Will be moving

Hello friends and visitors to the studio blogspot - For further adventures in the engine room, please click HERE TO GO TO THE NEW SITE .

It will be good to see you there!



(Here's the addie if the link above doesn't jump:)

https://www.facebook.com/popfantastic

Notcot.org LOVES Hangar One!

And even better, they loved the animation and the look of the site. Yay!

Click here to check out their thoughts...

Hangar One Vodka

Sweet.. Hangar One Vodka's website launched today. Everyone at Dead As We Know It is amazing.

My little contribution: the animation on the website. ALL of it, hand-drawn! Below is a timing test.. still raw, in the studio...



Anyhow, enjoy!! ... I need to get a clip with audio.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO HANGAR ONE VODKA'S WEBSITE, animated by yours truly


PS. I'm not in the music video, but it's pretty fantastic too.

The Courage to Continue

I like submitting work to creative competitions. I try to compete in an event at least once a year because seeing how my designs or illustrations play against the creative talents of others is always a good rush and swell of hope for my nerves. However, I must ALWAYS tell myself that taste is subjective because I have NEVER won any artistic competition in my life. Ever. So, I suppose my "rushes" and "swells of hope" are a lot like watching your kid strike out. Again.

Regardless, I still show up and I still throw my hat out there.

My latest attempt for rejection is for a good cause: The competition's sponsor, Threadless T's, will donate 100% of net proceeds from the sale of each tee to The American Red Cross's Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund. So everyone wins, and that's good.

Of course, it still sucks to see how many low scores were placed next to my design. Being aware this is a competition, one can't help but wonder what votes are genuine opinions or just plain sabotages (most creatives are such a picky, irrational, and insecure lot)... I noticed that EVERYONE has low scores, including, sadly, some very truly GREAT designs.

OH WELL.



Please click HERE to help me flog myself publicly or vote for who you like. We all win here, but the focus are the tsunami victims. Let's keep them in mind, first and foremost.

Or just donate directly: Click here to donate to the RED CROSS

and remember:

How to Ruin a Perfectly Decent Illustration

When one does what might be described as "thinking", one tends to ruin things.

Case and point for myself:
This is one of my earlier pieces from 2006 called "Temptation." Very simple, but a pretty direct statement about relationships - specifically marriage - obviously. It came out very quickly, not too much analyzing.... It's also not meant to be hostile, but I think it is true and realistic and a bit scary. My friend Tam raved about this picture. She has no idea, but I always feel so much better if Tam responds well to something I drew. She doesn't suffer anything that isn't immediately engaging. However, she'll never know about this wonderful assurance I get from her because she never reads my blogs. Anyway, I'm so glad she LOVED this.

She excitedly told me how it reminded her of a friend she knew, how it was very accurate, liked the colors, many things more....and I always bask in her praise because she can be hard to please.

She's going to kill me when she sees this:

I'm not quite sure HOW or WHEN I convinced myself this was a good idea, but it's all on paper, and you can't CTRL-Z oil pastel.

And, Darling - Series

Been working on these this summer.

No Standing Anytime NYC: Hipster Girl

Saw her standing outside the Magnet on 29th... I made a whimsical guess that her name was Natalie... she looks like a Natalie to me.

No Standing Anytime NYC: Silver Anniversary

I watched this wonderful couple who so illustrated how long-term married couples look alike. The color of the clothing and hair, the height and body shapes, and even the manner in which they walked ( restricted upper body movement, scurrying legs ) were matched. You could look at these two and know that they were a set.

Looking at couples like this also make me fear staying married to my husband. I love him to pieces, but I neither wish to dress like him or for my body to look like his! I'm sure he'd agree.

No Standing NYC - The Shadow Girl

Around 10-11 pm on Thursday and Friday nights, I'd see the Shadow Girls appear on 29th street. You may wonder, what in the world are "Shadow Girls?" (Or not)

Shadow Girls was what I would call the women that I saw standing in line for the Club Shadow on 28th street. Without fail on weekend nights, this club would have a line that queued with 50-75 people standing in it and then around 4 am you'd usually hear fighting and hood-yelling on the street. Some pure classless stuff... and it was awesome. (I videotaped one argument, but I can't find it...so upset about this)

Regardless, one thing I noticed: there were never skinny girls in line-- this was a club for curves. The women would stand in line, balancing on teeny tiny heels, (plus)-sizing each other up and it was so frickin incredible.

