She Sure is {Sketchy} Swamp Thing

I think I love you....

Those may not be the words, but this week at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, they were exactly the sentiment.

Happy Friday!
Draw your hearts out this weekend, I'm going to ;)

She Sure is {Impressed} Subaru's New First Car Campaign

In new Miracle on 34th Street like glory, Subaru has paired up with a few brilliant programmers to create the greatest ad campaign known to aging Americans with reminiscent stories of their glory days. I have friends tell me all the time that they're mad jealous of my animation skillz, now you can dive in to my tool box and make your own little movie. Shine on, Americans. Shine on.

Here's a little blip of days gone by I pulled together this morning.

 Share your great car memories in the comments.
Rock steady.

Pinterest on a Sugar High

or, hi! this is what I thought about pinterest today....

I was inspired to create this during a conversation where my mom invented an idea for a pinterest party. Keeping with tradtion, this concept sketch happened in one of my favorite mediums:

So A to be:

The diamond pattern (Alice Diamonds) in the back is some iPaper i designed and that you can download and print for a dollah as always at www.AmberInk.com

Hippo to the Jive-o

Hippos are the job-job word of the week.

So I drew some, all sciency/cartoony.

Cause and Effects and hippo facts!

um... but this one is bonus, and um... not directly related to job-job.

A Dip in the Shallow End

Yesterday I came back from the hot springs - yes. the. hot. springs.
Montana, seriously, I love you.When I got back, invigorated by the natural healing water that's pumped in from Yellowstone, and overcome with euphoria -- I opened a suspicious file in my backup drive. A swim in steaming purified spring water followed closely with the blinding bliss caused by a Snuggie, Tracy Champman and a toasted Idaho Spud can do that to you - make you crazy enough to open a folder labeled: 'Scans_Fall 2001' Apparently I used to draw in my teens too. Looking at the vast majority of these old bits of me, several themes are evident. Still going through velvet-poster-collection detox - unicorns were big. Real big.

I came across a plethora of weird cartoony-pain/torture-drawings - these are two of the 'real keepers'. I guess I was nineteen and into boys who cut themselves, so um... yeah....

This one actually got a chuckle from me. This is a portrait of my ex-boyfriend, Adam. He's usually referred to by my friends as "That tag artist that was obsessed with 'The Real World?'" Embarrassingly enough, It's an accurate description. This effect was accomplished with sharpie on napkin after a particularly loving moment in which Adam brought me a flower. It actually captures him pretty well. Luckily, my tastes have changed post apocalyptic straight-edge punk.

I try to ignore the fact that sketches I used to think were phenomenal then are cringe worthy now. Shallow. So Shallow.

listening to right this second: "Just Can't Get Enough" -- The Saturdays

Bad animator! Bad!

Guess whoooo just went to see Coraline? Imagine this said in the creepiest voice possible. The voice that asks you to guess is not happy, it is not gloating, it is scary and ominous.

Ok, so why am I a bad animator? Well it's this: simply put, I did not do my homework. A good animator always does their homework. I knew negligible bits about Coraline going in. Being more than familiar with Henry Selick I knew I was in for a bit of a scare fest. As I did not want to ruin the experience I chose not to do too much research. Mainly I was intoxicatingly excited by the tactile reality of it. I wanted to savor every bit of stop-motiony goodness without being distracted or knowing too much about the plot. I did not read reviews. I did not read the book. I did not watch previews. I looked at several subway posters and that was that.

*Spoiler Alert:
If I hadn't disregarded all of modern technology, I would have known what I was getting into.
This movie is friggin' scary!!!! I know I said I was prepared for a scare fest, but I thought it would be a child-sized scare fest! Granted, I am more like a five year old than most 27 year olds, but STILL!!! I'll admit I'm a little worried about going to sleep.

I watched it in 3D at the Zigfield (two of my favorite things). There were tons of kids in the audience. The clarity of terror I had made me certain I would never take my kids to watch this film. I'm sure it wouldn't be long before they'd be calling me "other mother" and throwing cats at my face. Worse, they'd be having nightmares and daymares for weeks.

Coraline was perfect Friday the 13th faire. The film itself is gorgeous. It excited the good animator in me. I was treated to ooh and ahh moments. There are several characters in the film that equal shear genius. I felt the movie's main characters were lacking that little something special, but some of the peripheral characters more than made up for a spark. I can't wait to load the musical score onto my pod. The backgrounds were so yummy I wanted to eat them. After spending the last ten minutes on IMDB I now know that I could have. Every cherry blossom was hand-painted popcorn. I like to remind you there here at 'She Sure is Sketchy,' "nerd" is the word.

In the end it was an enjoyable ride, but a terrifying walk home.

I'm sure I'll never look at buttons the same way.

I wanted to give you a sneak peek of some new surface designs I've been playing with. I hope you get to form an opinion about them before you watch Coraline ;)
Happy Friday the 13th!
I hope it scared the pants off you.

Ain't No Routine Like an Olympic Routine!

Ah hem... so like I mentioned....I've developed what you might call an unhealthy obsession. Luckily it's for watching extremely healthy people. The Olympics have reminded me that I am actually an animator, that I have my BFA in FILM and that I should be paying attention to MOTION. I sketched this series out rapid fire last week during the Olympic diving trials.
Go USA!!!

It's best seen in scrolly vision, meaning start at the top and on your mark, get set, go!!!

Simpler Times

Happy Spring!

It's that time of year. . . insert deep and satisfied sigh. . . . I woke up this morning with the sun shining in my face. I jumped out of bed and threw open the window. My face was hit by a bitter cold wind.... That can't change the fact that something has changed outside. It's freezing, but it's definitely not winter, so in my book it's spring! I belong to the very lucky school of childlike people who find whatever season is just beginning is my favorite! I'm excited for Tulips and Gerber Daisies. I can't wait to wear my pink coat and dance in the rain. Pretty soon kids will be out by the dozens, running and playing in the park. As you all know my friends, that's when this blog really gets hopping. XO and Happy Spring!

Let's Hear it for the Emmys. . .

The latest kid's show I designed for, I was one designer on a team of 5,
was just nominated for an Emmy in design! You can take a look at it here: http://www.noggin.com/shows/pinky.php Woohoo!! I know it's been forever since I posted but don't despair! I'm super busy getting ready for a summer gallery show at Starbucks.

I'll have new sketches to show off soon. In other exciting news. . . I just got a response to a query letter I sent out a month ago. Who knows, maybe it won't be long until I'm on the shelves at Barnes and Noble. Keep your fingers crossed! Thanks for all your lovely patience and support. I'll have more drawings up in no time! Plus, it's summer. You know what that means? There's going to be a lot of kids playing in the park and they're going to need someone to draw them :)