Back from the whirlwind of ICON6 in Pasadena!  The entire conference was an incredible experience and well worth the travel.  It was well organized, thoughtful, informative, and an excellent forum to connect with other artists and art directors and feel part of a strong community.  I met some really wonderful artists and was so inspired by everyone’s talent.

Above are photos of my table at the Roadshow, a forum where 100 selected artists showed their wares to invited art directors and buyers from all industries.  You can see a few of the children’s books I’ve illustrated, some postcards, my portfolio, and my animated short Elegy screening on my brother’s laptop.  (Thanks bro!)  My good friend and wonderful talent Julia Lundman also had a table there.

All in all, it was an extremely rewarding experience and I’m convinced I should be attending all future ICONS!  Many thanks to all involved with the organizing, it really was a blast.  And meeting featured guest Todd Oldham was a treat and insanely inspiring!

I’ll be attending ICON6, the illustration conference, in Pasadena this week from July 14th through the 17th.  I’ll also be participating in the Roadshow on Thursday the 15th, where a select group of illustrators will be showing their work to invited art directors, buyers, and media professionals.  Looking forward to some inspiring workshops and meeting incredibly talented folks!

I know I haven’t really been posting too much lately, but here’s why.  I have a series of 4 children’s books coming out in a few months, and luckily I get to show you all a sneak peak.

The series is called Amazing Autumn and is an educational look into some of the fun things that happen during the season.

Click on the pics for a larger view.

These were great fun to do, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to do more books.  I’ll give a shout out to everyone when they are hot of the press!

I managed to make it to a figure drawing workshop last Friday called Metamorphica held by the San Francisco butoh group Bad Unkl Sista.  Really phenomenal costuming and makeup, and some contemporary neo-butoh performance thrown in for good measure.

It was a bit of sensory overload but in an exciting way.  Truly a visual smorgasbord in a highly charged, creative atmosphere.  I have to say it was challenging to draw.  It had been some time since I did any figure drawing, and having the incredible costumes didn’t exactly make the process easier.  It does, however, whet the appetite for more drawing opportunities like this.

Clicking on the picture will open the larger size.

The first big storm of the season hit today.  Made me want to snuggle up inside.

I recently had the pleasure of designing some website illustrations for a great local SF rock band for kids, The Sippy Cups.  Their new website is finally up and live on the web, and you can check out all the cool stuff right here, as well as check out some of my art that’s all over the site.

I got to hear one of The Sippy Cups live shows last fall, at an outdoor celebration concert for the grand opening of the new Academy of Science in San Francisco.  What’s great about the Sippy Cups is that their songs not only cater to kids, but are really enjoyable for the parents and adults as well.  They definitely don’t have that super-saccharine Barney-thing going on.  Musically they’re fun and eclectic with a whimsical-punk style, and they even do cover songs of the Ramones and Queen!  All kid-friendly, of course, but super fun for the adults in the crowd.  Plus their live show is incredibly fun and entertaining with an almost circus-like zaniness.

I’ve updated my site to include some of these Sippy Cups website illustrations, so please feel free to take a peek here!

Photo by Carlos Baena

Wow, what an incredible event!  This past Saturday night we saw over 200 beautiful artworks get sold at the Totoro Forest Project auction that took place at Pixar.  Every single piece sold!  Now that is a resounding success!  The estimated final tally for the Sayama Forest charity is $201,236!  Wow, that’s double what they were hoping for!  I was salivating myself over all the incredibly beautiful art, and getting the chance to meet so many artists that I deeply admire and am truly inspired by.

Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to bring cameras inside, but a select few photographers were there to document the event.  You can see some photos here at AWN’s blog.

There’s more to come!  All of the artwork will be exhibiting at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco from Sept 20th through February of 2009.  On a rotating basis I believe though, because of space constraints at the museum.  Opening reception will be held sometime in early December.

Also the Totoro Forest Project book will be available soon for purchase online.  Keep checking the blog for details.

A special thanks to all the hard work of Dice Tsutsumi, Enrico Casarosa, Ronnie del Carmen, and Yukino Pang who worked so tirelessly to make this entire thing possible!

For the Totoro Forest Project!  Visit the website and start bidding away on all the fantastic art for this great cause!  Online bidding ends, I believe, Friday night, and the highest bid for each piece will be the starting bid for the final auction this Saturday night, Sept. 6th.  You may still end up with the piece you want even if you can’t attend the auction in person!

Keep checking the official blog as the organizers are constantly updating with new information and showcasing many of the artists.