Cup of Stars Blog

Prints at The Business WA Record Store!

2011-11-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

My prints are now available at The Business Record Store! And can be viewed here: The Business Blog

And here is my newly colored Abigail print:

which is available as a print on Etsy!

And will ALSO be in a button show Dec 1st in Portland!
Hot One Inch Action!

Cheers!

Raven Rider

2011-11-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

Mattie and Chaney

2011-10-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

My last illustration for the novel True Grit.

Mattie and Tom Chaney exchange words.

Demikhov's Menagerie

2011-10-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Drawn for Noirwal Collective for a chapter in Mary Roach's Stiff.

Noirwal and Mattie Ross Illustrations

2011-10-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Created for Noirwal Collective

Bad Roommate Comic

2011-08-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who submitted a story!!! <3

Zombies (black and white)

2011-08-25T13:50:00.001-07:00

Since it may very well be ages (if ever) before I color this image... Here it is in black and white!

Elk Girl

2011-08-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

Drawn for the cover of my latest comics collection. and then colored :)

Artichoke and Fog

2011-08-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

I was drawing various air elements as ladies and I drew this one holding an artichoke so she is the Spirit of Fog and Artichokes.

Red Clay Halo

2011-08-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Drawn for Noirwal album cover assignment, this is for Gillian Welch Ablum, Time (The Revelator).

Bunny Girl

2011-08-17T22:31:00.000-07:00

A painting I did for fun!

Mattie Ross

2011-08-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Drawn for my illustration book club ( Noirwal ). This assignment was the first 3 chapters of True Grit.

Mustache Monster

2011-08-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

The Underground and Zombie Preview

2011-07-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Another for illustration book club! This for a short story by Flannery O'Connor.

Still struggling with the color for my zombie drawing... (It'll happen eventually... When I have more time.) But until then here are the zombies themselves (without the rest of the illustration):

Faque Cartunez Show this weekend!

2011-06-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Faque Cartunez
A.K.A “Cartoons That Never Existed”
An art show of FAKE animation cells
Opening Reception:
Saturday, June 25th 6-9pm
Guapo Comics and Coffee
6350 Southeast Foster Road
Portland, OR 97206-3609
(503) 772-3638
“Forget about half-hour time slots and commercial breaks or product placement;
This is a parallel universe of infinite channels where your imagination is the limit. Welcome to fake cartoons; dreams that made you regret waking up are now real”
Featuring art by:
Elijah Brubaker, Chris Cilla, Gariet Cowin, Patrick Devine, Gabby Holden, John Isaacson, Amy Kuttab, Leda Zawacki, and many more!

Art above by Patrick Devine!

Updates!

2011-06-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

My print "The Cat Loved Abigail..." is now displayed at the Black Cat Cafe on Alberta!

The IPRC Comics Certificate Program is currently showing my work, along with my classmates, in downtown Portland.

Also, I will be tabling at the San Francisco Zine Symposium in September! Yay for road trips! I will also be appearing in a few other conventions this summer, for which I am waiting for confirmation. :)

Cosmic Monkey Comics on Sandy Blvd now carries my comics!

And, later this month, I will be in a group show at Guapo Comics and Coffee, that John Isaacson is putting together called Faque Cartunez. Everything in the show will be created as animation cells, and will be completed with a written synopsis for the imaginary animations.

More actual art to come! :)

Illustration Book Club!

2011-06-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

I am in this fabulous new group! We are each selecting some short stories for the group every two weeks and we all draw a little something for whichever part we want. This past session was my story selection! I selected a few stories from the book:
Indian legends of the Pacific Northwest by Ella E. Clark.

The group so far consists of two other illustrators and myself. Soon we will have a blog with info about each of us, process pieces, and final illustrations. Eventually we will also be posting a story that anyone out there can challenge themselves to do and post to the blog. :)

The illustration I did for the NW Legend was a story about a beautiful maiden, after swimming in a lake, sat in the antlers of an elk, thinking it to be branches, and was carried off...

The maiden, to escape, cut her way free of the horns, and eventually gave birth to an elk/human hybrid. Ashamed, she murdered her child. The elk, having heard of her deed, hid away in the mountains so her people could no longer find elk when hunting.

