My Society 6 Merch in REAL LIFE!

This Christmas about 99% of my presents given were items purchased thru my Society 6 store. Admittedly my intentions for doing this were a bit selfish. They don't offer samples of your work (which is understandable as that could be easily abused...) so if I want to check out the quality of the plethora of items Society 6 has to offer with my artwork on it, I have to cough up the money myself. Also my family is notoriously hard to shop for, and having a gift of my artwork on usable items like coffee mugs, pillows and totebags makes it hard to regift or return. Plus they really dug them all, so yay! Double win! Check out my Society6 store HERE!

The Queen coffee mug: get it HERE

I was rather happy with the quality of printing on my items. Some colors were a little off or washed out (Society6 prints using RGB colors instead of CMYK colors...) especially on the mugs, but the printing on the totes and pillowcases is bright and beautiful.

Knockout tote: get it HERE

 Now I want to buy a ton of stuff from both mine and my friend's sites on Society6 for myself. I mean, one can never have too many tote bags, right? Also, all friends/family going forward get Society6 merch for their birthdays/holidays.

Blonde and Brunette Sailor Mermaid mugs:
  get them HERE and HERE.

 For the most part my only gripe now is that I can't buy my own pieces in bulk to have available at my convention table. Or I could, but the prices would have to be crazy expensive to make any sort of profit. Or I could buy one and label it 'Display Only' and then explain where they can get one, which would be a giant pain in my tookus.

Card Queen throw pillow: get it HERE.

Also what's cool about Society6 is that with every sale I get a percentage. Not necessarily enough to retire on as of yet, haha more like get a Venti from Starbucks. But I can definitely see how it can add up. Be sure to check it out for yourself! As I get more stuff I'll post it here!

Amor Eterno coffee mug: get it HERE.

Check out my Society6 store for yourself HERE!

Home from the holidays and looking forward to 2014!

Phil and I at the Balsmans house in Missouri.

 It's officially 2014 and I am back home after my yearly double-up of family time, traveling from New York City to Baltimore (to see my family), then from Baltimore to St Louis (to see my in-laws), then St Louis back to New York. Even though it's usually no more than a week that we spend away, by the time we get home it feels like I've been gone a month.

Our little vintage ceramic Christmas tree. We're all about low maintenance holiday decor.

 January-March is usually my slow time for events, so I'm looking forward to really digging deep into some more involved projects I have lined up for 2014. I will have to fire up the engines on my merch making early this year however for my appearances at conventions starting this April. 2014 is looking to be my busiest year yet, and I am pumped.

One of my most cherished vintage Christmas ornaments, given to me by my Mommom.

Me, Mommom and Mom.

Newest acquisitions from Mommom's vintage Christmas collection. I was OBSESSED with that tiny porcelain Santa as a kid.

I'm impressed we're this well put-together before noon.

I just do what the wall tells me to.

Michelle and Joshua's commission

This is a commission I did of a couple as a Christmas present, requested by the guy for the gal. Big fans of mine, she got choked up opening the framed version this morning and sent me a lovely note. Warm fuzziness all around. It gives me great satisfaction when my art makes people happy.

Happy Holidays, all!

Christmas is right around the corner so from my family to yours, have a wonderful holiday! 

See you in 2014!!

Yay outfits!

The past month or so hasn't been a super busy one for personal art as my lettering work has picked up significantly, but I did get to do some fun events and got some cool new wardrobe staples. (I don't know if you know this about me- but I *really* like dressing up.)

Career Day at PS 333 in the Bronx!

I took part in PS 333 in the Bronx's first ever career day where I got to share what I do day-to-day with a bunch of 2-5 graders. It was more of a fair-type setting as opposed to me talking in front of a group, so I basically had my convention table set up with a more kid-friendly vibe. I even drew bras over all the exposed boobs in my artbook in case they wanted to flip thru it. I'm not really around kids too much so it was a bit challenging trying to boil down everything I do into a couple sentences, especially when the kids are trying to write down what you say as you're saying it. Eventually I just summed up my career as 'I draw cool stuff and sell it.' Which I'm ok with.

One of my new favorite outfits.

My BFF Fenny made me this AWESOME comic SFX skirt and got me a Jump From Paper bag for my birthday! I've gotten REALLY in to circle skirts this year, and with circle skirts you GOTTA get a crinoline. The thing I love most about circle skirts compared to tighter-fitting pencil skirts is that I can actually eat in them and not worry about my gut showing.

New dress coat from Trashy Diva!

I also scored a dress coat from Trashy Diva on clearance! A dress coat is a coat that's cut with a circle skirt in mind so that it won't crush your dress. I've wanted one for years now, and if you wear full skirts as well I can't suggest one enough. This one is also made of heavyish velvet so it weighs down my skirt enough that a cold wind won't blow it up!

Oops I gothed.

I also got some new makeup as a birthday present to myself, including Lime Crime's Styletto, which is an excellent creamy black lipstick. And also my favorite color to wear behind red.

Going to a Christmas party!

