Happy New Year! Resolutions? Sure. Why not. 1. More Art. 2. Less candy (crap, failing this already). 3. Be more fit (got kicked out of bootcamp on the first day because of a hurt disc but I’m joining a yoga/stretching class so we’re doing good on this one). 4. Bring back The Family Menagerie. 5. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes (agh). 6. DANCE MORE.

I don’t think any of those need elaborate explanations. Mainly, my focus this year will be on health and personal growth. I want to be healthier both in mind and body and so I’m turning to things that make me happy. Drawing of course is good for the soul, as is dancing (and singing – which I’m quietly going to try to do more of – Ash got me a ukelele for Christmas so I’m teaching myself to play), and making mistakes is important for growing (I’m horrible at allowing myself mistakes). I have a horrible reputation for not taking care of myself physically so I’m making that a priority this year. Get healthy. Eat more veggies. Treat my body with respect. Be Good. And all of that jazz. Excitement!

I’m slightly less excited about the whole “less candy” thing.

My favorite part of the resolution is drawing more. Keep an eye on this space as it’ll be updated again in the very near future with more sketches. For now though, since really this post is about my favorite things and being happy, you should all check out my tumblr since that’s my virtual happy place. It’s full of shiny, happy things.

Oh! And before I forget. My other resolution is to join my co-editor Rondal in bringing you all awesome new content on Fuel Your Illustration. We’ve already done a great job for January and it’s only the start. Do you have ideas for content or want to contribute? Contact me or Rondal – we’d love to include you and your work! Also follow us on twitter for more artsy-fartsy updates.

And that, ladies and gents, concludes this first “life” post of the year. How have you been? Have any resolutions you can’t wait to kick into gear?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves ‘who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; its in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Marianne Williamson, Return to Love

Every once in awhile, you discover an artist or album that resonates with you, a voice that hits your heart. Olga Nunes is a singer, songwriter, and designer from San Fransisco, whose deep lyrics and intense sound make every listening experience a moving, musical adventure. She’s also an incredibly talented storyteller and she has combined all of these skills for her latest project, LAMP.

LAMP received funding about a year ago on Kickstarter, and I was so excited to help out. Not only is Olga a wonderful musician, but she’s a sweet person too and this project is one from the heart. It was an honor to help her achieve her goal.

Plus. She gave out the best awards. Check it out!

So really I just wanted to write this post to show off the awesome necklaces and other goodies Olga created. And, of course, to tell you all that you need to go listen to Olga’s music and follow her LAMP project. Because both are epically awesome. And you should follow her on twitter too because, well just because. And read her blog. You want to.

Enjoy! Also, the first post of the New Year! Yay! And this is the first post of a kind-of new series based on the old Music!Inspire interviews. Because I love music and you should too.

Creature Spot

Quick update! I just needed to tell you all about my absolute new favorite blog: Creature Spot. It’s basically a blog for a bunch of different concept artists to come together and share their sketches and creations and I am in LOVE with it. Amazing work and extremely inspiring to someone who once dreamed of joining Weta Workshop as a concept artist (I have no given up on that dream – someday it will happen!).

Anyway… a few favorites:

• The Explorer’s Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures by Emily Fiegenschuh
• WoW: TCG Cards by LD Austin
• Talisman: The Dragons by Christopher Burdett
• Dog Women, Fish Men, Cat Monkeys and Ox Horses by Ryan Firchau

Go check them out and much more over at Creature Spot!

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

-Mary Oliver.

The Start of a Career

I keep putting off writing this post. I feel like if I actually put it down, then it’s real. Dumb, I know. Hundreds of thousands of people have already written it down. It happened. It’s over. Steve Jobs, iGenius himself, has left us.

So here’s my story. I was a freshman in high school and there was one iMac in the whole school, in the corner of my home away from home: the art room. It was a huge blue box-y thing and it kind of sucked to work with because the screen kept flickering in and out of different colors. But I was in love with it. Totally different from all the other computers at school. Sleek. Clean. I found it easier to use AND it had art software on it. This was also my introduction to Adobe but it’s not as important right now. What was important was that I had discovered a new way to create art that no one had ever showed me. On that Mac, I taught myself how to scan my artwork and draw and color and quickly took this new-found knowledge to the Photo room where I began teaching some of the other kids how to manipulate photos. I also teamed up with other geeks on learning video and movie software.

What I’m getting at is, I would not be where I am, a digital artist, a cartoonist, a web and graphic designer and social media strategist, if it hadn’t been for that Mac. I wasn’t completely in love with computers until that one. And that one changed my life. So I, much like many people I work with and many people sharing their own stories, have an entire career to thank Steve Jobs for. Oh and Pixar. Holy crap, Pixar. Thank you, Steve, for Macs, iPhones, pretty little gadgets, and some of the best movies in history.

I’m seriously thinking about getting an iDream tattoo somewhere. iDream of [Apple logo]. We’ll see. Thanks for everything, Mr. Jobs. RIP.

