Jun 28, 2010

If you could only read one magazine for the rest of your life, which would it be?

Wow this is a hard one, I have so may favorites. Let's see
I will go with Uppercase, It is beautifully Designed and it covers topics I love of the illustration,craft and design world.

Check it out here:
http://www.uppercasegallery.ca/uppercasemagazine/

Ask me anything

What's your favorite drink?

Chocolate Milk :)

Ask me anything

What was your favorite toy to play with as a child?

A cute colorful turtle that had a round mirror in his belly. Why did it had a mirror in his belly? I have no idea

Ask me anything

The Children's Lit Project!

Happy New week everyone!


On my Internet Surfing I came across this beautiful quote that really describe what are books, and I must share it with you:


"Without books, history is silent, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill...They are the engines of change, windows on the world, and...'Lighthouses erected in the sea of time' They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind, books are humanity in print"
-Barbara Tuchman


Also on my internet surfing the resources that the "Illustrating Children Picture books" recommends, I came across this website called "Library of the Early Mind", prepare to get excited. Is a blog about a documentary to be released about  children literature. They have interviews with such amazing illustrators, writers, editors, and publishers. I'm so excited for this film, and here is the trailer for it. Prepare your 3d glasses now.....Kidding you don't need it. Enjoy




Jun 25, 2010

From my Library to Yours: Illustrating Children's Books

No D.I.Y Recycling this week, but for my birthday I treated myself a book!What can I say suddenly the box I'm taking to Portland does not feel so heavy at all It can fit one more book, heck I can squeeze in 3 more Te-hehehe. Anyway here is a really good book for those interested in getting into the children book market and wants to illustrate children books( me me me me por favor!)


" Illustrating Children's Picture Books" 
by Steven Withrow and Lesley Breen Withrow


This is an amazing book, and let me tell you why:


It covers from a timeline on the history of the picture book to how the process of creating a picture book is (from the manuscript to the dummy book to the final stage). It covers different techniques and mediums as well as important key facts like composition and design. Not just that but it talks about the importance of storytelling, which I agree  to what the book says, storytelling  is the bones of a good picture book :) It also covers artist profiles and how they work to give you an idea. And the cherry is all the good resources they leave you with. Highly recommend it, because from what I been learning about the children book's market is that being a really good artist is not enough, but rather you have to know and understand the market, read most of the well known children books out there. Keep up with the latest news and BE passionate as well as childish. So that has been my new goal, to know as much as I can about the children book market :) because I know now that's my passion! So no just sharpen those skills, also do the research (research is actually fun! is like scavenger hunting).


Now a peek:





























Pretty cool right?

Jun 22, 2010

Toy Story 3 such a wonderful film.

I apologize for no updating yesterday as usual, something came up that I needed to ponder on and  sort of brought me down. I will no rush my decision on it. Let's not dwelt on that, on a lighter note, I saw Toy Story 3 and it made my day. It's really good, If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you to do so.
I love animation, more than actual human-films (there are exceptions of course), because I feel they pay more attention to the story line, to the characters, the sense of humor is great and even more they all have a message.


Here I wanted to share a few animations I had come across that are on the same spirit as Toy story 3 :)


Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield:
The videos done my simon Tofield are so cute and funny specially if you love cats.




I Lived in the Moon  by Kwoon:
This is a music video that will blow you away, the animation style is beautiful and the song is perfect for
the animation.



Oktapodi:
Octopus Love!



Do Penguins Fly?:
Watch and Find out!



Anchored by Lindsey Olivares:
Love her style and the story :)




Enjoy!

Jun 17, 2010

D.I.Y Recycling: Father Day's Card

Well there's not better way than to wish your father a happy father's day with something you make, and here is a little something fun you can make :)





All you need is a strip of paper ( I'm using a stenographer paper my cousin sent to me to recycle) you can do it any size depends on how long your message is. The size I have is 2.25" x 8.5" and a rectangle of any paper of your choice, can be a cereal box, I'm using rough watercolor paper that I had saved, since I now paint on cold-press paper. Now Let's go make the card!


1: Mark the areas where you will fold, here I marked them @ .75" from each other:


2: Then Fold down, and fold, fold ,fold until all you have is a small rectangle:














3: Let's make it look like an envelope:


4: Now Let's write a letter. The way it works is, the message is read from down up. Also when writing it, half of the letter goes on top and the rest below. That way as you are unfolding up you only read the words that are connected:












5: Now let's put it in the card. Find the center of the card in the back, once you've done that, put the "envelope" on top to trace its height:





6: To the height add it a bit extra, so it will be easy to slide the "envelope" in. Slide the "envelope" in and turn the paper around:









7: Let's sketch and paint!:







Jun 16, 2010

Ecollustration of the Week: The Happy Owl

Here's a quick painting that I owed a friend, I love drawing happy birds :)






All hail the happy owl.

Jun 15, 2010

Ecollustrator of the Week: Alberto Cerriteno

Today's ecollustrator is another amazing and talented Mexican, VIVA Alberto Cerriteno!
His illustrations are playful, colorful, festive, happy and I think it really portrays the kid we all have inside. Alberto Cerriteno has been featured in numerous design and illustration magazines, has been part of motion graphics and great gallery shows (I first saw his work at the gallery nucleus exhibition of "Terrible Yellow Eyes.").  His technique is a blend of watercolors, archival ink, adobe illustrator and adobe photoshop. I feel all the combination of these mediums contribute to his unique style and his skills of course play a major role. You know what I like the most about his work? he's an illustrator, designer, and animator and  a very good one. Why does this excite me? because graphic design, illustration and animation overlaps into one another, they are not 3 separate things, as a graphic designer teacher would often love to said it to me. This will lead us to bump heads a lot, because I wanted to incorporate my illustration style into my design work and he wanted only simplistic lines and not "decoration" and he always said to me "I understand your struggle, is because you are an illustrator" that phrase irks me! so thank you Alberto!


I read this in one of his interviews, his philosophy in his work though I share it with you all:"Pursue passion in what you do, believe in yourself and eventually, you'll find happiness"


Alberto Cerriteno and his family live in Portland, OR
wait? Did I wrote that correctly? Yes I did, and who's moving to Portland, OR?
ME! I hope I get the chance and honor to meet him, how exciting would that be? 
Maybe he'll even recommend me the best mexican food in Portland since I don't have the amazing cooking skills of my mother querida.


Visit All these Alberto Realms:


His WEBSITE 
His BLOG (yes I follow it)
His ETSY 
His FLICKR 


Now a peek to some of his work, enjoy!:















Now aren't you feeling happier? I am. 
Have a good day everyone!



Jun 14, 2010

Phrases for the Week

I'm all settled in my new home(at least until I move to Portland), which means I'm back to blogging regularly. In the process of cleaning, packing and unpacking I came across this paper:


This is in spanish, but here is the English translation:

:The knowledge man should not forget:

The biggest obstacle..............................Fear
The most beautiful day..........................Today
The biggest mistake...............................To give up
The worst flaw.......................................Selfishness
The worst bankrupt................................Discouragement
The best teachers....................................The Children
The most ugly emotion...........................Envy
The most beautiful gift............................Forgiveness
The biggest knowledge...........................God
The most wonderful in the world............Love
The sweetest happiness...........................Peace

I don't know where this paper came from, but I'm glad I found it. It is now glued to one of the pages of my sketchbook. Thought It would be nice to share it and welcome this new week, have a great week everyone.

Jun 3, 2010

Side note

Sorry for not updating lately,when moving from one place to another is hard specially when you just canceled your internet :/ , but as soon as I'm settled I will get back to updating regularly.
Have a good weekend everyone :).