More on the Horizon

I just got out of a meeting with my Academic Director and as far as things go I might just be able to transfer to the East Coast. Which is good news for me because Las Vegas is doing whatever possible to drive me out of town. I think the fresh air and nature will do good things for me, if I'm not at ease with my environment then I'm not going to do well no matter what I do. Plus I DO NOT want to spend another summer here, nor would I want to move during the summer either. I learned my lesson when I came here in August all those years ago. So anyway East Coast, looking mighty fine as of right now! I mean good people and good everything!

On the art front, not a whole lot done but I did get this piece for Skip almost finished for his project. So far I'm proud of what I accomplished on it. It's 15x20 on hot press illustration board, I used only Prismacolor Markers and opaque white watercolors.
Here's what it looks like so far:


I'm working on a few commissions at the moment including a 13 page Child friendly Doctor Who piece and some artwork for a friend that renewed my Deviantart subscription (love ya!). Look forward to it!

Things Go Round and Round

Things seem to be looking up for old Gil... err Danielle. Things outside of work and school, can't say what just yet, but I have a feeling that aside from all the injuries I've collected as of late, fate could possibly cushion my future.

I've been working on a piece for a friend of mine which is turning out to be the best (and most difficult) thing in recent memory. It's all cool though, I'm really excited with it so far and can't wait to post it.

In other news, I'm looking forward to moving soon. I have pretty much 90% of my stuff squared away when the time comes. I just need to tie up loose ends in Vegas some of which include school and settlements. But, I look forward to a time when I can finally catch a breath and start doing things I really want to do for a living and not have so much drama in my life. A customer told me that there are places in which you know you aren't welcome, that you weren't meant to be. Signs have been pointed out to me that I'm not safe here in Vegas, I've had too many close calls, and too many real accidents to feel at ease in this city. The city itself will find a way to drive you out. And now it's my time. I just want to thank all of my friends who have been with me throughout this time in my life, it's been hard, but I couldn't have gotten through it without you all. (You know who you are!)

Also, a shout out to my friends Leanne and Rod who have gone through some tough shit lately and deserve some cheering up. And to April and Brian on getting hitched recently, you guys are awesome!

Alas My Right Ankle, I Knew Thee Well

It's been yet another long pause in my blogging abilities my friends! My apologies.
A lot has happened since the last post, including the fact that I lost a fight with a truck and ended up with a broken ankle. The worst part (besides not going to work and the ankle) was the fact that my glasses fell off my head and were repeatedly run over by passing cars. I did manage to get one of the lenses back, so for about a week I used it as a monocle.

Anyway while I was out I got a lot of work done, and I managed to finish the pages to a comic I was working on as well as start and finish the piece on the show Life I've been meaning to do. I also got a lot of chibi figurines done as well.
Well here are some photos of said pieces, enjoy!


A sketch of Snape (I'm currently finishing up the audios read by Stephen Fry, thanks again Leanne!)

Back into the Groove (Art and Work wise)

I started my first day of work since coming back from New York today. And it was great! I never lost a beat and it was as if I never left! What clinched it for me was a customer saying to me in the Drive Thru that I had the best customer service she had ever seen! And being in Las Vegas I take that to heart. For a city dominated on hospitality services to be able to stand out makes me feel special. It really does make me feel good to hear that, and not only once but twice in the same day! I'll pat myself on the back now...
And about the art. A few days into returning to Vegas I actually had the inspiration and willingness to get a few pieces done. Posted below for whoever hasn't seen them on my Deviantart Gallery. And I fought to create a logo for myself as well. I'm not too sure how well I pulled it off, but I'm at a loss when it comes to creating anything for my personal use.
Anyway the illustrations are a mix of traditional and digital art, the figures having been rendered with my trusty Prismacolor markers. Anyway enjoy!

Italian Spiderman (seriously look it up on Youtube)


The Great Machine (aka Mitchell Hundred) from the comic Ex Machina


And a logo...

She Might Be Saved...For Now

I got a call from my boss at work today, there might be a way to save my job for the time being, it only involves being open to EVERYTHING THEY THROW AT ME SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. The worst part being I'd only be guaranteed 12 hours if that. She lost two of the baristas that usually work night shifts, so if I go back I would have to open and close on multiple days. The only problem I have with this is that I hate working night shifts, not because it's too much work, but that it's too easy. Around 4pm the store winds down, and really I don't feel like I belong there at that time, my place (and where I operate the best) is in the opening/morning crew where it's too busy to look at a clock. I like to keep myself preoccupied. Also, I don't have good work shoes. The ones I wear to work have been worn out so badly you can see my socks through the rubber on the bottom of the shoe.

