Knee-deep in Monster-land

One good thing about being freelance full-time is that I don't have any sleep problems anymore!  Mostly because I'm keeping my preferred vampire hours where my peak working hours (and jeezus, I can do a lot of work in this time) is 11pm to around 4am.  I'm thinking it might be because of the quiet, and the feeling that I'm here, busting my ass while everybody else is sleeping, like I'm in a secret underground art-making organization (members: 1).

It's about 3:30 in the morning right now and I'm about to turn in, but here's some in-progress of one of the pieces of my show. EXCITING.  I'm going to be pretty busy until the show in the 16th, especially because I'm going out of town twice in this time.  Crazy, I know.

I'll try to blog more but as this show gets closer to...showtime, my nose'll be to the grind and I won't be able to see past tentacles.  Or something.

A studio post

I got some questions on my tumblr and other internet nooks that I frequent about my studio space, and I thought I'd share some photos and talk a little bit about my "studio."  Studio meaning, that room in my house where I make arts happen.  If you were anticipating something Disney-esque, GRAVELY MISTAKEN does not even begin to describe.

Well, let's start with my drawing desk, which was donated graciously to me by Gary after the flood.  This is where I start to lose my mind / thoughts of artistic suicide begin.  The Daystar was bright as hell this morning, and burning my recluse-skin pretty hard.  For now, I've blurred out my pieces for the show, but I promise within the next week I'll give y'all an update about that.

Next to my desk are thousands of dollars of wasted money art supplies.  Pretty self-explanatory.  Because of the recent getting-laid-off thing, I actually rearranged everything and scrubbed the floors (BY HAND, LIKE, CINDERELLA-STYLE, Y'ALL) and I promise you that in a week I won't remember how I organized, like, 90% of this stuff.  And it probably won't matter because it'll all be a mess by then, anyway.

Across the way (read: 3 steps to the right) is my computer desk.  I learned the beauty of dual-screen action at work, and looking at one screen is almost foreign now.  I keep 2 bottles of 100 pills of Advil on my desk because MY HEAD ALWAYS HURTS FROM LOOKING AT THESE TWO SCREENS.  Also, I'd like to point out that my mother sent me the same Christmas card two years in a row and that kind of sums up the kind of awesome lady she is.

And behind my desk I keep some old sketches / paintings of mine that I like (usually color palettes or line quality or something to remind me that SOMETIMES I DO GOOD THINGS) and artwork from friends / inspirations that remind me to get off my ass and work.  There is also that giant paperweight printer.  Gotta get that working again.  It basically crapped out right before I was about to head out to Animazement.  WONDERFUL TIMING, AS ALWAYS, LIFE.

And there you have it.  Not much to it, like I said, but this is basically where I'm going to hideout for the next month and a half.  I've gotten some really sweet e-mails and replies from many of you, and I appreciate them all.  BUT NEVER FEAR.  I've no time to slow down--it's all full-speed ahead from here!

The times, they are a-changin'!

Animazement was a total blast this year as usual.  A PILE OF FRIENDS, IT WAS.  It was great to meet up with all the people that I've basically grown up with artistically over the past...8 years?  9 years?  Jeezus.  I'm practically a grandma in the convention-world these days.

AND OF COURSE I TOOK SOME PICTURES:

This is one of those times when I wish I didn't have just a cell phone camera!  OH GOD.  When I saw Dug and Russell on the other side of the hall, I pretty much screamed "WATCH MY TABLE PLZ THX!!" to my table neighbors and darted across.  I believe I was the only one over 7 years old who wanted their picture taken with them but WHO CARES BECAUSE I DO NOT LOOK THAT PICTURE IS EFFING ADORABLE.

 

I love DOGS and these are the first cosplayers of the twins where it doesn't look like they went to the Rag-O-Rama and cut apart a parka.  ADORBS.

Grab Captain K'nuckles and Bubby, OH MY GOD IT'S AN ADORABLE FLAPJACK.  I felt bad because I think I made her pose about 30 times as I was having TEKNOLOGEE MALFUNKSHUNZ.  *headdesk* *headdesk* 

Ah, I have about 4,000 more pictures but this blog might be long and arduous and those were most definitely the best ones.  This con was pretty kick ass, and we had more than few good meals, and like I've mentioned a thousand times it was like, THE FRIEND REUNION, and really, that's the main reason why I do these cons anymore is because I get to see the people that I don't see anywhere else.  Although I've talked to a few others about how maybe I'm going to cool it from anime cons and start heading to different shows (starting with NYCC in the fall, oh crap!!!).  After I see how my the show I'm part of does in July, I've got to really examine the rest of my year.  It's already June, what the hell!?

Also, I'm not keeping this secret or anything, but a couple of you have asked--I don't work full-time anymore, so I'm all-or-nothing freelance these days.  My company and I ended more than amicably, so it wasn't a throwing-tables affair or anything like that.  But, changes changes, folks!  My life is going to be interesting for the next few months, and HERE I AM FUTURE, I AM READY FOR YOU.  *puffs up chest and raises gumption*

I'm working on a post for a few of you via my tumblr about what my studio looks like.  Being that I just cleaned that sucker up recently for MAXIMUM WORK POTENTIAL, I figured I'd take a few pictures tomorrow along with some roaringly obnoxious commentary, as usual.  I don't know how people put up with me, I swear.

For now, here is an adorable picture of my dog next to my flippy floppies on the blanket I put down for her in my studio space.

EDIT: ADDING ONE MORE BECAUSE I'M OBSESSED AND WEIRD.

Pre-con Madness Begins!

Happy Monday!  This is Katie on 2 hours of sleep, 3 cups of coffee in.  My body can't decide if it's hot or cold, I have to consciously think about blinking, and the impending to-do list of these precious few days before my trip to Animazement this weekend is screaming in my brain, aka, the hollow space between my ears that has manifested due to slipping into an alternate reality called "Lack-of-Sleep."

Most of you know I've had a problem with sleep for the past year or so.  I've tried just about everything, trust me.  Fortunately, this means I can do a lot of art over a weekend.  I had intended to make a blog happen at some point on Friday.  I'm not sure how all this works.  How often do people blog?  How often do you guys actually want to hear from me?  Questions, questions.

Anyway, me and Joon are venturing to North Carolina this weekend for Animazement, my most favorite convention.  The staff is always so friendly, and the new Raleigh Convention Center is a perfect new home for this convention that has gone from like, 50 forty-year olds (and me, ohhhhh noooooo) to over 4,000 people!  ALSO, ALSO, it is like reunion times for me and my repeat customers, my artist friends, my friends I met when I was sort of in the j-rock industry, and just friends.  Animazement is a pile of friends!  WHAT COULD BE BETTER, I ASK!?!?

So, here's some art I popped out over the weekend.  More to come, even!

 ADVENTURE TIME!!!!

SOMETHING ABOUT BELIEVING IN THE ME THAT IS BELIEVING IN YOU OR SOMETHING.

 OH HO HO, WHAT IS BETTER THAN ONE GAGA?  TWO GAGAS.

That's all for today!  I'm gonna go sneak a nap.

Ah mah gah, burstdaaayyyyy!!!

Today is a good day, everybody!  Take the day off, take a long lunch, have an extra bloody mary, TODAY IS MAH DAY OF BIRTH.

Just kidding, I'm rly not that important, but if you need an excuse, HERE I AM TO DELIVER.

Saturday was my birthday partaaaay which, thankfully, this year was more contained and not as out of control as last year.  I shall talk today a bit about the perils of Facebook, as in, how it allows people to lie to you.

Last year's celebration, I made an event on Facebook (already a pain) and 10 confirmed guests said that they would attend.  As I am always surprised that I have friends, THIS WAS MOST EXCELLENT NEWS.  I informed the fine people at the Brewhouse in L5P that I would have a dozen people in attendance and we got a table ala the Last Supper for everybody to sit down and nom chicken wings and drink some beers.

AND THEN 65 PEOPLE SHOWED UP.

Albeit, this is flattering (I think I drunkenly blabbed "WHO WAS THAT!?!?" a few times, not even gonna lie), it got out of control pretty quickly--the waitstaff was crazy, there were mixed up orders, I think my old roommate Jenn had to pay a $210 tab that WAS NOT HERS, I was very overwhelmed.  And when I'm overwhelmed I get, as they say, TOTES INAPPROPS.

So, this year, there was less AGHH!!! and more YAY!!! and as the night wore on (and I may or may not have had a 20 minutes party time with a different party sorrrryyyy strangers) I have made a chart of how my time was spent in-between being irresponsible because HELLO IT IS MY BIRTHDAY I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT THAT IS THE POINT OF BIRTHDAYS.

And so ends my 1 out of 3 days a year I get to go out and be an excusable hot mess. 

So, today is my actual birthday, and I'm about to go eat some birthday lunch with my fine co-worker pals.  I'm preparing some new things for Animazement at the end of the month, as well as a couple of SUPER SEKRIT PROJEKTS.  Hooray, I am twenty--*coughCOUGHcough* years old!

Changes, changes!

There is a lot happening over here in Katie-land  I can't talk about a lot of it right now, but my life is going to be very different beginning next month.  I'm looking forward to all the changes and challenges in store for me.

I'm opening commissions again, $10 for some digital art.  Also, I'll take some commissions at my normal rate for paintings or large-scale digital pieces.  If you're interested, you can e-mail me at katie@seekatiedraw.com, and we'll have a conversation! 

Right now, have some Gaga.  Because I have to remind myself that it'll be okay.  Doo doo-doo doo.  Just dance.

Drawing Marathon Day!

Holy crap, I did so much drawing today!  Some were gifts, some were the $10 commissions I called out for over the weekend, and I'm still chugging away!  I thought I'd update with my progress thus far!

Oh man!  And tonight, I'm hoping to get a couple more done.  THAT IS, AFTER I SEE IRONMAN 2, YES, YES.  I'm going with my old roommate and fellow fan-dork, Jenn, tonight, and there will be some knee-grabbing on my part, I assure you!

Also!  San recently posted a blog with a Princess Bubblegum (of Adventure Time fame) crown tutorial, and today at work, I made myself and some co-workers crowns.  It was fun!  YOU CAN TELL BECAUSE WE ARE SMILING LIKE NERDFACES.  HOORAY CARTOONS!

My huge Asian face, guh.
More updates later, after I go get my mind blown by Robert Downey Jr.

Announcement! Commissions! Thank yous!

I did this fish for someone at work who likes goldfish.  It doesn't really have to do TOO much with this post, but it adds to the list of doodles that happen because of some severe procrastination.

Because of my sleeping problems (right now, I'm blogging at 5AM, urrghhh), I've been exhausted all the time and in kind of a crummy sort of mood.  I'm hoping that this changes, starting this week!  To help me get out of this rut, I'm doing one of my favorite thing to do, which is to draw things for other people!  I haven't opened for commissions in awhile, so maybe now is a good time to do so.

SO!  If there's anything you'd like to get drawn by me, I'm opening five slots for $10 commissions.  Because of the cheap cheap price, these will all be digital commissions, like the fish over here, no background, full-color, one character / object of interest (or two, if a little simpler).  Please e-mail me ( katie@seekatiedraw.com ), and I'll put you on the list!

Slots taken:
1. GL (Owls)
2. MM (Glee characters)
3. EO (her puppy)
4. ND (dwaggin)
5. JS (turtle)

**Edit: Holy crap, that filled up fast!  Hopefully, I'll get through these quick and then I'll open up more slots!  Thanks, everybody!**

To see samples of my work, you can always go to my mainpage or my new facebook fan page!
Speaking of, wowowowowowwow, guys!  I think I reached almost 120 fans in the first day!  Thank you so much for all your support.  The times ahead are sure to be a challenge--my heart gets all mushy-gushy when I think about how I could never get up and keep trying without your encouragement. 

ALLRIGHT MUSHY STUFF IS OVER.  ARTIST MACHINE ENGAGE.  TIME TO KICK ASS AND TAKE NAMES.

Sunshine bug!

Work is in-between projects for me lately, and I've been art-directed by one of my designer-ly co-workers (lots of hypens, guys!) to draw something, the first of which is a "sunshine bug," the nickname she has for her 3 1/2 year old daughter.

Two versions--going to do some printing / pattern experiments with these! Which one do you like better?

My emotions have been everywhere lately!  One minute I'm sobbing, the next I'm cynical, the next I'm carefree and happy.  I think the lack of sleep has been affecting my emotional filters.  So, this week, I'm experimenting with lots of different sleep remedies.  If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

I'm going to attempt to try:

• chamomile tea or warm milk before bed
• not eating anything after 7pm
• only 1 cup of coffee in the morning (THIS IS THE HARDEST)
• not taking any naps (and sticking to it!  the amount of accidental naps I take is unreal)
• exercising in the morningtime

I'll let you know the results!

Late by about four weeks.

About four week ago (urrrrrrgghh), C. Lijewski suggested a "Devilman Day," where we get out the old comics and draw that bastard.  I completed a sketch on the actual day, but haven't completed the illustration until now.

Mostly watercolor and acrylic, some photoshop color retouching.

Glee tonight!  It'll get my artist mojo going again, I believe!