Painting for "Inside is Delightful" Art Show

I'm happy to be participating alongside other artists & friends in the "Inside is Delightful" Art Show, which takes place this Saturday, December 4.  Below is my piece:

"Trade" (acrylic on 8" x 8" wooden panel)
Price:  $125

It should be a nice event filled with cool art, live music, and refreshments.  Here's some more info:

"Inside is Delightful" Art Show
Saturday, December 4 (6pm - 11pm)
Space 2710
2710 W. Avenue 34
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Thanks to Diana Levin, David Landguth, and Evan Ames for curating this show & for inviting me to participate.  Happy Holidays!

Painting for "$99 Only Show"

Sorry for the last minute post...I submitted a painting (at the last minute) for the "$99 Only Show" which takes place this Friday, December 3 (6pm-10pm).  Below is my piece:

"Shopping at Sunset" (acrylic on 6" x 6" wooden panel)
Price:  $99

I saw this little old lady delicately making her way across the street the other day.  She appeared to be looking forward to something after a long day...and it basically inspired me to paint this.  I guess it's just nice to always have something to look forward to...wherever and whenever.

The "$99 Only Show" is curated by No Artificial Flavors and will take place for one-night only at:
Stoneworks Studio & Gallery:
300 N. Ventura Ave.
Ventura, CA 93001

**All artwork will be $99 or less, and 5% of each sale goes to help local food banks & charities.

I'll be posting info on another upcoming group show soon.  Thanks for your support!

"So AnaBob" (Custom for "So Analog 10-Doh! Custom Show")

If you're in Pasadena this weekend, you might want to check out Designer Con this Saturday (11/20/10).  My friends The Squid Kids and Hyperactive Monkey will be exhibiting there and selling their awesome wares.

The Squid Kids are also putting on the "So Analog 10-Doh! Custom Show", which features their new "So Analog 10-Doh!" figure.  I'll have a custom piece in the show, alongside other friends & artists.  Below is more information and an image of my piece "So AnaBob"...which is basically SpongeBob SquarePants looking so analog...

Thank you, Squid Kids, for inviting me to be in the show!  Good luck! :)

Fun with Flash

I consider myself lucky to have been given the opportunity to learn Adobe Flash at my current job.  I still have a ton to learn (especially from my amazingly talented coworkers)  – so I thought I'd practice drawing in Flash a bit at home.  It's fun and daunting at the same time.  Here's a new self portrait for now...

Hoping to practice & post more soon :)  Can't believe it's already almost the end of the year.  Happy November!

Happy Halloween! The Drawing Club sketches (10/28/10)

Hope folks out there are having a safe & happy Halloween!  Here are my sketches from last week's 10/28 Drawing Club session.  Jonnathon Cripple posed as "The Mutant Zombie"...

For more information on The Drawing Club, please visit:  www.thedrawingclub.com

Thanks for visiting!

SILA "Art in the Park" (10/23/10)

Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles (SILA) held another "Art in the Park" mixer at Griffith Park this past Saturday.  I showed up for the later half of the event, but managed to do some sketching & mingling with other artists. Below are a couple of pages:

To learn more about SILA and/or to become a member, please visit their website:  www.si-la.org
Thanks for visiting!

Painting for the United States Air Force Art Program

As a Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles (SILA) member, I had the privilege of taking a trip to North Carolina last year to participate in the United States Air Force "Brush of Blue" Art Program.   In this program, the Air Force gives participants the opportunity to travel to various locations – after which the artists donate illustrations/artwork (reflecting experiences and observations from these trips) to the permanent Air Force Art Collection.

Below is my painting, which is based off of a photo I took at the Luzon Drop Zone in NC.  Students were training for combat control, and this particular soldier was incredibly focused and alert.

This piece – along with many other works from artists around the country – is currently on exhibit at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio from October 18 through the second week of January 2011.

Many thanks to the kind folks at Pope Air Force Base in NC and the Air Force Art Program Office – and of course, to the brave men and women serving our country.  For more information regarding this art program and SILA, please visit:  http://si-la.org/airforce.html

29th World Wide SketchCrawl

Sorry it's been a while since my last post!  Thankfully, work has been keeping me busy...and life is good :)

This past Saturday was the 29th World Wide SketchCrawl.  The Los Angeles group met at Venice Beach – and it was a fun and interesting day, in spite of the gloomy weather.  Below are my results:

Please visit www.sketchcrawl.com to view works by other artists and to learn more about this world-wide drawing marathon!

I'm going to try to be better at posting in the coming weeks.  Thanks for stopping by :)

Here Be Pirates...

Just finished scanning in some figure drawings from David Colman's character design class.  We were fortunate to have an awesome model pose as a pirate, so we could practice overall expression.  Below are my drawings (some darkening was done at home) – please click to enlarge.

Here's another little pirate-themed character exercise from the class:

Thanks for stopping by!

"Camille Lyon" - Form Exploration (final class project)

Here are some latest "Camille Lyon" drawings, which were shown in my final presentation for David Colman's character design class.

"Camille Lyon" is a basic story concept upon which I've been working this summer...you can read more about it – and view original designs (based more on graphic shapes) – in my 7/10 post.  Recently, we were asked to explore a different design interpretation based more on form (some alternate designs can be seen in my 8/14 post).

David gave some great feedback in the last class, so these designs are still work-in-progress.  I'll most likely revert back to the original graphic direction, and see how I can incorporate feedback from this latest form exploration too.  Not sure what I'm doing with the story yet...but it's been fun designing the characters so far :)

By the way, David's class is wonderful...I would highly recommend it.  Please check out the Concept Design Academy for more course info.  Thanks for visiting!

Latest Sketchbook Pages

Below are some sketchbook pages of peeps from the past several weeks...rounding out the summer with a few different approaches.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Toys for OLIVIA™ and Pop On Pals™

If you're shopping for any little folks (or little folks at heart), perhaps you might want to check out the new toys that recently hit shelves for OLIVIA™ and Pop On Pals™!  I had the privilege of being part of the design team for these brands, while working at Spin Master in Los Angeles.

Spin Master's toys for OLIVIA™ are based off of the TV show airing on Nick Jr. – which, of course, is based off of Ian Falconer's award-winning children's books.  You can find these OLIVIA™ plush dolls, figurines, and playsets in the small-doll aisle for girls, at a local Target or Toys "R" Us.

From Spin Master's Magic Ladder™ comes Pop On Pals™ – a new original preschool line that makes mixing & matching accessories fun and easy for a preschooler.  Simply "pop" a Pal into an accessory ring – and the ring slides onto the body!  Wacky combinations abound.  My good friend Linda Hong designed the overall look of the characters and the line.  I was fortunate to be involved in later design & development.  You can find Pop On Pals™ in the preschool aisle at a nearby Target or Toys "R" Us – among other major retailers. Visit www.poponpals.com for more info!

Please also take a moment to view the wide array of other cool toys at Spin Master's official website:  www.spinmaster.com

Thanks & best wishes to my friends at Spin Master for a great working experience & continuing collaborations.

"Camille Lyon" - Form Explorations (in progress)

Hello!  I thought I'd share an update on my project for David Colman's character design class.  I've been working on some designs for my story concept "Camille Lyon" this summer.

For the first half of the class assignment, we had to focus mainly on graphic, stylized shapes for the characters.  These explorations, along with character descriptions, can be viewed in a previous post.

For the second half, the challenge is to offer new and different design interpretations based more on form – while maintaining the basic integrity & essence of the character.  Below are some of my form explorations...I chose the ones I thought may work best for the bottom lineup.   These are still in progress and pending instructor/class feedback, so the designs will most likely change again :)

Thanks for visiting!

Interview on "Karin Won't Stop Talking" Blog

© Karin Cameron / "Karin Won't Stop Talking" 

One of the great things about Facebook is being able to network & meet some genuinely nice and talented people.  On that note, I've had the pleasure of recently connecting with writer Karin Cameron, who was so kind to invite me for an interview on her blog "Karin Won't Stop Talking".  You can read the full interview here.

Additionally, this interview has motivated me to create an archived section for my Little Do They Know comic strip – which you can find on the right sidebar of my blog, or by clicking here.

I've also updated my regular website a bit more, by adding some recent work and letting go of some of the old (still need to be better at this):  www.viviandesigns.com

Please be sure to check out the rest of Karin's blog as well (which includes beautiful short stories, relatable musings on daily life, and other interviews).  Not only does she have a fun, witty, and approachable writing style – she's a wonderful person as well.

http://karinwontstoptalking.wordpress.com/

Thank you, Karin, for this sweet opportunity & for your support!  Cheers :)

28th World Wide SketchCrawl

Here are my sketches for the 28th World Wide SketchCrawl.  The Los Angeles group met at Hollywood & Highland...so good to draw & hang out with everyone!

I stuck mostly with quick people sketches to coincide with some class homework.  I'm trying to get more used to sketching with pen (I usually sketch in pencil), so that I can improve my confidence & commitment to laying these marks down.  My friend & fellow artist Kendra Melton has been encouraging me in this area :)

Unfortunately, I had some trouble with color washes...I didn't realize that the ink in a Tombo brush pen is NOT waterproof :(  So the colors came out really muddy, and I stopped after a few tries.  Boo...ah well...I'll remember this for next time.

Please visit www.sketchcrawl.com to view works by other artists and to learn more about this world-wide drawing marathon!  Thanks so much for visiting.