Xavi's Pitch, Redux

Due to popular demand, I redid the images from this post, added a few more, formatted them in InDesign, and uploaded the book to Blurb.  You can buy a copy here, if you are so inclined!

Last Sunday, I had a lovely diner breakfast with Amber, and got to discuss all sorts of illustrator-y and picture book-ish things. It's always great to see Amber, and I got a sneak peek of some of her awesome new work as well. She also reassured me that my recently-finished dummy book is more or less ready to go out into the world. Next step, queries?!

However, at one point during our conversation, I believe I said, "Ugh, my blog." So, in the interest of keeping this sucker alive, here are some snippets of things I've been working on, plus something I hope will become a recurring feature.

My Australian roommate is getting married to her Kiwi boyfriend next January. I am so happy for Kate and Simon, and so excited that I'm invited to the wedding in New Zealand! It's one of those places I've always had on my "would REALLY like to go to" list, and now I have a perfect excuse. Here's a tiny snippet of the map I made for the invites.

Conversely, how I spent my Valentine's Day...

...illustrating bacteria and protozoa. Meet Giardia, E. Coli, and Cryptosporidium. Aren't they just dreamy?

Next up, an idea I'm still playing with. These characters hark back to a much earlier blog entry - I will honestly mail cookies to anyone who cares to find them.

And finally... What's Been Eating My Brain

Often, I don't update because my illustration projects are totally scattered (see above) and without a lot of substance or polish (again, above). But sometimes, I don't update because I'm busy indulging in something unrelated to illustration, something that I am geeking out about so hard that I want to share it with everybody. In January, it was Community. This month, it's Breaking Bad.

If you haven't seen either show, do it. Watch them. Now. Totally worth your time and energy. And seeing this news today just wrinkles my brain in the best way possible.

Dudes

Drew this last October, but it seems appropriate to post it now, after getting to see Real Madrid play in Philly this past weekend. Had a great time, needless to say.

As an artist, I've always had more fun drawing girls (hair! dresses!). So it took me by surprise when, shortly after moving back to Brooklyn, I showed my new roommates what I'd been working on for the past six months and one of them commented, "Wow, so you draw a lot of guys."

And it's definitely true, at the moment. Specifically, little cartoon soccer player guys. Hopefully, I'm going to branch out and draw some of the women's players soon as well. Also, you know, finish my own projects that are so close to completion. But for now, boys, boys, boys...

Game of Thrones

Long time, no post. I'm currently drowning in a deluge of Etsy orders (yay?!), and packing for a long weekend at home. But a certain fantasy drama is eating my brain...

I bought the first book to read on the bus to DC. I wouldn't be surprised if I picked up the second for the return trip.

In the past couple of days I've...

Gotten reacquainted with the finer points of Illustrator.



Finished another sketch for the dummy.

Linked my tumblr on an internship application. (Whut? IKR?)

Made a new team charm bracelet that I can't wait to put up on Etsy.

Walked to the Court Street Barnes & Noble to deliver a job application, and on to the Brooklyn Promenade with my roommate, Lis.

Tanked in fantasy football and still moved up a slot.



Didn't slip and break my leg, despite its best efforts, on my way back from getting groceries.

And did a few navel-gazing cartoons, such as this one:

World Cup

Wednesday morning, I headed over to the Alamo Drafthouse (amaaaazing movie theater) to watch the U.S.-Algeria game. As anyone who watched the game knows, epic-ness ensued. Here's my personal play-by-play:



Thank you, team USA. You guys rock.