Next up in illustration book club: zombie stories!

Abigail and Eleanor

2011-05-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

Posters made for self promotion and themed gallery shows. Mari printed them beautifully for me, and mounted Abigail for a bird themed gallery show this month. Posters made with nib and ink on bristol, gray added in photoshop.

New! Posters, Comics, and Letterpress!

2011-05-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

New Website!

2011-05-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

Here's my new site, here it is!

Cup of Stars

And for kicks, above is an image that Mari and I drew together recently. :) Enjoy!

Consignment!

2011-05-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

My Comics are now available at Portland's Reading Frenzy and Floating World Comics!

The Octopus

2011-05-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few images from the Octopus Comic.

Underwater Preview

2011-04-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I haven't been producing much work this semester that is very complete... I've been working on a 70 page comic, and it's still in the page layout phase (a lot of work but not particularly interesting to post). However I have recently completed a mini story from the larger. I still have a few more edits, and then I will be printing for the Stumptown Comics Con here in Portland (April 16-17th)!!

Until then here is a teaser page!

Quimbys

2011-03-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

Got a write up by Quimbys in Chicago for our GoatGirl Comic and its awesome!

"The three stories in Goat Girl take you some bizarro places...from miniature Hitlers who love to fuck each other, to a sci-fi space mouse epic drawn with the gusto of Milk n' Cheese, to a girl gang of Red Riding Hoodlums. One of the most interesting pieces is Zawacki's Tales-From-Da-Crypt style horror comic "Monster in the Mansion" which pairs unbelievably pulpy prose with a Barcelona-street-art drawing aesthetic. Her one-pager "Underwear Archeologist" is my favoite part of the issue - it's got a nice snappy cuteness, sorta like what Dame Darcy pulls off. Weird stuff." -EF

Quimbys

How badass is that!!?

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-02-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my mom! :) We wrote this story together as a round-robin and and for my mom's b-day I drew it as a comic! With brushes! YAY!

The Contest

2011-02-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

Done for an in class assignment on time length. I enjoyed the outcome. :)

Red Lady

2011-02-05T12:27:00.001-08:00

A doodle. :)

Giant Moose

2011-02-03T11:48:00.000-08:00

Space Elephants Make Sushi

2011-02-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Made for a co-worker who requested I draw a comic with him in it. Ta-da! :)

Ladybird

2011-01-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

My final comic for last semester complete!! YAY!! ENJOY!!!!!!

Fireflies

2011-01-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

I made a mini comic for the 2010 edition, issue 8, of Bailliwik (learn more about them here: http://bailliwik.org/). The words are from the science radio program from WNYC Radiolab from the show called Emergence http://www.radiolab.org/2007/aug/14/. I highly recommend any comics artists to listen to their podcast! :D

Eventually I plan to color this, but until then, here is the black and white version!

Catnip

2011-01-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

Porch

2011-01-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Bunny Dinner Party

2011-01-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

My good friend Elizabeth has an extreme distrust of bunnies, which I find hilarious. I drew this during a conversation we had in Chicago with my old roommate Julia.

Bleach

2011-01-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

The good thing about getting stuck in a giant snow storm in the Massachusetts mountains is getting to post so much back stock!

Holla at the Cuteness (and other Panda Bunny Tales)

2011-01-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

A few excerpts from my sketchbook involving the Panda and Bunny.

PS I really did dress like a heart attack. :P

Dreams

2011-01-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Panda and Bunny both had dreams with animal guides in them the week before xmas.

Panda Abduction

2011-01-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

Mari's Favorite Cup

2011-01-10T20:13:00.000-08:00

Mari (the Panda) and I occasionally have Skype drink dates, at one such event she had this adorable classy cup. :)

New Years Resolution

2011-01-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

After the Panda told the Bunny just to draw something for the sake of drawing without intention:

Patience: to tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry.

Oh it is very hard. Also on my resolution list: eat better, drive better, and stress out less. :)

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

Wow, I'm terrible at updating this month... I still am working on a few edits for my comics class final project. Since my class ended I've been working on christmas gift making, which are STILL not complete! (Sorry friends and family, I suck). Above is a little sneak preview of a few I'm still working on. :)

In Progress: Ladybird. Thumbnails/Page Layouts

2010-12-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some thumbnails I did for the first part of my upcoming comic about a girl turning into a ladybug.

