San Smith

Life update!

I am sooo excited about True Blood! I never got to see all of Season 2, so I'm looking forward to the DVD release at the end of May. Sookie is my favorite character on the show (besides Lafayette) and I drew her the other day during some practice doodles:

Also - Thanks SO much for all the kind comments and suggestions left on my "sleepless doodles" post - you guys are so sweet and supportive. I'm feeling a lot better now and should be back to my regular self by next week I think! Since a lot of you commented saying you too are having sleeping issues, I thought I'd share what exactly I'm doing:

- Cup of coffee in the morning, walk the dog
- Every other day I'm running or biking (whee!)
- Work, make lunch, hula hoop for a bit
- Work more, maybe some green tea and then no caffeine after 3pm
- Around 8pm I take the dog for a second walk
- Work till 10, by 11 I'm ready to go to bed!

A few tips I've read: no phones, television, or any light emitting devices while you are in bed - the light wakes your brain up and makes it harder to go to sleep quickly. No caffeine after 3pm, try not to eat after 8/9pm, and be sure to wake up and go to bed at the same time every day if possible. If you can't sleep, get out of bed and do something (that doesn't involve light emitting devices) and when you are tired again go back to bed. Lying in bed awake can make it harder to relax! And last but not least, stop working and start winding down about an hour before going to bed. This one is so hard for me! If I'm not careful I can work till 1 am sometimes.

Whoo - Me on Monday after getting running shoes! I'm kinda sleep deprived and makeup-less, but I was so excited! I'm really enjoying running - I've never done anything like this before. It makes me feel good to be active. Something fun - I got a free running shirt with my shoes (in the picture) so I saved $30! I also learned a lot about my feet at the running store and now I know what shoes are best for me. The only other things I've been up to besides work is I made a few pairs of shorts from old pants, and repainted a pair of shoes to make them more wearable:

The light pink was very close to my skin color so these looked really weird on me. Now they are a fun metallic messy gold and compliment my skin tone much more. If you are interested in trying this out on your shoes - I used golden fluid acrylics, and there are a couple of layers of paint on there... I also used a paper towel to rough up the texture of the gold so it wasn't perfect. The paint might crack eventually but for now they are fun!

Man this is a long post. I should have some fun stuff next week since some of it was pushed back... I purchased a domain for a project I'm working on and I can't wait to share it. Till then - have a good weekend!

sleepless doodling

My brain feels so fried today...I've been having really bad sleep lately, and last night took the cake...

I have no clue why, but I could NOT fall asleep until 5:30 in the morning. It was miserable! So now I'm drinking tons of coffee and tea and trying to get my freelance work done so I can go get running shoes this evening. I've been wanting to try out running... and now I'm even more interested because I'm hoping exercising more will cure my not-being-able-to-sleep problem. It's no fun and needs to go!

Do you guys ever have nights where you just can't get to sleep no matter how tired you are? I'm so tired coffee isn't really doing much at this point! (Listening to 80s pop is actually keeping me more awake!! haha jeese!) Anyhow - Back to work for me... Should have some fun stuff to share later this week! Hope you are all doing well!

Comic book recommendations!

I've picked up a few good comics in the past month and half and I thought it was time for another comic book recommendation post! As always, if you have any comics you think I might enjoy, post a recommendation in the comments! I love checking out new stuff and talking about great stories.

Gray Horses - by Hope Larson
A little slow paced, but I was intrigued enough by the story and creative layout that it didn't really bother me. I think my favorite part of this book was capturing the feeling of what its like to be a foreign exchange student and how her thoughts were shown in French (with translations of course!). Over all, I'd recommend getting this - its a pleasant read with interesting storytelling. 

Jin & Jam - issue no.1 - by Hellen Jo
So I picked this up at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco in hopes to check out some good local illustrators, and I was not disappointed! Hellen's illustration style is very unique and her story telling is a little gritty, but in a refreshing way. The comic follows two girls forming an unlikely friendship while navigating through a fight with some feisty Siamese twins. (I know - what?! Sounds crazy, but it works!) Because its a quick read, it leaves you wanting more - which isn't bad because Hellen's website is filled with great art (and there are more comics on her etsy!). An interesting story at a great price - definitely check it out.

Black Ghost Apple Factory - by Jeremy Tinder
Purchased this on a whim while at Isotope Comics in San Francisco for some plane reading... I have to admit - I bought this mostly due to the cover art (I hadn't heard of Jeremy before!) so I had no clue what to expect story wise... It's a quick read with 9 different stories making it light but interesting. His style of storytelling is realism mixed with cuteness and a bit of humor. Not a "must have", but if you happen to see it in a store its worth buying to read over a cup of coffee!

"Oh no a meteor" mini comic - by Nedroid.com (aka Anthony Clark)
I really really enjoy the Nedroid web comics... So naturally when I saw Anthony Clark was selling a small batch of mini comics, I jumped to get one! It features his characters Reginald and Beartato trying to figure out how to stop a meteor from hitting earth with their usual wackiness. Overall, a very quick read - but hilarious and worth buying. It seems to be sold out for now, so until he has more for sale or makes new comics - I recommend reading his web comics here and checking out his online shop.

Mercury - by Hope Larson
I *loved* this book - the cover quote wasn't kidding when it said this was Larson's best work to date. The story focuses on the lives of two girls, Tara and Josey, who happened to live in the same area during different time periods (one story is during present day and the other takes place in 1859). The story telling is captivating - and the way Larson moves between the present and past is seamless... I liked the characters stories so much that at the end of the book I found myself wanting to know more! Definitely one I will be rereading soon, I enjoyed it that much. Highly recommend this!

Things I love Thursday

Hayao Miyazaki Tumblr - its like a daily dose of my favorite art <3 The above Spirited Away gif is from there.

My new yellow watch - I haven't had a watch in years so I'm kinda giddy over this thing. I love when it gets really quiet and I can hear it ticking... I know its silly but the littlest things like that really make me smile.

Yuki Koishikawa's art - I picked up a postcard of Yuki's art while I was at New People last week, and I really like it. Her art is very simplified and bold - kinda reminds me of "mod" 60's/70's type stuff.

SPRING!!! <3 Everything is in bloom, there are pretty green plants outside my studio window, and the weather feels so great... I love spring so much I'm willing to ignore the awful pollen that comes with it ;)

This spider comic (which is pretty much my life)

Re-reading Paradise Kiss - I had forgotten how good that comic was!

(photo credit)

This trailer for Sakuran. Anna Tsuchiya looks wicked cool in it...I really want to see this movie! It reminds me a lot of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. I think its the stylized look to the film paired with modern music (by Shiina Ringo).

STANDING CAT!!
OMGGGG It kills me - so cute! And boingboing wrote an article on Everything you must know about Standing Cat. Love it.

Shiina Ringo's "Papaya Mango" song (click to listen!)

Status Anxiety Attack by Summer Pierre - cute and so true...! I made this my desktop on my cintiq so I can look at it when I'm feeling down or nervous about art.

This song:

Back from San Francisco!

I never got the chance to make the formal announcement that I was leaving... but last week I went to San Francisco (and now I'm back!). I had planned on making a few posts to be uploaded while I was gone (a things I love Thursday specifically) but I ended up running out of time... To all of you who left me comments last week wondering where I was at and saying you missed my posts/wallpapers/etc, thank you! <3 I was shocked how many responses I got - next time I go out of town I'll try my best to have some time-released posts for you guys ;)

Anyhow - the trip was really great. I was tagging along on one of Chris's work trips, so I stayed in the hotel with his conference and explored the city while he worked! It was very nice and relaxing because I've stayed in that part of San Francisco a few times now and feel comfortable there.

Some highlights from the trip:

Going to a dinner party at the California Academy of Sciences with Chris's company. There was so much cool stuff in there... At one point we went in this crazy rain forest bubble and my hair went bananas - super poofy and straight! I saw lots of little bats, fish, butterflies... even went to the planetarium.

Seeing my friends Laila, Ben, Leuwam, and finally meeting a ton of people such as Wendy and Sarah! (So many other people I enjoyed visiting with and meeting - really too many to list! It was amazing.)

Walking to Japantown and going to New People - it was such a cool store! I was in awe of the "Black Peace Now" clothes and EGL dresses at "Baby The Stars Shine Bright" - really really neat to see since I like Japanese fashion. I also met some really nice people while I was there and picked up a cartoony yellow watch - I can't stop wearing it! It is my new favorite thing.

Going to the coin operated machine museum, Musée Mécanique, and trying out all the fortune telling machines. Video of that later.

Climbing to the roof of our friend's house and seeing the amazing view of San Francisco at the top. I'm very jealous - what a cool place to live! :)

Going to the Japanese Tea Garden - it was super pretty! I'd love to live somewhere like that...

Finding a street named Sansome which obviously means San + Awesome. hahah! I'm such a dork.

Sticker picture making at Pika Pika - I want to go back next time with a bunch of people and take ridiculous photos!

You can see more photos from my trip here. I could go on and on about all the things I enjoyed... I took a lot of video while we were there and later on this week or next week I'll share some of it with you guys. I'm also going to try to make a mini comic about my experience there. I'll be sure to share when its done! :)

So now you guys know where I was at and what I was up to! I should have a few more posts later this week on comic reviews and Things I love Thursday stuff... until then - here is a goofy gif of me jumping on the hotel bed! ;)