Happy Holidays 2013! (I)

Hello all! Thanks for all your support this past year! Despite the pressures of nursing school, I've managed to put out some fairly deece things, I hope you've enjoyed them. And I fulfilled my resolution to publish at least one thing a month! Yeah!

Above is the image I made for my holiday cards this year. The creative process is fascinating to me. Being a largely untrained artist, sometimes I have to let the pencil do what it wants, and either I like what I see or I start over. Forcing a design out if it's not coming is just painful. This year was like that; I had a really different image in mind, but I couldn't make it work. (It was a little alien sitting on a wall looking at a star, but it kept looking like a giant penis with feet. Not so Christmasy...or not the holiday vibe I was going for.) So I started doodling, and this li'l weird dude came out with his floating cats. Huh.

Happy New Year, everyone. Everyone here at Owl_Henry (which is just me, of course!) wishes you a happy and safe holiday wrap-up. See you in 2014!!

(I) Super Ed!

The image on a thank you card I designed for our cohort's class rep, who always works so hard for us. I used zazzle.com for the actual card, and I highly recommend them. Thanks, Edward!

 

Happy Birthday, Sonja! (I)

Holiday card design for my dad (I)

My dad asked me to design his Christmas cards this year, so I made three. I chose three symbols of our family's favorite place, Big Sur: a sprig of lupin, a redwood cone, and a golden eagle's feather.

If you'd like to purchase some for yourself, or another of my various holiday card designs, please check out my Cafepress site.

Chris of Thrones (I)

Christopher and his dog Echo are way into Game of Thrones, and that's okay. Here's a portrait I made of the two of them as John Snow and Ghost for his birthday last month.

Halloween Radness 2013

Another year, another birthday...the radness continues. Here's last year's image.

Lillian's First Birthday Party! (GD)

Two very dear friends from my grad school days are quietly raising your new favorite presidential candidate in Bakersfield, CA. Yesterday she celebrated her first birthday! Below is the invitation I was commissioned to make for the celebration. If the party was half as delish as the lovely Lillian, I'm sure it was the party of the year. Where were you??

Happy October! (I)

Two images of myself I recently created for my Facebook profile, which has become my artistic medium of choice. The first is my yearly tribute to Halloween and the best month of the year. The second is me as the vaguely-psychotic nursing student I've become. Below those two are some photo references I used. Happy Fantastic, all!

She Creatures (I)

Another year, another show poster project for my high school teacher friend! This year she's directing a play called, She Creatures, and my main objective for the poster was "KEEP IT SIMPLE!" I have a real problem with this, year after year. Last year's blowout for Dr. Horrible was a lot of drawing, a lot of layers, a lot of time spent. My own fault - I have a specific vision, but I don't work very fast, and there's probably shortcuts I could be using in Photoshop. The big nightmare was Midsummer a few years ago - man, that was epic. But ultimately, I was really, really happy with both of those.

She Creatures is a somewhat abstract piece involving various mythological creatures climbing out of Pandora's famous box into their individual vignettes. A phoenix, a gorgon, a sphinx, a shapeshifter, a dragon, a selkie, a unicorn, and a mermaid all have their uniquely-realized scenes. I made the beasts into primitive cave drawings, which I think makes them more mysterious - a sense of the familiar and unfamiliar at once. The light bursts around them make them look a little like constellations, and I like that (unplanned) aspect of the piece. The background photo is a room in my mom's house, a bright red wall that felt right, and the box is actually a fancy tea container. I love this design - simple and eye-catching. Boom.

Check out the other posters I've created for the Mira Loma Black Box Theatre by clicking below:
All In The Timing (2009)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2010)
Almost, Maine (2011)
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - The Musical! (2012)

Morty raps! (Audio)

Morty raps. Your summer is complete. (Click the pic to listen.)

Nursing School Project (I)

People keep asking me how nursing school is. The truth? Kind of awful. The program is excellent, the teachers are knowledgeable and friendly, and I couldn't have asked for a better cohort of fellow nurses. But the amount of information I'm expected to cram into my head and actually retain? Terrifying. I'm excited to be a nurse, to have graduated and found a job (which, according to everyone I've spoken with - only a small percentage of whom are nurses - will be no problem), to be able to come home at night, plop down on the couch and watch Mad Men without worrying about all the homework I'm avoiding...that's the dream.

Below is the image I created for a final group project in last semester's Pathophysiology class. Nursing school is intense, but I have to say I'm loving all the information I'm being exposed to, all the questions I'm answering (even if I have to look up those answers five times). Hopefully it'll all stick at some point and I'll be saving lives in no time. Pray for me.

S.O.F.A. 5: "The Fall" (V)

The S.O.F.A. series follows a Survivor Of Fabulous Attachments as she attempts to live her life without gays. The ever-excellent Heather Louise Mack allowed me to co-star in this one, which you can watch by clicking the picture below. Want more S.O.F.A.? Click on the links at the end of the video to watch the other four, and subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates! Enjoy!!

The Goat (I)

My good friend Michael Shipley makes his San Francisco directing debut with his production of Edward Albee's 'The Goat.' It promises to be excellent, so get out there and support, San Friscans! (Oh, and I did some artwork for the promotional materials.)

K is for Krakens! (I)

The niecelet turned 2 a few weeks ago, and her grandmother wanted a t-shirt design to celebrate this historic event, something involving krakens, perhaps...? This one was a wee bit rushed, but that doesn't mean I love that kid any less. Release the Kaiya!!

Viva LOVE! (I)

I like to pretend I'm not into love, that my little black heart doesn't even register that kind of thing, but secretly - and I want this kept strictly on the way down low - I'm a sucker for people pairing up (or whatever your particular algebra is in your relationship) and committing to each other. And sure, sometimes I feel like that little crippled kid in the Pied Piper story that can't quite keep up with the rest of the group and gets left out of Candy Mountain, or the last unicorn that can't get on the ark 'cause Noah's all like, "Listen, we're doing couples, dum-dum," but mostly I just feel a very quiet joy when people I care about find people they care about.

This image was for a card I made for two of the most wonderful men I know and their recent engagement. Congratulations, my friends - I wish you all the happiness you can possibly cram into your lives!

Waterman (GD)

I designed this image for a t-shirt celebrating my epic brother's participation in the most recent Surfabout competition in our home town. I like that's it a picture of my brother taken by my dad and put on a t-shirt by me, so we all come together in that way. Want one? BUY ONE!

R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen, 1920 - 2013

Man, if there's a guy more responsible for shaping my imagination when I was a wee, I can't think of him. I don't typically get upset when wonderful people pass away after long, wonderful lives, but it does make me pause and think how blessed I was for their presence. Jason and the Argonauts, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, and, of course, Clash of the Titans were all pivotal visions for me. I watched them over and over, especially at Christmas time when they always seemed to be on TV. I was too young at first to really pay attention to anything but the amazing creatures, but there wasn't all that much more to these movies anyway. Well done, Mr. Harryhausen. Rest in peace.

Shining Me (P)

My new medium is the Facebook profile pic. All praise Photoshop!

Good-bye, Robbie. (I)

My wonderful friend Robbie departed SF for a choice career move to New Orleans. My present for him was decorated with this image. Kind of a rush job, but I like it.

I miss you, kitten!

Bibi and Baby (I)

A commissioned piece for my mom. 'Bibi' is the Swahili word for grandmother, and 'mjukuu' means grandchild.

Zombie Stephanie!

The latest addition to my zombie army is this lovely commission. Since I've been doing more monster-type stuff lately, I drew her and her new husband and their two cats as the Munsters. Zombie Munsters, kids! Fuggit!! Want to commission something? Email me!