Update

Revisiting the Empresses and Queens Series...Not exactly sure why...

Here's Cleopatra. There will be palms in here. Feeling mildly miserable about this. Why? I don't know... do I think adding palms will add excitement? Why did I choose Cleopatra anyway?

I'm such a sucker for iconography. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???!

No Standing Anytime & Puppy Gamines

Holidays, already here! Halloween I spent hiding, may do the same for Thanksgiving...

some updated work. First the No Standing Anytime work is developing :

and the puppy gamine series as well...I still really don't know what to call it... we'll see.

Twilight

I'm excited about all the hype around Twilight, I am such a sucker for vampire films. I'm currently trying to select which bg color I like best because I'd like to include these in my next portrait mailout.

I'm leaning towards the dusty rose.

Mailbox

Received this in the email box.. can't read it... don't know Portuguese. F%^k.

" quanto Gamoor marvilhoso, gostaria de reseber informativos de illustraes e moda"

Halp!

"Where the Girls Are"

Recently featured in a great little blog.. they have a small thumbnail with a link to my site.. it makes me blush to be mentioned with Marguerite Sauvage & Garance Doré... two of my favorites fashion illustrators. Also, very happy to see Fawn Gehweiler and Keren Richter.

An honor! Unfortunately, many of those who profess to love me don't think so. *sigh*

Click here to go to because you love me

Animation study: Carlos D.

These were a grouping of some poses I had sketched while watchign Carlos D. at an Interpol show. Interesting study. I don't know why I waited so long to post, this is a few years old...oh well, animation is timeless.

NoHo NY Artwalk

One panel of illustration prints from the "No Standing Anytime" series is in the NoHo NY Artwalk (curated by Harriet Fields) from April 16- 30. It's in the CornerShop Cafe, at Broadway & Bleecker Streets, across the street from my old apartment!

Not to sound cocky (not at ALL) but I think you'll be able to pick my piece out. ;0) ( I mean, everyone did abstract modernism or modern abstractism, as per usual here in NYC)

29th Street Series

So, time to post and talk about new stuff.I am so excited about this particular project!

We had taken an amazing apartment on West 29th Street in NYC. I LOVED that apartment so much. The neighborhood, however, took a while to warm up to. My husband and I had just moved from the apartment we lived in on Broadway at Bleecker, a hugely fun, stylish, beautiful people area and I was always somewhere inside a store. It was 2 blks north of SoHo. I was spoiled rotten for real estate, and measured all of NYC against downtown living.

When we came to the garment district/penn station.. I was simultaneously heartbroken and grossed out... I'd always felt it was one of the uglier areas of the city with its tall, imposing gray buildings, oily street water and pigeon crap everywhere. The people-watching near Penn Station was abysmal.Really, it wasn't, but I LIKED drawing leggy good life model types and fashionistas--- It was so hard to focus on anyone when everyone looked so...ordinary.

That was me initially.

After living there for over 6 years, I was wrong about the neighborhood's character. Oh, it's still ugly, hard and full of charmless chain restaurants. The people move like swarming ants and overall everyone is pretty pissed off/anxious/focused elsewhere (unless it is either a tourist, or it's after 7 pm)).

However, this was life, pure and simple, in New York. Living reality is more interesting than (most) fantasies, and that includes drawn figures.

Anyhow, here are a few of my observations, enjoy. I will post as many as I can, with their stories as often as I can.



xo
Su

LE VENTREI think this gentleman must have lived in the neighborhood because I saw him often, walking down 29th street, usually to pick up food. I always thought that he looked like he was in the middle of watching tv and going to the kitchen for a snack.

Maybe he was...?

FOX NEEDS HELP

Normally, I wouldn't name a drawing something so...objectifying. But I watched THREE different men run across 8th avenue to offer help her with her bags.

