Now Time for the New Design

 Senior year of college, I decided I needed a cool website to get my work out there in the real world... the online world. Unfortunately at the time I had no idea about web design, or anything about how the internet worked. I did however have a nice brother who knew a little coding and some basic web design, and so sooogood.com came into existence. Back then my design was bulky, using what was then the trend, glossy roll over buttons, and long scrolling text.

Since then, I realized that my design was too cluttered, and the html coding was slow and it loaded and functioned with many faults. Because of this, I spent a good amount of time changing hosts, servers, and designers as well as taking some online courses on web design. I went through variations on what I wanted my site to look like, and what it would offer. I knew I wanted it to be minimal and focus on my artwork, but not sure exactly how that would look overall in the end.

After a couple different test runs, designs, and re-designs, (and the great fortune of meeting a brilliant boyfriend), who showed me the wonder of wordpress, and the simplicity of the way those sites functioned. I finally have my new web page up and running!  

I have spent hours working on formatting my images and creating the assets, and even though its taken me almost 4 years, in the end, I'm really happy with how its turned out. I ended up changing the domain to www.sooogoodstudios.com, so that more people would know it was an art site. I hope you'll take the time to look around and let me know what you think!

Gryphon Design

I was contacted earlier this year via my Coroflot profile about a new startup company called Gryphon Design Collective. I'm usually a little wary about these things, as many of them are unreliable or pipe dreams, but after reading through the info I felt like this seemed like a pretty cool concept and something I'd like to participate in. 

"Gryphon Design Collective empowers and promotes Global design talent through a unique online gallery, community network and web retail platform." 

I love the idea of quality, sustainable, retail items being made, offered online, that feature their designers while offering exposure. 

Many times I see a product I like, but have no idea who the artist is behind it or where to see more of their work, so this a great way to network with other artists while gaining exposure and sharing my artwork. While they are still in the baby stages of development, it has been fun being a part of the process. They recently went to present the idea to investors, and I got to see a preview of some of the items they'll be producing! The main focus are printed cards, notebooks, and customizable children's books, with the possibility for apparel later on.

I'm really excited to get my hands on some of the samples, and be able to offer them to you guys! I think that Gryphon is going to be really successful and I'm excited to see where it takes us. There are a lot of really talented artists in this group and what we're offering is somewhat unique and useful. Michelle, the founder of Gryphon, sent me a letter in my very own card stock, I'm definitely impressed!

So keep your eye out for Gryphon! Hopefully we'll get the investors we need and be able to launch very, very soon!

My adorable bf has been doing a lot of research on South Korea, (probably to figure out why I'm such a crazy Korean girl). One of the the interesting things he's come across is the tradition of White Day. In SK their Valentine's Day is a day when girl's bring chocolates to the boy of their choice, alternately, one month later on March 14th, there is White Day. This day is for those boys to return the favor with gifts of candy, (usually more expensive) to the girl of their choice. Equality for all I guess!

In honor of this, today's #asketchaday, has of course one of my precious panda babies, bringing his gift to the girl of his choice!

The Korean writing says "You are sweet" which he must believe is true, to bring her such grand gifts! I chose a softer, more pastel color pallet and a soft natural atmosphere, which I'm really vibing on these days. Like always, here is the breakdown of the process below.

I'll be spending tonight with Matt celebrating White Day, and I hope he decides to bring me some nice candy too! <3

Thanks again for checking out my blog, and be sure to follow me here, or on twitter, if you don't already!

"Spaghetti and Hairballs"

Last wednesday Matt took me to this amazing new restaurant in Irvine called Itriya Cafe: Spaghetti and Ssam. I was excited to visit as, from the outside, this place was really really really well designed (and what kind of crazy person doesn't love spaghetti!)

Rarely does a place that looks this extravagant actually live up to your expectations, especially at an affordable price. I was completely and totally satisfied with my experience, and should probably yelp it soon. We enjoyed a lovely dinner of spaghetti bolognese and even a spaghetti calzone!

Like so many of my works, I maintain these memories and later replicate them in some type of artwork. To keep in pace with my #asketchaday experiment, I decided to put my spaghetti to the test.

Matt always tells me that he loves the way I draw hair, and hoped I'd do something that featured it, what better thing to add then hair spaghetti! This piece, like yesterday's, spawned from a Bic pen sketch, and then layered into a fun little Thumbelina meets Jack and the Bean Stalk. I utilized red in her dress to represent marinara sauce. 

I'm really happy with the end result, these quick little sketches are a lot of fun. I hope I can stick with it so I have more things to share with you! Also, if you're ever in the OC, go to Itriya Cafe! mmmmmmmm ^_^

Receiving Royal Treatment

So my new years resolution was to fill the blank pages in my many many sketchbooks that I have lying around. I have a bad habit of starting sketches in one and then picking up a different one and sketching in that. Also, being an artist I have a lot of relatives that find it important to support me by buying me sketchbooks......for every occasion. haha. I've had a pretty slow start to the year, but this week I feel inspired, as work is slower, and I have the time to mess around a little. 

Today's drawing of the day was something that just came to me and I'm quite enamored with it. As you may already know, I love my little panda babies and would love to do many more pieces featuring them.

I got a box of purple Bic pens, and this has been my drawing tool the last few days. I like the way they feel, and that I don't feel like I have to create something perfect, because it's a loose medium that I can just mess around with.

