My Pens Akimbo

Illustration Friday's theme: Mysterious

2011-09-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Everyone has walked by a mysterious house and wondered, "Who lives there?" I love that. I decided to take it one step further and illustrate a house that makes you wonder, "What lives there?"

Influence

2011-08-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

This Illustration Friday theme, "Influence" was pretty damned easy. I read everyday how safety inspectors, politicians, bankers, cops, etc. are influenced by lobbyists and corporations that have something (usually monetary) to offer in exchange.

Swell!

2011-08-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday's: Imperfect

2011-08-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

Sink or Swim

2011-06-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

I was published in Huffington post in the book section. Here's my story!

Sink or swim. That's what many of us face.

When your entire department is laid off like mine, you can either try to get another job in the same field and probably experience the same out-sourcing or redundancy issues, or you can change fields and try something different. And I mean totally different.

As a middle-aged woman with a professional background in copy-editing and project management, as well as a life-long personal interest in painting, animation, and illustration, I decided to create my first comic book. Why the hell not? With the growing popularity of eBooks, mobile devices, and self-publishing software -- there is nothing stopping anyone from just sitting down and accomplishing this heroic task on his or her own. All it takes is a compelling story, planning, and endless drawing. So that's what I did and here's how I did it:

PLANNING: Using an Excel spreadsheet, I dropped in my story, translated from the scribbles of a moleskin journal. Why Excel? Because I could easily add or subtract the number of panels, panel descriptions, and character dialog according to visual and comprehension needs. Since I wanted this comic book to be smartphone friendly, I really had to plan because the dimensions of a phone are so small. I also knew that the average mobile comic was between 150-190 panels.
DRAWING: I created the illustrations using Adobe Flash. Why Flash?
A) Because of its great exporting ability. I can export an entire 150 panel comic in PNG or JPEG format in seconds.
B) I could later use that file to create web animation if needed.
EXPORT: After exporting the contents into PNGs, I converted to web-ready JPEGS. Why not directly to JPEGs? Quality. For whatever reason, the color and images were crisper.
ePUB: The JPEGs were imported into an InDesign template. Then the document was exported using the digital epub format. There was a small bit of coding, but it was easy thanks to Sigal (a free text editor) and an online walk-through by www.lynda.com.
PUBLISH: VOILA! Ready to upload to Barnes & Noble!! And Barnes & Noble will even supply the ISBN.

Nova Jackson: Ejects! is the first episode of an ongoing series about a girl, her ship, and her cranky friend Jib Stone. If you like strong female characters, science fiction, and cats -- then this comic book is for you.

Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Nova-Jackson/Jodi-Chamberlain/e/2940012408921/?itm=1&USRI=jodi+chamberlain

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/KqohDiXSTAg Note: special thanks to DobloFlo and The Brooklyn Label for giving me permission to use their music.

Asleep: Jib and QT-pi

2011-05-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

I'm going to introduce a new character in Nova Jackson. Her name is QT-pi.

Nova Jackson: Ejects!

2011-05-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

Finally finished! The first episode from the Nova Jackson series is up at Barnes and Noble. It was crafted specifically for the mobile market, so if you have an eReading device, please Take a look!

If you are interested in the comic book trailer, check out the link!

Book Trailer: Syntropy written by Munk Davis

2011-03-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hey! Lisa and I created this book trailer for our friend Munk Davis!

Get the Math!!!

2010-11-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

The animation I did for hip hop band DobleFlo has been posted on the PBS THIRTEEN site!!

Stan D'arde logo contest

2010-06-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Here's my logo contest entry for StanD'arde

http://www.standardhotels.com/stan-d-arde/

Illustration Friday: Early

2010-05-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday -- Equipment

2010-05-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

This Weeks Illustration Friday theme is Equipment. ... After watching the fruitless efforts to staunch the oil disaster in the Gulf, my view of Industry has been skewed. There are moments such as these, that so much of our efforts seem to end in self-inflictive detriment.

Illustration Friday: Linked

2010-04-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

This week's Illustration Friday theme is LINKED. We are all linked to our past and our future.

Click HERE to see the animation.

Illustration Friday: Subterranean

2010-03-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

This weeks Illustration Friday theme is Subterranean. My first thought regarding this theme was the world underground. So much mystery. So many unknowns. Unfathomable.

But I decided on the idea of a secret. A secret is hidden beneath the surface. It's subterranean. and it's kept there, until its brought to light--and then it becomes a revelation.

Illustration Friday--Theme: Propagate

2010-02-21T15:40:00.000-08:00

This week's Illustration Friday theme is Propagate. I decided the best way to illustrate this concept was through pooping. Please click the image to see the animation loop.

This animated illustration was made using Flash.

Illustration Friday--Adrift

2010-02-12T09:04:00.000-08:00

I'm back to Illustration Friday after taking a short break to finish my first Hip Hop music video. Scroll down this blog to see it. I posted it earlier today.

However!! Illustration Fridays theme ADRIFT has been posted. It is an animation, so if you want to see movement, just click here on or the image!

DobleFlo's Lights Out!

2010-02-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

I just finished this animation music video for the hip hop band, DobleFlo. It was a really fun project!! If you like the music and want more, go to: http://www.thebrooklynlabel.com/

Illustration Friday--Theme: Confinement

2010-01-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody. I decided to make this week's Illustration Friday a little different. This animation includes the sketching process as well. Let me know if you like it, and its interesting to see.

As far as the theme--CONFINEMENT--I've always felt that that is something felt mostly in your mind.

Please CLICK the image to see the animation.

Illustration Friday--Theme: Renewal

2010-01-01T19:58:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone! Here is this week's submission for Illustration Friday's: Renewal. Please click on the image or this text to see the animation made for this week.

Illustration Friday--Theme: Pioneer

2009-12-28T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody! Funny about this theme. I kept remembering it as "Frontier." I feel they are so similar in nature. Please click to see the new animation made for Illustration Friday.

Illustration Friday--Theme: Undone

2009-12-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

Click here or on the image to view the "Undone" animation made for for Illustration Friday.

Illustration Friday--Theme: Hatch

2009-12-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

Click here or on image to see HATCH animation!

Illustration Friday--Theme: Crunchy, Title: Crunching Numbers

2009-12-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

My first Illustration Friday blog post! Click on this text to see the animation.