(You hear that, Jason, I am going to irritate the hell out of you until you draw me a spider!)

Ahem. I have managed to get a few sketches out though, and while I don’t think they’re that good, they’re at least getting me into the drawing mindset. And the comic mindset as well. There’s some big motivation happening on The Family Menagerie front. It’s coming back. When? Not sure. But it’s coming. If Ash has anything to say about it. Which I’m sure she does. Though it might all be taking a back seat once we start D&D’ing next week. Oh right. Did you not know I was a nerd?

You must be new.

Where was I? ART. Have some.

Sometimes we like to chase stars. And sometimes we like to eat them. They taste like sugar. No, really. Oh but I did mention sketches. Have some of those too. Because I like to draw things like hands, flying space Stegosauruses, shy moose, and Jackalopes in hats. I’m eclectic. Did you not know that?

Seriously, are you new?

& Because you can’t leave without a Totoro

It’s been a Miyazaki kind of month and Studio Ghibli makes my heart happy. And because Ash and I are nerds and like to collect things like giant stuffed monsters and talking cats. If you haven’t ever seen a Studio Ghibli film, preferably Miyazaki, do yourself a favor and go out and rent one. Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service… so many. Just go google them and pick one. They’re all amazing. My Neighbor Totoro is a favorite in this house. Can you tell?

Now your heart can be happy too.

While I haven’t been updating here much, I still do blog over at Fuel your Illustration. Sometimes. Rondal is an amazing co-editor and I’m pretty sure FYI wouldn’t be anywhere if it weren’t for him. Thanks Rondal! Anyhoo, here are some of my recent contributions.

Fuel Your Illustration Articles!

Webcomic Wednesday: Promises, Imagination, & Cleopatra in Space
June 29th, 2011
“Oh how I have pined for my weekly adventure into the kingdom of Webcomics. Oh Wednesdays, for too long you had lost your meaning to me. But no more…”

Colours Not Forgotten: Interview with the Forgotten Colours Crew
July 19th, 2011
“A few weeks back, we introduced you to Forgotten Colours, a beautiful and inspiring iPad app that was filled with stories and illustrations…”

Womanthology: The Not-So-Webcomic Wednesday Special Edition
July 27th, 2011
“Not to isolate the male comic book artists out there, but as a geeky girl with an intense attraction to visual storytelling, I absolutely love learning…”

They’re Not Faeries: Kickstarter & Interview with Paul Keskey
August 23rd, 2011
“When I was little, I was obsessed with the Dark Crystal (okay, maybe I still am). As I grew older, I discovered more works by Brian Froud and fell in love…”

And today’s article, a co-interview with Rondal:

Illustrate Like a Boxer: Interview with Artist Marcelo Vignali
September 7th, 2011
“This week the staff here at Fuel Your Illustration is proud to introduce a very special guest: Marcelo Vignali. Joining us from his home studio in California…”

Write For Us!

These are just my articles, there are a ton more of them over at Fuel Your Illustration by my awesome co-editor and some great guest writers. Interested in writing for us? Head on over and contact us! We’d love to hear from you.

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life. ~John Burroughs

Field Guide to Chrysalies They’re Not Faeries

Paul Keskey is a New York painter with a passionate dream to introduce the world to Chrysalies, sentient beings that often mistaken for the more commonly known faery. Using his subtle paintings and carefully written observations, Paul has created a field guide to the natural world of this little creature. In order to bring his dream to reality, he has utilized Kickstarter to get the word out about it: A Field Guide to Chrysalies, They’re Not Faeries.

As of this post, Paul has a total of $4,400 and needs to reach $10,500 in seven days, September 11th. I believe it’s doable. And Kickstarter makes it easy for you to help. All you have to do is make a pledge to donate any amount of money to help him reach his goal. You don’t have to pledge for nothing – Paul has some awesome incentives for different levels of pledgers, which you can check out on the kickstarter page. You could get postcards, prints, hand-drawn thank you cards, or even a copy of the very book Paul is trying to make. And everything Paul makes is a work of art. You can check out his personal art gallery page at MorningMist Studios. Oh, and if you haven’t gotten enough of Paul, check out the interview I did with him for Fuel Your Illustration.

More Incentive: Hurricane Irene

Why else should you pledge to donate for Paul’s project? Well one, it’s just plain beautiful and I think everyone would benefit for having such a gorgeous book in their house. But another good reason is a simple one: to support Paul and his family. Living in New York means that his family was located in the path of the recent Hurricane Irene. His neighborhood, and his yard, was flooded, and I know that making his goal would be one hell of an awesome way to make his week better as he deals with all the weather issues. This morning he sent me these pictures of what he’s working with right now and it made me want to help him even more.

Make Your Pledge To Support Paul

Paul is awesome and he’s got an amazing talent to bring fantasy to life. His paintings are right out of my own childhood. Why wouldn’t you want to donate to his cause? Pledge your support and donate to A Field Guide to Chrysalies, They’re not Faeries!