As you would have guessed, this is going to be another call for commissions if anyone is interested in helping out. I need to keep this job, I don't want to have to train for a new one yet again. Not just yet at least. I might actually have to look into a second job to pay my rent while I'm in school. I can't live on an estimated 12 hours a week paycheck.
So it's out there if anyone wants anything done, I'll even do design work if anyone needs a logo for layout done (I will post more examples of my design portfolio for whoever is interested).

Note me if you are, I'll be more than glad to have the work. It's all helping me get some practice in anyway.

I'm heading home on Wednesday, I'm sure I'll get sick again going from 60 some degrees in New York to 110 and hotter in Vegas. But I have lots of artwork to color and post not only for fanfics I've been drawing for, but also for the Dommi project I've been working on with April French. Yay for originality!

Anyway, cheers everyone. And for my stateside friends, I hope you all had a great 4th of July. For my friends at AILV, I hope you enjoyed the NICE BREAK we got and are looking forward to school next week.

Precious Programs and some Art!

Whoever actually reads anything I post will remember that right before finals week at AILV all of my Adobe Creative Suite programs went MIA, well that and it gave me the giant middle finger. Well my friend Brian managed to get them back thanks in no part to Adobe, whose costumer support seriously lacks any kind of real help. Not to mention it's really hard to take someone in tech support located in India seriously when they tell me their names are Joanne, Billy, and Scott. I hate you all for keeping me on hold for almost two hours not even giving me any help! *fumes*
Anyway, programs are back and I owe him a logo now that I have my precious InDesign and Illustrator CS3 programs back.

And now some artwork.
Since I got to New York I've been doing a bunch of stuff for my friend April who has spoiled me to no end since I got here. She's an awesome friend and a great writer, so I'm happy to be with good company. So some of the following pieces are from a Kaldor City fic she's been working on. I'm also throwing the progress on the Klaus Nomi portrait I've been working on. I did color a few of the scenes with markers, I might scan them or wait until I have my tablet back to color them digitally.

In the meantime enjoy!







Klaus Nomi WIP 2

Arrival in Albany and Pimpage for a Good Friend

Arrived in Albany yesterday afternoon and ate a great meal with pals April and Brian who are more than kind enough to let me stay for two weeks. I'll be taking the time to finally unwind and get some real work done... And by real work I mean finishing all the portraits I started *coughSapphire&Steelcough* and getting some more work done on the graphic novel April and I started called Dommi.

On the way I stopped in Chicago, didn't get any pizza but I ate an orgasmically great cinnamon roll in the food court at O'Hare International Airport before going back to the gate to see a bunch of breasts falling out of people's shirts. Seriously, you'd think people would get dressed a little more appropriately for travel. *shrug*

The last leg of the flight from Chicago to Albany, even for the two hours was uncomfortable. The flight attendant on United was an uber bitch, and coupled with an uber bitch of a customer sitting behind me I was stuck in the middle of a verbal smackdown. Never had this problem on Southwest but you get what you can afford...

Listened to an interview with the awesome Leanne Hannah on the Comic News Insider podcast from Heroes Con. D'awww ain't she sweet?! Seriously she's going to go far, if you haven't seen her work yet (and I'd beat you if you haven't) check it out!
She's my mentor you know! And check out the recent issue of The Perhapanauts featuring her artwork. Go...now!

Get the interview at The Comic News Insider
Or get it on itunes.

The following are some photos I took yesterday...
PHANTOM! I wanna see this so badly when I can afford to


A view of The Strip in Vegas from the airplane


Something to look at while I ate my cinnamon roll in Chicago


Said orgasmically great cinnamon roll...

Crossroads...

Well recently my horoscopes have been scarily accurate with my readings (yes I read them regularly in the Las Vegas Weekly...). And lately they've been telling me great changes are coming my way. How? Well for one my boss informed me that I'll be losing my job at the Starbucks because of my availability all because of the new optimum scheduling. I love my job, it was the first job I ever had where I loved the people I work with and serve on a daily basis. But when I think about it it might actually be the push I need to get on track on what I really want to do for my career which is my art and design work.
The countdown begins, and I need to start making more contacts to further shove my foot into the closing door. It's the beginning of summer, and it's going to be an uphill battle what with the economy and all the students looking for summer jobs. At times I have low self esteem when it comes to my work, but I have good people backing me up and reassuring me of the quality of my stuff. And to those people (you know who you are) you have my deepest thanks.
Well, time to get the gravy train moving!

A little something something for a graphic novel I plan to illustrate:


The Judith Paris portrait I finished:


A portrait of Friend from Zardoz as played by John Alderton:


Itchy and Scratchy fanart I used for a school project, recreated in Adobe Illustrator: