Air.

I'm going to try to crank out the next two over the next week to get finished, but I won't rush them. The ladies, they do tend to take forever to get ready.

So.

2009-04-11T17:51:00.000-04:00

My aunt died last night. She was in her sixties, which is too young. It was a fairly sudden bout of pneumonia that wracked her body and, though she seemed like she was recovering last week, she did not.

My parents called and said, "you better come. She's not going to last the night."
My sister-in-law-soon drove 35082 miles to get my brother and we all met at the hospital. There were a lot of us there, extended family. If she was aware of anything, I hope she knew that. Somewhere in the 2 am hour, our parents sent us home so we wouldn't crash our cars in exhaustion. I got the call sometime around 4 am.

I am not as okay as I thought I would be. I normally handle death fairly rationally. Last night made me realize some really uncomfortable things about myself, namely that I'm almost incapable of telling people how I really feel about them.

So you know: I think you're great, and I care about you. In case I didn't say it. Thanks for being there. I raise a glass to you, and to my Aunt Helen. Cheers.

Acqua (first of a series).

2009-04-05T02:50:00.000-04:00

Because I need to update this more often if it kills me, and because I had a great conversation about these with Shellefly tonight (and I'm so psyched about a new idea she has concerning a partnership on some craft/art items), here's the (mostly done) first of the series.

Been thinking about Mucha's (and others') "anthropomophizing" of phenomena like seasons and stars, and so the elements are now ladies. In cameos. Crawling with "their lot" of critters. Because I can't stop loving faces, in the end.

I'm debating at to how exactly I'll title them in the scrollwork below the cameo frame... maybe in italian, maybe latin, english... dunno. Dunno.

Anyway, here's Water. For now she's "Acqua".

And here's the sketch for "terra".

I'll upload this painting tomorrow. "Fuoco" next.

Work for work when I'm working.

2009-03-21T03:32:00.006-04:00

In my heart, I'm a painter. That's all I want to do. I have, however, been designing toys for a living for almost ten years now, and that's pretty exciting too. I feel fortunate to have fallen into the industry, and it's been a ride.

So here's the kind of stuff I could be working on any given day. Gettin' mad moniez for drawing stuffed cats is really kind of unfair, I think. For others, I mean. For me it's great... even when it's maddening.

So, here's a tour.

----------

Barbie. I do love her so, even though she's so cruel to me. These are some Barbie projects for assorted clients.

I actually only did this for in-house promotion of our ability to develop characters, stories and product/doll bases to develop from a merchandising point of view. Jolene's got a journal and she writes about her life in it every show - can't you just see the show already?

Knex Men packaging concepts.

The "Stuft" cat was totally my concept, and I took it to prototype for my design co. to take to partner, possibly. [Parties that may or may not be a large toy company in the US] are considering a whole line based around it.

Sigh... yes, it's Hannah Montana. Gotz ta pay the bills.

So those are some things. I've got a lot more, but I'll save them for another post. Good night in Toy Land, kiddies.

Joker's Wild.

2009-03-01T17:54:00.002-05:00

The Autumn Society has put together a show called "Joker's Wild" - all about, yes, the Joker. The reception is this Friday night (First Friday!). Show's up at Brave New Worlds, 45 North 2nd St (Philly).

The show's full of good stuff. Can't wait. Here's my piece.

Some past childrens book work I'm still fond of.

2009-02-16T15:10:00.001-05:00

My style and skill level have evolved, but I'm still fond of these pieces from my portfolio. I'm currently revamping the whole thing, but these have a special place in my heart.

Post one of two.

Rayguns!

2009-01-07T12:32:00.002-05:00

I didn't do this rendering, but it's the final rendering of the raygun I designed.
And that's great!

Here's my sketch. Not too far off.

Cool.

Meep meep, happy holidays, bleep boop

2008-12-24T15:53:00.002-05:00

Here's our card this year... had no time to do more than a quick one, but I really, really like the idea of making a "snowbot" every time it snows. Ever again. For always.

Anyway, cheers, and happy holidays!

Halloween.

2008-11-02T19:04:00.000-05:00

I got to carve a pumpkin after all.

As lukewarm as Halloween started off, a weekend full of spending time with awesome friends, having good conversation, watching scary movies, watching more scary movies and taking in the season has cheered me considerably. Today's sleep-in, soup-making, leaf-raking and more have brought even more autumny good feelings.