She turned them all down.


MADAME Du CAPI noticed this lady walking very slowly on the sidewalk, with her cane. There was something aristocratic about the way she walked (or she may have had a stiff back, I don't know these things...) I was wild about the fact that she threw a Yankees cap on top of her turban.

Weirdly enough, the feedback I get on this illustration is that she makes people feel sad. Then they usually mention that they need to call their grandmothers.

Update Feb 2009

I've been pretty bad about updating stuff here because it's been busy, but I'm hoping to have the studio blog back up and running soon. I will be posting new work in progress here through the rest of february.

My apologies and sincere thanks for your patience, Iwill not let you down!

Another After Effects Test

God, the compression on this is awful, but that's youtube for you. The arrow is a happy accident. Still learning the ropes on AE.

All I Need

This is the beginning of a storyboard that I am entering for Aniboom.com's Radiohead competition. Still a work in progress, still working out timing, but the story is about relationships and dependencies, both mythically(sp?) and biologically based. I liked the theme of travelling, I think it appealed to my Sagittarian side.



Please vote and rate it if you like it! Perhaps I'll make it to the top 5! Aniboom will select ten top rankers in the first round and commission them to create 1 full minute of animation based upon the entrant's storyboard/animatic. From there, the top 5 will be selected, and then will be sent off for the band to decide upon the winner. Excitement, yes? Of course, of course! However, I was more excited about being able to use Radiohead's music without dealing with licensing red tape and royalty fees!!

Here is the link to go to:

Link to Vote for my Animatic!!

There's a lot of other superb work there -- don't look at it!!! I'm kidding. There is some great stuff and I have my favorites. There's some crap too.. check it out and decide for yourself, but we all know who you're going to give top rankings to, right?...right.

Of Empresses and Queens Update

New illustrations to add: Empress Wu Zetian of China and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Worship Worthy

A few months back, Anna forwarded me an article from Worship Worthy
that had the Justine D illustration. (Sadly, no credit - boo!) However, I can't really boo them, as I've found that I really like them and because, I too, neglect to mention credit sometimes. I've been on their mailing list for a bout a month-- not very long, but it's proven very cool fun so far. They report fashionable, artsy, and eclectic people, places and things from all over the place, all over the globe, but especially NYC. In addition to this, women take front and center which is beyond awesome.


I'm a softie, I can forgive their sins.

Worship Worthy

A la Peanut butter & Jelly Sammiches

Last week, I was designing a character at TechnoSource for a new product for girls aged 6-13ish. This was complete new ground for me, since I think my market is for older little girls (aged 21-40)... Due to legalities and non disclosure forms, I can not say what the product is, but I'm quite excited to have helped out.

Spike's Tea

Logo for Spike's Tea.

Font is Cosmic Cursive- I love this logo....It came out really well

Website

Experiencing technical difficulties with the site-- Hopefully it will be back up soon. Ugh! I never said that I was a programmer!

Art Date at the Viper Room

Some (actually 4) of my printed illustrations will be on display at the Viper Room in Los Angeles tonight (thursday) at 7 pm.

The Viper Room
8852 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood

(corner of Sunset & Larrabee, 5 blocks west of La Cienega, 1 block east of San Vicente)

Updated site to post.
www.popfantastic.com

I'm having a love affair currently with dandelions.. some links are still in testing mode...

Doodle

SIFF: Return from Seattle

Returned from the Seattle International Film Festival. Had an INCREDIBLE time. Absolutely unforgettable. So proud of my dear husband. Now, I just need to get my act together and make an animated short to submit!

Walk The Talk

www.walkthetalkfilm.com

Orange Walk the Talk" Animated Splash Page

This project completed approximately two weeks ago. Walk the The Talk is competing at the Seattle Film Festival friday June 14.

Bad News

Bummer: Looks like CITY won't be using the illustrations after all. Cr*P! I still haven't learned not to count my chickens before they hatch!

Fanny Site

Finished creating a short flash animation for the play Fanny. The play has received strong support from The Ensemble Studio Theatre, and is currently in the process of raising funds for production.

Please have a look!

www.fannytheplay.com