easter cactus

 

It’s been a while since I’ve painted! I’ve been wondering what I should paint, and when my Easter cactus started blooming I thought it would be great to paint it. I’m a little rusty, but using gouache is always fun and it can also be very forgiving. 

One of my goals this year was to fill my home with plants. I've been very hesitant in the past because I don't know much about plants or how to take care of them. I've been inspired by people sharing pics on Twitter and Instagram of their indoor spaces with lots of beautiful plants. Because of the pandemic, I'm at home a lot more and I wanted our space to have some of the beautiful green that's outside, inside. 

One of my other goals for this year is to paint more! I have a nice painting desk but for this one, I sat on the floor so I could get the nice sunlight that floods our living room in the afternoon. A few minutes into this painting and I wanted to start over because I didn't like the color I chose for the plant's pot. As I mentioned before though, gouache is very forgiving and I was able to mix in a few colors and got the color I wanted. I hope to do more paintings of my plants. It's nice to paint just for fun, and if I mess up I just keep going and it can look however I want it to, because I'm the art director and I have no notes! 

abbott elementary

 

Here's a little Abbot Elementary fan art. This show is pretty funny and lighthearted. I've been having a hard time focusing because of everything going on in the world right now. Reading books and watching movies and shows has been my way to escape. 

 Since I'm blogging again I thought I would do a new Meet the Artist! It's a fun way to get to know other artists. I looked back at some of the MTA's I've done before and they were all before the pandemic. It was interesting to see what my likes and dislikes were before. For example,"Parking in LA" was a dislike of mine but I don't have to park anywhere much these days because I'm mostly home. 

Some things never change though! Still love hockey and museums. I try not to get too heavy with the dislikes because I start getting mad when I think about all the things I don't like, haha. 

I hope you enjoy my Meet the Artist, it's nice to meet you! 

first words

 

Excited to share First Words Primeras Palabras written by Rosie Pajaro, illustrated by me! It's a fun lift-a-flap book for babies and toddlers with words in English and Spanish. It's the first bilingual book I've illustrated. 

When Cottage Door Press approached me to work on this book, I had to say yes. They encouraged me to draw from my own experiences and culture. I designed the grandpa and grandma after my own parents. The grandma has a different hairstyle than my mom, but the grandpa looks just like my dad! 

If I could go back in time and tell little Erendida that she would be illustrating pan dulce in a children's book one day, she wouldn't believe me!

Another great thing I love about illustrating books is how I get to draw diversity! I try to illustrate as many different skin tones as I can. For the wheelchair, I did a little research to make sure the representation was accurate. I also love that I got to draw a street vendor! 

I really love how the colors came out and the photos aren't actually that great at capturing it, haha! Sometimes figuring out the colors for a spread can be difficult. There has to be a good balance of warm and cool colors. The story drives the choice of colors of course, and for this book all the pages are fun and vibrant. I change my mind about colors a lot as I'm working on a spread. The rug in the photo above for example, was probably pink, yellow, purple, or blue at some point. I change the colors until everything feels right and balanced. It's challenging, but when it all comes together it's a great feeling! 

I'm so happy I got to work on this book, it's one of my favorites! 

 

Happy Valentine's Day! I made a valentine you can send to that special scruffy looking nerf herder in your life. :)

hello!

It's been a while since I've posted here on blogger! I've been inspired by friends who are blogging again. I'm excited to update this space with new art and share my thoughts with you all. Hope you'll follow along and start blogging too! 

new new york

Finally got around to doing another Doctor Who travel poster! This one features my favorite Doctor and is based on the episode “New Earth.” This is the second in a series of illustrations I’m doing for fun. Will be available as a print at CTNX and in my Etsy shop!

hey you guys!

("Hey You Guys" Gouache)

Hey you guys! Here's my piece for the Goonies 30th Anniversary show at Gallery Nucleus. Big thanks to my amazing friend Seb Mesnard for inviting me to be a part of it. Opening reception is this Saturday at 7pm. Goonies never say die! 

new books

Two Little Golden Books I've illustrated for Nickelodeon were released earlier this month! Triple-Track Train Race and Pirates and Superheroes are now available at bookstores and amazon. 

the book of life

(gouache)

Here's my painting for the Book of Life show at Gallery Nucleus. So happy to pay tribute to this beautiful film.