illustration
Exciting news – I got an agent!
Friends, I have some really exciting news!
A couple years ago, after listening to a particularly motivating Super Soul Sunday, the message was “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.”
So I went into my office, and wrote these three dreams that were hidden in my heart on a piece of paper:
1 – I will support my family through my art.
2 – I will help people and share my truth with my art.
3 – I will illustrate and publish kids books.
I signed it, and tacked it up in the corner of my little office at home, in a place where I would always see it when working at the computer.
Last Thursday early morning, I sent out my art and book idea to a few places, following some inner motivation that I couldn’t shake. By Thursday afternoon, to my utter disbelief, I had two offers of representation from agencies in New York City.
After talking to both agencies on the phone and email, and getting over the shock at their enthusiasm to work with ME (??!), I had a really great problem in front of me. Thank you to my inner circle of friends (and of course Tams!) who helped make this decision clear.
This morning I signed a contract with Claire Draper from The Bent Agency in NYC, and I could not be more excited.
This feels like the beginning of a whole new road for me and for my family. To everyone I have ever worked with, or call a friend, thank you for always believing in me!
Let’s do this!!
Working on “Dear Younger (gay) Me”
Hi friends! Life is sooooooo busy [Mamas & Papas raise your hands!] but I am continuing to move forward on this book project. I don’t know what will happen, but I feel it in my bones that I just gotta do it.
Here’s an illustration that will be for the inside.
If anyone needs/wants a reminder of why I am writing this, read my original announcement here. I will also post my cover again to see the art together.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Oscar Posters 2019
This is always a fun exercise for me each year, since I LOVE film, the Oscars and designing stuff! These are more for me than anyone else 🙂 But if you enjoy them too, then cool! **I only design posters for the films I see, so I can design the poster with the full picture in mind.
I managed 8 this year – here they are together, and then individual designs are below.
Congrats to “Green Book” for winning Best Picture! But really, congrats to every nominee, cuz that must be an amazing feeling! 😀
**ANNOUNCEMENT**
This project is a long time coming (out).
I love working in the animation industry, and I hope I continue to for many more years. But lately these words from Mary Oliver keep ringing in my ears:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do /
With your one wild and precious life?”
What messages do I want to leave behind? What messages would I want my kids to be proud of me for? I believe we all have talents, and I think it’s important to think about how we can use those talents for something bigger than paying the mortgage.
I want to tell people’s stories with my art. I want to tell of their triumphs, their struggles, and the priceless lessons they learned. And I think this time in history – maybe now more than ever – we need to listen to each other.
But if I am going to tell other people’s stories, I think I need to tell my own story first.
I have shared my story before of growing up in the church, and finding peace about being gay, and a Christian. For years now, I have wondered if I would have the courage to put some of my own triumphs, struggles and lessons into an illustrated book. For years I have been thinking about it. But lately, I have felt a need to do it. Maybe it’s just that now I feel ready to do it.
I really struggle with this, as I can’t stand the spotlight. Like all of us I wonder – does my story matter? I’m sure it will rock the boat in some of my circles. Putting my deepest and darkest struggle out there for everyone to read (in illustrated-form yet!) is… terrifying. But years ago, after God gave me peace about who I am, I felt Him asking me to be authentic about how I got there. I struggled so much for so many years, and if my story can help someone else, then I will tell it every chance I get.
We have come a long way with LGBT inclusion. But there’s still a lot of work to do, especially in our churches. There’s still (LGBT) voices to hear. I want to do this for that teen sitting in their non-affirming church, not sure if they can continue. I want to do this for that person struggling with rejection from family or friends because they just want to be honest about who they are. You are not alone.
So here it is.
This is my work-in-progress cover for the book I am writing & illustrating, entitled “Dear Younger (gay) Me”. The story will follow a present-day version of myself, going back to visit a younger version of myself, following the journey where I was struggling the most, and trying to leave encouraging messages in place of the hurtful or difficult ones I received at the time.
I will be posting updates, I need to figure out how to get it published, I am in the midst of storyboarding…. it’s all a messy work-in-progress – sort of like all of us. 🙂 I’m not sure how this is going to go, but I keep hearing a small voice inside saying, “Just draw it, and see what happens.”
So, one illustration at a time, I’m doing this.
Thanks to everyone who supports me near and far – most of all Tams, for giving me the (daily) courage to do this. Life is too short not to do hard things.
If you know someone who might benefit from this when it comes out, please share. I just really want all of us to feel less alone.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for updates. 🙂
My Etsy shop is open!
I have finally opened an Etsy shop to sell some of my illustration art prints! I will be slowly stocking it… and I will be taking a few commissions for Christmas gifts.
Please shoot me an email if you would like to snag a commission spot in time for Christmas!
Inktober 2018
It took me into November – BUT I DID THEM ALL YOU GUYS! With two kids and lotsa work, this was a flippin’ feat.
