Sketchbook

For the past three months, I've been commuting to Toronto for work which takes bleeding 4 hrs of my day!  Since I hate the idea of wasting time, I started sketchbooking again when I'm on the train. Although I've never been the type of artist to keep a sketchbook, I know a lot of artists have recommended it. It's an artist playground where you can vent out your creativity and just feel free to draw absolutely anything. But I always find the first page of the sketchbook to be intimidating, I have no idea what I want to draw, and what happens if I mess something up and people are going to see it.

Have you ever felt that way towards a sketchbook before? Well, what helped me get over that obstacle is to write down what I want to achieve in the sketchbook and what kind of things I'd like to practice drawing on the first page. It gives me a direction to work on and removes that fear of not drawing. If one of the drawings I made was not good enough, I don't rip it out of my sketchbook. It's just a reminder that I should do better next time. 

Studio

 For a long time, I knew that the first thing I'd save up for after I graduate was a Cintiq. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to save up for one but it was definitely the most important thing I wanted to obtain as soon as possible. Luckily enough my awesome parents bought me one for a graduation/ early birthday gift a week ago and I haven't stopped drawing on it ever since.

Here's a sneak peek to what my studio looks like now. It actually barely looks THIS clean but for picture's sake, I tidied up a bit! Haha, I just noticed that the weight of my Cintiq is bending the poor desk. That doesn't look good at all!

Anime North Cafe Delish

This timeline features the limited edition pins I've designed each year.

For those who may not know, I have been volunteering at a maid cafe called "Cafe Delish" at Anime North for 4 years in a row.  If you ever attended this event between 2010 - 2013, then perhaps we've met or I have probably served you before! My maid name is Nyamo! Nice to meet cha!
So what's Cafe Delish? Well, it's a Saturday event where customers can come, relax and enjoy an afternoon tea service after an exhausting day at the con.
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 Each seating includes:

• A collectable memento for Cafe Delish 2013
• Beverage of your choice (tea, juice, pop)
• Assortment of decadent desserts (afternoon tea style)
• Unique Maid service / experience
• Interactive games (Jankenpyon)
• Complimentary photo set (with a maid) at the puriMeido booth in the TCC

Each ticket costs $20 and all the proceeds are donated to charities like the Sick Kids Hospital, the Japan Relief efforts and the World Wildlife Fund.
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Every year has been an amazing experience and I've always enjoyed being part of the maid cafe. I worked with a great maid team, met lots of awesome geeky people at the con and learned new dances to perform. However, all good things must come to an end and this will be my last year at Cafe Delish. I'm a graduated artist now and I'll be going to conventions as an artist than a con goer. Hence, I would like to thank Cafe Delish and all the masters and madams I've served these past 4 years. It's been a blast and hopefully I'll see you next time as Heather and not as Nyamo.

xoxo

Toronto Comics Arts Festival 2013

TCAF Sunday May 12, 2013

Wow, I was completely blown away by the artists I met at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF) this year. It was a very fulfilling experience and for those who never went to TCAF before, I highly recommend you try going next year and be seriously prepared with lots of cash. You’ll be amazed on how much stuff you just want to buy there.

Oni Press featuring Bryan Lee O'Malley's " Scott Pilgrim"coloured series

Hilarious X-ray portraits by Jason Laudadio

TCAF is one of the best conventions you can ever go to. It’s a week-long convention that has a great focus on comics, graphic novels and their creators. You get to meet several popular artists and publishers in the industry, attend very informative and helpful lectures, gallery shows and panel discussions and participate in all kinds of neat events. It’s just absolutely amazing. I wish I could clone myself so that I could attend everything that this unique comic convention has to offer. Oh and if all of this doesn’t incite you to come well guess what, it’s free.

Yes. I’m not kidding.

Unfortunately this year, I was only able to attend TCAF on Sunday. Despite of that, I was very pleased with how I used up my time there. I managed to attend three inspirational lectures about making comics. Plus with no regrets, I impulsively purchased four awesome graphic novels. 

Here are my beloved purchases which I still have to read! If you are interested to learn more about them, I've included links to their website for you to check them out.

"Sunny" 

by Taiyo Matsumoto + free print.

 

"Once Upon A Time Machine" 

by Andrew Carl and Chris Stevens + free print.

 

"Skull Kickers" by Jim Zub, Edwin Huang and Misty Coats

"Spera" by Josh Tierney, Miloogiannis, Vanderklugt, Chan and Weaver

"The Clamhead Kid in Pit of Death"

by Jason Laudadio

Most of them were actually signed by the creators themselves, which I’m super stoked about! It was such a great opportunity and experience to meet the artists and have them sign my graphic novels. It made my books even that more special, meaningful and completely worth it.

I surely can't wait to go to TCAF next year. Can you?

Need a New Car

Honestly, I never liked the idea of driving to Toronto. The crazy traffic, ridiculous amount of changing road signs, the parking and worrying about pedestrians/bikers. Sounds familiar? Yeah, it's just something I don't want to deal with. However two weeks ago, I decided that it's time to face it and just drive there because Janice and I had an interview to go to!

Sigh... but what were the chances that my car decided to die on me while I was driving down the highway that day?! It was seriously dangerous. My acceleration pedal wasn't working! You see, my car no longer works normally like most cars. It's like a toy. It needs to be switched on with a button in order to work. Funny thing is, the switch was breaking and I felt the car shutting down on me.

I was surprised that Janice was really calm about it. She was very supportive by giving me tape to keep the switch stuck on. It was pretty funny. Anyway, this story is a happy one. With my car's dying breath, I managed to park at a parking lot. Janice and I made it to the interview on time and it turned out pretty well.

Regardless, it's about time I get a new car. Something that's not made out of plastic and won't get me killed in the near future.

Sheridan Illustration 2013 Grad Show

 

The Sheridan Illustration 2013 grad show was a blast! I was told 800 people visited the opening night so that was awesome. After all the stress and hard work, it was great to finally relax with everyone at the show and celebrate the sweat and tears of our creations.

On another note, I would like to congratulate the artists who won the awards that night. They've done amazing work.  Even though I didn't get to win anything, I received great feedback from my professors that my work made an impression on the judges and apparently, they've been calling me "The Buddha Girl" so that was strange and interesting! Knowing that gave me the motivation and inspiration to work even harder and I shall not be defeated again! Har har!

Well.. it's amazing how quickly time flies. These past four years at Sheridan have been an incredible journey and I'm glad to have met awesome talented peers and professors who have inspired, taught and helped me develop as an artist. I would like to thank my friends, family and fiancée for supporting me and coming out to visit the art show. I would also like to congratulate all 2013 ILLUSTRATION graduates for putting up an amazing show. I've been blown away by the work I've seen and I'm so proud with everybody's development and improvement! I wish you all the best with your future careers and I hope we stay in touch, supportive and connected with each other.

Sheridan Illustration 2013 Grad Show

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Visit my website to see these images: www.heatheragoncillo.com 

Sheridan Illustration

The Sheridan Illustration website is finally up and running. 

It features up to 80 awesome aspiring artists of 2013. 

I was surprised to find one of my works featured on the main page so that's pretty cool. 

Go check it out at http://www.sheridanillustration.com/

Yay! Promotions!

Boy! Buying promotions can sure be pricey. I ordered 250 mailers and 250 business cards from Oakville Blueprinting for the upcoming grad show and it rounded up to about $134. I feel like a legit business person now that I got my own business card! It feels awesome.

Frankly, these past few days have been pretty insane. Since I haven't been exactly eating or sleeping well lately, I've gotten myself sick for 2 weeks. Despite of this, I was determined to finish my thesis on time and not be hindered by it.  

Thesis

What Hallucinations Reveal About Our Mind

Droids Taking Over Our Jobs Is a Good Thing

Deaths Having Less Impact To Our Environment

For the first half of the semester, I wanted to challenge myself and explore something new by drawing editorial pieces based on TED TALK videos for my thesis project. Initially I thought it was a great idea because I enjoy watching TED TALKS. Wouldn't it be fun project to draw illustrations based on people's thoughts and discoveries? Yes, it was fun at first however at the time, I did not fully understand how editorial pieces worked. For this reason, I couldn't get inspired or motivated to draw anything for this project. It was horrible.


What completely screwed me up, for the first half of my fourth year, was the fear of screwing up. That fear hindered me from drawing pieces for my thesis but for some odd reason, I was completely fine and up to speed with all my other assignments from my other classes. My thesis was the only thing giving me problems. By the end of the semester, my class had to bring in all their work in for a group critique. Sadly, I barely had anything... just four pieces of artwork which was absolutely depressing.


However despite of that, something changed me that day. When I compared my work to my peers, they were doing something that they were excited about. The spark and the fun I saw in their eyes inspired and pushed me to work harder and start draw something that meant a lot to me. Something that would get me excited. Something that involved things I love to do.

Swimming in Space

So here's the piece that started it all. My thesis was based off my bucket list (things I wanted to do before I croak). This project made me think more about my future and made me see the world in a different light. My thesis project taught me that I should not be afraid of the future or screwing up in life because that would get me nowhere. I eliminated that fear and viewed things differently. I imagined this world to be colourful, whimsical and humourous. So with this optimistic and excited feeling, I wanted to share this with the audience so that they could picture their future and aspirations in life the same way.

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To see more work from my bucket list series, go visit my main website: www.heatheragoncillo.com