W.E.B DuBois

February is Black History Month, and I felt inclined to do a portrait study of W.E.B DuBois. I was introduced to this civil rights activist via my boyfriend whose favorite quote from Dubois is: "The most important thing to remember is this: To be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become." In the spirit of that quote, I did the portrait in ink wash and charcoal instead of digitally, the medium I work in more often.



DuBois was born in 1868 and grew up in Great Barrington, Massachusetts which has an amazing mural dedicated to him. He was an author and educator, ran for NY senate, was one of the founders of the NAACP, was an advocate of birth control and inter-racial marriage and opposed the use of nuclear weapons. He died at age 95, the day before Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream speech."



DuBois was an eloquent speaker, and I'm having trouble narrowing down some of my favorite quotes.

"But art is not simply works of art; it is the spirit that knows Beauty, that has music in its soul and the color of sunsets in its headkerchiefs; that can dance on a flaming world and make the world dance, too."

His thoughts on war and education are still relevant and these two jumped out at me:

"Either America will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States."

"What do nations care about the cost of war, if by spending a few hundred millions in steel and gunpowder they can gain a thousand millions in diamonds and cocoa."

Client work

I've been working on some fun client work lately. This one had a pretty tight turnaround and went live in early January. DataXu wanted a New Yorker style cartoon to use at a conference. The concept was put together by the creative agency I was working with, I just did the art. I've been working on some other pitches for them, so I'll probably have a few more to show at some point.



(I have no idea why it looks so tiny, you can click to make it larger.)

Florida Journal Comic

Allan was invited to speak at his old school, so last weekend we flew to Florida and spent 3 days at Full Sail in Winter Park. We didn't have time to go to Disney World, but visiting the school campus was almost like a theme park itself! Many thanks to the great teachers who gave us a tour of all the new facilities at Full Sail. Allan's lectures went well and we had a lovely time! Here's the journal comic I did while we were there. (Click each image to make larger.)

Sharpie doodles

I bought a 5 pack of Sharpie markers for $1 a few weeks ago. Some doodles I did with them while talking on the phone. Hoping to have time to finish inking my latest travel comic this weekend, so it should be up next week!

Life drawing from Dec 2

It seems like forever since life drawing class ended. I think it starts up again this week, so hopefully I'll get back there soon.

Watercolor portrait

A watercolor I did of my brother and his girlfriend for his birthday last week. They are avid snowboarders and I based this off a photo from one of their trips. I was pretty excited to figure out a new technique for this portrait. Looking forward to playing around with a combo of digital and traditional technique more.

Spaced doodles

Some sharpie doodles I did while listening to a Q&A on the Spaced DVD.



I'm obviously missing drawing from life if I'm drawing from TV. I think classes start up again next week!

Elves

I doodled loads of pages of elves in November looking for an idea for my Christmas card. I ended up using a different idea, but these guys and girls are still cute and I plan to use them for something. Here are a few of my favorites:

Gung Hay Fat Choi!

I still don't know much about Chinese New Year, but since I've lived in the Chinatown/Koreatown of Queens for 2 years, I figured I'd do some art to celebrate it.



Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Hourly Comic time

February 1st is Hourly Comic Day. And here is mine:











You can also check out my slightly more exciting hourly comic day from last year when I was visiting my family in Arizona.

In 2009, my
hourly comic was done digitally and in color!

And the very first (and barely legible) hourly comic I did in 2008.

EDIT: Since I scanned my comics yesterday and haven't used my sketchbook yet today...I just found this. Allan's contribution to my comic.

Last of the January Journal Comics