KING CON 2009!King Con was this past weekend at the Brooklyn Lyceum in Park Slope, and it was awesome! The husband and I had a great time seeing old friends and meeting new people. It kind of reminded me of how MoCCA felt the first year or two, which was nice. We sold a few comics, buttons and some prints, but the extra fun part was doing commissioned sketches. I did one of an Indian dancer, inspired by the Indian-themed paintings in my portfolio, and one of the Marvel character Modok (a weird ugly giant-headed flying machine with tiny arms and legs), which was fun since I never draw things like that. The person who commissioned the dancer was kind enough to send me a photo and scan of the drawing:

I also did some fun small trading card-style color sketches, which I'll post later. Hope there's going to be another King Con next year!

Happy Halloween!

Have a happy & safe Halloween everyone!

Illustration for NYC AudubonI just finished an illustration for the NYC Audubon educational newsletter for kids. This piece is accompanying an article about the wonders of fishing in the city. Just make sure the ones you catch don't have three eyes! ;)
Seriously, the NYC Audubon is a great non-profit organization that looks out for New York City's feathered friends and other important environmental concerns, and I was very happy to create this piece for them.

Half-Naked Blue-Haired Zombie Woman!New painting! This piece is based on characters described in Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin. I'm a big Atwood fan, and I loved the multiple story-within-a-story device used, especially the sci-fi pulp stories written by the 1930's & 40's leftist political fugitive in the story. The "nude women who've been dead for three thousand years, with lithe, curvaceous figures, ruby red lips, azure hair in a foam of tumbled curls, and eyes like snake-filled pits..." was a visual I couldn't pass up illustrating.

Commuter SketchHaving to work on a Sunday: crappy.
The train home being empty enough to sketch comfortably: eh, small consolation.
But still, a fun sketch.

Whoa! Old Sketchbook!

I recently found an old moleskine that I used in my last year or two of school. Most of the time I am so focused on being able to make new pictures that I rarely look at anything old. It's definitely a strange experience. I'm not too happy with the bar sketches, (my friends probably agree!) but it's okay, I guess. I do like Prospect Park, and my old apartment view from the fire escape. Anyway, kind of hard to put old stuff up here, but at the same time it's kind of fun for a change.

Girly Stuff...

Just some quick girly studies I've done recently. The cocktail girls were done with copic markers, and the bride is a watercolor (I may re-scan. It's hard to get all the nuances of watercolor when scanning.) Fashion, flowers and pinks...
...but fear not, men! The crazed-half-naked-zombie-woman painting is a-comin'!

Azure Haired Women from the outskirts of Sakiel-Norn

This is a sketch/study I did on my train ride home (it's nice when the commute is a little productive!) of a zombie woman inspired by Margaret Atwood's novel The Blind Assassin. (Thanks, Michelle!) I love Atwood because her stories have interesting sci-fi elements but are also very grounded in reality. She uses sci-fi in the best way, to show us truth about our society and where it could be headed.
The characters I was inspired by are described as a "pack of nude [peach] women who've been dead for three thousand years, with lithe, curvaceous figures, ruby red lips, azure hair in a foam of tumbled curls, and eyes like snake-filled pits..." Now clearly I took some liberties with that, but I think it will be much more effective as a full color painting. Should be fun!

She's Poison......Ivy of course! Here's a pin-up of my version of the character. Perhaps a certain cat-burglar will be next!

It's Summer!Well, at least technically. It was the official first day of summer a few days ago, and July 4th is coming up fast, so the weather needs to catch up with the rest of us in NYC and provide some fun in the sun! I am super-excited to start using our new yard and new Weber grill.

Unfortunately, our two kitties are of the indoor variety, although I kind of want to take them out on a leash, just to see how they'd react! I think it would be pretty much like the cats in this drawing. Tubby Desmond would find a nice spot to take a nap, and hyper-active, skinny Penny would be exploring the highest peaks she could reach.