Just Drawing Ideas Brewing

I love technology. It's really cool. I love these colors. I was editing family portraits to make the boys looks like women and then I started drawing this on the side. Kinda fun. 

Lost My Mojo

I have  lot of stuff going on right now. I thought that I would draw something nice for my blog. All I did was write "I feel relaxed" in bubble letters. WOW. 

Something interesting tomorrow. I promise. And that's a promise!

Post Work Activities

I drew this last night when  got home from work. It needed watercolor. So, I added watercolor. I like the snake with the bow on its head. 

Kat Macleod: Reely Cool

Please. Look at this. Irina Triotskaya mastered playful and organic. Kat Macleod has mastered cool. omg. I came across this article in NYLON that featured fashion illustrators. Kat does everything from books to high end fashion illustrations. I need to contact this woman. 

Like I Give A Frock 

Seriously? Is she my long lost BFF?

Applique illustration for Yeojin Bae

Illustration for Bloom Skincare

The Age (Melbourne Magazine)

I am so blown away by Kat Macloed that I can hardly handle it. She - is - by - far one of the best free-hand illustrators I have ever seen. This is what I love - her work is playful, but it is also really cool. 

She does freelance illustrations for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. She has also published mind-blowing books such as Birds and Like I Give A Frock. I know. Hilarious name. 

As you can imagine, I am trying really hard to get my hands on Birds. In Birds, she illustrates the similarities and differences between birds and fashion. AH. So cool. Here's some more just in case you didn't get enough the second time. 

Facts About My Day:

1. Found $150 of fraudulent charges on two different credit cards.
2. Right now I am listening to techno on really good headphones. Thanks, Chloe. 
3. My dog is sleeping next to me while I draw. 
4. I am in my pink fluffy robe. 
5. I bought headbands tonight. One has a big flower on it. 
6. I want to paint my nails and watch Nick at Nite.
7. Scam artists are assholes. Not to exclude: ShopperDiscount.com, CIC*Triple Advantage, Reservation Merrit. 

Putting My Bird Obsession to Good Use

Northern Cardinal

American White Pelican

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

Herring Gull

This is what I have been drawing lately. I have five more birds at this point. But... it's bed time and I shouldn't be scanning at this hour. Anyway, I love them. I friggin' LOVE birds. 

I was sitting with my dog in my backyard yesterday and I was bird watching. I have this really cheap pair of binoculars that don't do anything, but they make me feel like a bird guru. There was the loudest Blue Jay that was tossing seeds everywhere. My dog was chasing them all over the yard. Hilarious. Back to the topic - my entire book will be based on adventures with binoculars. Binoculars(a great word) are an essential tool in enjoying the details of nature. Each page of the book will be a different adventure. Birds, beach birds, shells, bugs, flowers, plants, fruit, veggies, critters, dogs, reptiles, squirrels, bears, etc. Very animal-loving-hippie-fun-adventurous-silly-cool.

As you can tell the "nature" isn't exactly Yellowstone material. It is more the appreciation of nature that tends to be in the backyard. What do you think of the watercolor? My scanner stinks, but I think you get the idea. 

Toodles. 

Kristina.

You want a blog post? I'll give you one.

My friend, Chase, from high school started his own sports clothing company. It's pretty nice. Anyway... ran into him on Saturday and discovered there might be some opportunity here. He's a graphic designer and I'm an illustrator. He wants to start a line for the females. AND I think I can do that. In fact, I know I can do that. 

His company: Armored Stripes

His name: Chase Ortega

His blog: CLICK

Things Are Good

I dropped the blog ball. But... in the past few weeks I:

• got a new job at an ad agency!
  
• got a couple freelance jobs!
• finally decided on the illustration/theme for my children's book!

To say the least, things are good. I will post the pics of my illustrations tomorrow. I am very happy with the work so far. I decided to skip the intense message and go straight for eye candy. My whole life I have loved observing nature. So - the book is about a little girl that travels around with her binoculars. The media?

I am noticing a break in the words and I can't fix it. Sowwy.

