Holy Etsy, Batman!

I've been workin' like an idiot trying to get this Etsy store open, but HERE IS IT, INTERNET-FRIENDS.

Oh, man, I had no idea how hard it is to get everything together, get photos in order, shop policies--my head is a big pile of mushy mush.  But!  I am glad to be able to provide an easy way for y'all to order prints and artwork and goods from me.  I'm a huge fan of Etsy, and I've had my account there for some time now (as a buyer) but I haven't been able to get a shop up until now.  I'll be making some more prints to sell soon--this is all a new process to me, and thank god Etsy's been more than helpful and informative with all my questions and troubles.  NOW TO SIT BACK AND WATCH THE ORDERS ROLL IN (pipedreams).

Like it says on my Etsy site, I also am happy to do any commission work from you.  I did eight (!!!) drawings / paintings over the weekend in commissioned work, so I can work fairly quickly but promise the highest quality to my best of ability!  I use archival materials (and print on archival paper, for digital commissions).  Maybe I can draw something for you?  Feel free to contact me with any questions!  I'll probably get some sort of commissioning guidelines / pricing chart up by next blog post.  I feel like I just worked all day on this etsy thing (because...I guess I did >.<), and I need to go eat some dinner and organize my selling supplies!

An ending note--thanks again, everybody, for all the support.  IT IS LIKE LIVING A DREAM, TO HAVE THE SUPPORT OF ALL OF YOU, INTERNET-FRIENDS.  LESS THAN THREES TO YOU ALL.

ETA: JEEPERS, INTERNET-LAND.  Not 2 minutes after I pressed "post entry" I have already made my first sale on Etsy!  INTERNET, YOU ARE A FAST-MOVER!!!  Thanks, guys!!!

Otakon aka Evacuation Station '10

I've returned from convention-land, a land filled with sometimes horrifying unique sights and mostly disturbing interesting adventures!  I am happy to say that I was successful in the profit department, and got to spend some time with my friends that I've known for years through the con circuit.  We're old farts, all things considered!
No moar babbling; here are some pictures!

DELICIOUS SEAFOODS ARE ALWAYS CONSUMED IN MARYLAND.  This is in preparation for the weekend of eating utter crap, or forgetting to eat altogether.  WHAT PAIN AND MISERY WE SUFFER THROUGH TO BRING YOU ARTZ, MY LITTLE CON-ATTENDEES.

OH HELLO THAR PRINCESS BUBBLEGUM.  Lots and lots of Adventure Time fans!  Algebraic!!!

 

My friend Karl as Uncle Iroh, and a sweet Tai Lee and Sokka!  THE AVATAR LOVE WAS SERIOUSLY AMAZING THIS WEEKEND.  LOOK AT SOKKA-COSPLAYER'S FACE.  IT IS PERF.

SAILOR SATURN.  My favorite, next to the two gay-scouts.  Her weapon was well-constructed!

I was kind of losing my mind over this Vanile cosplay, not only because it was pretty perfect and she's adorable and her weapon is totally real and badass, but also because I had moments earlier just seen a Lightning cosplay made from duct-tape, and it was terrifyingly disappointing.

Here is an assortment of pretty lolita outfits and costumes I don't know the orgins of, to spare you my ultra-witty and hilarious commentary.  Some of these pictures were taken during the oh-so-hilarious FIRE ALARM that went off Saturday afternoon.  Evacuating tens of thousands of attendees is not an easy task, but seriously--it was a test of human logic to get out of the building for some of these folks.  The human race is not all that bright at times.  Anyway, the photos:

AH, so many good times (mostly documented by my cell phone camera as well as my friend Nina, who had a real-people camera).  It was a very busy weekend, and I think I did 7-8 commissions and was hunched over working for most of the convention, and I hate that I really didn't have time to hang out with my friends as much as I would have liked but MOMMA'S GOTTA PAY THE BILLS.  I did manage to sneak away and say hi to most everyone I wanted to, and also made some new friends!  New friends are nice to have!  I finally met Jade who I've gone back and forth on twitter with (and who I blogged about way back) whose work I loooooove.  C. Lijewski was also working hard for the money over on the other side of the alley next to Jade.  WE ARE ALL CONNECTED, LAWLZ.  Iris was out and about most of the daytime at the h.naoto booth, but was glad to spend some time with her over the weekend while she wasn't off being popular!

I also bought an original from Gus Fink, to add to all the other art by him that adorns my house.  I also met his friend (ladyfriend?) whose name I forget (I'm so terrible with names, and I hate it, and I'm working on it) but she said that they would both be tabling at Dragon*Con this year, so I hope to catch up with them there!  

NOW IS THE TIME TO SHARE PICTURES OF MY FACE.  Luckily, my good con-artist friends have concealed most of my body with theirs, which is good, because SUNDAY WAS A FAT-DAY, INTERNET-FRIENDS, YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

Annie, Nina, and I had our cramped cozy corner of the alley.  GROUP HUGS.  This was Nina's first time tabling at Otakon, and she was definitely very popular!  OH ONE DAY I WILL BE POPULARZ.

And now, Kathy and Paula join our group photo time.  If you can't tell, it is Sunday and we have been tabling and talking to 40,000 people over the weekend, and are freaking exhausted.  Look at my woke-up-early-without-coffee-to-make-a-kinkos-run-and-had-no-time-to-shower-or-look-anywheres-near-presentable face.  If you don't know what that looks like, here is some unfortunate photographic evidence.

I also purchased THIS MAGICAL ITEM that will be my new donations box at conventions AS WELL AS a tool to foil my gullible friends:

So, now is when I return to the real world, and begin to eat vegetables again (thank for that hot dog vendor outside the con center, but seriously, I don't think I ate a single vegetable that wasn't a potato all weekend, SORRY, STOMACHHH).  I have some leftover prints from the convention that I'll be putting up for sale (moar about that later this week).  Hope everybody has a great start to the week!

Monsters Show in Photos + Sudden Busytimes

OH GOOD EVENING MORNING, INTERNET-FRIENDS!  The current time is 6:06AM, and while normal folks have been sound asleep with nary a worry in their clever little heads, I have been awake and assaulting my eyes with florescent colors and patterns and trying to convince myself that although I am not good at math I CAN still count, even though I have CAUSED A SEVERE PROBLEM made a slight miscalculation resulting in about 6 hours of fixing mistakes that may or may not be my fault.  SO.  PLEASE FORGIVE ME IF THIS ENTRY IS SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC AND FEEL AND/OR ABUSES THE CAPSLOCK.

Because I know you just love photos with captions, I'm here to deliver you with some ace descriptions of fancy!times here at the Kai Lin Art gallery.  HERE IS THE GALLERY WINDOW.  IT IS LIKE YOU WERE THERE, INTERNET-FRIENDS!

Here are some general pictures of the beautiful / spacious / fantastic-and-perfectly-suitable-also-for-parties-and-receptions gallery itself (I will say right now that all fish-eye lensed pictures are courtesy of 944.com who were gracious enough to photograph the event for those of us without cameras, and by "us," I mean "me.") before it got super-crowded.  And you may be asking, "Oh, Katie, what are you talking about you narcissistic fool, that looks pretty crowded to me, what are you talking about."
But internet-friends, YOU WOULD BE WRONG.
 BECAUSE THIS IS WHEN IT GOT CROWDED.  We had a really amazing turnout of over 500 people I am told, and THAT IS A LOT OF PEOPLE IN ONE SPACE.  If you cannot tell, we are also all of equal shinyness and glossiness, because in spite of Shelley (gallery assistant / tumblr lover of my life) informing me that the thermostat was set at fifty, I was under the impression that we were suddenly on a tropical island and/or my grandparents house on Long Island 15 years ago where relief from the heat could only be sought from a 65 year old ceiling fan permanently set on "low."

ANYWAY.  Many, MANY people I knew were in attendance, of which was all a pleasant surprise that warmed my tiny, frigid heart.  OH FRIENDS, YOU MAKE MY STONE-COLD GANGSTA KILLAH IDENTITY A MERE FACADE.

Shelley, gallery assistant of your dreams.  With my hand in a slightly awkward position, OH HO HO, SHELLEY, WATCH OUT FOR THIS LADY KILLER.

Dante DeStefano, who is posed in front of one of her fantastic pieces in the show, I believe showed up in 80% of the photos taken of the night. I mean, who wouldn't want to get their picture taken with her?  In a yeti-hat?  THE CHOICE IS OBVIOUS, DUH.  I believe over the duration of the three hours we were in attendance, Dante completed approximately 900 laps around the gallery, hustle-hustlin'!  GO GO DANTE.

The couple on the right (Sorry, couple on the left, I have NO IDEA WHO YOU ARE) is Mr. Jason Hawkins and his WONDERFUL X INFINITY WIFE, BRITTANY.  I have admired Jason's work since we were in school together and his wife started making me baked goods to eat on numerous occasions.  Jason's oil paintings are outstanding.

Anne Elser was my bookmaking instructor, and my burrito-friend.  SHE IS SO WONDERFUL AND HAS ALSO HELPED ME LEARN THE SKILLS TO MAKE MY CHRISTMASES BEAUTIFUL AND THRIFTY.  Anne provided our lovely nametags for the show, and I was glad to be able to talk to her for a little bit.

THESE ARE SOME NEW FRIENDS, WHO I AM HOPING VERY MUCH SO THAT THEY BECOME MY INTERNET-FRIENDS.  <3 <3 <3  These two kind fellows (OH, WHAT A TIME TO BE HORRIBLE WITH NAMES.  I BELIEVE ONE OF YOU IS DAVID.  I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON, SORRY, NEW FRIENDS) talked to me for a little bit about my paintings and were generally a pleasure to speak with.  This was right before there was a flood of five billion people coming into the gallery and before my anxiety truly spiked.  GOOD TIMING.

The photographers at this event took 23094820389423 pictures of my two old neighbors and friends Kari and Derry (RHYMING NAMED COUPLE, ADORBZ) who were kind enough to make it out to the gallery to see me and try to steal the MacBookPro (just kidding).  AREN'T THEY CUTE, INTERNET-LAND?!?

My dad was also in attendance at the gallery!  CAN'T YOU SEE THE RESEMBLENCE.  The dad of the great Katie Lee Grosskopf drove all the way from North Carolina just to see me. FOR ME.  <3  THANKS, DAD.

Here, we stumble upon the greatest picture in the history of pictures.  For this picture, Gary Weiss is actually smiling and wearing a not-red-or-navy-blue-or-grey shirt, and my best pal Mike is wearing not-holey-jeans, and the three of us are together!  In the gallery!  Together!  Ah, words can't describe how happy I am that we somehow found our way into a picture together.  WE ARE SUCH TWEW FWENDZ.

OH, MY GOD, THAT WAS A LOT OF PICTURES.  I've probably lost half of you by now (so...only one reader left, oh ho ho) but if you made it to here, I congratulate you, and assure you that this is the last you'll hear of this show.  I know I've been hyping it for weeks now, but now that it's off my mind, the plan is to sleep for the next 4 days.

But, these plans are foiled!  Because, now that I've gone from a working-at-an-office type person to a working-from-my-comfortable-home-in-underwears type person, I have suddenly hit a point where I am up to my neck in work and jobs are coming in and, like the great Mary Tyler Moore said, I AM GOING TO MAKE IT AFTER ALL.  One of the jobs is fairly full-time freelance work which is on my mind 75% of the time, the other 25% being smaller jobs here and there.  SO, THAT PLAN TO SLEEP FOR FOUR DAYS IS SADLY LOST TO THE WIND, but will hopefully fly back in my face in the guise of a paycheck.  THINGS ARE COMING UP KATIE.

Right after I completed the gallery pieces a couple of weeks ago, I hit kind of an art-burnout stage, and to warm my artist-muscles back up again, I've been completing the 30 Day Drawing Challenge as posted on my tumblr / facebook fan page / wherever the hell else I am on the internet.  Here are the first batch of drawings!  I'll be posting them in groups so I'm not bombarding you every day with random 1-2 hr little drawings.

01 - Self Portrait

02 - Imaginary Friend

 

03 - Most Recent Dream

 

04 - Re-design a Book Cover

IT'S 7:00AM AND TIME TO PASS OUT, INTERNET-LAND! 
Otakon preparation is also taking place this week.  I'M SURE YOU CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT HOW I FEEL ABOUT MAKING PRINTS BECAUSE YOU KNOW IT'S MY FAVORITE THING TO DO, RIGHT!?!?

The Monsters Aftermath

Here's a ridiculously unattractive photo of one of my paintings and me, at the Monsters show last night!  Just call me the sweat monster, guhrossss.

I'm still processing what exactly happened last night.  I know it involved a room packed with 500+ people sweating and looking at my and my friends' hard work, and yelling talking excitedly over Lady Gaga booming against the walls, and seeing old friends (SO MANY FRIENDS) and meeting tons of new people, and lots of free booze, and selling a painting (!!!) and and and

*falls down*

Thank you.  Thank you all so, so much.  Friends, teachers, old co-workers, new friends--it was so overwhelming and like a dream.  I have never felt more loved than I did last night.  Thank you, everyone.  The amount of support that has been shown for me has seriously blown my mind.

I'm going to sleep for the next 12 hours.  More about the show next post!  And new prints will be available on the site!  STAY TUNED, INTERNET-FRIENDS.

Giveaway Winners + Photoshop Wrasslin'

AS Y'ALL KNOW, I HAD MY FIRST GIVEAWAY YESTERDAY.
The following winners were super quick to respond to my cry of pimpage, and for that I am super thankful!

They are a talented bunch, and I hope that my readers will check out their work as well--very inspiring and awesome work!

And here they are!

Ryan Coons is an outstanding, hard-working, and often hilarious copywriter also based in Atlanta, GA.  He works up at 22Squared, where I'm sure he's being his usual self-deprecatingly talented self.  He and his awesome gf, Lauren, were my dates (THIRD WHEEL, LOLZZZZ) to our friend Jonathan's recent wedding, and he still owes me $100 (just kidding.  no.  i mean.  yes.  but not mad.)

Follow him on twitter and tumblr--you will not regret it, unless you're allergic to funny or nerdy or funnily nerdy things.  And if you are, I don't know why you'd be reading this blog anyways.

Jess is a photographer and doodler from NJ who I met when I assisted with tour management and merchandise for bands from Japan that traveled to the States to do live shows for their American fanbases.  She's the definition of a sweetheart, and she's talented to boot--she's ultra-passionate and dedicated to her pursuits in photography and art; she is available for hire as well!

You can see more of her work at her deviantart page.

San Smith is an illustrator and amazo-blogger out of Atlanta.  Her blog and artwork are both fantastic--I've been a stalker fan of hers for some time, and was happy we finally got to meet each other this spring!  If you haven't seen San's work yet, you're crazy, and need to immediately head over to her website.

She is also doing an awesome giveaway right now, so please check it out!

Dana is a blogger from the DC Area who is an avid reader of books and her blog is dedicated to writing and talk to people about her love of books!  She updates very frequently, and her insight into romance and fantasy novels makes me want to start reading as much as I used to when I was younger.  I also did the artwork for her banner for the site!

Please read her blog, become her blog's fan on facebook, or if you're not a hardcore reader like Dana is, her other personal blog could be of your interest as well!

The Anger Ball is a blog I've pimped out before on my twitter and tumblr, and I sincerely hope that you all have had an opportunity to read these entries.  THEY ARE HILARIOUS.   I have a personal belief that negativity is harmful and I try to stay away from it as much as possible, but if unavoidable, it is best handled with humor...of which the Anger Ball's specializes!  I always look forward to their updates and tweets.

Follow the Anger Ball on twitter or read their blog; there's a little something for just about everybody there!

Good job, followers!  Joon and I approve!

Well, I'm happy to report that I have some full-time freelancing gigs right now that will keep me busy for hopefully a long time.  Being at home and working here has really turned me on to the idea of working for myself.  I do miss the interaction and fun work antics of my old job, but this is easily fixed with some good old fashion hang-out time with my friends--I just have to make sure to schedule not-work times!  When you work at home, it's easy to get wrapped up in what you do and forget about having a social life.

THIS, I DO NOT WANT TO EVER FORGET.

Speaking of working for myself, I have a webcomic planned for an October release, and blew the hard-drive dust off of my Photoshop and started to doodle a little.

SHIT, PHOTOSHOP IS HARD.  Although, I admit that when I say this, rabid Photoshop supporters insist that Illustrator is hard, and I will agree with that.  I just need more practice is all!  So, i hope to be sharing more Photoshop doodles as well as some artwork from the webcomic.  Stay tuned for more!  Thanks, guys!

"I HELP YOU, YOU HELP ME" Giveaway!!!

ALLRIGHT, Y'ALL.
IT IS TIME FOR THE GIVEAWAY CONTEST THINGIE.

The times are tough for creative folks, and it's my personal belief that we need to help each other out as much as we can.  I have received the most opportunity in my life from people who have heard of me through word of mouth, the passing of information from one person to another.  Whether it's through people we know, or reaching out through the web, I've been fortunate enough to have great friends, co-workers, art directors, and contacts who believe in me, and my work, and support me simply by telling someone else about who I am and what I do!  So, I propose that we help each other, internet-friends! 

BUT LET'S DO IT WITH A FLASHY CONTEST!!
YOUR MISSION: 
1) Use your social networking doo-dads (twitter, facebook, myspace, etc) and link to my blog, and the Monsters Show's ad and Facebook Page.
The links are
my blog: www.seekatiedraw.com
the show: http://seekatiedraw.squarespace.com/storage/monstersad.jpg (ad)
or, http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=134454126575411&ref=ts (the facebook page)

2) Show me that you completed step one!
Leave me a comment on my blog or an e-mail or something to prove to me that you completed the task at hand!  Show me your sweet tweets, your facebook updates, your blog updates, your tumblr blogs; show me that you've basically pimped me out to the rest of internet-land!  Proof is in the form of link-backs or screenshots of your social networking activities.  NO PROOF, NO WINNING.  SORRY.

3) Be one of the first 5 people do to this, and you WIN THE PRIZE.

By now, you are surely asking--but, Katie, WHAT IS THE PRIZE!??!  Good thing the next section is--


YOUR PRIZE:
1) ONE (1) FANCY-SCHMANTS POSTER PRINT OF ONE OF THE PIECES I DID FOR THE MONSTER SHOW. 
I'm making a limited run of prints of the pieces I created for the Monsters show, and YOU WILL HAVE YOUR CHOICE OF ONE OF THESE BAD BOYS:

 FOR YOUR WALL.

2) PIMPAGE IN MY NEXT BLOG ENTRY.
In spite of popular belief, I get a pretty good amount of hits on my blog.  For doing me a big ol' favor and pimping me out to your friends, I will also do the same for you!  Got a new blog that needs some attention?  Are you a freelancer that needs some business?  Want more traffic to your etsy store? I WILL TRY TO HELP by blogging about you and what you do, so the word gets out to my piece of internets!

THERE IT IS, FOLKS.  MY FIRST GIVEAWAY.  Winners will be updated on this blog entry.  GOOD LUCK.

WINNERS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The monsters have left my house and THE GIVEAWAY COMETH.

THE MONSTERS HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING.
Today, friends, I said some sad farewells to my little creations and put them in the hands of the wonderful Kai Lin Art gallery for safe-keeping, and by safe-keeping, I mean to hang.  Freshly varnished prior to delivery, my house smells like a garage and myself and my dog may possible be high as kites right now, but at any rate, OH, MY GOD, THE SHOW IS NEXT WEEK, THIS IS HAPPENING REALLY FAST, AGH, AGH, OH, OH, MY GOD.  I am a simultaneously excited and terrified.  While I get ahold of myself, here are some professional cellular telephone photographs:

BUT NOW IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES WHEN I MUST REJECT MY EMOTIONAL RESPONSES PUSH ON, and I have so much more to get done by the end of this month.  The past week has been pretty intense and chaotic, and, from the looks of it, will continue to exist in this manner at least through August.

All I will say is that the saying "something better is always around the bend," is actually proving itself to be true!  It's not always a load of horseshit false!  EVEN THOUGH I HAVE REQUIRED A PHOENIX DOWN FROM TIME TO TIME, KATIE LEE GROSSKOPF HAS JUST LVL'D UP.  (If you understand that last sentence, I truly am thankful for your presence in this world)  Everything, lately, seems to be coming up Katie, and I credit much of it to your support and encouragement! And, because I love you all so much, I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE BACK TO YOU.

This weekend, I am working SUPER HARD to prepare for this blog's very first giveaway.  I AM GIVING THINGS AWAY, INTERNET-FRIENDS.  And not just things like in your elementary school goodie bags you got from parties (ie: pencil with "happy birthday" design on it with eraser that does not actually erase and so said pencil has stayed unsharpened for 17 years) but I am giving away five free prints of the pieces in the "I'm in love with your monster" series of paintings that are smelling up waiting in the gallery to be shown on Friday to the general public.  This, of course, requires some participation on your part, but IT IS NOT HARD.  So easy, internet-land, that my little dog (as adorable as she may be, she is the most intelligent of life) could probably win this giveaway.

I'm announcing what to do when I blog on Monday morning!  It's a first-come-and-do-what-I-say, first-served, so please head over to seekatiedraw.com on Monday morning AND YOU MAY POSSIBLY WIN THE GIVEAWAY.

GOOD LUCK, INTERNET-LAND.  Prepare for my post on Monday!  Thank you for supporting the hell out of me--I truly appreciate all your e-mails and follows on all 2309842098423089243 social media sites I frequent!  INTERNET-LAND, YOU ARE TOO GOOD TO ME.