Sharky Malarkey

"Diabetic Teacup Pigs" (Weekly Drawing Challenge)

2012-02-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

We're trying to start up a weekly drawing challenge among friends here at work. The talented Le Tang and I drew a random adjective and a random noun of coffee cups and the challenge of the week ended up being "Diabetic Teacup-Pig." For those of you who don't know what a teacup pig is, behold!:

Now that you've let the cuteness wash over you, on to some drawings..

Mine:

Glenn Harmon's:

Mike Lester's:

Le Tang:

Is this something anyone else out there would be interested in participating in? If so, we could start posting our prompts online. Right now we're selecting the topic on Mondays and sharing our drawings on Fridays.

Argggh!

2012-02-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

I made a couple of pizzas last night (yum!) While I was prepping the toppings, I was an idiot and did this (boo!):

I know it's not a huge deal but I haaaaaate it when this happens. Oh well. At least the pizzas turned out tasty.

Spidey Dates (For Stu)

2012-02-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

Thanks everybody for the positive responses to the Ladybug! She's really fun to draw and I'm definitely going to have to do something more with her in the near future. For now, here are a couple of quick drawings of Spider-man on dates with Roach Woman, Lady Caterpiller, and Bumble-Babe inspired by this comment by Stu:

(Thought 1 - hey she and Spiderman should get together
Thought 2 - Spiderman should only ever date bug themed ladies)

Ladybugs

2012-02-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

I went to gesture drawing last Wednesday. At some point during the session, our model donned a mask. For reasons unknown to me, I started drawing her as a crime-fighting ladybug:

I had to get a few more Ladybug women out of my system:

Melony

2012-02-06T19:38:00.000-08:00

Hello blog! Happy February! I really need to update you more frequently. Here is a drawing I did for a family friend's daughter:

Turquoise...

2012-01-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

My favorite color (in case you haven't guessed).

Fat Catbus

2012-01-18T17:34:00.000-08:00

Is slow-moving and easily distracted.

Who else is excited about LA's upcoming Ghibli film festival??

Whee!

2012-01-17T18:33:00.000-08:00

Feeling rusty...Trying to sketch more..

I saw this on my way to work today...

2012-01-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

It made me happy. Who are you, mysterious stranger?

Q POP Thailand Flood Relief Art Auction

2012-01-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

Hello, all! This upcoming Saturday, January 14th, I will be participating in a group benefit show to raise funds for the flood crisis in Thailand. The auction will be at Q-Pop in Little Tokyo, so if you are in the LA area, please come out and contribute to this important cause!

I'm donating this original to the show:

Pangolin Party (5" x 7", gouache)

Edit: It has come to my attention that not everyone is familiar with the pangolin, so here is a photo of one:

Below is the flyer and here is a link to the Event page. Hope to see you all there!

Check out some other artist contributions:

Carrie Liao
Chris Battle
Stuart Livingston

Christmas Time!

2011-12-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays everyone!!

What If?

2011-12-07T09:57:00.001-08:00

I'm excited to be participating in the "What If?" Show, which opens at 7PM this upcoming Saturday at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra. Come out and say hi! There also be a Jim Henson tribute show in the main gallery downstairs.

I drew no sharks but I couldn't resist the temptation to do something related to marine life.What if the Vampire Squid met the (Were)Wolf Eel? I painted these three pieces in gouache.

Here are the final pieces next to a print up of my digital studies.

Carrie stayed up with me and painted her own awesome "What if?" pieces. Check them out; they are adorable!

Sketching on a Windy Night

2011-12-02T00:29:00.001-08:00

I went sketching with friends at the Americana the other night! I felt really rusty but I had a lot of fun. Check out Stu's awesome sketches from the night!:

And boy was the drive home interesting...

Birthday!!

2011-11-30T12:18:00.001-08:00

Today is my boyfriend's birthday! He's currently at Blue Sky studios animating on Ice Age 4. I miss him almost as much as Chaos does. Happy birthday Chris!

Out of Cat Food

2011-11-23T14:21:00.001-08:00

(a bad situation for all)

It was great meeting a lot of you folks from blog-land at CTN-X! I hope you all have a happy Turkey Day!

Girl Doodle

2011-11-17T10:02:00.001-08:00

Brush pen (and gouache) on a story pad cover.

Snapshots from the Morning Drive

2011-11-16T16:09:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of memory sketches from my morning drive through Burbank's Rancho Equestrian neighborhood. I usually see people on horseback

And people walking many dogs. Almost every morning, I see a particular lady walking three portly dachshunds.

Also, who is going to CTN-X this year? I will be wandering the floor looking to say hello. Also, my roommate Carrie is doing a generous CTN giveaway this year, so be on the look out for that opportunity! :)

The Snuggie

2011-11-15T09:21:00.001-08:00

When the Snuggie made its first appearance via late-night infomercials, I don't think anyone could have imagined that the product would ever achieve the kind of popularity it has. A couple of years, several parodies, and many pub crawls later, the sleeved blanket has become popular enough to justify the creation of Snuggie variations such as the Two Person Snuggie (for the couple that likes to be lonely, together):

And of course, this thing:

Now, even your pets can be a part of the fun! My cousin recently got my parents the Snuggie for Dogs as a gag gift. Naturally we had to make Daisy, the family Bichon Frise/Poodle mix, try it on. As you can probably tell from her facial expression, she loved it:

Later, I borrowed the sleeved blanket so I could make Chaos (current third roommate/foster child) a little more fashionable. Never before has a cat looked so regal :

But why stop at our four-legged friends, Snuggie creators? This of course has to be the next logical step:

I'm sure this would make many a salt-water aquarium owner very happy. But what would I know about sleeved-blankets? It's not like I own one or anything...

