Jim Zulevic award

Toothless!!!

=D

I cannot be more excited about my beloved dragon character to come back, and with none other than an older - much hotter!! - human friend, Hiccup.  It's crazy how it's been almost four years since the first film came out, and I remember how surprisingly well it did.  People loved it.  It was the story-telling, the relationship between boy and pet, the music... everything.  I think I wrote a blog post about it, too!

In other news, Christmas is here in less than 5 days, and I'm so unprepared.  The good thing is that I've managed to get a lot of drawing in between my crazy jobs in tutoring and Second City.  I'm back to illustrating for friends and doing some cover art, applying for summer art expos, and I still have to open up an Etsy shop at some point before the break is over.

Grad School App season is here, too, and while part of me wants to go for it and take some exams to qualify for Elementary Ed programs... I still feel like I'm not ready to commit to school again.  I got wait-listed for Columbia College last year in Fiction Writing, and in a way, I'm glad I never heard back, because I was just very very unprepared to jump into class again.  It had been so long since I had written anything substantial, too!  I still have these amazing stories in my head that are just itching to be written on paper as a graphic novel, or children's book, or novel series... I'm swamped!

2013 was all about "doing art" and not giving up on the craft, the same way 2012 was all about training to run for the Chicago Marathon.   Maybe 2014 will be a mix of commitment, creativity, and boldness:  finally planning out and fleshing out my novel, and looking up publishers.  I will have to network as an illustrator and understand the business -- maybe through college classes.  I will also have to decide if I want to commit as a full-time artist or just do it on the side.  MATCH Education has brought back some meaning into my life, but if teaching is what I really want to do, I have to jump in with all my energy in it.

So many decisions.

Mason jar with wild flowers

Another piece from my wedding illustration collection.

A terrible month for drawing

October was rough.  It's been hard to draw, now that my schedule is crunched with a full-time and part-time job.  Don't get me wrong - it feels really good to pay the bills - but I can't forget what it feels like to draw and create something out of nothing.

This past month has been a tough one by all means.  I didn't get chosen as a RAW awards finalist.  I held my breath as I started talking to a guy I was genuinely smitten with for the first time in a long time, only to cry myself to sleep after realizing we didn't see eye-to-eye in our feelings for each other.  I've had to endure dealing with a kid in school who just plain resented my authority, so much that he'd go out of his way to not shake my hand or look me in the eye.  I got audited!  =/

So... yeah, not a very great month.  Some great things I did notice about this month, however... is that I always find the time to draw, even if it's for a few minutes while at work.

I was getting into the festive Halloween mood.










I've also persevered to do amazing things for my newlywed friends and family.  I'm getting into that mode of thinking as an illustrator all the time, trying to find the best ways to capture people in special events.













This is my cousin and his new wife.  This moment was inspired out of a photograph I took at their wedding.

I feel like I'm getting better and better at this art thing.  Actually... today, I was coloring in another piece for a friend of mine, and some rambunctious boys went over with their mom and admired my work.  One of the boys asked for a piece of paper, and while his mom asked if he wanted to join in and draw, he actually just wanted my autograph!

=D

If only I could make a living out of these good moments...