mikamood

sitting around

2012-01-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

Bananas

2012-01-04T06:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to a test I uploaded in vimeo. It's still got probs, but I was really excited about it and wanted to put it up for people to see.

finally found her

2012-01-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've redrawn this character for my stop-motion project a few times (see old blog posts) but she was never quite right. I'm so glad it's settled.

Calendar January

2011-12-21T06:15:00.000-08:00

I got the idea to make a calendar to give away to friends this Christmas last minute (my friend made a Clint Eastwood one for his friend) I was going to just use my favorite drawings from the past year, but I only really loved one.

So I thought of a story that I could do in 12 panels using this character, I wound up using the image for April, which is the perfect time for cycling.

The story is a jewel heist/friendship story. I came home with the rough idea of her stealing diamonds and meeting a cat and Jae helped me figure out the ending and arc. Finished the whole thing in 4 days! So it's got kinks but I like them. It captures something about our moods these days and is inspired by our friends' interests and preoccupations. The images are wordless and open to interpretation, so let me hear them.

Also, anyone have a good title?

Calendar February

2011-12-21T06:14:00.000-08:00

Ling thought she became pregnant here.

Calendar March

2011-12-21T06:13:00.000-08:00

No, Ling those are beans not jewels she is eating.

Calendar April

2011-12-21T06:12:00.000-08:00

Calendar May

2011-12-21T06:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Ling, this is not based on a true story, it is a fiction, that is why the cat is eating a fruit even though we all know in real life cats don't like to eat fruits.

Calendar June

2011-12-21T06:10:00.000-08:00

Calendar July

2011-12-21T06:09:00.000-08:00

hold em poker
The river is the queen of hearts, giving the lady a straight, which beats the cat's set of aces on which he had bet all his nights winnings on.

Calendar August

2011-12-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

Calendar September

2011-12-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

Calendar October

2011-12-21T06:06:00.000-08:00

This drawing was inspired by Edward Gorey's "The Epiplectic Bicycle" (what a title, what a genius)/American football/George Michael's faith

Calendar November

2011-12-21T06:05:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Elvis/Tally charts/boredom. Those ticks represent hours.

Calendar December

2011-12-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

gondola drivers/Anglin brothers. I guess the moral of the story is don't give up on your friends! Even if they are accident-prone, kleptomaniacal, sore-losing, hairy cats with broken tails and no money.

lady puppet

2011-11-07T05:17:00.000-08:00

I gave her a book to pretend to read. I haven't actually read it myself!

animation setup

2011-11-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

Walking animation test

2011-10-31T05:33:00.001-07:00

streets from memory

2011-10-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

walk cycle

2011-10-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

scene in a park

2011-10-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

I wanted to scan these into the computer and animate them, but flash pixelates raster images when you rotate them, and I don't have after effects, so I guess I'll try to do this analog under the digital camera.

life drawing chinatown

2011-09-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

I've got drawing block. Life drawing landscapes has never been my strength. But it's fun and good for keeping the hand moving in the meantime. This is drawn in my sketchbook with pencil while standing in the intersection of Park Row and St. James Place. I added the ink wash at home. I would like to try inking on the go, but it seems really awkward.

drawing for jacqueline

2011-08-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

My friend, Jackie is having a longboard made for herself out in LA and asked me to make a drawing to go on it. Here's the rough and the inked version. She wanted a folksy humorous style caricaturing something french and nautical. apparently she goes by la gorgeous in her new home.

holes for fingers

2011-07-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

I decided to send this old rotary phone to my childhood friend who lives in Baguio. I drew a girl picking her nose on the number card. Is there anything more satisfying than sitting idly by the phone, waiting for some good gossip to make it's way to you while digging out a surprisingly large booger? No, I don't think so.

catsuit

2011-07-11T06:38:00.001-07:00

flower

2011-06-27T07:16:00.001-07:00

how to grow a woman

2011-06-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

Just pour inky water on paper.

heads lunar

2011-06-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

boat shirt

2011-06-07T13:53:00.001-07:00

seaweed head

2011-05-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

sunflower

2011-05-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

a dream walking

2011-05-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

The man's shirt has a face on it- nose, mouth and eye bags. The hands and plate are what I recall from doing a search on wikipedia of "rarebit" (was researching Winsor McCay's "Dreams of a Rarebitfiend") and finding this photo of a plate that I love. The lighting is grotesque. I forgot to include the striped shirt!

Some sketches of people outside my window. The center figure reminds me of olive oyle. One of my favorite animations is a Popeye called A Dream Walking, olive oyle sleepwalks all over this skyscraper, narrowly missing swinging steel beams or falling to her death. Oh! here is the youtube

a lady should always ride side saddle

2011-04-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

clown

2011-04-19T05:52:00.001-07:00

This is a drawing on an index card, like the one below.

floating tuxedo man

2011-04-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

I started drawing a jacket that I would like to have for spring, and a tuxedo man appeared. I suppose it's a relaxed tuxedo paired with leggings?

goldfish

2011-04-05T09:59:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about this drawing since last fall, when I took this photo.

