Saturday, July 30, 2011

Art in the Streets

A couple of weeks ago, my brother-in-law Key told us about the Art in the Streets exhibit at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (April 17-August 8, 2011). Frank and I LOVE graffiti art, and Frank is especially intrigued by Bansky. Key said that courtesy of Bansky, admission to the exhibit on Mondays is FREE. We were planning on checking it out on a weekend, as Frank has to work weekdays. However, this past Monday July 25, Frank came home early! So I texted my dear friend Jenny and she met us there for an afternoon of art, ice cream, and inspiration in Little Tokyo.

It was incredible to see art that literally developed in the streets of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, and Sao Paulo. Graffiti art proves that creative people will find a way to express their vision and their message. These artists create canvasses out of any and every surface available, and their images are accessible to everyone. So defacing public property isn't necessarily a good thing. However, when it's done with skill and passion, I can certainly appreciate the results. Some of my favorite installations were by Lee Quinones, Retna, Saber, Risk, and Mode 2.

Frank & Jenny checking out the anti-graffiti installation.

Lee Quinones

Frank in front of a Lee Quinones piece.

Invader and Retna piece.


Los Angeles Wall

Saber

Freight Train exhibit

Henry Chalfant

Mode 2

Frank & I next to Banksy's Yogi Bear

Risk's Bus















Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Working Blacklava Booth at Comic Con 2011

Monday July 18, 2011

Jenny emails me to see if she can spend the night here in the OC on Wednesday for her early drive down to the San Diego Convention Center on Thursday for Comic-Con International 2011. Say what?

Please note that I have always wanted to attend Comic-Con! Okay, so maybe I am much more obsessed with manga and anime than traditional comics, but I watch practically every comic-based movie released, I'm a sci-fi fantasy junkie, and I wish I lived in a graphic, animated world. I am sooooooo jealous!

So what happens? Jenny tells me to come with her. She'll be helping out at the Blacklava booth and Ryan is still looking for volunteers. Yes! Yes! YES! Here is synchronicity at its finest. Comic-Con, here we come!


Thursday, July 21, 2011


6:00 am: Wake up and get ready. Make sure Tiki, my min pin mix puppy, doesn't get into trouble.

7:00-9:15 am: Find an unexpected squatter on Jenny's windshield. Jenny gently shoos him away. On the road and buckled in for the two-hour drive.

Does anyone know what type of bug this is?


9:15-9:30 am: We park and take the shuttle to the convention center. Jenny comments on the disproportionate male-to-female ratio of attendees and a few of the buxom young girls' costumes that leave very little to the imagination. Ryan meets us outside with badges and wristbands.

9:30-10:30 am: We settle into the booth, meet our fellow volunteers, and complete Mission #1 Coffee and Pastry Run.

10:30-11:30 am: From Fan to Creator: Goal-Setting for Creative Types panel by Douglas Neff (Toucan Learning Systems)

Takeaways from Workshop

Awesome quote: Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
- Dr. Howard Thurman

Great advice on goal-setting:

  • Make my goals specific
  • Get some help
  • Take it one step at a time
  • Do my HOMEWORK!
So I decide to start small and begin with some comic characters representing my Inner Artist Child (from my work with The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron) and my Nemesis (Neff describes this as "what might get in the way of [my] success"). Drawings and character profiles to come soon.

11:30 am-2:15 pm: Work the Blacklava booth. Jenny puts on a puppet show with the panda hats, and loudly proclaims "We've got Adobo shirts! We've got Tofu shirts! We've got Secret Asian Man shirts! We've got Virgins Do It Better shirts! We've got I Speak English shirts!" I'm afraid she's intimidating the customers, but they're intrigued and come closer to check out our wares. The awesome T-shirts, hats, pins, stickers, and magnets sell like crazy!

Jenny and I at the blacklava booth. Check out the irresistible panda hats!
2:15-4 pm: Mission #2 Subway Sandwich Run. Pedestrian traffic is atrocious, compounded by costumed people passing out flyers every 10 feet. The Subway line is ridiculous, but may be bypassed if we purchase pre-made sandwiches. A customer just bought 40 sandwiches, so only four spicy Italian foot-long subs remain. Sold! Ryan lets us take our lunch first. Jenny and I find a clear spot on the floor and wolf down our sandwiches before returning to relieve the others.

4-5:30 pm: We walk the show! At the EMOTES! booth, Jenny and I enter a raffle and I win a toy! We visit the Legos, DC, and Marvel booths to take photos with our favorite characters and stop by Viz Media, IDW, and Image. We make our way to the small press section and stroll through artist's alley for some visual inspiration. Check out my Pinterest board for illustrators who inspire me.

Posing with a storm trooper.

She-Ra rules!

My new boyfriends, Batman and Wolverine.

5:30-7:30 pm: We sell some more Blacklava gear, then close up shop and begin the long drive home.



Post-show Analysis

Okay, so the crush of humanity in costume and consumer mode was rather exhausting. It probably takes several days, rather than just a few hours to really soak up all of the events and exhibits. However, I feel very grateful to have been given a taste of the Comic-Con experience. I would love to come back next year, and maybe I'll have my own comic or graphic novel to share at the con in the future!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Inspired Lessons 1: Drawing Lab - Get a Stack of Books

Happy 4th of July! On this Independence Day, I celebrate my decision to carve out an independent, creative career path for myself. I am still struggling with determining how I will allocate my time and energy to my new set of priorities. This process involves negotiating my immediate financial needs, my commitment to inspired living, and my long-term career goals. I come into this new freelance existence with: (1) a set of skills I've already developed and may apply to projects and jobs now, (2) identified areas for growth in my current skills, and (3) a wish list of new skills I will need in order to realize my dream of being a creative entrepreneur.

As true independence and inspiration cannot be achieved alone, I will need to draw upon the wisdom of others. And because I am a total nerd and need the structure and expectations that come with taking classes, I am putting together a curriculum for myself. (A post with all the details regarding my DIY continuing education program to come soon.) I will look to a variety of sources and instructors, but as I am a serious book lover, you can expect books to play a prominent role in my course of study. I am very excited to begin delving into many wonderful titles that I will use to spark my creativity, and I'd like to share the results of my first assignment, which I found in the following book:

Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun! (Lab Series)
by Carla Sonheim
Paperback, 144 pages
Published July 1st 2010 by Quarry Books
Lab 46: Get a Stack of Books


Newly rebellious and untraditional student that I am, I have decided not to read the book from cover to cover. My strategy was to skim through the entire book and flag exercises that appeal to me. I do intend to complete all or most of the exercises eventually, but I began with an irresistible activity that combines my two great passions: drawing and a visit to the library!

Instructions in a Nutshell: Bring a sketchbook or 5-10 index cards and a pen to your local library. Gather a stack of books that appeal to you visually, and then sit down and flip through each book, sketching anything you like. Pay no attention to composition or accuracy. Items may overlap and mistakes should be overlooked. This is basically a practice drawing session.

Armed with this fun and non-threatening exercise at which I simply could not fail, I happily headed out to the Westminster Library and grabbed a pile of books on birds, orchids, toys, and other subjects I can't recall anymore. I tried to find an isolated seat far from other library patrons, but it's a rather small library, so I had to share a large table with several guys on their laptops and a girl deeply focused on her studies. Here are my drawings from June 26, 2011:


I hadn't drawn anything in so long that I began rather self-consciously with very light and hesitant pen strokes. However, I soon began to enjoy myself and no longer cared whether anyone around me noticed what I was doing. With the birds, I felt such a refreshing sense of freedom to overlap different species and not try to perfect anything. I set myself the goal of simply capturing a very quick likeness of each bird that caught my eye, and moving on when I lost interest. My drawing of the Asian girl didn't come out quite as I would have liked, because I was so worried about being discreet, that the perspective was all off. I was so afraid she'd turn around and see me drawing her that I over-thought that sketch. But it was great practice drawing people again, which is something I used to love doing, so I'm happy.

I enjoyed this exercise and am looking forward to exploring the other exercises in the book. I love that the approach to drawing is fun and playful, which is perfect for someone like me who lacks confidence in her own drawing skills. All too often, I am paralyzed by a blank sheet of paper or canvas. Drawing, painting or writing usually seems like a task too big and too fraught with expectation for me to handle. But if I take it one small step at a time, using books like Drawing Lab that make creative activities seem accessible, then I will eventually gain the confidence and ease to begin projects that I imagine for myself.