MOTHER'S DAY 2013

     Just thought I'd share the little illo I did on my mom's Mother's Day card envelope. That's my mom pulling the wagon. My mom is the very best mom ever. :)
     I needed little boxes for her gifts, and I got crafty. So I'm sharing that, too.

I actually made the box on the left out of vellum card stock. The one on the right is "re-purposed."

Spray paint and doilies!

The bottoms of the boxes turned out really cool, I think.

NOTE TO SELF: There is no way for a guy to use or even mention "doilies" without seeming like a total nancy. I'm okay with that, but it seems like there should be some manlier alternative term for them. 

     Tomorrow morning my husband and I are taking our two wonderful mothers out to breakfast together, all four of us. That's our tradition. We are very lucky to have these two special ladies in our lives.
     Then after breakfast he takes his mom to the movies, and my mom and I go where the wind takes us. Maybe we'll do a craft, maybe we'll go shopping, maybe we'll play a game. We cannot be pinned down.

GALLERY 999 at Bats Day Black Market 2013

Welcome, foolish mortals...

The spooooooky entrance to the gallery

     In case you didn't know, every year there's a semi-official "Goth Day" at Disneyland where all the black-garbed, ratted-haired, and bat-loving people converge on the park. It's called Bats Day At the Fun  Park. There's a small convention held nearby called Bats Day Black Market, where you can buy all sorts of gothy clothes, accessories, etc. I've been there twice with my comic book publisher SLG and it's always fun and friendly.

A longshot of the gallery entrance, with my Aunt Wanda's spoooooky little blond head in the foreground

         This year the originator of the event, Noah Korda, invited me to participate in a group art show called Gallery 999. (Get it? Because the Haunted Mansion has 999 happy haunts. Duh.) Anyway, the idea is to create original artwork in any medium that pays tribute to the Haunted Mansion, which is obviously every good goth's favorite ride. (In my day in my 'hood we called ourselves "Deathrock," and the term "Goth" didn't pop up until years later when everybody's granny became aware of Marilyn Manson)

"VADER & PALPATINE, SITTING IN A TREE..." by yours truly

     Back to the art show. Noah said he wanted to put a twist on the art show this year because the Black Market happened to be the same day as "Star Wars Day." So our goal was to create artwork that paid tribute to the Haunted Mansion AND Star Wars, by somehow combining the two worlds.
     For some reason one of the first ideas that popped into my head was Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine having to share one of the Haunted Mansion "Doom Buggies," and it being all awkwardly cozy. So that's what I went with. Because it kept making me giggle.

"MANSION WOOBIE" an enhanced detail of VADER & PALPATINE, by yours truly

     Then, as usual, I ended up drawing something I really liked way at the bottom side edge of the picture, where you'd almost miss it. Which is why I used Photoshop to isolate and enhance it and make it its own thing. Mansion Woobie!

This thing was walking around on stilts and scared the shit out of me, but I like it. Check out the horned head in the foreground!

     My husband Anthony and I went to the event with our friend Matt, my mom, stepdad, and Aunt Wanda. I'm like Honey Boo-Boo-- I come with a family entourage. But we're not as annoying, and don't have as many chins.

Our friend Matt and a foxy lady

NOTEBOOK DOODLE : Zombie Dinosaur

This may be way too scary for you. You have been warned.

(look out! Here it comes...)