Fairy

Getting back to Figure Drawing

Ever since I got back from vacation, I've had trouble getting back into my creative flow and decided last night would be a perfect opportunity to go have fun drawing- no pressure! The goal was just to have fun- NOT to make portfolio pieces. In fact, I wiped away most of my drawings so I wouldn't feel attached or pressured. No one will see them. As artists, sometimes we need to step back and make drawing fun again and not feel the pressure that limits us. I have to admit, I do feel very rusty though. I haven't been to figure drawing since the winter. :S If I can afford the time and money, I'd love to start going once a week. :)

Art is...

Catherine and I saw this in the suburbs today. We both immediatly yelled "Art is freedom!" as soon as we saw it. ;)

I Can't Swim!

whisper

love bug

still not feeling well, but drew this last night

;)

Comic-Con '08- one more thing...

I can't believe I forgot to add these pictures this past week of blogging! (I've been sick, so that my excuse!) Actually, between 4 cameras, we have 2,111 photos and video! So, yeah, it's a bit too much to sift through! :o

pictured above is all of us with Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust

Be sure to check out Lauren's interview on chicagoanimators.com!

Comic-Con '08- part 7: Goodbye California!

Tuesday, July 29th:

Tuesday we got up, went for one last dip in the hotel swimming pool and jacuzzi. Then as we were all packing up and getting ready to check out of the hotel, an earthquake hit!!!! But, we didn't know it was an earthquake. I just thought it was the guys banging on our door. But then when I looked at Catherine and saw the hangers behind her moving, I wasn't so sure. Sure enough, our sister calls to say an earthquake had just hit LA one minute ago! Wow! Cool! Us Midwesterners don't usually get to experience earthquakes, so we all thought it was cool. Soon everyone was on their phones talking about "the big earthquake!"

After we checked out of the hotel, we had a bit of time to kill in San Diego before heading off to the airport:

Normally, I would have added lots of little illustrations/comics telling more stories from the trip, but I've been sick- I just can't muster up any good drawings right now. Please check back soon for new drawings in a few days! I should get the blog rolling again soon!

Comic-Con '08- part 6

Monday, July 28th:

We drove up to LA and Hollywood:

The Hollywood sign was soooo far away! (Can you see it?)

I feel gypped! I did not see Johnny Depp's hand prints, but a friend did.

(my hands are the same size as Julie Andrew's)

Overall, I was very underwhelmed with Hollywood and LA.

But the beach was nice:


Another beautiful sunset!

Comic-Con '08- part 5

Sunday, July 27th:

Sunday was the last day for the con. So, we went there for a small bit in the morning then headed out to explore San Diego!

note- the sign says "popular arts" rather than focusing on comics

We bought something from the Van Eaton Gallery last year and this year. If you look long enough, you can find some really great drawings for an affordable price. (It's the framing cost that gets you later!) Wow. Look at those Mary Blairs!!!

I wish I could afford this one!

I called the hotel and convention center, but never got it back. :(


Balboa Park is a must for convention goers.

Interviews From Comic-Con

A group of us ran around and got interviews with many great artists at Comic-Con last week. Kristine will be posting them at Chicagoanimators.com. The first one, Lauren Faust, is already posted. Here's the link to the thread- Interviews Please be patient for the rest to be posted. It may take a while.

pictured above- Adam Hughes

Comic-Con '08- part 4

Satuday, July 26th:

Kristine interviewed Craig McCracken at Lauren's Galaxy Girls booth.

Kristine interviewed Jerry Beck at the ASIFA booth.

Jerry was really great to talk to and very helpful in tracking down some information we're trying to obtain. More on that later, I hope.

ASIFA is putting together a really cool online archive! We got to see some of it there. It was really amazing!

Thanks to our friend, Ben, we're big Doctor Who fans. This is by far the best David Tennent look-alike!

We kept trying to meet Darwyn Cooke. He had a table, but we never saw him there. Then he had a signing, but we forgot to bring his comics with us! Darn! Maybe next year!


small taste of the crowds


Bolt panel- Chris Williams and Byron Howard

UP director, Pete Doctor discussing the newest Pixar film

He had the most awsome facial expressions!

I'm such a GEEK!

no, once again, I didn't get to meet him. :(

ASIFA had a panel with Ralph Bakshi. He was an interesting character. I didn't agree with most of what he said, but did like the fact that he encouraged young animators to get out there and create.

beautiful way to end the day

:)

Comic-Con '08- part 3

Friday, July 25th:

We started our day with a panel on Power Puff Girls and Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends.

Can you believe it's the 10 yr anniversary of PowerPuff Girls?! :o

in center- Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust

We met these very talented artists last year and were fortunate to meet them again this year.
Aimee Major, Derek Thompson, and Crystal Thompson

We got to meet a lot of very talented Dreamworks artists who just put out a book, Scrambled Ink.

We met Eric Goldberg at a signing for his new book, Character Animation Crash Course!

I love Eric Goldberg's drawing and signature!

Chris Sanders shows us his original art.

Before heading back to the hotel for some late night swimming and Dr. Who night, we ate at a really good restaurant.

Their New York style pizza is excellent! Yum!

There were still soooo many more panels we could have gone to-

Painting Workshop, Dynamic Drawing, That 70s Animation Panel, Illustrators/Storyboard Artists, Joss Whedon, DC Batman, Ghost Hunters, 75 yrs of King Kong....

Those are only a few. There were 16 rooms full of panels all day every day!