  What I really like about black lipstick is the 'challenge' it presents of keeping it tasteful. I don't want my outfit to be all about the black lipstick, but rather harmonious with the whole cohesive look. I think cuz I hide it in plain sight. Everything else on my face is high contrast black and white (bangs, eyebrows, eyeliner, glasses) so it's not as jarring. Being at home all the time really makes me jump at opportunities to dress up for outings, especially since my day-to-day life I'm dressed rather scrubby. I find my outfits get more and more eccentric the more time I'm allowed to get ready. I think it harkens back to my days as a goth.

Oh! And I actually have SOME art to show you.

Sailor Moon tight pencils.

Sailor moon poster color roughs.

I'm still chipping away at the Sailor Moon piece I'm doing for the Moon Crisis show in LA next summer. Really, really excited/terrified about this. It's probably my most ambitious piece to date.

Art updates! Nov 2013 Edition!

Exciting news! I was accepted into Moon Crisis: A Sailor Moon Tribute Show! It's out in California next summer and I get to display my work alongside some of my contemporary art heroes like Babs Tarr and Megan Lara! I am crazy super excited to take part. Plus I'm hoping some of these galleries in Cali will finally take notice to my work and offer me more opportunities to take part in more pop culture-themed shows (I'm looking at YOU, Gallery 1988...).

SO excited to take part that I'm already sketching the layout for my piece, which is looking to be pretty big. It was suggested I make my piece in the same vein as my Visionary Tattoo Festival poster, which as of right now is (in my humble opinion) my best piece of art ever. So I'm going for a VERY text-heavy gaslight Victorian style that is going to incorporate the WHOLE SAILORMOON THEME SONG... because apparently I hate myself. But I love all of your eyeballs. ::cries::

I've also been sketching some Pearly Whites characters for warm ups in between commissions.

Althea, the suit-loving raconteur.

Althea and Rasheeda. Pearly Whites: already passing the Bechdel Test.

As of yet unnamed demon character. Basically Boris Karloff wearing Max Shreck's suit.

My birthday and wedding anniversary!

Hey everybody! It being fall, the convention season (for me at least) is over. However to make up for what my BFF Fenny and I have dubbed 'PCD', or 'Post-Convention Depression' I have both my husband and my birthdays to look forward to as well as our wedding anniversary. The end of October and beginning of November have become a bit indulgent, to say the least. Lots of cake and dinners and drinks to smooth over the fact that I won't be behind another convention table for 6 months. Which is a relief as the winter months are when I plan out most of my upcoming year's conventions and major projects but a bummer cuz I'm not as social.

My husband Ballsy, with his cake on his birthday 10/15.

My cake on my birthday 10/30, from Momofuuku Milk Bar.

Birthday dinner date at Madiba in Brooklyn, an awesome South African joint.

I ALWAYS let my server know it's my birthday. Cuz HELLO FREE CAKE.

My husband and I at Santos Anne in Brooklyn for our anniversary on 11/2.

I'm starting to also get over the most debilitating part of my 'PCD', which is my inability to draw for the first couple weeks after a show, especially one as major as NYCC. I think it's part over-stimulation and a need to process everything. It being the end of the convention year all of my work has been presented, so I need to figure out what my next step is with my art. I have to take a moment to step back and assess my art and figure out what my next steps are to make my stuff even better. Also lots of time to really hunker down and get back on plotting out my eventual comic Pearly Whites, which is coming along nicely. So here's looking forward to a productive fall and winter!!

Aftermath: NYCC 2013

On Saturday I dressed up as a rockabilly Lum from Urusei Yatsura!

 

 New York Comic Con 2013 is my final show of the year, which is both relieving and disappointing at the same time. My artist alley table was a rousing success and I sold out of several pieces of merch, which is phenomenal. I came in Thursday with a full suitcase and left Sunday with it at about a third the capacity! That's right- Thursday to Sunday! NYCC is SUCH a crazy busy convention it goes full speed for 4 days (the only other that does this is San Diego!). In fact I made back most of my table cost just on Thursday! It was crazy! I didn't really get to see much of the show floor due to being mobbed at my table all weekend- it literally took me over an hour from saying that I was going to go to the bathroom to actually being able to break free from my table, haha. NYCC was great way to close out the convention year for me though, I got to see so many friends and fans and sell a lot of my merch and gave away over a thousand of my cards to (hopefully) new fans and future customers! Looking forward to next year when Fenny (of Little Asian Sweatshop) and I plan to get a booth on the main floor!

On Thursday! Lookit that energy! Haha, that won't last!

Friday!

My table setup alongside Sara Woolley, who was kind enough to share her table with me!

2013 marks my *6th YEAR* of vending tables at Artist Alley as a professional illustrator. And it definitely seems with the success I've had at my tables this year I'm finally starting to find my footing in these crazy dog-and-pony shows. I've become confident in the level of professionality and universal appeal my merchandise has achieved over the years and look forward to creating even more merch featuring my art for you all to have as part of your lives.

Me and cosplayer Jennifer Rose, dressed as my Rockabilly Rogue!

Me as Lum on Saturday!

I don't normally do convention sketches, but a couple of lucky friends caught me off guard.

For booth neighbor Ashley Riot of her original character

For Marsha Cooke's Lady Gaga-themed sketchbook

Here's some video of my table on Friday: