Summer red

 berries stain your lips

I've been enjoying the summer a lot lately, mostly from my studio, but the windows are large and I've positioned the desks to face the view. The cat has made a path to crawl up and behind one of them, appearing behind my laptop and trying to sit on my typing hands. Not the best.

But summer means lots of good food - so please to enjoy our July of Good Eating

These delicious bits and lovely glassware were a gift from our dear friend, thanks, lady!

from the farmer's market in Worcester

bison burgers with Alex, Lindsay and Alison for Fourth of July

home-made iced chai

• Prepare one hot mug of your favorite black tea (I like using Mighty Leaf)
• Fill another mug half full with ice
• Strain the hot tea through a strainer filled with ice into the cold mug

Mix //

• 1 tbsp honey
• dash of cinnamon
• dash of brown sugar
• skim milk - mix for frothiness

I miss BookOff!  I wish there was one in Boston.

I've also gotten really serious about studying Japanese.  When you plan something so far in advance, it suddenly hits you - "oh my goodness, I don't have a lot of time left before I have to use this stuff" so that's been happening recently.  But languages are really fascinating!

Did you know there are Inuit dialects that are dying out?  I read in the New Yorker that Eskimo languages are going extinct - and the writer went to the farthest reaches of Alaska to interview the last surviving speaker of a certain dialect and she kicked him off her property with a gun.  Wow.  

I should also be keeping up with my pigeon French from high school...

If you are looking to learn Japanese or other things - I would recommend Smart.FM - their methods have been really great so far!

Crazy 4 Cult Prints

Crazy 4 Cult prints are in!

Thank you so much for the continued interest in these, and for the people who have been patiently waiting for over 3 weeks. I had them redone by the printer, even making them use my own paper - and I think it was worth it.

..........................................................................................................................

OPTIONS for ONE OF US

+ US shipping $50.00 + AK / HI shipping $53.00 + Int'l Shipping $55.00

..........................................................................................................................

OPTIONS for ED WOOD

+ US shipping $50.00 + AK / HI shipping $53.00 + Int'l Shipping $55.00

..........................................................................................................................

INFORMATION

• all prints use archival inks on natural matte papers and signed
• limited run of 20 prints of each available
• please allow 3 days for processing and 5 - 7 business days for delivery

SHIPPING + HANDLING

• within cont'l US // $5
• Alaska + Hawaii // $8
• International // $10
• I will refund you any extra shipping tacked on by PayPal when you purchase more than one print

PAYMENT

• electronic payment above is conducted through PayPal
• to request a different payment method, please contact to discuss
• I also accept Postal  Money Orders - please contact for address

I have many more things to post about very soon! Unfortunately, (or fortunately I guess) I have been so busy with projects, there is no time to do anything but make art and eat bagels. Now that I think about it - that's pretty great!

Much more this week, I promise ...

Red Gate Gallery

I am very excited to be apart of my first international gallery show!

Last year I submitted an envelope with some artwork on it, along with lots of other artists, for Darren di Lieto's "Mail Me Art" project and subsequent book publication.

my contribution from 2009

see the book + other artists here

If you are in the UK, you can check out this piece along with hundreds of artistically-altered envelopes

.........................................................................
Friday 30th July – Thursday 5th August 2010

Opening reception Friday July 30th 6-11pm

Red Gate Gallery

209a Coldharbour Lane, London 

www.redgategallerylondon.co.uk

........................................................................

Life is really crazy lately with teaching classes, working on the last of the graphic novel, finishing up some client work and pulling together the wedding.  Happily, the wedding is the least of my worries - not only is it going to be very small, it's also going to be really simple and home-made.  We're not really... um... Chicken-dance people if you know what I mean.

My typical day lately is this //

7am - 9am    Wake up, hatha yoga + braeburn apples

9am - 3pm    Teach at the museum, work in examples of inking a graphic novel on the sly

4pm - 11pm  Client work, wiggle around a bit to keep from slouching back at drawing table

12am - 7am  Try but fail to actually sleep, get up and stop dog from eating all of the cat food 

My intern, Jill, starts at the end of August.  Oh thank god.

Wedding Inspiration

 some inspiration boards I put together

source material : Our Labor of Love photography, Rebecca Thus Design, 100LayerCake.com

I've had weddings on the brain for the last year, which is new for me because I was convinced I'd never get married.  Ironic! 

Just 12 weeks away now ...

Amazingly, we're been invited to 3 upcoming weddings!  My dear childhood friend Amy went away to Germany right after high school (on a Fullbright, what a genius!) and is back with her husband to have a reception.  I haven't seen her in many years!  Then a week later our lovely pals Alex and Lindsay are getting hitched, and then just a day before our own wedding, Andy's nephew Rick and his longtime partner Steve are getting married (way to go, Massachusetts!) and less than 24 hours later, me and Andy say our vows.

Wow.

Have I mentioned how much I love love?

Galaxxxy - Sweet Streets II

I was very excited to be asking by Gallery Nucleus to contribute to their upcoming show Sweet Streets 2: Japanese Street Fashion.  When the original Sweet Streets had an ad in Juxtapoz, I was overcome with "Oh man, what a cool idea" and lo and behold, a while later, it happens.  

  More info on the show here

If this was Lin Shi's doing, I will hug her fiercely the next time I'm in LA.  Which will be the first time I'm in LA.  And I'll hug her anyway because she is awesome.

Here is the first of two pieces I'm putting in the show. I'm still working on the Mori-girl style one (wee!)

The original sketch on graph paper

If anyone is interested in purchasing the sketch, please contact me at moduslotus @ gmail dot com


I've always had an affinity for Japanese fashion, ever since buying the first volume of the collected issues of FRUiTS when I worked at a comic book store.  As much as I love and respect European style, the Japanese don't take themselves as seriously.  I don't want to embarrass Andy in public, but I'm sure when we touch down in Tokyo this October I'll do an epic happy dance.

inspiration for this piece : the brand GALAXXXY

photos courtesy of TokyoFashon.com

a collection of Japanese bath salts I've amassed over a few months - why so many? 

Because our faucet stopped working, and is stuck on "shower" mode.  *sigh* 

I was hoping this one would turn me into some kind of demon,

but instead just made me smell like peppers

....................................................................................................

I am also getting prints made of my Crazy 4 Cult pieces

- thanks to everyone who has asked about them and been so patient!

They are almost here!

Inking Comics

So if you've been following my tweets, periodically I post my current status on "Pirates of Mars", a graphic novel I'm working on with JJ Kahrs.  It was/is 96 pages of thumbnails, blue pencils, finished pencils, inks, lettering and tones.  

Right now, I've finished up to page 66! Alright!


One of my favorite parts of the comic process is inking.  I love inking.  It's the painterly aspect of comic books - at least for me since I use brushes.


Here is how I typically approach a panel ...

Let's take a look at page 18 (just the top half! no spoilers!)

I need to define the planes in the top panel - meaning the dude in the very front has to be inked a bit heavier so he is separated from our two main characters (Captain Lovelace + KC130)  I give him some areas of heavy black.

Next, to the characters who are talking - they are the focus of the page.  KC130 is all black, which is perfect because usually your eye will go to the dark spots on a page.  By inking the robot heavy, and inking the background with lighter strokes, KC130 will be a focal point.

That would be a cameo of Dan Dare in the background incognito ....

I ink Dan's jacket to be in direct contrast with the highlight on Victoria's bomber jacket, which I make fade into light pants as if everybody walking is kicking up dust.

Lastly, I switch to a thin pen to do the straight edges and fine details in the background.  I don't want the lines to compete with the subjects in the front.

   thanks for reading!

Crazy 4 Cult @ Gallery 1988 LA

If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can see 2 of my paintings {here+ here} in a fantastic group show at Gallery 1988 LA from July 9th - the 30th.  There are so many amazing artists in this exhibition - I wish I could fly out and attend!  I'll be making a limited run of prints of both of my pieces - they'll be available before the end of the month!


Crazy 4 Cult invited over 100 artists across the country to reinterpret + remix classic Hollywood cult films.  It remains one of their most impressive exhibitions - his will be the fourth Crazy 4 Cult show!  It will be hosted by director Kevin Smith + producer Scott Mosier!  Cool beans. :)

Artists are listed alphabetically by first name, so you can see me towards the end

What's cooler, is that this artwork is done by Sir Mitchell - a really amazing artist that also did the "I'm With CoCo" painting of Conan O'Brien for his comedy tour.  Looking over the work of all these illustrators is so inspiring! Stay gold, friends!

I'm so curious which artist will be doing one of my favorite movies ever made - PeeWee's Big Adventure!

Happy 4th of July

 
Last week Andy and I went out to lovely Wellfleet, MA on Cape Cod to take some engagement photos.  Well, my print outs of photo ideas blew into the Atlantic, our camera's battery died, and the French bakery we were hoping would cater was closed the entire time.  So!


It was a great time.  It always is - no use getting down over silly things.

our only engagement photo before the Nikon died

It was a really quick trip, both of us have projects we really have to complete by the wedding so we are back in the studios working.


Cape Cod really is a cool place.  It really makes me feel like summer has arrived!  Rhododendrons blooming, eating fresh sea scallops that were literally at the bottom of the sea that same morning, and high tide freezing your feet on the hot sand.


Hope you all have a great Fourth!  We caught some fireworks last night and are going to our friend Alison's for some bison burgers with Lindsay & Alex today.  And hopefully catch "1776" on TCM (I love that musical - yeah Mr. Feeny!)

8 hours in New York

my youngest sister & the Brooklyn Bridge

my dad did the real New York thing - pastrami on rye + cherry cheesecake from a midtown deli

my happy place // iced chai at Crumbs' bakery