Princess Kashmir

Another piece of art that's been floating around in my brain for awhile- a retro-inspired burlesque poster featuring Princess Kashmir from The Simpsons, specifically season 1 episode 10, "Homer's Night Out".

Last fall was the Every Simpsons Ever marathon on TV and my husband and I watched it pretty rigorously for the first few seasons. I was actually pretty impressed with how I was able to remember so many season 1 episodes word-for-word after not watching them for at least 10 years. (And maybe getting a little misty over the "Moaning Lisa" episode- which reminds me so much of myself as the less-than-perfect 10 year old girl I was when it came out. My parents STILL refer to it when I go into my sensitive artist mode.)

Princess Kashmir in Simpsons form

Progress shots:

Pencils.

Inks on vellum.

Inking Gulliver Dark on vellum.

Coloring scanned inks in Photoshop.

More coloring in Photoshop.

Poster layouts. Creating text in Illustrator, arranging the poster in Photoshop.

Want to get a print? You can order one at my Society 6 store!!

Process: Making shrink plastic magnets

 One of the things that I try to do when I sell stuff at my convention tables and online store is have a wide variety of items at different price points, so anyone who wants a piece of my artwork can walk away with something. Shoot, even if you're broke you can still walk away with a killer postcard with my website on it- for future reference when you're *not* broke.  ::nudge:: ;) I also make it a point to put my art on not only prints and pieces of frame-able art, but also on products which become part of the customer's life that they can take with them on their day. 

A magnetic front door is a great place to take inventory on finished packs as I make them.

 A staple of my merchandise selection for the past few years has been my magnet sets. I usually package them in 2 character sets for $10 each and they are cut, cooked and assembled by me in my 'free time'. I've been messing around with shrink plastic since I was a kid playing with Shrinky-Dinks in the 80s. My mom, a retired seamstress- even helped me as a small child sell my first Shrinky-Dink jewelry (under the eponymous banner of 'Paige's Cute Things') when she would go to sewing shows. I distinctly remember my mom handing me over my earnings afterward and getting a jolt of greedy excitement. It was just a few bucks but that satisfying feeling of receiving money for something I enjoyed doing was something I would chase for the better part of my life.

 I rediscovered the awesomeness of shrink plastic a few years ago after I started selling my work at conventions. Looking for new ways to present myself, I came across printable blank sheets of shrink plastic paper and went to town creating jewelry such as necklaces and brooches. One of my first pieces of jewelry, my roller derby girl necklace, landed me my first interview and product review on a roller derby blog. I even sent a giant shipment to the gift lounge of the Oscars back in 2009 to be touched by and given away to real, live *famous people*. It was pretty neat. Aside from jewelry, I also sold them as magnets- but it being the early days of conventions I didn't know what I was doing. Instead of packaging the magnets as sets I would have them all loose on a giant magnet board I clumsily propped up on my table, which would get knocked into and pushed off the table as customers would grab the magnets they wanted. It was a bit of a mess. Especially in-between shows when I had to put them away stacked in tupperware containers where unprotected they could chip and break. But still they sold well, even better than the shrink jewelry- I think because they are something EVERYONE can use and appreciate. Shoot I even know people with kids who like to play with them on the fridge while sitting on their kitchen floor.

 I've had some concern from well-meaning but misguided people in my life who don't understand why I would want to tell my 'secrets' of how I make my products. Honestly, there's a few reasons for this. Making these magnets and other shrink plastic accessories is one of my more labor-intensive processes of creating merch. If anyone else is crazy and determined enough to get themselves elbow-deep into doing all the things I have to do to make these then by all means- go for it. I just ask that you are as generous with your processes as I have been with mine and perhaps we can all learn from each other. Also I am not threatened by other people having similar merch as me- since I believe people are buying my magnets and merch because it's features my artwork, not simply because it is a magnet or a bracelet, etc. I mean really, if you're that hard up for magnets just to have magnets- there are plenty of places you can get some for way cheaper. I also wanted to share my processes so that people can see exactly how much work goes into making them- this is one of my products which is almost 100% assembled by me, all I buy are the blank sheets, magnets and packaging materials. Some products like my stickers (Stickermule), prints (Overnight Prints) and artbooks (lulu) I pay to be produced by an outside company who then sends me the product that I sell. Though if I *did* have a print shop of my own I'd be a very happy girl, haha. Really though it's just nice to be appreciated for the hard work I do making the products I sell and hopefully this will educate people on my processes, whether they are simply curious as to how I make all this stuff or want to try their hand at making their own shrink plastic creations.

