Sleeping on Planes

I'm getting back into tablet drawing and it feels good. Currently working 2.5 jobs, and definitely need the art for balance. 

Even though the blinding-white noise on airplanes makes it hard to sleep, I seriously miss traveling right now. 

Buggy Origami

This weekend I volunteered at a children's museum for a Halloween event teaching kids about all of the good and "bad" bugs out there!

For my station, I taught kids how to make origami true bugs. This is the "sucking" bug group which includes bed bugs, water bugs, cicadas, and garden pests such as leafhoppers and aphids.

Along with a fun chance to interact with all sorts of kids in Halloween costumes (Buzz Lightyears and vampires abounded!), this was great drawing practice.

I wrote and illustrated all of the materials distributed in my class, including this bookmark. I printed it out in neon cardstock, as well as white for the littlest tots to color in lieu of folding origami.

And as my first (super fun!) origami instruction project, I drafted up the pages below, too.

Feel free to print out (download links below images) and use as you like!

Bookmark 
(download)

Origami True Bug Instructions

(download)

True buggy bugs and other art projects

A sketch.

Lately I've been buuusy! School's done, and work is piling up. I'm buckling down for the winter but in spare moments working on:

- enamel earrings (I have a kiln, hallelujah!)

- leatherwork (tooling buttery smooth leather is a dream)

- a little bit of digital illustration for biology outreach programs (e.g. a "bad bug" exhibit for Halloween)

and

- large ceramic bowls for Empty Bowls, a charity event for fighting hunger.

I'm turning 100 pounds of porcelain into giant blue-and-white illustrated bowls.

Illustrations will likely involve monsters, robots, and bugs.

Look for progress pictures soon. 

:)

Quail

If you're lucky out here, you can spot these whizzing across the road in single file, or hear them cawing to each other across the mountains. 

Also, I am a fan of birds with bouncy hats like these.

Cute Insects

Starting to sketch out native Arizonan flora and fauna to connect with my roots here.

Return for Art and Science

It's been a long time.. but I'm excited to be back!

The past 9 months have been filled with hard work in graduate school, and in 2 weeks I'll be receiving a business master's degree!! So excited to graduate, and put all that knowledge to good use.

Bonus illustration: sketched this based on a vintage photograph of a geisha, with extra botanical details added in for good measure.

More, mostly digital illustrations to come!