I decided since this has such an organic quality, being a sketch, to compliment it with a watercolor painting technique. I changed the initial sketch to a darker shade, and started the coloring process.

Layer by layer, I added in color until I got the end result you see at the beginning of this post. I'm very happy with how it turned out! It seems that the happier I am with the finished product of a drawing, the easier it is to stay motivated to keep drawing. 

Make sure to check back in, as I hope to be more consistent with my drawings. I have a lot of pages to fill, but here is one down!

TUTORIAL: Building a Book Cover

My bf Mathew came to me awhile ago with a project due for one of his classes that required him to create a layout utilizing photos he'd taken himself. These photos would each emphasize a list of design components. After talking about layout, and type, and file set up, Matt created his first book design. Having built books myself in college I volunteered to do a tutorial on binding, book covers, and final presentation finesse! Although I personally critiqued my end result a little harshly, the whole process helped me shake the dust off my old handcrafting skills. 

I began by folding the image spreads, pasting the spreads back to back, until the entire book was assembled. We took it to get cut, and then began the cover. Below is a play by play of cover making:

I began by measuring out mat board, cutting out the front, back, and spine. I measured, trimmed, and marked the cover to its proper dimensions as well.

I spray mounted each board piece within its measurements, smoothed, and scored the cover. Then I cut my edges for clean interior folding.

This is the way the inside appears after adhering all 3 interior mat board elements and cutting the edges appropriately.

Next, I started folding the exterior print over the edges of the mat board and gluing them using a paper specific adhesive. I folded each edge in, and pressed it smooth for a flat, clean finish.

I then added the photos book pages to the spine, and spray mounted each end page to the inside of the cover. For an additional touch, I used a specialty metallic paper I had, with a cut out window to frame Matt's name on the last page. The result was quite nice, I thought. 

This is a really quick, easy way, to make a basic project, seem a little bit more refined with simple finessing touches. I also used an extra strip of paper as an exterior wrapping closure. 

Hopefully he gets an A+ for this assignment! I think the end result was good for my first cover in a long time. The really great part of this, is that he now has a nice way to store and showcase his memories from the photos he took in Mongolia. I also love that I was able to use a skill I learned long ago to help someone I love do something great! (I hope you enjoyed this tutorial as well!)

The Adventures of Super Bunny & Giant Cat Bear

This weekend I had the supreme pleasure of joining two of my favorite colleagues in the celebration of their book release, "The Adventures of Super Bunny & Giant Cat Bear" at Happy Six in LA.

This book has been in the works for years, now, starting as a dream by the author, Kevin Staniec, and made a reality with the wonderful illustrations of Patrick Ballesteros. 

Both of these guys are extremely talented, and have proven to be quite the dynamic duo.

I have a personal sort of attachment to this story, as back in 2007, Kevin first presented this story to me. I helped him in the development the characters after spending hours at Barnes and Noble in the children's section, looking at popular books, and well just reading. (I even got a thank you at the end of the book, yeah that's right, I'm famous! lol)

 (This character "Baby" later became "Charlie")

I think that this book is great, because it is really something for people of all ages. The book is dedicated to kids, and the kid at heart, appropriately so. 

As these pictures show, the response proved this true, with young artists, writers, families, children, and well just everyone, coming out to buy, support, and get their books signed with one of a kind illustrations by Patrick. Along with that, Kevin jotted down words of inspiration, and each thanked everyone for supporting this project. I got my own signed copy for my nieces//nephews, I know they're gonna love it!

This book is hopefully the first of many, as this book truly has large potential to become an entire series. Congratulations again guys!

If you would like to get your copy, please visit: http://treehousebandits.com/ and like Treehouse Bandits on fb at: http://www.facebook.com/treehousebandits

My Weekend in the Village (Artist's Village That is!)

Somehow my bf remembers when the art walk in Santa Ana is better than I do, and surprised me by taking me out to a lovely night of art, chaos, and of course, good food! The art walk in Santa Ana is the first sat of every month, and each month they premier different exhibitions or events. Unbeknownst to us, was a rather eccentric showing by The Cacophony Society  with their "In the Zone Show", or Cacopolluza, as they referred to it, is their "rally to restore absurdity to Santa Ana." And boy, did they ever!

Outside the gallery they had performers and some larger than semi truck sized wiener dogs. There were a large amount of members from The Cacophony Society walking around wearing some truly strange and wild costumes. Staying true to their ideals, "The Cacophony Society is, 'a randomly gathered network of free spirits engaged in the pursuit of experiences beyond the mainstream," I can definitely appreciate their tenacity and boldness to say the least!!

Probably a bit out shadowed by the rest of the "goings on" there were other galleries showcasing as well. I took a couple shots of some pieces that caught my eye. The first for obvious reasons >^_^<.

These works, much more traditional by nature, less gimmicky, and more content heavy than their exhibitionist neighbors, were serene albeit more serene and wonderfully executed. Its always amazing to me the amount of creativity throwing throughout the world as a whole, unseen or experienced by so many people. Its always my hope that more people will discover the art walks in their home towns, as they're becoming more popular and frequent all over the US. If you have not taken the time to go to one, get your butt up and get out there! You're sure to see//experience something new about the world, the art scene, and maybe even yourself.

For more information on The Cacophony Society visit: http://www.intothezonemovie.com/