"Whaaaat?...I'm coping with being unemployed just fine.."

"I'm doing so well that...that I'm definitely not wearing a zebra-print snuggie as a sweater and eating a plate of bacon and boysenberry pie for lunch because that's the only food I have left in my fridge--"

"Hello?"

The Dress

2011-11-11T15:05:00.001-08:00

Most people have anxiety dreams about terrifying free-falls, rapid tooth-loss, and the horror of leaving the house clad only in undergarments. My nightmares occasionally involve me being somewhere or doing something important and realizing that I am wearing my high school show choir dress:

Gesture Drawing Stuff

2011-09-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

Today I went to gesture drawing class (led by the super talented Dave Pimentel). Here are a couple of drawings from today's session:

Also check out some far-superior sketches from today's session over at Rad's blog.

Witch

2011-09-06T00:29:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had an awesome Labor Day weekend!

Dave Versus Beetle

2011-08-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

The following happened during an ordinary lunch with my training buddies, the very talented David Wolter and Jim Hull.

bzzzzzZZZZzZzZ

THWACK!!!

YEEEEK!!!

I know this blog has been starting to gather dust, but I plan on posting more frequently in the coming weeks. In the meantime, here are some funny stories recently posted by friends:

Carrie
Fawn
Chris Ybarra

Velvet Belly Lantern Shark and the Pacific Sharpnose (Late Shark Week entries)

2011-08-09T01:10:00.000-07:00

I know these are frightfully late, but here are Friday's and Saturday's sharks.

Thanks again to the super-talented Kristen Campbell for organizing this awesome sketch jam! Please check out the blog and deviant art page to see the fantastic drawings everyone did!

Bonus Shark Week-Related Posts:

Dave Derrick
Rad Sechrist
Stu Livingston
Ian Abando
Bobby Chiu

Brownbanded Bamboo Shark (Shark Week Sketch Jam Day 4)

2011-08-04T00:12:00.000-07:00

Thursday's shark is the Brownbanded bamboo shark. I drew a juvenile since it has the brown, striped pattern that give the species its name.

Don't forget to check out the sharkweek sketch jam blog and deviantart pages, as well as the titblog for an assortment of shark sketches!

And a happy shark week to all!

Longnose Sawshark (Shark Week Sketch Jam Day 3)

2011-08-03T01:23:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's shark is the very neat-looking Longnose Sawshark! Here are a couple more brush pen sketches with some digital color...

And of course the obligatory sawshark-used-as-a-weapon doodle...Here day 1's shark is fighting day 2's shark using day 3's shark.

This last one is a hammerhead sketch I forgot to scan Monday night:

And as always, check out the shark week sketch jam blog and deviantart pages, along with Kristen Campbell's page! And Titmouse has also been doing some awesome shark doodles at the Titblog page so please show 'em some love!

I also really enjoyed these hilarious Shark Week-themed posts by Austin Madison and David Derrick.

More awesome sawsharks:
Nate Villanueva
Marina Gardner
Eric Wu

Pelagic Thresher! (Shark Week Sketch Jam Day 2)

2011-08-02T01:22:00.000-07:00

A quick one for Day 2:

The Pelagic Thresher Shark is one of my all-time favorites. Here is a video of one swimming somewhere near the Philippines:

Join in! Check out the Shark Week Sketch Jam deviant art and blogger pages (and don't forget to stop by Kristen Campbell's page as well!)

More awesome Pelagic Thresher blogness:
Nate Villanueva
Titblog
Tiffany Ford
Eric Wu
Ryan Deluca

Hammerhead Shark! (Day 1 of the Shark Week Sketch jam)

2011-08-01T01:46:00.000-07:00

As many of you probably know, it's Shark Week! This means that the talented Kristen Campbell's annual Shark-a-Day sketch jam is on! The first shark of the day is the Great Hammerhead. Here are some brush pen doodles:

You can join in on the shark-action here on blogger or over on deviantart!

Other Shark Week bloggers!:
Carrie Liao
Tiffany Ford
Titmouse
Eric Wu
Mike Nassar
Nate Villanueva
Ryan Deluca

Chades Challenge: Rejected Transformers

2011-07-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

A quick one for the latest Chades Challenge! (Apologies, readers...I really suck at drawing robots, vehicles, etc.)

Unicyclon--the slightly less-intimidating brother of the planet-devouring giant. He is a friend to circus-folk and a sworn enemy of the Autobots. He is especially interested in juggling and, like his older brother, he has a peculiar aversion to frozen peas.

Behold the Cosmic Pufferfish!

2011-07-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

I recently acquired a 3'x5' canvas and decided to break out the acrylics and paint something for my future living room. This was my first time painting on a canvas of this size and it was definitely a learning experience. While the final result was far from perfect, it was a fun side project.

Below is the digital sketch:

And here I am applying a coat of varnish to the final:

"Whee!"

Why I Would Not Have Survived the Battle of Hogwarts

2011-07-06T13:34:00.001-07:00

From my sketchbook. Don't forget, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 AND Shark Week are both fast approaching!

Belly Danceroodles

2011-06-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

I also recently went to a tribal fusion belly dance show that my friend Sam performed in. All of the girls were incredibly talented (and bendy). Here are a couple of sketchbook pages from that night:

Zoo Doodles (Zoodles?)

2011-06-27T17:55:00.001-07:00

A few of us have been going to the zoo every couple of weeks to go sketching. So far it's been fun (though I still feel like I'm relearning how to draw animals). Here are a couple of pages I scanned:

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to bring sunblock to this last outing. My skin tends to get confused by prolonged exposure to sunlight, and this time around, I ended up with a couple of sunburned areas, some tanned areas, and more freckles (but only on one side of my face). Meanwhile, my legs did not tan at all:

Kids, wear your sunblock.

Dancing Box Men

2011-06-20T13:04:00.001-07:00

I knew a guy in high school who used to make little dancing box men. They were pretty awesome. If you follow these instructions, you too can make a dancing box man.

Step 1: Find a small cardboard box. Nerds candy boxes work perfectly for this.

Step 2: Open one end of said box so that all 4 flaps are perpendicular to the rest of the box.

Step 3: Dispose of the box's contents.

Step 4: Use a marker to draw a silly face and arms/legs on the box flaps.

Step 5: Yea!

For looping gifs that are actually well done (and other awesome art), see Anthony Holden's blog!

And for more more crazy-go-nuts silliness, check out Blog-o-nonsense!

Chades Challenge: Texas Sharks Curling Team

2011-06-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

Had to participate in this Chades Challenge! Here are a couple of sketches:

The Great Kumquat Disaster

2011-06-05T23:55:00.001-07:00

The following is the unfortunate tale of an infamous day in Dong family history.

The year was nineteen ninety something. It was a sunny, summer afternoon and my younger brother Jeremy, little cousin Beth and I were hanging about my grandmother's backyard looking for ways to kill time while our parents and older cousins discussed various dull, grown-up topics inside the house.

In one corner of the yard stood a sizable, decades-old kumquat tree that bore hundreds of yellowy-orange fruit.

In an effort to alleviate our boredom, we decided to hold a contest to see who could throw a kumquat the highest.

In his effort to generate the force needed to throw the kumquat highest, Jeremy compromised his aim...

We watched, wide-eyed, as he accidentally hurled a kumquat right over the wall and into a neighbor's yard.

bonk*

After watching the kumquat ricochet off of an air conditioning unit and land with a soft plop in the neighbor's yard, my brother came up with a way to make the game more interesting.

I bet you I can throw a kumquat into that vent thingy...

And that was when things spiraled out of control...

Initially our goal was to try and get a single kumquat through the grates of the AC unit but after many failed attempts, the three of us became consumed with an inexplicable desire to pelt the entire yard with kumquats.

AHAHAHAHAA!

MORE KUMQUATS!

Sonic

BOOM!!

Then, Bethany peeked over another wall and discovered another neighbor's yard.

Look guys! This person's yard has firewood!!

...But not enough KUMQUATS!!

KUMQUAAAAATS!!!!

I can't quite explain what motivated us to do what we did. We threw kumquat after kumquat as though possessed. After at least one full hour of this, we managed to blanket all three of my grandma's next door neighbors' backyards with fruit. Initially, we somehow felt accomplished and we celebrated our victory...

After a few minutes, the sense of jubilation subsided and was replaced by horrifying realization...

What have we

DOOOOOOONE?!?

As the oldest, I felt obligated to formulate a plan. Unfortunately what I came up with didn't make much sense...

Guys...

We have to hide this tree...

It was then one of the next door neighbors emerged from her house and strolled into her once pristine backyard.

Obviously she saw what we had done almost immediately.

And was not amused.

I'm going to tell your Grandma!!

We ran for it, agreeing to never speak of the incident ever again...

A few days later my Dad got a rather baffling phone call from my understandably pissed off grandmother.

They did WHAT?!?!

Wildlife Waystation Sketches

2011-05-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I had the privilege of going to the Wildlife WayStation with Alice Herring, Carrie Liao, and a group of other artists. It was a pretty amazing experience--I've never had the chance to see these animals at such close range before. Here are a couple of sketchbook pages from the day:

Nala the lioness

And a pair of grizzly bear sisters.

The three of us had so much fun at the WayStation we were thinking of doing an LA zoo drawing day in a couple of weekends. If anyone else is interested, please let us know and we will post details in the coming weeks :)

Diatom Girls

2011-05-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

I know it's been inexcusably long since my last post! Here is my piece for Girls Drawin' Girls' upcoming Vol. 4 book. This year's book is plant themed and I chose diatoms:

Bad Laundry

2011-04-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

When my brother was very young, he told me about a nightmare he had wherein he was chased around the house by an evil creature. The villain of his dream was not your garden-variety monster, witch, or ghost. It was an evil basket of dirty laundry. To eliminate any doubt that it was a malevolent being, the galloping, sentient laundry pile had a neon sign floating over it that read: "BASKET OF DIRTY BAD CLOTHES."

Something reminded me about this today so I drew it:

The subconscious mind is a fascinating thing. Does anyone else have any memorable "dream villains?"

More Coffee Shop Sketches....

2011-04-18T23:55:00.000-07:00

Trying to get back to posting regularly. Here are some more sketchbook pages featuring coffee-shop denizens...

Sketchbook stuff (and my portfolio website)

2011-04-05T21:45:00.001-07:00

I finally got around to building my portfolio website. Still working out some of the kinks but it's online now! My latest storyboard sample can be found in the sequential section. Huge thanks to Chris for helping me get this set up.

I also scanned a few more sketchbook doodles and played with some of them in Photoshop.

These are some folks I saw in and around It's a Grind:

And these are some quick brush pen memory-sketches of a guy I saw while at a friend's b-day celebration at Red Lion Tavern. The room we were in was crowded to capacity (because Jeremy is so darn popular) and most people were busy eating/drinking/chatting. Everyone was sitting down except for this lone tall guy in a brown Hawaiian shirt who stood in the corner, slowly eating his food while glowering at the rest of us. He sometimes paused to read aloud from the book he brought, but he mostly just did this:

I wasn't scared of him...

I swear....

Sketches

2011-03-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

A page from a tiny sketchbook:

My Best Coffee Break Ever!!

2011-03-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

I loved the awesome stories that Rad, Nate, and Fawn have posted recently. So I decided to share another true tale.

This took place at Titmouse on the Friday before Halloween, 2009. I had spent several nights after work earlier that week constructing my costume so I was kind of excited.

Fortunately I wasn't the only one who dressed up for work.

My morning was going pretty well so far..

Except for one thing...

I headed toward the kitchen to get my caffeine fix.

As I approached the lobby, I noticed a person waiting on the couch, reading a magazine.

He noticed me too and chuckled.

He then began singing the Jaws Theme as I approached.

♪Duh-dun.

♪duh-DUN!

♪Duh-dun-duhdunduhdunduhdun

I laughed as I rounded the corner, kitchen-bound.
I glanced behind me to see who this silly, singing stranger was...

And saw that Mark Hamill had resumed reading his magazine.

After returning to my desk, I thought about my brief encounter. Being the consummate professional that I was, I remained cool as a cucumber.

Here is a group photo from that day.

Swing

2011-03-08T20:40:00.000-08:00

Blerg, I've been kind of busy lately. I'll try to update more soon. In the meantime, here is a girl:

Oceanic Whitetips

2011-03-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

A couple of oceanic white tips meet in a submerged city

Kids at the Aquarium

2011-02-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

Chris and I went to the Long Beach Aquarium this weekend so I could do some studies of marine arthropods for a class. Aquariums are special to me. When I was six years old I decided that being an astronaut was overrated and that I should become a marine biologist instead. Obviously that didn't happen (as it turns out I'm not so great at maths), but I am still infatuated with marine life.

Since it was a long weekend, the aquarium was more crowded than usual. As we expected, there were a lot of families there. Parents of rambunctious boys--I don't know how you guys manage to muster the energy to keep up.

The first thing we saw when we approached the aquarium was this:

Inside the building we saw a lot of this:

The poor aquarium employee monitoring the touch tanks was having a particularly tough day:

Basically I witnessed a lot of misbehaving from many a hyper child (often at the expense of one or more animals). However, I also saw a lot of really well-behaved kids who were just as amazed by marine life as I was at their age. This guy was awestruck by the giant spider crabs:

"WHOA! ....WHOOAAA!...WHOAA!!"

Sketches

2011-02-15T23:03:00.001-08:00

I sometimes go to a local coffee shop to work. Here are some sketchbook drawings of the patrons that I scanned.

Burly suspenders man:

Old dude who always wears a leather jacket:

A Chinese lady walking her pomeranian:

I often see people completely engrossed in texting:

I saw this kid run by one day. He was clutching a huge bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

Girl with cowboy boots:

The Red Cougar:

I saw this lady today and had to grab my sketchbook and draw her. She had to be in her late forties/early fifties, but that didn't stop her from dressing like this. Every time she walked around the room she sashayed her hips and she posed seductively even while waiting in line for the bathroom.

Gulls in the Wind

2011-02-10T15:05:00.001-08:00

Lately it's been blustery where I live due to the Santa Ana winds. This means the air is dry, flimsy trees and termite-damaged powerlines are at risk, and a lot of birds are having a tough time out there.

I used to laugh at them too.

Also!! Girls Drawin' Girls' "Hoity Toity Show" is this Saturday, 2/12 at 9PM at Perhspace Gallery in Echo Park. LA folks, I'd love to see you there!

Bad Idea..

2011-02-08T09:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon I felt spacey so I brought some coffee to my desk while I worked. This happened:

SLAM!

!@#&*$*

*&@!!#

I can't say why exactly I so hastily slammed the coffee back onto the table... Fortunately it was lukewarm and not scalding. I wonder if it was a more direct way for me to absorb the caffeine.

Wednesday Doodle

2011-02-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

I finally got my new computer! I've been busy lately but there will be updates here soon (more sketchbookery, sequential silliness, etc.) In the meantime, here's a drawing I did on my new tablet:

Doodles

2011-01-20T19:11:00.000-08:00

Dear blog...I miss my computer. Here are some photos of a couple of sketchbook drawings:

Girl at the coffee shop. I liked her shoes.

Man at the coffee shop. I liked his shorts and his pants and I liked that he wore both at the same time.

Some pen/watercolor studies from some fashion blogs:

These are some post-it drawings of Chaos the cat, who belongs to Chris' roommate:

Chaos demanding attention

Chris' after-work-ritual of picking up Chaos like a baby. This is how he reacts every time he senses judgment from me.

This has happened to me a couple of times when I've visited Chris & Nick's. I head into the bathroom to find Chaos in the bathtub (apparently he likes to sit under the tub faucet). He usually looks up at me like I've caught him doing something awful.

"More petting, less drawing!"

Hoity Toity Part 2

2011-01-17T22:58:00.001-08:00

Another one for the show:

Hoity Toity

2011-01-17T15:18:00.000-08:00

Early last week my computer kicked the bucket :( Posting on this blog may be infrequent for the next couple of weeks until my new PC arrives. For now here's one of my pieces for Girls Drawin Girls' upcoming "Hoity Toity" show. The show will open at Pehrspace in Echo Park on February 12th at 9pm. There will be a DJ, burlesque dancers, and all around fun so I hope to see you there! This one is watercolor, gouache & ink:

Shark Disguises

2011-01-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

Scientists have known for years that sharks sometimes don disguises so that they may infiltrate human society. Contrary to popular belief, sharks operating incognito are usually harmless to humans. In most cases, such sharks are acting out of simple curiosity. Shark disguises were initially believed to be fairly basic:

But in recent years, scientists have discovered that some shark disguises are in fact quite advanced. Below are depictions of 3 common shark disguises...

Chefs:

Hammerhead sharks will sometime mimic chefs. Some have even been known to work at seafood restaurants for some time before being discovered and promptly shooed back to the ocean. A camouflaged hammerhead can be told apart from human chefs by telltale eye-holes on either side of the toque, the ill-fitting apron, and various taped on articles of clothing. Hammerhead chefs often use ketchup, barbecue sauce, or other kitchen items to draw crude faces on their torsos.

Mimes:

Many sharks have been known to mimic mimes. Note that these sharks often find "Mickey Mouse" type gloves (from stores or amusement parks) to conceal their pectoral fins. If unable to acquire white gloves, the sharks sometimes have to settle...

Dogs/Cats:

Pet lovers may want to do a quick once-over before bringing home a stray from the street or local animal shelter. Are fins present? If so, are whiskers, fur, or paws absent? Does the animal have the ability to bark or meow properly?

Should you encounter a disguised shark, you need not panic. Simply call your local fish & game department and report the animal's location.

Levitation (aka my first lesson in physics)

2011-01-06T17:03:00.001-08:00

Here is another true story from my childhood. This also took place when I was around preschool age.

Like most kids, I had a very random assortment of toys to play with when I was young. I also carried a baby-blanket everywhere, often draping it around my neck like a scarf.

One day a random but thrilling thought occurred to me.

My 3 1/2 year old brain had figured out how to levitate.

It was very simple. All I would need was my baby blanket and a little effort.

In my mind this was how it was going to work...please note that my unsophisticated childbrain did not yet have a full grasp on the workings of gravity (or the limitations of my upper body strength) and this made total sense to me:

It was going to be awesome.

Once I was able to levitate...I would float around to show people how freaking cool I was...

All of the other kids on the playground would be envious of me...

I would never have to worry about slogging through mud puddles after it rained.

I was going to make such a kick-ass ghost at Halloween.

I was going to be the coolest. kid. ever.

Unfortunately, I failed to be as awesome as I'd hoped.

This is the sad reality of what actually happened:

Epilogue..this didn't stop me from trying to replicate the "levitation experiment" with a jump rope mere days later.

Cat Girls

2011-01-06T10:38:00.001-08:00

Girls Drawin Girls' challenge of the week is "cat girls." One of my New Year's Resolutions is to draw more on paper, so here are some cat girls I drew. The first one is col erase/watercolor (sorry for the terrible scan) and the other one is a pen doodle with some digital color.

(she is a Maru-type)

Waiting

2011-01-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

First girly of the new year:

Father & Son

2011-01-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

I figured my 1st post of the year should involve sharks. Here are some drawings of a hammerhead shark dad hanging out with his son. In reality, hammerhead sharks do no parenting, but I thought it would be fun to do some what-if drawings.

Chades Challenge: Claustrophobic Kelpies

2010-12-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of "claustrophobic kelpie" drawings for Austin Madison's Chades Challenge. Kelpies are man-eating water horses from Celtic mythology. They are said to mainly lure children into riding on their backs, and often stalk their prey from underwater, with only their one eye exposed (like a crocodile). A kelpie's skin is adhesive, and once a person is fixed to the horse's skin, it will gallop into the river, taking its victim to his watery doom. Here are 3 claustrophobic kelpies I drew...they all ended up being in 3 different styles for some reason, probably because of the different mediums used:

A kelpie regretting his decision to hunt in a ball crawl (brush pen/digital):

This kelpie accidentally ran through a little league game (col-erase/digital):

And a kelpie in a bottle (digital):

Hope you all have a happy new year!!

Rainbow's Double

2010-12-27T03:41:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend (and that not too many of you ended up getting stuck at the airports).

Last week, Southern California experienced some uncharacteristically heavy rainfall. Just before the weekend, a break from the nonstop precipitation resulted in a brilliant double rainbow (all the way!). Like everyone else, I was reminded of a certain youtube phenomenon from earlier this year, but the double rainbow also stirred a childhood memory that I decided to doodle.

So here is the absolutely true story of "Rainbow's Double" (you may have to click these to read the text):

It was a successful dead-pet-swap. I didn't find out that I had owned 2 different betta fish until I was something like a senior in high school.

I actually found a photo of me and my fishy friend:

I have no idea if this is a picture of Rainbow or "Rainbow." In any case, I was really fond of my pet(s) and spent a lot of time pretending I could talk to him(them).

Rainy

2010-12-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

We've been getting a ton of rain in Southern California.

Sledding

2010-12-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

Another quick holiday-type doodle. This poor girl is probably going to crash-land her snow saucer in a few seconds.

'Tis the Season...(to rob pets of their dignity)

2010-12-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

This year's holiday card, featuring some traumatized animals. Click it to make it bigger. I can't believe it's almost Christmas!

Parking Lots and Crimes Against Humanity

2010-12-14T14:53:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share the tale of a truly disturbing encounter I had a couple of evenings ago. I had headed down to a FedEx Kinko's to take care of some errands. The particular FedEx I'd gone to is located inside a busy shopping center, nestled against a popular family restaurant. I knew parking was going to be hard to find, and I was fine with circling the lot for a little while.

At some point, I rounded a corner and noticed what appeared to be an empty space...

Once I got there, I discovered that the space wasn't quite as empty as I'd hoped. No, there was no car there, but instead, a very hostile looking clump of pedestrians. They were obviously a family waiting for another member of their party to arrive so they could go eat at the nearby restaurant. For the record, people saving parking spots by standing in them is one of my biggest driving/parking pet peeves, so I was pretty irritated by this situation.

As annoyed as I was, I wasn't going to make a scene. Especially since this particular group appeared to be members of a pretty ordinary, but angry-looking family. And there, standing at the front of them was a young mom with a baby. I wasn't going to honk at a baby. Right as I shifted into reverse, the situation took an unexpected turn...

The rest of the family stepped back behind the curb while the lady lumbered forward...

And then she...

And then she was all and they were all...

I backed the hell away. Found parking elsewhere, went to mail my things and drove home. In my years of witnessing all kinds of road rage and general bad driving behavior, I have never, ever seen a lady put her baby on the ground to reserve a parking spot. Maybe I should have called child services. What's the most shocking behavior you've ever seen?

Snowman Stalker

2010-12-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

I think I'm being followed around by a snowman child. I'm only half kidding. Last week I went drawing with friends at a cafe when I noticed this creepy, decorative snowman child standing behind me.

A few days later I was walking past a store window when I spied the snowman inside.

And this Saturday I went to class at LAAFA and who should I run into in the lobby??

I'm kind of afraid. If I disappear one of these days, you know what happened..

I managed to hastily snap a crappy picture of the snowman at LAAFA for proof:

Ms. Sassy Lady Viking Shark

2010-12-03T17:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday everyone!! Titblog's challenge was to draw your inner warrior. I realized it's been a long while since I've drawn a shark :( Check out those crazy titbirds' drawings here and have a great weekend!!

Better Than Redbull

2010-12-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

Vietnamese coffee. I love it; it's delicious but it completely kicks my ass.

Beard Goggles

2010-12-02T16:24:00.001-08:00

A few days ago I saw some guy with an insanely long, silken beard walking down some street in LA. It was a lovely beard. For some reason it made me think of something weird like this:

Trying to practice more...

The Glow...

2010-12-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

It's come up in a few conversations with different people recently, so I decided to draw it.

This is what happens after I have any alcoholic beverage:

I think of it as a sort of mutant power.

Happy Birthday!!

2010-11-29T23:26:00.000-08:00

For Chris' birthday. He gets his own schooner and blue-ringed octopus and everything.

Turkey with a side of Brains

2010-11-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

This year my parents hosted an awesome Thanksgiving dinner. We gorged on turkey, mashed potatoes, prime rib, and an extra helping of zombies. While my parents, aunts and uncles hung out and sang karaoke, the "kids' table" caught up on the last couple episodes of The Walking Dead. It was delightful.

On Friday I stayed away from all shopping centers. Having worked in the retail industry during my college years, I know that Black Friday crowds are not worth messing with. I've just seen too many things. I worked at a department store for a while and found that people would go crazy over any and all kinds of electronics. For some reason, it always seemed that the more absurdly-specific the electronic device was, the more aggressively it was sought out. Portable DVD players. Solar-powered BBQ thermometers (now with built in laser pointers!). Ipod docks that are also kitchenware...People go crazy for these things.

Anyway, I hope you all had a fun holiday weekend and that you all have delicious leftovers for the rest of the week.

Wheee!

2010-11-24T17:20:00.001-08:00

I know some people who keep dozens of decorative pillows on their beds and it always seemed impractical to me. I imagine that the only upside to having so many pillows is being able to do this:

P.S. I hope you all have a happy turkey day!!

Magna Doodle

2010-11-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

In the days before the Cintiq and tablet PC, there was the Magna Doodle. This was probably my favorite toy when I was a child. Even though I'd eventually have to erase my drawings, there was something really cool about creating images with a stylus and magnetic particles.
One of my earliest memories about drawing involves trying to draw the Little Mermaid on model with my Magna Doodle (I believed I used the VHS box for reference). I was around 5 years old and I obviously lacked the drawing ability and probably the overall motor skills to sketch a proper Ariel, but I was really determined. After something like 3 hours of drawing and redrawing terrible attempts at Ariel, I went kind of bonkers...

It's been years since that day, but it is STILL pretty damn hard to draw Ariel on model.

Edit: Hahaha...Thanks for this link Mr. Woodside:

Don't photograph Laser Nessie

2010-11-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

Laser Nessie is a random character that I started doodling one late night a couple of years ago. I don't quite remember why I decided to draw him, but I can tell you that Laser Nessie has the ability to fly, usually vertically, because he wears a propeller beanie. He also has bionic eyes that allow him to shoot lasers and he hates cryptozoologists (especially those who wake him up early).

For some reason I felt like drawing some Laser Nessies.

Some random Nessies:

And Laser Nessie chasing those pesky cryptozoologists:

Bond Girl?

2010-11-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

Edit...started with a drawing of a girl with a bob...ended up turning her into a bond-girl:

Leaves

2010-11-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

November is here and the leaves are a' changing. Or at least I think they are. I live in Southern California so the closest I can get to experiencing Fall is catching the seasonal flu. Still, I felt like doing an autumnal drawing:

Witch

2010-10-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

One more for Halloween...

Zombie Koala Bears

2010-10-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

Bad Eucalyptus leaves turn koalas into blood-thirsty zombies.

Here they're eating the "Oh my Gooooood!" kid from Troll 2.

New Friends..

2010-10-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

Scarf weather

2010-10-23T01:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a chilly, rainy, gray week in Southern California.

Disarming a Werewolf

2010-10-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

I was going to draw one of my family's hyper dogs but decided to go werewolf instead:

October Chaos

2010-10-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of drawings of a friend's cat. Chaos is a sweet-natured Siamese with a charming, Ruben-esque figure. By that I mean he is so round that pretty much any way he sits, stands, or poses himself is comical. So here he is:

And for the sake of being festive:

On the topic of cats and cat drawings, awesome illustrator/cat lover Otto Tang has started a blog. Check out his stuff!

Also, this month we've started Titblog Inc., the Titmouse artists' blog. Go visit to see some of our weekly drawing challenges, drawing jams, and other things Titmice do after hours (note, some posts are nsfw :P)

Staying out of the rain

2010-10-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Costco Folk

2010-10-11T19:45:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of people I saw recently while shopping at Costco.

We kept running into this lady for some reason. Her shorts, socks, and shoes ensemble caught my eye.

This couple spent a lot of time examining some decorative holiday deer sculpts. The two of them poked and prodded the deer, and the guy kept squeezing the deer's nose like one does when checking fruit for ripeness. Bizarre...

Another Mermaid

2010-10-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Bah, it's been a little while!

Here's a mermaid doodle I painted:

Who Knows What Evil Lurks Within the Hearts of Men?

2010-09-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

This guy might:

During my drive in to work, I often see some interesting looking pedestrians. A couple mornings ago I spotted this head-turner at an intersection. He was dressed a lot like The Shadow, with a wide-brimmed hat, a long coat, etc. He did not, however, have a proper scarf to wear over his face so he improvised by donning a child's button-up t-shirt instead. He also had random articles of clothing tied around his sleeves and they swooshed like a cape when he moved. He did quite a bit of pacing and erratic swishing and glaring in the short time I was stopped at that light. Hands down my favorite crazy person and/or hobo of the month.

3 YeARRs!

2010-09-08T12:59:00.001-07:00

Holy crap, Chris, we've been dating for 3 years!

Back on Land..

2010-08-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

We Southern Californians have been spoiled by a relatively cool summer. Now that a heat wave has arrived, those of us who don't have AC are really feeling it. Here are some PS doodles about the current climate:

I've been busy lately but I'm trying to draw more!

Shark Week leftovers

2010-08-11T19:46:00.001-07:00

Last week was so awesome! Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the Shark-a-Day drawing challenge! Unfortunately things got insanely busy over the weekend and I got behind on my last 2 sharks. So here are a couple of late ones.

Saturday's Shark (The Basking Shark):

"You'll never have to change another filter again."

Sunday's was a free for all so I chose the Tasseled Wobbegong. I decided to paint it the way I perceived it as a kid. I mistakenly thought the white dots by the shark's ears were its eyes.

Also check out more sharks by

Ryan Deluca
Carrie Liao
Nate Villanueva
Eric Wu

and Melissa Levengood:

Matt O'Connell:

And don't forget to check out Kristen Campbell's amazing sharks!! And check out her deviant art page to see more!

Day 6: Great White

2010-08-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Here's my Great White entry for Day 6:

I'm currently open to suggestions for what they're looking at.

Check out more awesome sharks by:

Ryan Deluca
Eric Wu

Freddy Cristy:

Otto Tang:

Melissa Levengood:

Madison Bateman:

Parker Simmons:

Matt O'Connell:

And of course Kristen Campbell's deviantart page for more sharks!!

Porbeagles

2010-08-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

Yikes, super late again! Here are my porbeagles:

And a "My Neighbor Totorbeagle:"

(Don't ask...)

Also check out these other awesome artists' freakin' cute porbeagle drawings:

Ryan Green
Ryan Deluca
Grif Kimmins
Allison Craig
Mike Moloney
Eric Wu
Nate Villanueva
Nate Lowe
Jeremy Polgar

Also check these out!:

Mike Roush's awesome diagram of how porbeagles eat:

Otto Tang (and his awesome Porbeagle Embryo):

Freddy Cristy (he's so happy!):

Parker Simmons:

Madison Bateman (dramatic shark!):

Matt O'Connell:

Rachel Long (poor, poor beagle!):

Melissa Levengood:

Great work everybody!

Check out Kristen Campbell's DeviantArt Page for more shark stuff!!! Tomorrow's shark is the GREAT WHITE SHARK!!

Day 4: Frilled Shark

2010-08-04T21:38:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's so late guys! Took me a while to get to posting everyone's frilled sharks!

Don't forget that Day 5 is the (freaking adorable) Porbeagle Shark!

Here are mine:

Hardy har har:

Check out these awesome sharks:

Allison Craig
Ryan Deluca
Nate Lowe
Mike Moloney
Maha Tabikh
Ben Li
Edward Artinian's Stealth Shark
Eric Wu
Matt Boismier
Carrie Liao
Nate Villanueva

And here are some more from awesome people!

Mike Roush:

Freddy Cristy:

Otto Tang:

Matt O'Connell:

Madison Bateman:

Parker Simmons:

Melissa Levengood:

Brandon Cuellar:

Check out Kristen's deviant art page for more sharks!!

Day 3: Zebra Sharks!

2010-08-03T19:27:00.001-07:00

Note: Day 4 is the frilled shark!!!

Hey all, it's kind of late, but it's still day 3! I decided to attempt a cleaner line in photoshop as practice since we had an inking demo in class last night. I know I'm more used to cleaning up drawings in flash!

And here are some silly warm up drawings of zebra shark pups (they look a lot more zebra-like than their adult counterparts):

Also check out:

Grif Kimmins
Carrie Liao
Ryan Deluca
Matt O'Connell
Ben Li (best zebra shark ever)
Maha Tabikh
Allison Craig
Eric Wu (aka psycho ninja)
Nate Lowe

Mike Roush:

Madison Bateman:

Parker Simmons:

Freddy Cristy:

Melissa Levengood:

I'm loving these sharks!

Check out Kristen's page for more!!

Shark Week Day 2--Port Jackson Shark!

2010-08-02T16:32:00.001-07:00

I love this shark; it's so weirdly adorable.

Here is my submission for Monday:

Edit: I just added more links that people posted up! You guys are awesome!

And here are more links to Port Jackson (and some more Sand Tiger) sharks:

Mike Moloney
Nate Lowe
Ryan Deluca
Allison Craig
Maha Tabikh
Carrie Liao
Matt Boismier
Ben Li
Grif Kimmins
Matt O'Connell
Eric Wu

Mike Roush:

Parker Simmons:

Melissa Levengood's:

Otto Tang's:

Brandon Cuellar:

And of course, check back at Kristen Campbell's deviant art page for more Shark Week stuff!

Update: Tuesday's Shark o' the Day is the Zebra Shark!

Shark Week Day 1 (late)

2010-08-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

Edit: My friend Mike was kind enough to rid my PC of a nasty virus it came down with. And that means that I can post the original Sand Tiger shark that I actually drew on Sunday:

1st batch of sand tigers:

2nd batch of sand tigers:

Check out more Sand Tigers by
Allison Craig
Brandon Cuellar
Ryan Deluca
Matt O'Connell

And below is a shark by Ms. Melissa Levengood:

Brandon Cuellar:

And for more Awesome Sharks by other talented people...

Shark Week is Coming!!

2010-07-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

Shark week starts this Sunday!! To celebrate the most awesome week of the year, there will be another Shark-a-Day drawing challenge! I missed last year's, but I'm amped to participate this time around. Check Kristen Campbell's deviant art page to find out what the species of the day is and post your drawings online! I'll be posting links and images of Titmouse artists' drawings here next week. I hope more of you out there participate as well (seriously, I'd love to see everyone's blogs overrun with sharks)

I can't wait! In the meantime here's a little animation exercise I did (I will probably incorporate it into my website....whenever that finally gets up and running)...will probably make more changes when I have more time:

Divers Beware

2010-07-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

Comic Con was a lot of fun! It was great to see so many familiar faces and meet new people. There's so much inspiring talent out there!

I've been posting so many scribbly things, so here is a quick photoshop illustration of some of some friendly mermaids:

My New Neighbor and the Smoking Biebers

2010-07-21T01:59:00.000-07:00

Last week, we got new neighbors. Sam and I haven't officially met the two girls who moved into the apartment, but we've seen them around our complex. My very first (Twilight-Zone-ish) encounter with one of them is depicted in the sketchbook page below:

The girl was standing by the stairwell surrounded by a brigade of skinny jean-wearing boys with Justin Bieber haircuts. All of them were smoking and chattering in squeaky adolescent voices.

Lamp Head

2010-07-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

Chris and I saw this guy strolling by my apartment Sunday. To be fair, it was very hot outside.

Ooh La La

2010-07-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

Titmouse is located in a charming little West Hollywood neighborhood. The streets surrounding the studio make up the natural habitat of crazy hobos, roaming Scientologists, and tranny hookers.

Here's a quick doodle of my favorite local tranny. I usually see her riding her bike down Lexington Ave in the morning. I'm pretty sure everyone at the studio is familiar with this one. I call her Laddy Gaga and I want to know her makeup secrets.

Pirate Ladies

2010-07-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

Ahoy! Here are some drawings of she-pirates: