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Painting the day away + SDCC

I’m working on a soon to be announced picture book. It’s my first time making a book with watercolor, ink and color pencil. It’s simultaneously exciting and terrifying.

It’s also meditative. Calming. I sit away from a screen, in front of a window where squirrels and birds frolic among the trees. I sometimes lose myself in a pattern or color mixing and forget to eat. I forget the hour. I’m consumed by making art.

I make a lot of mistakes. I smear ink, paint inside the lines and it’s less polished. Those mistakes could be fixed on a digital page. But there’s a charm in it. In a painting, minor mistakes add life and warmth.

As I paint, I allow my mind to wander, resettle and focus. Writing, drawing, promoting and earning a living wage as an author is hard. I plan my work years in advance. I often feel that my schedule and demands are non-stop.

But making this book with a brush in hand feels decadent.

And I am full of gratitude.

Speaking of non-stop schedules, I will be at San Diego Comicon this weekend promoting Super Boba Café! My panels and ARC signings are below.

After Comicon I am away for most of August so I won’t update for a long stretch. I’ll be back in Sept with more.

Until then, happy summer!

the good fight

thegoodfight

In the wake of this week’s election, I’ve been thinking about how I can actively give back. We have set up a donation request form – if your school or organization is looking for donations of art prints, you can submit your request here.

I hope your weekend is full of love <3

playing and painting

The hubbahubba and I have been together for nearly 15 years. I recall hearing him play guitar in college and feeling chills. There’s this beautiful undercurrent in our relationship – we flow in and out of a constant conversational stream about music and art.

During the first part of our relationship he had a band. He met some sweet guys and they wrote original songs, practiced, invested in studio recording time, produced albums, loaded in and out of shows (playing to hundreds and sometimes a dozen), promoted and pursued his dream.

I watched from the sidelines and supported him wherever I could… He stepped away from his dream to breathe and I began chasing my own dream. I practiced, created original art, invested in supplies and inventory, produced prints and cards, loaded in and out of countless shows (often with zero sales and sometimes with dozens of sales), promoted and pursued my dream.

Part of why we make so much sense is our experience pursuing artistic dreams and supporting each other through the years.

To celebrate our upcoming anniversary, I will be creating music themed work this week.

Here’s to many, many more years of playing and painting together. ^_^

 

terrible yellow eyes

terribleyelloweyes

I have two watercolors in the Sendak and Silverstein tribute show at Leanna Lin’s Wonderland in Los Angeles! I’m super happy to be in the company of many talented artists – the show opens tomorrow at 6pm, check it out if you’re in the area!

Have a great weekend ^_^

otter delight

otterdelight

Another watercolor Wednesday, purchase info on myinstagram^_^

storyteller

storyteller

Another watercolor Wednesday, purchase info on my instagram ^_^

mushroom king

mushroomking

Another watercolor Wednesday, purchase info on my instagram ^_^ Also, wrapped canvases and mugs are 50% off through July 19th on my zazzle shop with the code: TENTH4ZAZZLE

rainbow umbrella

rainbowumbrella

 

Another watercolor Wednesday, purchase info on my instagram ^_^

ms marvel

msmarvel

 

Another watercolor wednesday! You can find purchase info on my Instagram ^_^

golden poppy

golden-poppy

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