Mixed Media Drawings for Children's Book

Last year, shortly after moving back to Seattle, I took an LGBTQ friendly children's book writing course at the Hugo House. My friend was teaching the class, and it had been a long time dream of mine to write and illustrate my own stories. The outcome was a working draft of a story that I based off of two paintings that I did in 2011 called I Think I'll Stay Where it's Quiet for a While & Let Me Apologize for my Absence of Late. A friend of my mothers' who had looked at the paintings commented that they felt very narrative--and he was curious of the story behind them. This, in turn, made me curious. I knew there was a story of nature, of heartbreak, friendship, and a little bit of magic. So I went from there.

Having never illustrated a book I've felt very timid to begin the process, and have put it on the back burner for about 9 months. What intimidates me most is the fact that the two main characters need to look relatively consistent throughout the book, from different angles and in different situations. This is a challenge I've never faced before.

These are the first few drawings of "Solo", a creature who lives in the forest... who appears to be mostly human and part owl. He is lonely because he is different that anyone he's ever met. His first and only love left him because of his differences, and he has been broken hearted ever since. The broken heart is rendered as an actual red wound on his chest... which fades throughout the book and ultimately heals as he relearns how to connect with someone, to trust, to be a friend.

Ryan and Julia "save the date"

A wonderful couple I know is getting married this summer and I just finished their save the date cards! They wanted a Tolkien theme... so the map of orcas island I drew, the handwritten font I used, as well as the phrase written on the backside of the postcard are all meant to recall images from the original Hobbit book. Fun project! And congratulations to Ryan and Julia on their upcoming wedding :)

Fight for Social Security!

Here's the cartoon I did for PSARA's march issue. Enjoy :)

I Don't Know Where to Put My Hands (When I Get Nervous)

ink and watercolor pencil on paper

The Edible Typeface

So here's how my first 3D design turned out! I showed the original sketch on an earlier post... but for those of you who didn't catch that one this is a cereal box I designed to hold the contents of my notes and classwork for my Typography1 class... so if you check out the graphic on the front you can see my name "Deva" and also "Type1" hidden in the pile of illustrated letters. It was the first large scale project that I used adobe illustrator for... and I'm self taught on that program... so a struggle and a learning process for sure! This quarter I enrolled in the software class so I have a real live instructor (Maria Nelson... I highly recommend her for anyone interested in taking a class with her at SVC) helping me with illustrator... and wow... she's awesome. Also, the concept for the drawing and the design on this project were mine but my wonderful boyfriend Evan Hetrick re-worked the cover illustration. It was out first design collaboration and it was tons of fun. Many more to come! 

S

guitar playing hangout/Kauai

Wooops, forgot to post for a little while there. But hey, it's a new year now, and to make up for it I'm gonna post a drawing every single day for a while! I have a bunch of drawings/projects from the past month that I haven't put up. Here's one from my recent trip to Hawaii. We were there with an amazing guitar player so we sat around a lot listening to him, drinking, relaxin... and water coloring.

makin a cereal box!

I'm making a cereal box! It's gonna be the real deal, but here's a sketch planning the whole layout. On the back there's gonna be collectible bookmarks that you can cut out. Any idea what should go in em? So far I'm just thinking of three more little drawings of me swimming in some letters... trying to eat them.

Scrap the Cap!

This cartoon for PSARA's November publication is about strengthening Social Security for future generations. The phrase "Scrap the Cap" refers to the cap on what higher income people pay towards Social Security. Right now, any income earned beyond $110,100 (the cap) is not taxed, so those of us making the most aren't paying the same percentage! Learn more here.
Hope you guys like the illustration :)

MOOD BOARDS (for a poker player's clothing line)

When asked to think up an idea for a basics clothing company, something original, something that hadn't been done before... I immediately wanted to make a line of clothing for of a group of people that I know very well... that I am very much a part of. 

