hey all! I've got a LOT of stuff on my plate right now from comics to a kids' book... mostly stuff i can't "tell all" just yet, but i WILL be posting some new art ASAP! there are some very exciting Katie projects on the horizon and i can't WAIT to share them with you! i'm working on misc. art post for next week... but for THIS week, enjoy this CRAZY RANDOM S**T blog post!

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first, i was jamie hyneman for halloween:

except for when i was at the studio for the day... when i was a pantone swatch:

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for now, here's a fun update... earlier this week,  i cut off all my hair. 10" of the blonde mess went to charity and i think i look cute as a button. 

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i am quite active on my facebook and twitter... so by all means, please friend/follow me to get up-to-the minute katie news and fun sneak peeks of things if you aren't already!

http://www.twitter.com/katiecandraw

http://www.facebook.com/katiecandraw

(i have a facebook group too!)

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34525123027

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with another year almost over, bringing me ever closer to my "Last Day", it's time to start thinking about my birthday!  (like my Logan's Run reference? no? well, you may not be nerdy enough for you and i to hang out).

aaaaaaaaanyway.... i'll be turning 28 on December 9th! I'm inching closer and closer to 30 and i can't remember where my mid-twenties went. if you see them, please tell them i'm looking for them. 

so believe it or not, a few people are asking about sending me a small something for my upcoming bday!

...and i think that's pretty rad, so here's a katie-gift-giving-guide!

I'd like to say that if you've ever gotten a little bit on enjoyment outta' my work and want to repay me for it, a little something-something from my amazon wishlist would put me in a helluva good mood! ;)

http://amzn.com/w/34OWFB1GXSPQ3

i also LOVE audiobooks, i listen to them while i work all the time. so an audible or itunes gift card sent to katiecandraw at gmail dot com would be equally amazing!

or, send me cookies. freshly baked with love by your elderly mother with plenty of love. i prefer walnuts in my chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chips in my peanut butter cookies. no raisins. f**k raisins. they should not exist in cookies when the world is still bountiful with chocolate chips. 

or.... send me chris hardwick with a big bow around his neck. also, i'd like him to be holding a trained otter with a matching bow around its neck. if chris hardwick is unavailable, zachary levi will be just fine. 

or.... just pop online and give me a lovely "happy birthday!" message on my blog, facebook, twitter, livejournal or e-mail! i like those too ;)

all of my cards for the rittenhouse spiderman archives set!

wonder woman day is in FULL SWING and bidding ends this saturday. there are tons of pieces that would be an awesome addition to any collection, so go bid!

http://www.wonderwomanmuseum.com/WWDay4/WWDay4.html

(this is my piece! go bid on it!)

wonder woman in the costume redesign i did a while back

pencils to a hellboy piece in progress:

the marla bea benefit auctions starts today! the proceeds from these pieces are going to the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center to benefit breast cancer research. 

learn about the auction here: http://www.marlabeabenefit.com/

the auctions are here: http://shop.ebay.com/marlabeabenefit/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

you may recognize the piece i posted a while ago:

here's the auction to my piece:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Power-Girl-sketch-by-Katie-Cook_W0QQitemZ120478931233QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0d1a9921#ht_500wt_1034

and now you can bid on it to help save boobs all across the country. i chose powergirl... mostly because she's got plenty to save. 

starwars.com asked me to do a SW zombie piece for their "zombie week" celebration of the new "death troopers" book!

...how could i say no? 

http://starwars.com/vault/books/news20091012.html?page=5

i have another "how to draw" tutorial up on starwars.com! this time.... how to draw jedi younglings! 

http://starwars.com/kids/do/draw/f20091009/index.html

baby gungans look like fraggles. 

you know... there comes a point in every young person's life where they say "this room is just a hodgepodge of misc. hand-me down furniture and stuff from ikea. i bet, with a little effort, i could at least make it look like a FRESH hodgepodge of misc. hand-me down furniture and stuff from ikea."

i didn't remember to take some good before pics until i was already tearing the room apart, but i mixed in a few misc. pics so you can get the gist of what it looked like before:

during this whole living room redo we also transformed the rest of the finished basement into studio space, we moved most of the nerdery (toys, statues) downstairs. 

well, that big swing lamp from crate and barrel was the thing that i bought that made me say "that's it, i'm redoing this room. within a week of buying it, i started tearing everything down and bought paint. i had an idea and a plan. ryan was awesome about it. 

after a weekend of paint, framing some art that we've collected from comic conventions for the past few years and a lot of patience, it now looks like this:

(same angle with the lamp off)

the reading chair:

ikea table... now with vinyl robots decals:

(fyi, ryan and i collect vintage robot toys and art. there's a WALL of it in the kitchen)

the lovely red ikea cabinet that everyone has is where we house all the rockband gear now. it's not leaning  up against the wall any more... yay! (also, another crate and barrel lamp that i bought when i bought the big floor lamp. i saw this one on the way out to package pick-up, turned right back around to the counter and said "that one too")

the light switch by the door:

the mirror with the die-cut 'stache cracks me up every time. the decal is a modified Hu2 design. 

view from the couch:

still not sure what to do to the left of the tv. probably nothing, as that usually house my crazy hoopnotica hula hoop. 

a prop replica of the map from the movie "time bandits" is now hanging above the tv. this thing is massive and, since the day i bought it, i've had no idea what to do with it. i'm glad it's finally up on the wall. 

the mirror:

this mirror is older than dirt. my parent's gave it to me when i bought my house

oh... the cliche cat tree in the living roon... 

well, it's not going anywhere. the cat says so. 

and because she's so darn cute:

(this is my cat, ipod. the leader of my kitty trio)

indy likes it:

the only thing really left is the curtains on the bay window don't match at all now. i'm still pondering the best solution for them, as the windows are such unique sizes. i'm trying to find a great red and white funky fabric to make my own. the search continues. whenever i find it, i'll also make a bench cushion out of it for the long bench against that wall. we pull it out for extra seating now that we've moved that smaller couch downstairs to the studio. 

i did 25 sketch cards for the new TOPPS star wars clone wars widevision set! 

they asked me to do a limited number, which i was very pleased about... i can put more time into each one. all the images are based on season 1 of the series. they are done in micron pen with a mix of marker, acrylic paint and colored pencil. 

here ya' go:

i tried to get my favorite moments from almost every episode! it meant i had to re-watch season 1 to take notes. it was such a burden... ;)