I Survived California + Hellgirl

So, consider this the final entry of the trip blog! I'm back in Rochester now. California was great and busy. Marlene and I moved to a new apartment too once we got back and we're getting settled in. July / August = intense this year...

I just finished up this personal project, a redesign of Hellboy as a lady! Strange but alluring.



I tried keeping it quick, so just a straightforward outline illustration for her. I hope you enjoy it. Maybe there's more girl drawings in the future...

California Adventure, Day ???

Sorry for falling behind on the trip documentation. I just wanted to post to say everything is "A.O.K!" I've been busy getting ready for the train ride to San Diego tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get into town tomorrow in one piece by around 1 or 2. Bob and Jason have been awesome hosts (thanks you guys!) and good tour guides of L.A.

Time to go to sleep, don't want to miss the train.

California Adventure, Days 8 and 9: Working!

Super edit: I just received notification from Lulu that my books have been printed and shipped! I'm hoping the formatting came out o.k. on them all since I had to blind proof them. So, if you're stopping by Comic Con next week I should have these three books with me:

The 2nd printing edition of Adventure Underfoot 1 + 2. It's mostly the same as the first book but it's a larger format with some typesetting redesigned in the guts and a full color cover. Lookin' good fellas!Imaginary Monsters: Collected Works! Yep, it's a portfolio book! Hopefully this will be a killer leave behind after interviews and get me much work. It's 32 pages of color images and fun. The content ranges from my illustrations, color concept art, and poster designs. Woo!
Imaginary Monsters: Sketchbook 1. Artist sketchbooks are sort of a comic con staple so I figured why not start things off right with my first year exhibiting? Inside there lies some of my favorite sketch pages from sketchbooks I've kept over the past two years.
Cross your fingers and hope they didn't come out deformed! Hahaha!
- - - - -
Yesterday and today I've been playing it simple, mostly working on some things in the apartment. The more new pieces I can have ready for Comic Con next week the better. I still need to order business cards and maybe some postcards too. Must remember!

Here's Al Gore's latest challenge speech.

Man Treeman supports environmental reform.

Lazer Fight!

Things got a little out of hand at Aaron and Jean's wedding.

California Adventure, Day 7: I meet someone new

Today I met someone new.Man Treeman!
Man Treeman lives in Bob and Jason's neighborhood. Maybe he's a tropical Ent. He likes sunshine, cool drinks, and cats. He dislikes going for walks.

After meeting Man Treeman I was so stoked I decided to eat a cupcake. What better place for it than Puddin Out Cupcakes? I can't tell if their business name is a sexual reference or not but the cupcake was mighty tasty!
I opted for a root beer float cupcake. The cherry threw me off initially but the frosting tasted like good root beer. I will be returning to Puddin Out before I leave.
Another thing I notice about Sherman Oaks: 2 out of 3 retail personnel here are really outwardly friendly. Plenty of "Hey man", "Bro", and handshakes. It's nice.

California Adventure, Day 6: I walk around

Today I went for a walk around Sherman Oaks. Ventura is pretty commercial but there's a handful of smaller neat looking businesses. There were two vintage clothing stores and a Goodwill on the street plus some other things like...

An honest burger.
Toy Mandala. Really cool stuff in here and friendly staff. Look for them at Comic Con around booth 610-ish (I'll double check today). They have the Old Boy graphic novels. Drool!!!
Unreasonable, illogical, inappropriately fresh produce. What nerve.
Some sad but glad bug news. I found a dead June Bug in the courtyard. I was happy to see a friendly face from home though.
I made dinner for Bob, Jason, and I too. Farfalle with peas, mushrooms, and veggie sausage. There's an old piece of bread from Trader Joes in my bowl. The food wasn't really that yellow. It's just the fluorescent light in the kitchen making everything look like it's seasoned with tumeric.
Later on we watched Godzilla Final Wars. I still have the end credits tune in my head. Nate came over to hang out and we played a couple games of Magic: The Gathering! Wow, nerd nostalgia! Jason had a spare deck so we played 1 on 1 on 1. Magic! Wow!

California Adventure, Day 5: Return to L.A.

Yesterday we drove back to L.A. Frank suggested we take the 5 since it was a bit quicker. On Thursday we drove up the 101. While being a longer trip the 101 is more scenic. The 5 is more of a straight shot. It was pretty direct and barren looking, further east than the 101 and away from some of the good coastal moisture.

We passed a reservoir on the way. Frank mentioned that he had never seen the waters that low. I think the bottom edge of the black marks on those hills was the old waterline. Yikes! If you look close too you'll see a reflection of my lap. Double yikes.


Head on view of driving/being driven down the 5. Bob mentioned he was driving down the 5 once and his car was attacked by tumbleweeds. The worst we fared with was a broken pallet in the road...
Oil country!
I have a very long straw...
I drink it up!

Once we got back Bob went off to figure drawing class and Jason came home shortly after. We went for a walk down Ventura to look for some dinner and settled on chinese food. Thanks for showing me around Jason!

I'm finished!

California Adventure, Day 5: The Wedding Day!

Aaron and Jean got married!
It was a nice ceremony at a park in their neighborhood. Outdoors and sunny.
Hey Marlene, here's the wedding cake! It was really stylish.
The reception was a good time too. The dance floor was usually packed.
Aaron and Jean, best of luck to you both and God bless you. Have a great honeymoon!

Dave, Jamin, Frank, and Bob, thanks for helping the wedding go great and it was awesome hanging out with you all this weekend. Woo!!!

California Adventure, Day 4

Today is pre wedding chill out dudes day. We're currently watching Roadhouse. We may go see Hellboy 2 later today too.

Also, Krystal sent me a photo she took of me from Day 1. She's an amazing Hollywood tour guide!

Thanks Krystal!

Hey, if anyone wants me to send them a postcard while I'm in CA email me your address! I have a ton of postcard stamps with me.

California Adventure, Day 3

San Francisco smells like catnip!

Edit: There are many smells in San Francisco, catnip being one of them.

Apartment smells.
Flowering tree smells.

Fig smells.
Basil smells.
City smells.
Rochester smells.
Perspective smells.
Chrome smells.
Train smells.

Pigeon smells.

And dinosaur peeping tom smells.
Odorous!

California Adventure, Day 2

Frank, Bob and I drove to San Francisco yesterday. There was 6 hours of driving ahead of of us. California is a huge state... very big. I guess that's what happens when your state is the entire side of a country. Wow!

I tried taking some photos of the drive along the way. I missed shots of the oil drills along the coast. Maybe I'll get those on the return trip.
Look out Bob!
Frank was driving. Thank you Frank!


First we found some mountains.
Then we found some fog.

Sunset. Bob had to get the picture from the back seat. He did a good job!
We stopped in San Luis Obispo (sp?) to see Still Time play a pre-tour show. It was great. We made it into San Francisco late, maybe it was around 2am? Bob took over driving for a bit and I put my glasses on so I could stay awake and talk to help keep him awake. We tried really hard but we couldn't find any jazz on the radio. Eventually we got a BBC news broadcast. Capital!
Aaron's bumper stickers! YES!
The BNS bumper sticker...
I'm finished!