Homegrown Acme

We used to do this in school – meet with professional artists over a video conference to review and critique our student artwork. I was too retarded and boy-crazy to take advantage of it then, thus I seriously lost out.

So when P had the brilliant idea to set up a small group Skype to talk about our current work, I felt like I'd been given a bit of a second chance. Our first meeting was today, and I asked them to give my portfolio a look. I told them I wanted to get a job in game art, and asked what they thought would help me bridge the gap (more like a great yawning maw) between my current work and said game job. I guessed it would be quite a bit, as I didn't think my work looked like any current game I knew.

P said I was closer than I thought, as my food zine illustrations reminded him of games like Mama's Cook Off, Cafe World, and Restaurant City. N suggested I do another one of my food diagrams, but in Illustrator. That's what I'll be doing this coming week!

I asked if either of them had ever played Pet Society. They hadn't, but started laughing (I like to think, in delight, but it could just as well have been derision;) at the images that popped up in Google. I'd specifically mentioned PS because, harhar, that was the game that made me first think about working in games. Point of Appeal #1: It's not strategy, war, or gambling. Point of Appeal #2: The look of the game is simple, Flash-based, cartoony, brightly-colored, and fun. Kind of right up my alley, right? Right?

The secret(?) teenage girl inside me would love it if her job was to come up with new animals characters, costumes, food, plants, environment and household props all day long. P and N felt there were still plenty of games that would need artists for this, for casual games. I was heartened by that. HEARTENED

Again, thank you, P & N. Looking forward to the next session ...

Updated portfolio + Gauguin

Yep, it's updated. Added the recent food illustration bits and an excerpt from a comic I worked on last year as an exercise. What I want to do next is to work enough new stuff where it wipes out all the old stuff. I haven't colored comics in years, so I'd want to replace those samples with new "paintings". Those will probably end up being paintings of environments or characters that look like they could be in video games. (Just talking aloud here. It seems to help me focus.)
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And speaking of painting, for some reason, I'm really itching to learn how to paint portraits. I've been learning to appreciate Gauguin lately, and last night I saw Portrait of Aline Gauguin (see below), and Portrait of a Young Woman Vaite (Jeanne) Goupil (see my tumblr) for the first time, and they both sent charges of excitement and possibility through me that I hadn't felt in a long time.

So anyone have any recommendations for classes or teachers here in the Bay Area?

(Totally by Gauguin and not me:)

My frendz make me weepy

Nikki and Dela took this pic of themselves reading my zine. It makes me so happy, I had to share :)

It's over!

Thus concludes my first show as an exhibitor at APE. It was pretty fun, and I was surprised and very pleased with people's reaction to my food zine and its related merch. When people like food, they really like food. Spoke to quite a few chefs, a farmer, a magazine editor looking for food illustrators, a writer working on a dissertation on 19th century food. SO COOL

I've gotten some great suggestions on what to draw next, as well as had some cool conversations about where to go from here. I sold more than expected, and folks took more of my business cards than I had anticipated (although I didn't run out, thankfully)! People responded most positively to 1) my buttons 2) my color prints of Midwestern Taco, Tiramisu, and Yogurt Parfait, 3) my picnic basket / 2-tiered candy dish displays.

Lots of people I knew also had tables this year, which was very exciting! Unfortunately I spent most of my time at my table. When I did attempt to explore the floor, I bought 2 expensive (for me) items, then quickly became overwhelmed with the amount of cool things to look at + my inability to buy said things. This secretly embarrassed me so much that I returned to my table without first visited all of my friends' tables. Sorry guys. I will have a better strategy next year.

If you're curious, the 2 things I bought were:
- Scott Pilgrim band poster from Hellen Jo (same one I first saw at my friend Jamie's flat in London, which was a surreal experience). She's one of my favorite local artists. (I gave her one of my zines YESSSS)
- Sketchbook by Daniela S (can't remember how to spell last name, can't get up to check right now cos my cat is asleep on my arms as i type). Amazing work from a Pixar artist, sketches of SF.

Lastly, had post-show ramen with my super great table-mate (that rhymes!) Charlene at Sapporo-Ya. So good! Even though I ended up too full for a Sophie's crepe after that. So sad!

All in all, it was a valuable and fun experience. Thanks for stopping by; I hope you guys had as good a time as I did. See you next year! :)

APE 2010 !

It's been a while. Just writing to let you know I still think about you. And I miss you. How are you? I'd like to know. Write back, if you want.

I'm going to be at Alternative Press Expo this weekend. You should go! I'm at Table #660, with the formidable Charlene Fleming. I'm selling my zine, plus postcards, some color prints, and funny little food-related buttons.

... Will I see you there? I'd like that, also.


Love,
Traci