Pen & Ink + Watercolor + Illustrator + Ridiculous Color = My Book

80's Trash / Expressionism Gone Wrong

With that said, I kind of like it. Often my drawings are so calculated. Sometimes I have fun and just GO CRAZY! I was shaking that computer mouse like you have never seen. You know - I love to go crazy on Microsoft Painter. HAHA.

The simple pleasures in my day. But seriously... I like it. It's FUNKY!

Tonight I am going to post something about an artist I like because lately I have been posting all this stuff about myself. I need to mix it up. I've been lacking "deep" art material.

My first page...

I have been wanting to illustrate a childrens' book for a long time. Here is a sketch. Double click to enlarge. It's about teaching children how to stay optimistic even when family life or life in general isn't going well. 

My Little Moleskine (Sketchbook)

The first image is a documentation of my weekend trip to Arizona. The second... Well, I have been reading a lot about freelance fashion illustrators. Basically, they are in charge of illustrating a line in their own artistic way to give the collection some depth. It seems the artist has a lot of freedom. I will post what I found in NYLON Magazine. BTW, I love NYLON Magazine.

Arizona & An Odd Conversation

mystery flower, photo by moi

Went to AZ this weekend...

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and went to the beach on many weekends. I rode my bike through muddy puddles in the hills and dug for wet salamanders under my house (Ya... gross. I didn't care because I have always been maternal and I wanted to give them a loving home in my dry house where they would shrivel up and die.)

Arizona is the opposite of CA in many ways. It is a dry desert. Enough said. I never realized how much I relied on geographic landscapes to navigate my way through a city until there was... no landscape. But this is not my point. My point is that I am fascinated with the flowers that can survive in the Arizona heat. This flower is actually a lone flower growing out of what looks like an agave root (spiky bush) - I can't find the name of it. It was barely opaque in some part which allowed the yellow and pink to mix into a coral. I love it.

This might be my most uninteresting post yet. But sometimes... I think hard about things that people may find boring. Something interesting... My flight got delayed last night on the way home in LA and I got to over hear an interesting conversation. This one lady was manipulating a woman who had just joined her company. She was trying to get the "newbie" to say bad things about her first week at work. So - there's the "big shot" and the poor "newbie." The big shot proceeded to tell the newbie that she was trustworthy and the newbie could tell her anything she didn't like about her first week. The newbie was terrified and fell into the trap. It was like a mouse and cheese. All the sudden the big shot got mad and asked her why she was saying this and that they only just met! The big shot couldn't believe that the newbie would actually trust her and that she should keep her mouth shut. It was a really weird experience. If there is any lesson learned from this - do not trust too many people. When someone says, "You can trust me," I find that sort of weird. Trust is more of an instinctual thing. But... who the heck knows. I just graduated college and am learning how cut throat the real world can be. Hold on partner!

I bought a great book last night with foreword by the Dali Lama and written by Piero Ferrucci called the power of kindness.

Spring Ice Cream

OK - I need to go to bed immediately. This is why I am so tired in the morning. 

Jamie

I just realized that I really like the name 'Jamie.' Anyway, today my friend, Jamie, and I signed up for web design class - or should I say web html formatting class. I am really excited. Having web design/building knowledge is going to be frickin' awesome. If I can do studio and websites... then I might be able to work this whole "artist" thing out. It's a balancing act of skills... 

So, tonight I went bargain shopping and got burritos. It really doesn't get any better than that. BTW!! This is a mock-up of the logo I am going to design for Jamie's little one man photography show. We just sketched it together. It looks just like her - simple, crisp, and pretty. Hi Jamie! **The typeface will change** :)

Prince Charming Meets Flowergirl

Fashion week has inspired me. I haven't finished browsing, but I'm always a fan of Chloe. 

This is my brain in on baked potatoes.

It's Friday night. I just ate dinner... debating whether to watch a movie or... watch a movie at a friend's house. I am craving a little ALF right now. That is what I am going to do. Watch ALF until I decide. And you can feast your eyes on my inner psyche. 

indie-mart

So, I am attending the an indie art/drinks/music festival this weekend, http://www.indie-mart.com/. I know it will be a really good opportunity to meet local artists... and crafters. It will also make me envious of other sellers which is my biggest kick for motivation! It should be really interesting. I don't really consider myself "indie," but I have always appreciated the sub-culture. It's weird, experimental, independent(obviously), and creative. I appreciate the fresh and innovative sounds in indie music... especially if it's electronic.