Happy Halloween, folks, and happy All Saints Day.

Moo Cards and such.

2008-10-22T07:54:00.002-04:00

Received the Moo Mini Cards yesterday! Yeah, they're pretty cute, and printed on a really nice substrate. I just wanted to test them out, so I ordered a pack and chose a couple a handful of random images. Next time I'll be choosier with my picks, but I'm still satisfied, since different cards are more appropriate to different types of potential clients.
Could I have done these at home and saved a couple bucks and had a better font on the back? Sure. Could I have done them to this quality, cut them as nicely and evenly, gotten such nice double-sided stock cheaply and found such a nice plastic case to fit so well, while preserving my non-existent home time? Not really, no. So they're worth it.

Couple random photos from yesterday.

My cat, sittin' like a person again. Fucking cat thinks he's a venerable old British buffer or a Victorian cryptozoologist* in that chair or something.

* I like to imagine myself a Victorian cryptozoologist when I'm in the library. The house may only have one imaginary victorian cryptozoologist at a time, I think.

Here's the particularly pretty sunset on my drive home from work yesterday. Best I could do snapping while driving, but still. Nice work, Sky.

Oh, snap.

2008-10-14T19:35:00.001-04:00

The world around me is looking pretty swell, so I'm snapping some shots with the camera I carry along with me everywhere, just in case.

I mentioned it to a few of you Jersey folk before - here's the cathedral that's practically in our back yard.

At Christmastime, they raise a bright white "star" over the top. I know, religion-schmeligion... it's kinda pretty.

Sleepy.

2008-10-14T04:26:00.000-04:00

Staying up too late has started to ruin my next day, too, so I've got to knock that shit off. I was up way too late last night, and now I'm wide awake since I fell asleep right after dinner tonight (after working late at the office). Worst part is, the office didn't even necessarily need me to stay - I just figured I'd do it to be the rep for our dept., so the boss wouldn't reprimand us again for not pitching in. Office politics. Feh.

Anyway!

I got to see some MOO Mini Cards in person this weekend, and I'm a fan. Nice stock, nice printing. So I ordered some... should get them at the end of the week. I hope the colours come out OK, considering I rushed it. Didn't do a test print of the stuff I sent off.

They're great handouts, and I watched person after person comment on how neat they were when my friend handed hers out, so I'm thinking they're something that won't necessarily get tossed immediately.

Had a lengthy conversation Friday night with a friend who's been studying, researching and planning up for the last two years on the the idea of starting a small press. I have this idea of putting together a book, but there are some fundamental questions I need to answer before I think about it. I trust his researching skills and realistic point of view implicitly, so I came away with a realistic, albeit daunting, feeling of what I might have to do. In the meantime, I may as well start trying to save the dough to get this thing built.

It's 4:30. I should try to sleep.

Anniversaries

2008-10-07T20:37:00.000-04:00

I think it's really neat to see what kind of images people want/commission for anniversaries. I did this for a couple for their first (first anniversary= paper), but I think my own this year will be quite different. It will involve a pile of zombies, for sure. Probably guns. Lots of them.

Anyway, here!

Birthdays.

2008-10-07T02:07:00.001-04:00

Some years, my birthday leaves something to be desired. But not this one.
Wednesday, of course, started off by the Universe's gift of letting me hang out with Neil Gaiman.
Friday, I played fun games with awesome people. Saturday, I played paintball with more awesome people, came home bruised and joyful, and slept the sleep of the Righteous. Sunday brought awesome homemade dinner, family, and the Nerf Longshot.

This morning, I came in to work to be greeted by three tons of baked goods from various coworkers - one of them, whom I've already come to know recently as one of my favorite humans, made an Emerald City of Frickin' OZ cake! I mean... sweet buttery Buddha!
(Backstory: we're both into reading the Oz books, and I loaned him a couple. We have a mutual Oz appreciation.) I have to admit, I got a little teary. It was unexpected and amazing, and those are the best kinds of presents in the world.

Life can be pretty great sometimes.

This was a card for my parents anniversary this week. She likes dogs, and they like birds.
So.

Top Five Moments

2008-10-02T03:02:00.000-04:00

As much as I hate ranking life moments against one another, if the Reaper came a-callin' right now, tonight's events would have to be in the list of "top five coolest moments ever".

Through a combination of luck and charity of friends, I just got to sit in on a long armchair-and-scotch chat with Neil Gaiman, Gardner Dozois, Michael Swanwick and amazing local photographer Kyle Cassidy and my talented up-and-coming writer/editor friend Mike VanHelder. Just the six of us. At Neil's hotel, after he read a chapter of the Graveyard Book in Philly tonight.

To say that the conversation was incredible would be an understatement. Watching three literary giants exchange ideas about everything from politics to steampunk (not to mention the entire science fiction genre) was inspiring beyond most experiences. I wish I could put the world on pause for a year and read, and paint, and read, and paint some more. I also wish I could've gotten over my shyness and piped up at any number of moments when I had something thoughtful to say, but... well, spilled milk.

To quote Mike (whom I owe a tremendous favour to for making this happen), "apparently I've died and have reincarnated as someone significantly cooler than me."

Inspired and wanting to give Neil a thank-you note of sorts for being consistently inspiring, I did this sketch last night. I'm actually rather embarassed, having only had about an hour to crank something out from starting-to-think-about-it to putting the brush down. A super-quick rush sketch painting ISN'T what I wanted to give a major idol in my life, but hey... it's better than just begging HIM to give ME and autograph. I don't need an autograph, I got to shake his hand and talk to him. The memory beats a scribble, fo' sho'.

Anyway, his assistant Cat took it, said very nice things about it very excitedly while showing it to everyone around her, and said she'd give it to him right after the show. (but She seemed genuine and was extremely pleasant and friendly, so I believe it got to him, or will.) She was so kind to me, really. What an awesome lady.

Anyway, that's that. I have the distinct nostalgia of being eight years old, offering a broken dandelion in hopes of making friends, terrified I'll be laughed at. And that's okay.

Saraswati

2008-09-24T03:43:00.001-04:00

No rhyme or reason

2008-09-02T00:57:00.002-04:00

Buying a house is an exhausting process that eats up all of your time and leaves you none for painting, but does, happily, leave you at the very end with a brand spanky new studio in which to paint.

I've painted the walls a motivating shade I call "bright frigging electric blue", and I feel peppier when I walk in. I've set up the desk, and I've got a window that looks out onto neighbors and squirrels in the very large trees. I have no excuse not to paint.

Here's a painting I sold over the summer.

Narcissa

2008-03-16T02:57:00.003-04:00

Here's a sketch painting done based on an amazing reference photo I found of a lovely lady reclining. I thought she should've had a mirror in her hands, and dreamt up this nymph-story in about 30 seconds. I think she's a good character to work into some group woodland fairy painting, should the oppourtunity arise.

Cynicism Cupcakes

2008-02-26T17:05:00.003-05:00

A LITTLE ABOUT AMY

What I do: I paint primarily in watercolors and inks, Arches papers, pencils and anything else scrounged up around the studio. I draw a lot of toys. I sleep about twenty minutes a week.

What I love: steampunk, cupcakes, tin toy robots, liquid eyeliner, growing things in my garden, netsuke, Harryhausen movies, Guinness and the power of individual ingenuity and creativity.

What I believe: I believe that the art of pencil and paper isn't dead, and I love being a painter - but that we artists need to evolve to live, and appreciate the Wacom as well as the anatomy class, to be the best we can be. I believe that every adult can be transformed by a piece of art, and become, if only for a minute or two, that child that believes in magic, the boogie monster, Santa Claus and fairies. I believe it's possible for children to enjoy the old classic novels like Baum's Oz tales when re-illustrated for modern young minds, and, inspired by classic illustrators like Rackham, Dulac, Tenniel and Parrish and and modern geniuses like Charles Vess, Lane Smith, James Jean and Dave McKean, I intend to make it so.

Where I've been: I've worked for years as a toy designer for such companies as Disney, Fisher Price/Mattel, Hasbro, Spinmaster, Toys 'R' Us and more. I'm currently expanding my work in the sci-fi/fantasy/gaming illustration and children's book illustration industries, with clients like Evil Hat Productions, award winning authors like Chuck Wendig and Catherynne M. Valente, and more.

I had drinks with Neil Gaiman once, and someday, I intend to illustrate a book for him if it kills me. Yes, it's true - he was a really, really nice person.

If you'd like to download a tear sheet for me, click here!