Simplifying

Hello, friends! This will be my last blogger post for now, though definitely not my last update!

I've moved my more frequent updates to my Tumblr blog; mostly due to its mobile capabilities, but also so that I can connect more easily to more artists. There you will see my current sketches, paintings, and projects. You know, Tumblr stuff.

Thanks for following my Blogger journey, and I hope to see you over in Tumblr land!

-Emily

Comic Fest 2014!

We have come full circle at last! My very first "colorbyemi" blog post was a wrap-up of the second annual San Diego Comic Fest, and we have just survived the third!

Besides the craziness up in Artists Alley, there were many wonderful events after hours. On Friday night, we celebrated the 100th birthday anniversary of Jerry Siegal, the co-creator of Superman. The celebration took place in the Comic Fest Zone Cafe, where Jerry's daughter Laura Siegal Larson and actor Marc McClure honored his memory and legacy.

After some riveting Suprman trivia, Laura cut the beautiful cake, and Johnny and I had an amazing opportunity to talk with Marc McClure!

 

Johnny B. Gerardy and daughter Katherine with Marc McClure

On Saturday night, we went to the annual Masked Ball! Dancing, games, low lights and ghostly figures...what a beautiful event it was, thanks to Beata Csanadi!

And finally, during the masked ball, we enjoyed an outdoor performance by Digital Lizards of Doom. Electronic beats, great singing and guitar, a dancing gecko and an evil robot...what more could you want?

 

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 And of course, other than all that fun stuff...was the REALLY fun stuff. Sitting in Artists Alley, a little sketching, a little selling, and a LOT of great conversations with artists and art lovers alike. I was honored to be in the Alley for a third time, among some of the greatest talent I've ever seen.

Photo by Monica M Sharp

With the weekend ending on a perfect 10, it's time to say good night.

Back from the Dead...of Summer!

Yikes! Four months?

In my last blog post, I was excited for the arrival of the shirts I designed for the summer kids' program. The program began soon after, and what a summer it was! 175 kids and a good 15-25 weekly in my little art club. With the summer days all blending together in haze of field trips, art lessons, heat waves, and power outages, it's no wonder I abandoned the ol' blog.

BUT, with only 17 days left until the 3rd annual San Diego Comic Fest, there is much to do!

I've been trying my hand at colored pencils lately, and I'm planning to have this piece ready by then, featuring a character I created last year.

 

It's a fun undertaking. I've always wanted to do a full piece with this character.

 

 

That's all for now, but this piece should be done in a few days. Then maybe I can knock out another one or two before Comic Fest.

Back to work!

Thursday Art Club: It's All in the Details!

Spring Break is over, and Thursday Art Club resumed with a group of eighteen. Today we explored the difference a little extra detail can make!

Zoo Trip with Peter Csanadi!

Being a San Diego resident for the past 20+ years, you'd think I spend half my time on the beach or at our world-famous zoo. Otherwise what's the point of living here, right? But apparently I'm always too busy being a hermit to enjoy the benefits of our great city.

Thanks to my friend Peter forcing me to step into the sunlight for once, I spent the day realizing how little I really know about the San Diego Zoo.

Streamzoo favorites

I'm far from a pro photographer, but I've always enjoyed taking photos and sharing them. For some reason I never got into Instagram, though, and I instead joined a photo site called Picplz, which shut down in July of 2012. Most of the photographers I followed, streaming from all over the world, moved on to Streamzoo.

Unfortunately this company is also closing its doors today due to financial difficulties. It really is a shame, because when I took the time to sort through all the selfies, food photos, and overboard filters, it was a surprisingly personal and eye-opening window into other countries and cultures. After giving it some thought, though, I decided that I'm not going to join any other photo sites. I feel like it will benefit my overall state of mind to have one less social media "obligation" on my plate.

Anyway, I had a chance to download all the old snapshots I uploaded over the years. (I'll spare you the selfies) Here are a few favorites.

Thursday Art Club: Tabletop Drawing

I decided to dig some of my dusty toys out of their box and put them to good use: giving the kids their first experience drawing human (and mutant) figures from a tabletop model.

Thursday Art Club: Happy Valentines Day!

Love and creativity are in the air in Thursday Art Club! Valentine's Day has never been my favorite holiday, but it's fun to celebrate with kids...you know, when it's all about the candy.

I had a pretty flimsy project planned, but I decided instead to improvise. I got some pink, red, and white paper, some scissors and glue, and some coloring stuff. Then I pointed everything out, and gave them free reign. This was a bit of a gamble, because without enough structure to our art time, they can get restless and bored. The result?

Studio Space part 2

There's something for everyone around our studio.

Spidey hanging 3 feet from the wall,

Studio Space part 1

If there's one thing a macro lens has taught me, it's that I don't dust nearly as much as I think I do. That being said, here are some close up looks at the creative space I share with artist Johnny Beware.

Thursday Art Club: Watercolor Fish

Back to basics. With almost every group of kids that have been in my art clubs over the years, there's one activity that they always get excited about: painting.

Photo by Sofia Han

Macro Mania

I forgot how much fun macro photography was. It's nice to have more to work with than just a dinky smartphone camera.

Weekend Sketches and a New Toy

It was a short weekend, and I've been sick for most of it. Thank goodness I don't have cable or I might have been tempted to watch the Superb Owl. So what else do you do when you're under the weather and stuck on the couch for two days straight?

1. Pout.
2. Watch Netflix.
3. Draw.