And this is an early layout for the first two pages. I really enjoy this priest scene.

These have since been highly critiqued and edited, so the final will be a bit different. :)

Nuns

2010-11-28T11:52:00.001-08:00

A doodle done for my upcoming final comic. Yes, there will be nuns! :)

Taxidermy

2010-11-24T17:40:00.000-08:00

So, I found out about a call for artists interested in only quick black and white doodles of taxidermy. I drew up these silly things and I submitted some. I think they might be fun with color added. Perhaps I will do that after finals. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Star

2010-11-23T18:45:00.000-08:00

I've been focusing on my final project for class, which means there are no short comics to speak of this week. But I have spent some time playing around with a new brush pen. So here's a little something until I have more comics to post!

Underwear Archeologist

2010-11-15T15:03:00.000-08:00

Ahh collaborations.... This assignment involved the writing class giving the comics class scripts which we were supposed to illustrate into a one page comic. Which I thought would be totally awesome! Until I got my script, and could not bring myself to spend so much time on something I really didn't care for (and in my opinion had little time invested in it). So instead I used the script as a starting point for my own free write. I've posted the original script below (with my added scribbles) so you can see what I used and what I didn't. I actually really love collaborations, just with people who are as invested as I am.

BTW I've bought my blog domain name, which is now cupofstars.com!

Interviews with the Girls of the Red Hoods

2010-11-12T15:10:00.003-08:00

The assignment for this piece was to tell a fairy tale in one page and could contain a spin on the original. I chose Red Riding Hood for mine.

Long Distance Comics

2010-11-10T17:23:00.003-08:00

So my girlfriend and I made a comic together (we came up with the concept and drew while on Skype one night). We each drew ourselves (I'm the bunny and she's the Panda, if you didn't already know), then exchanged panels via email and each did our own final layout. Mari's layout is the one with color and mine is black and white. I think it's funny we each put ourselves in the first panel. Anyways, hopefully more Long Distance Comics collaborations to come!

Monster in the Mansion (Completed!)

2010-11-01T16:22:00.007-07:00

A Project that has been in the works for over a year and now, for your eyes, FINISHED! YAY. (Although, to be fair, I do plan to eventually color it, which I hope will not take another year to complete!). This will eventually be self published (uncolored) with a few other pulp influenced tales under the name of ELK Press (hence the Narrator being an elk girl). Also, some of the other tales are referenced in my comic which will not be obvious but may make more sense when read as a complete issue. You can view the ELK Press Blog here: http://elkpress.wordpress.com/

And now to the completed Monster in the Mansion!

FIN!

Hell

2010-10-24T15:13:00.002-07:00

In class assignment: we each drew a mini comic about this character looking for breakfast and using a place and secondary character given. Then we passed the comic on and at home inked another persons pencil work. Lucy Bellwood penciled this panel and I inked it with a nib pen. It was quite easy and fun since Lucy did such an awesome pencil job!

Older Work

2010-10-23T11:42:00.002-07:00

Finally got some old work scanned and edited. Yay! :D

M and Q Love Pie

2010-10-21T13:35:00.003-07:00

Was feeling low about not making comics enough so I made one! Ta-da!

Spook in the Night

2010-10-15T15:54:00.002-07:00

Done for an in class assignment (30 minutes). Given words and had to use two "transitions." Worked on the details at home later since I liked it so much.

Pollen Collectors

2010-10-11T22:33:00.003-07:00

This comic was done for my comics class. The Assignment was to use only images taken from magazines or newspapers. Then to use images repeating or dominating to create a motif or rhythm. The layout was also specified to be the one shown below. And finally hand lettered text was to be added. So I bought a magazine on gardening... And here it is!

24 Hour Comic (Teaser)

2010-10-04T22:43:00.003-07:00

Ahhh, so I have been really bad about posting lately... but only because I have just moved to Portland OR. However I have been keeping busy making comics at the class I am taking at the IPRC here in Portland. :) But aside from that I attempted to participate (at home) in the 24 hour comic day that took place on October 2nd. The objective is to draw 24 pages in 24 hours. I failed this task making 11 pages in 15 hours before napping for the remaining 9 hours. I plan to continue this endeavor to the end (no matter the hours spent!), but for now, just the first page:

Enjoy this very unedited (and very likely huge) version!

Bailliwik New issue Release Today! :D

2010-08-27T22:04:00.002-07:00

The new issue of Bailliwik is now out!! I contributed a 4 page comic and a mini comic special edition (shown below). There are 140 copies so get one today! Either from me or from the website (bailliwik.org).

The Maiden and the Prince

2010-07-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

The long awaited Maiden and the Prince comic ONLINE! Yea, I'm so lazy...

Unicorn girl

2010-07-18T22:21:00.000-07:00

yes, she has more then one horn. but the title still stands. i've been reading a book about unicorns: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. its pretty awesome. anywho, drew this while thinking about it. this was given as a birthday gift to my friend Sam. :)

Iron and Wine

2010-07-18T22:09:00.001-07:00

i was listening to all songs considered live show of iron and wine while drawing comics. some girl yelled this at him and i thought it very strange and funny. so i drew it. i don't actually know what the iron and wine guy he looks like. :P

Atomic Sketch Art June

2010-07-12T22:32:00.001-07:00

So, I was a panelist for Atomic Sketch in June. And I sold a few pieces which was cool! :) Here are some of the ones I made. The Thiz and Trouble Adventure sold but the Star Collector is still mine. :D

Facebook Death

2010-07-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

ahh-hem...

Drink and Draw

2010-07-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

Experiments from the Surrealist night, two months back. I rather enjoy them. Smoke:

And ink splatter:

Fish Hat!

2010-07-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

Made while very tired during the time I was drawing my submission for the ACA Residency. And colored for fun!

Do Robots Dream of Electric Bunnies?

2010-05-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

the answer, as i see it, is yes they do.

Panda-bot

This can be viewed from either direction: as a girl with big hair or a bearded man with big legs.
robots dream of bunnies with head planets and also fruit. in this instance bananas and pineapple (ps that bunny is not a banana).

In the Walled City

2010-05-19T00:12:00.001-07:00

Another sample page for my future comic project!

The Sky People

2010-05-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

A sample of what I want to do with my next comic!

Playing with color and layout.

Does Your Hair Ever Stop Moving?

2010-05-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

a little sketch for the comic i am tryin to make into a 100 page graphic novel! scary!

Lemon Bar

2010-04-28T22:04:00.001-07:00

found this comic i drew a while ago and redrew it for fun. also colored. yay.

Thiz Cup

2010-04-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

While in Portland Robin and I talked about our cats as we often do, and this is one I shared about Thiz. I thought it was rather charming and drew it later.

The Future

2010-04-19T21:23:00.001-07:00

my indecision about all the possibilities for the future.

originally titled "Is (insert option for the future here) the Best Option for Me?"

with a list of things that could be inserted:

-study abroad

-move to portland

-stay in chicago

-grad school

-move closer to family

-start art business

-pay off credit card debt

ext ext.

Cup of Stars

2010-04-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

A tribute to my recent obsession with Shirley Jackson's characters. Specifically Merricat of We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Eleanor of The Haunting of Hill House.

photo booth fun

2010-04-18T13:26:00.001-07:00

Robin and I took photobooth pictures in Portland and I thought it would be funny to write our commentary.

Hatemail

2010-03-28T22:03:00.001-07:00

here's a photo of mah hatemail on flickr

i know i sound full of myself in this, but its easier then to be upset about it. best to keep it silly.

Utena

2010-03-26T19:42:00.001-07:00

drawn at atomic sketch march 25

the ocean

2010-03-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

Atomic Sketch Art

2010-03-01T11:17:00.001-08:00

some work i made for atomic sketch. sold the one on the bottom left. :)

Atomic Sketch February 25th!!

2010-02-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

I will be featured on the panel of atomic sketch this February Thursday the 25th from 6-10pm. Everyone who wants to draw and see art should come. and if you arn't then you should be at the Data and the Lore show playing that same evening at the Chicago Underground Library!! (they/we go on at 7:45ish) :D

Improvement Meme

2010-02-15T18:24:00.000-08:00

had posted this to DA but thought it would be an excellent addition to this process as well.

Enter Guy

2010-02-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

my newest website entrance. :D

(check the whole thing out at: freewebs.com/chibiusa85/)

Dear Me Progress

2010-02-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

In progress of painting. :D

Atomic Sketch

2010-01-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

somethin i made at atomic sketch this last thursday. :/

http://atomicsketch.blogspot.com/

painting sketch

2010-01-24T10:20:00.001-08:00

working on a small oval painting with this inside. :) its not my normal style but i thought it would work well with this image.

pinups

2010-01-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

my friend robin made the dress for her birthday. i took some photos and have been messing around in photoshop. makin things look old. :) it took more time to locate a decent frame then anything else.

flickr

2009-12-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Check me out on flickr!

Bordello

2009-10-17T21:35:00.001-07:00

Possibly one of the best group drawings ever. I went to a drawing session put on by Dr Sketchy's of Chicago and the L'amour Studios. This is a drawing three people worked on of Michelle L'amour. Each of us had 10 minutes, I was the second to have it. My parts were the blue pencil and the pen. I LOVE this drawing so much. I wish i got to keep it! But still the scan of it is pretty great (thank you Neal)!

Comics collective

2009-10-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Some friends of mine and I have been working on a three story issue of pulp influenced comics. The topics covered in our first issue so far is: Swamp Monsters, Outer Space Mice, and Mini Hitler!! stay tuned for more updates soon!

Check out a bit of in progress work at our new blog http://elkpress.wordpress.com/

The Weekend

2009-09-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

A bit of an experiment with background patterns. Had it lying around for a long time and finally managed to finish it.

It's Very Heartwarming v.2

2009-09-07T19:47:00.001-07:00

Full color! yay.

Surrealist Alice

2009-09-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

A Character I use a lot. She's in the M and Q comic and an earlier version of herself in the Prince and the Maiden (not online at this time, sorry).

M and Q can be read here: http://www.freewebs.com/chibiusa85/MandQ.htm

She is also the main character in my next Pulp influenced comic in the making!

Oxbow Book!

2009-09-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

My comic that I made for Ox-Bow in 2006 is in this book about Ox-Bow! Nifty ain't it?

You can see the comic I made here:

Dear Cheeto

2009-09-05T20:09:00.001-07:00

A Comic about how my cat Thiz used to leave thumb tacks in my shoes when he was a kitten. I thought of them as gifts, it was very cute. Now he is just aloof. But I still bug him, and hold him against his will. It's very fun!

Red

2009-09-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

Sketched at Craft Night 8/31

Maybe make a painting of it at some point. :D

Burp.

2009-09-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from my sketchbook I rather enjoyed.

It's Very Heartwarming

2009-09-05T19:59:00.001-07:00

If there was a moral to this comic it would be something like:

"Never bring a date home to meet your mother if its got more then two legs"

Or something equally silly.

I was trying to be limited with color, but now i wonder if it couldn't use another one or two...

125 Amulets

2009-09-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

My edition of 125 small books in small boxes that I made for the Bailliwik (http://bailliwik.org/) Fall 2009 edition: Issue 7. Each book comes with a mini amulet book made by me and an instructional guide to making your own! The issue has already sold out! But you can see it online :)

Bowling

2009-09-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

It's terrible how long it's been since my last post...

Some fun with photoshop and my Wacom tablet.Thinking of using it for the home of my website. It's been the same for too long now...

Artistic License

2009-05-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

Because everyone needs one of these!

My version of the brilliant David Mack's Artistic License.

Sketchbook Excerpt

2009-04-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

I just finished a sketchbook yesterday. I started the sketchbook in July of last summer. There is a lot of random stuff I appreciate from them. These are a few pieces I liked for whatever reason.

Kick Ass Space Pirate Lady! Drawn in a coffee shop on a rainy day in the mountains of MA.

Some kind of snooty old fashioned snappy dresser.

Found this painting on google image search and had to draw it! Oh how I love blue pencils!

Random sketches made while trying to come up with ideas for the Chicago Public Library contest thing. Thems is mah kittehs sleeping (although I doubt they would ever sleep that close...). I particularly like the weird text coming out of the mouth part.

I dunno what's going on here with this mystical crap but I like it!