I'm excited! Probably because I just chugged a huge cup of coffee.

Birds of South Africa

Lilac Breasted Roller (my very favorite)

King Fisher

Go Away Bird (because is make a sound like "goway! goway!")

Southern Yellow Billed Hornbill

so, i have noticed that everyone(most i have seen) with influencial blogs does not use any caps. i guess if you use caps it can signify that you are trying to hard? either way, i think i will give it a shot. at work, i am always so careful to have perfect punctuation and caps, so this will be a challenge. hahaha i know, who cares?

anyway, a great family friend recently traveled to africa. they had an amazing camera and took amazing pics... i guess you might get some of those if you go on the same safari as oprah. Ok, that's it, I can't do the no caps thing. That was seriously stressing me out and I need to capitalize things like "Africa."Anyway, I was most blown away by their pics of the birds in Africa (mostly Botswana because the land is reserved for the animals.) My work has taken a few turns lately, but I am starting to create some scientific but experimental drawings of birds. I want to enjoy the art of observation, but I would also like to stylize some things about the birds that I illustrate. I like to exaggerate the things I love in nature because, to me, they are more beautiful in my head... and they can't poop on my head. Take a look at some of these birds. 

tele-birds

tele-birds by moi

I always see birds on telephone wires on my way home from work. I want to create some illustrations for print... so I started doodling. I don't know if my final illustrations will be so full of color. I would like to practice leaving white space... I think it is calming.

Today marks the day I dive into my art. After much planning, this is it. 

Love, KK

Rowena Dring: Machine Applique Genius

Nha Trang lilly pond
No.2 2006 stitched fabric over canvas 100x135cm

A Place Apart - LA 2006
island 2005 stitched fabric over canvas 130 x 350 cm

Came across another amazing artist in my book, By Hand. Her name is Rowena Dring. Commenting on the contradictions of crafts, she has turned machine applique into a fine art. All the pieces are machine embroidered onto canvas. A large piece takes up to 1,200 hours. Honestly, these might be the most labor intensive pieces I have ever seen. Her colors and shapes are really quite amazing. Not only is her process impressive, but I really enjoy the forms and colors. I might hold a higher appreciation for her "A Place Apart" series because I am from California, but enlarge that landscape and take a really good look. Another artist to put on my list for when I am rich. jk (All you need is love!)

Btw, I saw one of Ashton Kutchers twitters today and saw a message I liked: Don't put your longterm goals on hold because of a short term economic problem. Just gather some cardboard boxes and make a sketchbook. I am so tired of talking about the damn economy. I guess it's preeety important, but, seriously. This is the time to dance around naked and paint and experiment. No, don't do that..... :)

Crowded Trains and Claire Oswalt

I'm on the train right now. Apparently, the train company is trying to cut operating costs which means less running trains which means me standing on the train instead of sleeping with my neck pillow! There's so much momentum with all the weight on the train on these mornings that I fall every time it brakes. It's a blast. Yesterday I drew the people on my train. It was pretty entertaining... If I feel snazzy later, I will scan and post. Ok... now for some serious art talk. blown away : 29"x24" : wood, twine, paper, graphite, and acrylic

pack of tightly-knit women : wood, graphite, paper, and acrylic

emma : 24"x20" : graphite, paper, acrylic on wood

I just remembered this artist I saw in LA. Claire Oswalt. She really touches me as a geuine person and artist (You know, I read about her so now I know her personally. Just like I know Britney spears and Brangelina so well.) Visually, her work is pure and clean and skilled, but she manages to give off this perfect eerie vibe. Many of her works comment on the mob mentality or cliquey(or copycat) nature of humans. Her drawn puppets with twine offer this conradictory idea of frozen time and extreme release. I love her. I looked at her work a lot last year. I would like to keep better track of her. Her observations in nature, older and newer work, are just breathtaking. When I'm rich I will buy something of hers. For now, I will blog about it :)