A school of fish darts around and shrinks and expands into infinite shapes as one being. I want to be like that.

black and white or color

2011-03-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here are two versions of my earlier sketch. The top one is in brush and ink. The second image I colored in Photoshop.

grandma 2

2011-03-14T06:24:00.001-07:00

This is a little more cleaned up version of the original sketch

grandma

2011-03-14T05:54:00.001-07:00

This is a rough sketch of my grandmother petting her cat, while possessed. possessed has 4 s's?

Thumbnails

2011-03-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

This is a rough thumbnail layout for the 4th part of dense valley that I'm working on now.
I've been thinking a lot about my style and composition for my comic. I really like the way my thumbnails look, so I'm trying to be as faithful to them as possible. I noticed that a square frame is what I tend to use in thumbnails. I also like the negative space in my thumbnails. My heads fill up almost all of the frame like mountains. I'll be trying to make this show through in my next installment.

rough cover

2011-01-04T06:49:00.000-08:00

This was a drawing I made for my 3rd mini cover. But it didn't quite work so I went with something much simpler and flatter which I think matches the style of the comic better.
I might try to flatten the perspective and simplify it and use it for my next mini.

blizzard

2010-12-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn Comics and Graphic Arts Festival

2010-12-06T05:09:00.000-08:00

I completed a third part of my comic, Dense Valley for the Brooklyn Comic and Graphic Arts Festival this weekend. It was a long and fulfilling day. Here's the poster I painted the night before for my table. I'm going to ride the high from being around so many cartoonists I've admired for a long time, like Linda Barry and Mark Alan Stamaty. Also, independent comic readers are the coolest kind of people. This year was much better than last year because I shared my table with my friend, Sam Ita, who sold every one of his pop-up books. Thanks to Amber J for slinging rock for me and maximizing the impact of my display. And to Jae for hanging out the whole day.

my tapes

2010-11-29T06:06:00.001-08:00

Be patient

2010-11-18T06:42:00.000-08:00

ok this is my favorite new page so far.

sunshine

2010-11-15T06:16:00.000-08:00

What, no breakfast?

2010-11-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

Good morning!

2010-11-09T05:52:00.000-08:00

you missed a spot

2010-11-07T16:12:00.001-08:00

such a busy bee

2010-11-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

everything

2010-11-05T06:01:00.001-07:00

I'M A SAILOR!

2010-11-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

i'm dieting

2010-11-02T05:54:00.000-07:00

hoaly

2010-10-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

hey! i thought you were dead!

2010-10-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

Back to the valley. Here's my first page after hoooboy. Im thinking about putting in a midtone. I'm working and posting out of order for added murkiness.

goldfish

2010-10-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

Reflection with goldfish

2010-10-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

This was taken on 1600 film on a rainy overcast day. I want to do a drawing like it.

cards on etsy

2010-09-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm selling this card on etsy now. http://www.etsy.com/shop/mikamood

sorry it's been a while

2010-09-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

take that dawn

chinatown postcard

2010-08-09T05:28:00.000-07:00

monastic

2010-07-26T06:05:00.000-07:00

fishmonger5

2010-07-26T06:04:00.001-07:00

fishmonger 4

2010-07-26T06:01:00.000-07:00

fishmonger 3

2010-07-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

catch an odd fish

fishmonger 2

2010-07-23T07:29:00.001-07:00

comes in handy when you want to pinch an ass

fishmonger

2010-07-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

what good is that extra thumb?
what can you catch with that old net?

my old friend

flagella

2010-07-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

the fragile flagella floats fleetingly, fuddled by fossil flavored finiteness.

whet your sickles

2010-07-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

This is how the final linoleum print turned out.

But when the House-carrier (26) climbs up the plants from the earth to escape the Pleiades, then it is no longer the season for digging vineyards, but to whet your sickles and rouse up your slaves. Avoid shady seats and sleeping until dawn in the harvest season, when the sun scorches the body. Then be busy, and bring home your fruits, getting up early to make your livelihood sure. For dawn takes away a third part of your work, dawn advances a man on his journey and advances him in his work, -- dawn which appears and sets many men on their road, and puts yokes on many oxen.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/works.htm

I got here from searching wikipedia cultural depictions for "snail" which mentions Hesiod http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_and_Days

This print is included in the Giant Robot show starting this Saturday.

spontaneouser

2010-06-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Trying to distill the earlier image into something for a print.

spontaneous

2010-06-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

boy

2010-06-07T05:23:00.001-07:00

uncle hypothetical

2010-06-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

mechanical pencil. wanted to draw a cowboy. trying to make his horse bite his nails while lying in bed.