Fan Radness

My friend JD sent me a picture of his snowboard - rad enough on its own, but even radder with a Non-Permanent Parliament sticker proudly affixed to the tip! The Non-Permanent Parliament is the comedic video wing of the Owl Henry shenannies, and JD was one of the first five people to like us on Facebook. He received a five-sticker prize pack, and look at the doors its opened! Thanks for your support, JD!!

JD is the main dude-in-charge of Bike Zambia, a yearly 7-day, 300+ mile bike ride that raises money for those afflicted with HIV and AIDS. Click the picture below to get more information on that amazing project:

Here's the original sticker design in all its glory. Click it to go to the NPP's YouTube page:

Happy Chinese New Year! (I)

I redesigned an older illustration for Chinese New Year, 'cause ain't nobody got time to draw, y'all. Also, I made this instead of doing homework, so you're welcome (and thank you) Chinese-American Community!

Li'l Medusa (I)

A sketch I did laaaaate one night. I couldn't decide on the colors, but the middle one's my favorite. They're all kind of creepy and I love that.

E is for Evelyn! (I)

The latest entry into the B is for Babies line is below, created for Evelyn Mack, born a few months ago to the wonderful Mack family in New York City. You can see all of my designs to date below that, and check 'em out on clothes n stuff by visiting www.cafepress.com/owlhenrybaby. Want a design on a different product, or want to commission a design? Email me! Let's make this happen!

 

 

 

Morty: "Paul" (V)

My coworker and friend Adam is a fan of the Morty videos, so much so he quotes them at work. It's very flattering, so I wrote him a piece of his own. That's Adam as Paul, Morty's latest victim. The newest video from the Parliament costars the always incredible LJ Bailey, who was also in 2010's "The Favor." Click the picture below to watch "Paul."

Glamour Shots! (P)

My very patient friend Maret and I met to relive an old tradition between us: glamour shots! This happened a few times waaaay back in high school, when we actually used film - like, there was a set number of photos you could take per roll, and you didn't actually see those pictures for several days until they came back from the photo developing place. Yeah. 

Maret can tell you some tales - a river set-up where she almost drowned as her dress (actually a sheet) pulled her off-balance and downstream; a legendary series modeled on the seven sins, now lost to posterity - but we always have a great time together. And we learn things, too: this time we both took home the lesson that I am NOT EVEN CLOSE to being a make up artist; turns out it's NOT just like painting! Huh! She's a trooper, and I think she looks absolutely beautiful.

Marianne - you're up next!

(I) Couple Commission

Back in October I cooked up some Halloween radness for my friend Adam. Another friend saw it, wanted in on the action, so I baked this up for him and his girlfriend. BAM!

Gettin' my study on! (I)

This past semester I did something I didn't think I'd ever do: I started studying early for a test, my Physiology final exam to be exact. As in three weeks early, not two nights before. In fact, I studied the SHIT outta that test. And it was like a dream! I wasn't so nervous I was vomiting blood right before the thing started, I'm pretty sure I got every single answer right, and I was the third person out. It'll probably never happen again, so I'm blogging it for posterity.

I'm a visual/experiential learner, so when I study, I really have to get into it in order to make it stick. Below are some pictures I drew during my process. And for the record, I got a B in Physiology - good enough for me!

YouTube Update (V)

What's up with new videos, you ask? Click a pic and find out!

Morty: "Sunday in the Park with Harry Chuwadski"
Starring Mark Sweeney!

Peg: "Sleeptastic!"
Peg (originally seen in "Hamlet in Rehearsal") returns! Featuring Jenni-Lynn and Jeff Brick!

S.O.F.A. 4: "Betrayal"
Our favorite girl without gays returns! With Erin Ellis!

Call Me Adorable (V)

There's a few things I need to post, so stay tuned over the next few weeks for some choice selections. For now, and only available here on the ol' blizzog, a video I made for a friend of mine, who shared the wisdom that the best way to kick a song in your head that just won't leave is to sing "Call Me Maybe" by...well, YOU know who it's by. Pure gold - works every time. CLICK HERE to watch my contribution to the CMM YouTube horde - enjoy!