All sketches done on a Moleskine sketchbook, using a mix of pentel brush pen, pigma liners, colerase pencils, pencil crayons and markers. Click to enlarge any of them to see larger.
Thanks for following along! 🙂
My “Stranger Things” Golden Book
I love Netflix’s “Stranger Things”. Who doesn’t? And I love Golden Books. So I thought, why not combine them for a fun exercise??
I tried to work my way through Season 1 [with full-time work and a toddler], so I only made 10 pages so far. With the new baby coming, I will pause this for now, but hopefully will come back to finish it later. It’s been fun to do!
See what I have so far: [all pages done digitally in Photoshop]
Stay tuned for more! 🙂
Inktober 2017 – The Adventures of Robson
This year I participated in Inktober again, but I wanted to try my best to do a drawing every day if I possibly could! I decided to make my theme about Robson, because I have a lot of fun ideas to draw when it comes to her! 🙂 ❤
Here are all 31 drawings in order! Maybe one day I will make a book about this little puppet 🙂
(All drawings done in a Moleskine sketchbook, with col-erase pencils for the rough, and a Pentel brush pen for the inked lines.)
Day 1: Robson in her knitted shawl!
Day 2: Robson doing her fav yoga pose!
Day 3: Dancing in the living room with her stuffed elephant!
Day 4: Robson and our cat Mowgli sometimes bird watch together!
Day 5: Robson loves the swings – and loves to wear her sunglasses upside down!
Day 6: She loves to wave at herself in our bathroom mirror!
Day 7: Robson loves to share meals with her friends like Shannon-Joy!
Day 8: While visiting friends, Robson decided to chew their Thanksgiving decorations!
Day 9: Robson had fun climbing around at the pumpkin patch!
Day 10: I love it when Robson finds my oversized hats and wears them around the house.
Day 11: It is Muddy Buddy season on the West Coast!
Day 12: She finally said Mowgli’s name! (mogey)
Day 13: Robson is a big climber at 18 months, and she loves to climb to the piano and play the keys!
Day 14: She has made a bed in a laundry basket for herself and her friends!
Day 15: It’s rare now, but I love it when Robson falls asleep on my chest. ❤
Day 16: Robson loves to (try to) play my Ovation guitar!
Day 17: If you visit our house, Robson will most likely try on your shoes!
Day 18: Lately Robson has been taking a photo of us off the wall, bringing it to us and pointing to it saying “mum-mums”. ❤❤
Day 19: Robson loves to meet other kids, but she had NO personal space!
Day 20: When I use my hair dryer, Robson comes running and wants me to blow it on her hair and face and then she scream-laughs!
Day 21: Every night, Mowgli follows Robson to her room to say good night and she always waves at him and smiles!
Day 22: Some of the best moments are right after her nap, she comes out all rumpled and warm, hugging her Sleep Sheep and lets us cuddle her for a few minutes until she wakes up. ❤
Day 23: Someone pointed out that Robson’s current toddler run is just like Phoebe’s from “Friends”!
Day 24: We are having a lot of appts to check on Bean Boy, and Robson gets very concerned and curious about what exactly the ultrasound is all about!
Day 25: Robson loves soup – and oh boy does it make a lot of messes for us! Worth it. ❤
Day 26: Little Red Riding Robson! I love all her hipster clothing.
Day 27: When we have friends over, Robson uses her pickpocket skills to go through our friends bags and purses. You have been warned!
Day 28: Robson is becoming fast friends with a little puppy named Dobby 😊🐾
Day 29: Some of my fav moments – Robson is obsessed with Coldplay, and she asks me to pick her up and enthusiastically dance around the room with her on my hip. Her squeals of joy fill my heart to overflowing. ❤❤
Day 30: Robson loves animals, and two in particular – sheep and pigs! She makes BAAHHH and SNORT noises constantly.
Day 31: Robson dressed up as a big derpy spider for Halloween! For my last drawing of Inktober, I decided to try a time lapse video of my drawing & inking. It was a fun experiment I will try again soon! See below for the final drawing.
Thanks to everyone who followed along this Inktober!
Robson-inspired sketches
Since I have been home taking care of Robson the last few months, AND trying to keep up with my full-time gig – doing any additional sketching seems like a pipe dream! BUT… once in a while, I am able to carve out a precious hour or two to do some art for myself.
Here are a few I have done so far:
Robson in the Woods admiring the trees as she does on our daily walks. 🙂 [digital]
Robson running around with multiple sweaters all day. Sometimes she wears 3 at a time. 🙂 [digital]
Robson and I go to the same park almost every day near our house. I love looking at this massive tree that reminds me of a mysterious cave. I finally drew it from memory. 🙂 [digital]
My Oscar Posters 2017
This is my tradition of watching the Oscar-nominated films, and then doing my minimalist version of the posters. This past Feb I had MANY more intentions of doing a lot more posters – but it turns out having a baby takes a lot of your time! LOL. Here are the four I managed to squeak out. [I did these in Feb and am only NOW posting them, ack.] ‘Til next year!
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