horse by the sea

2010-05-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

This reminds me of Padma and Ilocos Sur.

sleeping with animals

2010-05-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

motifs

2010-05-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

swimmers

2010-04-27T12:42:00.001-07:00

It's hard to draw while you're swimming. In the most perfect water of Miami beach.

chain blue

2010-04-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

chain

2010-04-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

underground river sketch

2010-04-05T06:23:00.000-07:00

This is an idea for a drawing that was inspired by the hadron particle collider and the scientists working on it. I don't understand it at all but I appreciate the intent and the imagery. I think I'll try to use a checked pattern for the pants, because that reminds me of the kecak dancer below.

checks

2010-04-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

I've been drawing checks a lot lately. This was taken in Bali of a kecak dance in 2001. The dancers pretend to go into a trance and they all lie down in the lap of the person behind them. I really like the checkered cloth that the male dancers wear. The way that rituals are alive and integrated into daily life left an impression. When I see a guy in a check button down it reminds me of that.

colored beetles

2010-04-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to figure out how to use colors in my drawings. It's not easy. I messed this drawing up, but I like some aspects of it... well, the black lines really.

Male rhinoceros beetles fight for a mate. Plenty of videos online.

giant robot small favors show

2010-03-28T07:01:00.001-07:00

The show looks really good, they did a good job hanging all the millions of drawings. I bought a piece by this artist-
http://www.sidneypink.com/
I like the sequence that the people at the store chose to hang these 3 drawings. It gives a sort of narrative from left to right, that I didn't notice before.

I think these drawings are about celebrating loss. Later in the week after finishing these drawings I ended up attending a funeral service. I didn't know the deceased well but the service was a huge outpouring of grief and love that was very moving. Things pass and then we can reflect on them.

This drawing and others on cafe tables with checks started off from a photograph from the late 70's of what I think is Cafe Amapola in Baguio city. I can't locate the photograph anymore. It was an outdoor cafe and I imagine my parents and their bohemian friends sitting around looking cool and gossiping in their flannel shirts. I think it's now a bank.

This one is about embracing failure. I redrew this a few times with slight variations. I'm good with it, it's definitely not perfect but it still has a good flow. Sometimes redoing things and trying to correct all the mistakes can really kill the overall effect. So I'm trying to not get all hung up on the mistakes but just get it mostly right the first time.

Also, it's about a lot of my friends who tend to be "losers", except they aren't actually losers they just want different things from most people.

"As the years went by Ferdinand grew and grew until he was very big and strong. All the other bulls who had grown up with him in the same pasture would fight each other all day. They would butt each other and stick each other with their horns. What they wanted most of all was to be picked to fight at the bull fights in Madrid. But not Ferdinand--he still liked to sit just quietly under the cork tree and smell the flowers." -Munro Leaf, The Story of Ferdinand

checky checks

2010-03-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

waterfall

2010-03-21T19:12:00.001-07:00

I drew this after going to the Kuniyoshi exhibit. The waterfall idea is from the print below- "Hatsuhana Prays under a Waterfall" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi . And the checks and the toes.

Kuniyoshi

2010-03-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.japansociety.org/graphic_heroes_magic_monsters_gallery

Spent way too long staring at these woodblock prints at Japan Society, taking mental notes. The warriors are so expressively rendered right down to their toes.

morris3

2010-03-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

morris coupe 2

2010-03-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

I think those are chicken coops inside there now.

morris coupe

2010-03-10T05:56:00.000-08:00

"You know the black eye white china in the brain cabinet
I never cry if I did I'd cry ice" -Jay Z Cashmere thoughts

bike for sean v. 2

2010-03-07T19:22:00.001-08:00

I couldn't help myself, I just had to do it!

Bicycle for Sean

2010-03-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

I really had to restrain myself from drawing a huge bouquet of flowers in the background. I might still do a version with, using the photoshops. Happy Birthday, Sean!

chicken feet

2010-03-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

I like riding buses, you get on the bus and when you wake up you're someplace else.

Motherflower! 2/24/2010

2010-03-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

This guy fell flat on his face and decided to just lay like that for a while.

I folded this drawing into a box and destroyed it in the process. It looked better flat. Now it's just a scan. There are also 2 left hands. I have version of it for sale starting the last weekend of March in giant robot nyc store. with a correct pair of hands.

box

2010-03-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

Looks like a box of expensive soap. That makes you smell like patchouli.

Late blooming 2/24/2010

2010-03-06T06:01:00.001-08:00

Here's another one I messed up trying to fold into a box.

2/26/2010

2010-03-05T20:08:00.000-08:00

Tried drawing images no larger than 5 inches square all week for a show at giant robot nyc. It was very frustrating. This one was my final aborted attempt.

2/25/2010

2010-03-05T19:05:00.001-08:00

1/20/2010

2010-03-05T19:02:00.000-08:00