This December, I'm working on a daily holiday advent calendar for fun. Here are a few of my favorites from the project!
East Coast City Prints
Hi there! How have you been? Things have been absolutely nutty in my corner of the world, which I feel like I say every time I check in here.
There have been a lot of developments going on that I'll share in another post, but here's one of them: the continued roll out of the City Love series! I'm finally debuting the East Coast city prints, and they're available for purchase in my shop here.
Up top, you have New York City. Then Boston, Washington D.C., and Miami!
I'm rolling out four more U.S. cities and four international cities to make the first edition of 16 available by December 1st for your holiday ordering needs. Let me know what the last 8 cities should be in the comments!
Dita Von Tiki
A couple weeks ago, Ryan and I went to go see Dita Von Teese in her Strip Strip Hoorayshow. It was the second time I saw this show, the first time about 3 years ago, and it was just as stunning and inspiring. I got to see her Bird of Paradise show for the first time, and I was absolutely starry-eyed the entire time!
So I was inspired by that show to create this piece, entitled Dita Von Tiki! I've been wanting to do a Tiki Room inspired piece, and this came together perfectly with my love of showgirls.
Below are some exploration sketches of Dita and parrots that I did in prep for this piece.
City Love Prints
Earlier this week I was having a meeting of the minds with my friend Marlo, and she helped me brainstorm new ideas for the upcoming holiday shows. This was one of the (many) brainchildren from our conversation, a series of City Love prints.
I knocked out the first four to show some West side love, which you can now make your own in my shop!
Cinderella, Reimagined
One of my long term career goals is to be a children's book illustrator. So I initiated this personal illustration project to reimagine Cinderella. Here are a few key art images from my project; hope you enjoy 'em!
Personal projects are always the best way to learn more about yourself as an artist, and to push your skills and boundaries. For this, I learned a lot more about sequential storytelling and the page-turn. Personal projects are also a great way to experiment with different styles and approaches to working, because you have a little more luxury of time and flexibility.
I also made the opportunity to attend the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference here in LA this past August. It was a fantastic learning experience, and I met a lot of great people and listened to a lot of great speakers, including Judy Blume and the adorable Tomie de Paola.
Personality Traits & Dresses 3
Hellooo September! I can't believe we're already halfway through it before I even came to check in. That's about to change as I'm about to share a bunch of work I've been busy with this summer!
First up are the last three personality styles of the Personality Traits & Dresses series I had the pleasure to work on with the incredibly lovely Sarah of Truly Blog. The one above was my favorite, and probably a little bit my style personality: Compulsive Style.
Here's Ms. Depressive Style, a touch inspired by Maleficient.
And finally, Dependent Style, who looks to catalogs and stylists for her inspiration.
Check out the complete series on the incredibly smart and well-written style & psychology blog Truly Blog!
Happy National Lipstick Day!
Took a little break from a giant personal project I'm working on this week to make this illustration to celebrate National Lipstick Day! I love lipstick; I feel like I can do anything when I have my red lipstick on.
Happily Ever After
I've been wanting to do a companion piece to my WWA gallery piece, Once Upon A Time.
While at Long Beach Comic Con earlier this summer, a girl bought that print to use in her wedding and asked if I'd be doing a Happily Ever After piece as well. I've been planning on doing it for a long time anyway, and now she gave me a reason to do it sooner rather than later. I finished it this week just in time for her wedding next weekend, and now it's also available for you to get in the shop here!
I'm also considering making a card version of it, since it seems like a perfect piece for all the upcoming weddings this season. Let me know what you think and I might make them this summer, instead of waiting until the shows I'm doing later this year!
Summerland Movie Club Show
I'm super excited to be sharing that I'll have a piece in the Summerland Movie Club show celebrating the 4th anniversary of Leanna Lin's Wonderland Gallery in Los Angeles! Curated by Supahcute, we were asked to make a piece inspired by our favorite summer movies, so I chose Roman Holiday. Nothing sounds more fun to me than a runaway princess exploring Rome with the handsome Gregory Peck in his peak. Ding dong!
There will be an opening reception party for the show this Saturday, July 12, from 6 to 10pm! It sounds like a rocking good time, so hope to see you there!
Summerland Movie Club Opening Reception
Saturday, July 12
6 to 10 pm
Leanna Lin's Wonderland
5024 Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90041
*Update: the pieces are now available for sale online!
Why The Fuck Not Me?
Been having a bit of a rough time lately, so I came home and lettered this quote (ok, tweet) from Mindy Kaling to help pump myself up again. It totally worked.
Ever have that dream that feels too crazy to even say out loud? That vacation you want to take around the world for a year, but would feel too indulgent? That year you want to live in Paris? That book you want to write, that album you want to record, that shop you want to open? That start-up you want to...well, start? Let go of all those fears of what could go wrong, and think someone has to succeed, so why the fuck not you?
This also happens to be the title of Mindy Kaling's new book, which I can't wait to read since like the rest of the world, I loved her first book.
I also did it in pink, yellow, and white, because clients never let me use these colors. Just going for it!
P.S. It's also available in my shop as a print now.