My process:

Step 1: print

Step 2: cut

Step 3: cook

Bonus video:

Step 4: spray

Step 5: glue

Step 6: attach

Step 7: wrap

Step 8: admire

If you want to get some of my magnets for your own, check out my convention schedule to see if I'm coming to your town! If I'm not, or you're a hermit like me- be sure to check out my etsy store!

Bi-Coastal! My art is in both Image Comics and Sailor Moon tribute shows this month!

Two group art shows opened up this month, one in Los Angeles and another right here in New York City. 

Out in LA, the Moon Crisis 2014 Sailor Moon tribute show opened at the Rothick Art Haus to a massive crowd of cosplayers and fans. LA Weekly has some amazing photos from the event. I unfortunately couldn't make it to the show as trips to LA are expensive, but if you are in the area there will be a second opening for the show on August 9th, and then the show continues running until August 30th.After that, you will be able to purchase a print of your own from my Society 6 page or through me directly at my upcoming convention appearances.

The entire show is also on sale to the public, as you can see here.

You can see my piece all the way to the left on the end.

My Sailor Moon poster!

Back here in New York City, I'm also taking part in One-Shot Gallery's From Spawn to Saga: Image Comics at 22 show. The micro gallery is in St. Mark's Comics in the East Village, NYC- one of my most favorite neighborhoods in the world. My Ladytron piece is available for sale either at the store or over the internet via the online gallery.

Comics Alliance even gave the show a little shout-out!

Studying Up on Retro Cartooning

Always looking to keep my work fresh I'm constantly keeping my eyes peeled for new inspiration. Like a fancy new liquor I can splash in the martini shaker of my brain, sometimes I find something in the back of of my cabinet shelf that's been there all along, hiding in plain sight, covered in dust and cobwebs. I mix it in with my regular favorites and holy crap- where was this deliciousness my whole life? 

'Gee, willeckers!'
Self portrait in the pie-eyed
style of 20s-30s animation.

I plan on doing a whole 'family portrait' in this style
for eventual 2013 Christmas cards. 

So hey guess what- that thinly-veiled analogy I just used of liquor is actually about retro cartoons, particularly those of the 1920s. I've always been a fan of old cartoons, especially since my first artistic interests laid in the animation industry. I fortunately have SUPER supportive parents as well, who were totally feeling my artistic obsessions (especially since these interests were nice and quiet and solitary when I was a kid) and would point me in the direction of pretty much anything animation-related they came across. In particular the old Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies and Fleischer cartoons of their youth and then eventually I moved on to the more obscure works including those of Osamu Tezuka (Unico), Richard Williams (Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure) and Nelvana (Rock & Rule). Even during vacations to Disney World as a child my parents would enroll me in children's animation classes while they were getting to ride Splash Mountain. 

'Cutie Patootie!'
A flapper pinup in the 20's style.

As I got older my interest shifted from animation into comics but I still wanted to keep the clean aesthetic and line economy of traditional 2D animation and I've been chasing that look ever since. And being a big fan of the concept of 'climbing your artistic family tree' for inspiration, I've been researching the works of Ub Iwerks and Max Fleischer, two of the founding fathers of animation. I remember watching so many of these cartoons as a kid and being engrossed in the adorable creepiness.

Fleischer's Bimbo in "Bimbo's Initiation"

Part 1 of "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story"

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story... by CarlStallingEnthusiast

I hope these inspire you as well! I hope in the near future to have my pie-eyed portraits available as a commission option!

Boot the Foot: Mondo Gecko

I was recently invited to take part in my art pals Beast Wreck and Skummie's new art blog Skumm Beast presents Boot the Foot, which has several artists interpreting their favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle characters in their own unique way. My first piece, of April O'Neil is up and now my second, of Mondo Gecko the 80s-tastic skateboarding lizard is posted as well. You can check it out along with a small quesstionnare regarding my history with the beloved franchise.

Boot the Foot: April O'Neil

I was recently invited to take part in my art pals Beast Wreck and Skummie's new art blog Skumm Beast presents Boot the Foot, which has several artists interpreting their favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle characters in their own unique way. My first piece, of April O'Neil is up and you can check it out along with a small quesstionnare regarding my history with the beloved franchise.  

Check out the full entry HERE!

I highly suggest checking out all the cool artwork involved!!!

Here's some sketches of the other characters I'm working on for future entries, including:

Mondo Gecko!
My all-time favorite action figure.

Irma! (and eventually Vernon)
Cuz no one else wanted to draw them!

