Show at SPACE Gallery Opening Night Extravaganza March 12th!

Rick and I are curating a gallery show!

March 8- March 21st at SPACE Gallery

March 12th Opening Night Extravaganza

• 8p-whenever, however long you can hang with me in drinks . . .
  
• Featuring 10 emerging San Francisco based artists
• Live Art Battle
• Live Painting
  
• Live DJ
• Top of the line, Comedy Improv Troupe: Hobofish
• Vegan Baked goods by Black Orchid
• Edgy drinks by SPACE Gallery
• chance to win one-of-kind, original art, just by coming out to drink with us!

I will try to update you on our process, so you can get an insight into the minds of curating -- what will become one of the biggest art riot extravaganza event!

Currently, Rick is working on the official website and I'm working on a logo. We are projecting to go live by Saturday morning.

We're so excited to feature the awesome comedy improv troupe -- Hobofish. If you haven't seen their live performance, it's a once in a lifetime treat. We're in the process of booking a DJ. A couple of promising prospects. We'd like to do a shout out to a talented DJ and music producer: Zaion. The music and the photography on his website is absolutely serene!

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be featuring the different artists and events ! Stay tune for more.

Hopefully you'll be able to make March 12th. Come celebrate my birthday weekend AND my gallery show!

Animation on Display recap!

Animation on Display was surprisingly successful. Despite our booth being a lot different than most commission-base manga/ anime style characters, we were positively received. On the first day, we had the challenge of setting up in a new space. Rick's work and mine differ so greatly in style, we had to think about what would be most complementary. We made the mistake of displaying the puppet on its side, so it largely blended behind all of our work. So the next day we faced him forward and it definitely made a difference in the number of interested parties. Funny I just noticed that in the picture below, Rick's shirt color matches the puppet.

Second Day
First day

Although, we were still very profitable, it was difficult to secure sales. Many people stopped by, but as soon as we said hello, they would run away. They also gravitated towards mainstream anime images: Naruto, Bleach, One Piece . . .

I also concluded that most anime-type conventions are mainly for cosplay, not so much to buy merch, especially of non-recognizable characters. People kept wanting to hire me to do $3 drawings of Naruto and such. I do have a strong principle in terms of infringing on copyrighted materials. I highly encourage commission work, but only if 1) it is original art 2.) the artist is paid their respected dues, at market value. Granted we were among "students" and "hobbyist," but it's a disservice to the artist to be paid $3 to produce 1) one of a kind 2) original 3) rush job 4) client dictated art. I hope our neighbors will raise their prices next year, they deserve it.

All in all, it was fun to table with Rick, meet some good contacts, cool people, and make some money off our art, be able to pay rent, people watch, and relax for the first time in ages. Thank you to everyone who supported us! If you missed our show, you can follow our hour by hour live blog or buy prints and ties from our etsy store. Thanks again.

Animation on Display this weekend: Jan. 30th & 31st at Hotel Kabuki, SF

Hello! If you missed my stop motion puppet at the AAU Spring Show 2009, it will be displayed at the Animation on Display Convention this weekend Jan. 30th & 31st, at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco!

The above puppet won an AAU Honorary Distinction Award. It has fully articulated joints and it is fully moveable. From head to tail it is 4 ft. in length. Inside, is a custom built wooden armature coated with foam rubber latex. I'd be happy to share my process at the table.

Our booth, Monkey and Seal will be located at the Artist's Alley showroom titled "Shadowlands."
It will be our first time showcasing at this event. I'm sure it will be a learning and fun experience.

The convention will have industry and guest panels with topics covering stop motion, voice acting, direction of manga/comics, cosplay, and of course, art and animation. They are also celebrating the 25th anniversary of Robotech.

So come out and hang out with us. Message me.

2010 with a Bang!

On to the new year!

2010 is the dawn of a new era for my art and collaborative project Monkey and Seal. With my partner Rick, I will be showcasing and selling my art at the Animation on Display this upcoming Jan. 30-31st at Hotel Kabuki, SF. Get ready for two days of anime, animations, illustrations, cosplay, toys, comics, and the latest industry releases. We will be located at the Artist's Alley under the booth: Monkey and Seal.

Furthermore, we are curating a gallery show this coming March. We're going to have live art, music, an improv comedy show, an art battle, possibly vegan cupcakes, delicious booze, and other goods. Paper Hat Productions present "Out of Place," an art riot extravaganza. Coming to you this March.

A new beginning

Joko's was a fitting and worthy finish. I wanted to tell him, that his beginning perspective class that I took about 2 years ago, actually kept me going in art. I hope I was able to convey how grateful I was. Thank you to my patrons who made it financially and physically possible for me to attend this semester. Thank you to my colleagues as well, for all of the constant encouragements and truthful crits. From now on, I'll just keep walking forward. This is the end and a new beginning for my art.

Concepts and in progress paintings

These are the pieces I am currently working on. Time is ticking and I need to get faster at painting. I'm still learning the properties and reactions of acrylics. I have about 24hours to put everything together for the presentation. gak!

Overall, I'm learning in huge leaps in Joko's. I'm super grateful.

I'm also working on a couple of collaborative projects in the works.One is art directing an independent revolutionary film, a secret event in March, and a potential online collaborative project. I can't disclose too much at this stage, except I'm working with really awesome artists and visionaries. I can post more once I get the go-ahead.

Last push to the finish. Wish me luck.

Skyace Wasteland: a painting process

Rick and I are cooking up a secret art event in March. It's going to be art riot! So please keep your mid March dates open!

Process Post: Skyace Wasteland

When I was 10 I wrote a short novel about a skyace pilot who stands for the downtrodden. This character keeps haunting me and showing up in my works. She knows the ways of the world, but is not stung by them. She is resourceful, imaginative, intuitive - a survivor. Simultaneously, I am haunted by the images of Chernobyl - the nuclear power plant disaster of 1968 that turned countless cities into metal wastelands. This painting is the fourth illustration of the Tyger Tyger series.

This illustration was painted in acrylics. I had in mind an old rundown power plant wasteland with a wooden railroad going through the mountain passage. I wanted to get the feel of "after a rain" so I painted cool lighting without any direct sun light. Below is the in-progress step-by-step painting process.


The relatively finished piece above. The thumbnail below. In the thumbnail, I mainly wanted to design the shapes and rhythm of the piece before any details. The plane wings point downward, with the vertical power plant columns on the right holding the main mass of the painting, and the railroad points upwards back towards the plane. My line drawings are general very rough and loose so that I have room to build upon it or completely scrap it, if need be. Interesting forms come out from random lines - a reigned chaos.


So below is my initial setup. I have my thumbnail on the corner of my in progress painting. A book of clouds above so I can reference color and shape. Each storm cloud have different shapes. Clouds are fun to paint.
I generally try to paint from background to foreground, meaning sky, ground, then whatever is in front. I do the biggest shapes first, the plane being the smallest is last. Although I broke my own rule by painting the hazmat sign first before the shape on the left. It was just too tempting. I like how old signs have rust color and peeling paint job. I actually lost the original shape of the mountain behind the powerplant.


This is how the piece looks after about 8 hours. From here, I worked the mass on the left and clarified the plane. This piece was fun to paint.

Thanks for visiting!