We are in many ways outcasts. But in other ways, we are underground heroes, magicians, cowboys and cowgirls.

Poker players are a breed like no other. We show ourselves to the world through a deceptive lens. We understand secrets better than we understand the truth. We both give and take from our opponents with every breath. Our personalities are transformative, our moods and mindsets easily swayed. We are tough. 

The idea for this line is just developing, but will feature things like hidden pockets (for money, snacks, music, accessories), reversibility (so we can pull all nighters, flip our shirts inside out, and no one will know how long we've been grinding), and layers and hoods to hide our expressions. Above all, it will be both comfortable and fashionable, so we can look and feel fresh while we work and play hard. 

These images are brainstorm collages or "mood boards" that express the vibe that the line is going for. Much more to come soon. 

part of upcoming poker cartoon

this doj guy will have a bunch of workers behind him throwing bags of money labeled "pokerstars payoff" and "online poker player tax revenue 2007 to 2011 " into a vault. 

another famous poker player... deep in thought.

TJ Cloutier! Haha. Silly degenerate gambler. 

change of expression

The editors of PSARA had me change his facial expression and grotesque look so he's more of a "smooth operator"... I like both... but its interesting how different of vibes they give off. Just by changing his mouth, really. The first one shows a villain behind the issue as a grotesque animal, the second more of a sneaky, evil, and effective character.

Voter Suppression cartoon

Voter suppression is a huge problem in the US! I hope everyone out there has checked to make sure they are registered to vote, have the proper ID, etc. November is just around the corner!

this cartoon will be featured in PSARA's October issue

pocket tee designs

Two things.

One: For a long time I've wanted to design a t-shirt with a little person popping out of the pocket.  

Two: For a long time my mom and I have been thinking about starting a little business printing t-shirts for various niche markets/groups of people. The first one we picked is the vegan/vegetarian crowd. 

I don't want the message to come off all stuck up how a lot of the vegan t's seem to... so I'm thinking of eliminating the word vegan on the pocket, and just doing a V (that way people can talk about it if someone asks them what it means, otherwise no one feels like they're being advertised to). That's what I tested out in the second image. 

What do you all think??

poker pro sketches

Barry

Ivey

E-Dawg

There's an awesome professional poker player/writer who I met a few years back who I'm now starting a collaboration with on some poker cartoons. He has some great ideas, some hilarious ideas, and basically I just need to get to the drawing! Now that my sisters wedding is over and all of that wonderful chaos has settled, I'm gonna focus on cartoons and my Design portfolio for a few weeks. Here's the first few sketches of some pros who he wants included in the cartoons. I figure if I post these  it'll motivate me to get the ball rollin', and they'll start to change from sketches to caricatures.

Wedding Program

Congratulations Julia and Sarah! I love you both!

the front

the back

outside (unfolded)

inside (unfolded)

Seattle (Cut Paper)

I made this design (for a poster of Seattle) entirely out of cut paper. While I did this a few months ago, it inspired the design idea for my sisters Wedding program, which I'll be posting in a few days. So I thought I'd throw this one up here first.

Romney Political Cartoon

This cartoon will be featured in PSARA's September issue 

Bossypants!

I recently read Tina Fey's autobiography, Bossypants, and probably peed in my pants at least 3 times. If you're female, that's a good enough reason to read this hilarious book... and if you're male and open-minded, dig Tina Fey, comedy, improv, standup, laughter, any of that good stuff, check it out!

Then I went ahead and designed a logo... the illustration style is meant to rep Tinay Fey's goofy attitude, the name repping the title of her book. I'm imagining it on a wine label or light beer... maybe even coffee beans. Something for the working girl (or boy), woman (or man).

i had to post the book cover. so awesome. 

boogie drawing

Boogie is my favorite photographer. Check out his website, it'll blow you away. Beautiful shots from all around the world. The guy really just does what he loves... travels and takes photos. His work has been a source of inspiration for my own art for about 5 years now.