The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe- REDUX Edition blog

I had the honor of taking part in the The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe- REDUX Edition blog, which was quite a thrill for me as I am a HUUUGE fan of the book series, which was a giant influence on my childhood obsession with character design. By the time I found out about the project and got ahold of the moderator it was pretty slim pickens, most of the 'cool' characters on the list had been rifled thru, leaving a lot of D-listers and what I like to call the 'single-pagers', which were always the most awesomely lame weirdoes the Marvel U circa the 80's had to offer. I fortunately was able to grab the last girl, being Her, the female counterpart to Adam Warlock, or who I lovingly now refer to as 'Giant Gold Bitch' and chose the awesomely weird Aelfyre 'Whitey' Whitemane, whom I remember even from my childhood as being such a strangely designed character. Plus it's such a departure from my usual pinup art, it was definitely a fun exercise. 

Be sure to check out mine and several other awesome reinterpretations of characters at the 

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe- REDUX Edition blog!

Her! See the actual entry here!

Whitey! See the actual entry here!

And now I ramble:

I love stats, I love character lineups, I love comparing power levels and surmising whether or not so-and-so could take on so-and-so in some whirlwind street fight. It fills my nerdy little heart with glee. The combination of the OHotMU, the Who's Who in the DC Universe series and various sourcebooks for tabletop roleplaying games I collected over the years resulted in me just spending hours upon hours alone at my parent's dining room table as a kid creating multiple characters and universes of my own design. All thru junior high I had stacks of RPG sourcebooks and stacks of character sheets, but sadly no one to play with. ::insert sad violin:: It wasn't until high school that I found enough sorta-like-minded individuals to get a Vampire: The Masquerade game together. Unfortunately the only way I could get them to play was if I was the DM/Gamemaster/Storyteller and totally threw out the actual dice-rolling process of the game (I know, blasphemy. I think they figured the lack of dice made it less nerdy?). Since everyone I played with had gotten themselves so wrapped up in creating their character, if there was even a possibility of that character getting killed and rendered unusable I could kiss being able to play at all goodbye. So I counted my blessings and just found creative ways to work story arcs where characters got really fucked up, but didn't necessarily die. I think that was a major mistake on my part however with running an RPG, as it gave the player characters (PCs) way more control than they should be allowed. But alas I was young and naive and had a spine made of spaghetti. These game sessions happened about once a week for about 3-5 hours apiece, and each 'Chronicle' (major storyline) lasted about 3 months. We even made different mix tapes for the characters and overall story atmosphere to get my brain going. (Which I still do to this day, but now it's playlists on iTunes.) It was creatively exhausting, writing all these open-ended stories for the PCs to navigate thru and then the times we actually played it would be even more physically exhausting acting out all these characters on the spot. I was seriously performing some sugar and soda-fueled one-woman show shit at that poker table in my parents basement. (I'm sure if I nowadays was a fly on the wall witnessing my antics I would cringe so much at the embarrassing wannabe theater-kid-ness of it I'd collapse in on myself like a dying star.) I apparently did 'such a good job' of DMing that once any of my players decided to step up to the plate and host a session they backed out at the last minute, which was quite a disappointment to me as sweet Christ it's an exhausting job. I have no idea how I did it. So many of the NPCs (non-player characters, essentially supporting cast and extras that were portrayed by me) I created for RPG sessions I still plan to use for my magnum opus comic Pearly Whites, though they have drastically evolved with the times. During my heyday of RPGing back in 10th-12th grade I probably had a backlog of easily over 100 NPCs, not including repeat characters who had multiple alternate universe versions depending on the story. I was so wrapped up in gaming I almost failed Desktop Publishing my Senior year of high school, which would have caused me not to graduate. Oh, the irony. Lookit me now! ;P
Even before all that I had started to make my own awful, derivative-as-hell superhero team and had about 10 pages worth of a fully colored, fully lettered comic back in the 7th-8th grade when I first started really getting into comics (which for a kid that young even I must admit is pretty impressive) which I carried around with me in one of those chincy plastic portfolio books with the clear plastic pages and worked on every chance I got. I had even made my own Handbook-style character entries in the back as a guide that I typed out with a TYPEWRITER and even drew in little fake 'action shots' (that were so totally swiped from everything I could get my hands on, but hey I was only in 7th grade and just learning...) that I had to format my typing around by hand. I probably had about 6-8 completed entries in that book, all illustrated with the original art gluesticked in, with fully realized origin stories. It was awful yet totally charming at the same time and I wish I still had them somewhere so I could show you but I'm pretty sure none of it survived my 'I'm gonna destroy everything remotely embarrassing because I have an ego made of sugar glass'-phase I had in high school. Sometimes really I wish I could go back in time and shake the ever-loving shit out of myself.
Nowadays my more intensive character creation processes has been temporarily retired to my stacks of private sketchbooks, filled with scrawlings that would remind you of some sort of OCD-riddled crazy person. The movie Seven comes to mind. Hopefully with the self-imposed projects I'm planning to inflict on myself in the near future I can actually flex those creative muscles again.