Parable!

i'm going to have a short comic published in the upcoming anthology "Parable", provided that i can actually finish it by may first! i'm very excited about this, as there are a ton of incredibly talented people contributing to it.....and to be counted as good enough to even submit work with them is a huge honor! here are some sketches i did for the main characters this morning. a little girl living on the streets and her friend, a little sparrow.

lonely elf

more elf drawings...

sandman in color!

had a little bit of time to color him tonight!

Sandman

The next drawergeeks subject. Getting ready for the new Spiderman movie! I sketched this early...let's see if I actually find time to color it.

weekend in Seattle

spent last weekend in Seattle, where strange men toss fish at each other and yell silly things!

we went up to visit a bunch of friends that we used to work with in Texas, and it was a blast! we went downtown to the market and saw the fish-tossers, had a BBQ at the Burke's place, and finished off Saturday night with a drunken karaoke contest. i will only get up and sing in front of people if I've had a few drinks...or if my sister asks me to do it for her wedding. those are the only times. here's a sketch of me making a fool of myself.

i think there's some incriminating video of me singing out there somewhere too. shameful what wine can do to a person.

Robo friends

a couple of quick, silly sketches i did today for drawergeeks. robots are fun! i think the square guy used to be a refridgerator or a dishwasher or something.

Snow again

it's snowing again in Portland! but not much of it is really staying on the ground. i guess that's good for driving anyway.

Lots of new things....

lots of new stuff going on. i'm being transferred off of the project i'm currently on and going to be going to work on Laika's stop-motion feature currently in production, Coraline. It's based off of the very popular book and from everything i've heard of it, it's going to make a fantastic movie.

the bad thing about this move is that they're already in a full production swing and working 50 hours a week, plus i'll have a longer commute. the good news is that it'll be something new for me, since i've never worked in a stop-motion environment. (even tho all the work i'll be doing is still in the computer) and i'll be working with director Henry Selick, who directed one of my favorite movies of all time, 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. so i think that's pretty exciting!

Rainbow!

When you live somewhere where it sporadically rains a lot, you get a lot of really pretty rainbows! Here's the one that we saw yesterday. This picture was taken right off of our front porch. you can see the delicious Sweet Ambrosia bakery to your left. They make really good scones.

sugar rush!

know what the best part about the day after valentine's day is? all the candy is on sale!

Valentine's smalentine's!

here's a little guinea pig to wish you a happy v-day....inspiration taken from www.cuteoverload.com - if you've never been to that page and don't want to get addicted to the cuteness, for heaven's sake don't click on the link!!!!

Joe and i really don't "do" valentine's day. i have a problem with a day that tells us that we have to buy things for people or we don't love them. or that if you don't have a date on this particular day of the year (which is usually a really bad night to go out) you should feel bad. i rebelled 10 years ago today and threw my first ever "i hate valentine's day" party! yes, the tradition is now 10 years running. it consists of beer, scary movies and good friends. now, i know what you're thinking. you're thinking, "but michelle, 10 years ago you were only 19. how did you get beer?" my response to that is, "YOU SHUT UP! I KNOW YOU HAD BEER AT 19 TOO! CANADIANS CAN DRINK AT 19!!!"

but i digress.

i find as i get older i really don't hate valentine's day as much anymore. i still don't want to go out or anything or buy/receive presents, but i don't know if i'll continue rebelling against it as much as i've been the last few years. i do like a day where you usually get a ton of candy for no reason....

Awww...but the brainwashing is so cute!

I was looking at Keith Lango's website the other day and he had this post about how the North Koreans make cartoons that inspire “warm patriotism and towering hatred for the enemy,” for the little kiddies. Super cute characters and some decent animation...but they're all in the army and carrying around guns! The poor little chipmunk looking things! I drew my own version of what they looked like cause they were really cute.

For a look at the original article, go here: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/3524

Blossoms already?

I went for a walk around Portland tonight and saw that some of the trees are starting to get blossoms already! Silly blossom fairies, it's only February!

70's chick in color!

in all her polyester glory!

Shazam / Captain Marvel

for drawergeeks! i colored this one on my tablet laptop...the colors look a little more washed out now that i see it on this screen. but the tablet has such a nice feel for quick, messy paintings such as this.

You are the dancing queen...

i wish i was tall and pretty and looked good with an afro.

oh, and i also wish that i lived when disco was popular. so's i could make FUN of it. (and then dance to it behind closed doors.)

Da Bears

ah, Chicago. land of toll roads and windy winters. i wasn't a big fan of either team in the Superbowl yesterday, but since i lived in the great city of Chicago for about 2 years i figured i would root for the bears. so, after an incredible start...they lost. oh well!

know what i miss most about Chicago tho? the incredible fattening foods that you can find there! oh, the deliciousness that is Giordano's Chicago stuffed pizzas!


...and the Vienna Beef Chicago style loaded hot dogs! it's probably best for my health that i moved away from there.

but seriously, Chicago is a great city. if you're looking for a great weekend getaway with a ton of stuff to do, visit the windy city! just....not in the winter. you don't wanna be walking around town in that icy weather, trust me.

We can do it!

Joe issued the first ever "Gorski Fitness Challenge" today. we're going to start making an effort to get in shape together and eating much much healthier than we do now. i think cutting the sugar out is going to be the hardest...we both love sweets. the goal right now is to get down 2 sizes by summer!

Joe was quick to proclaim this an official challenge when i made the brazen promise that, if i could comfortably fit into a size 6 by summer, i would buy and wear a miniskirt. (i think that if this happens, i will also purchase tights with it.)

Pretty elf girls will kill you dead!

'nuff said.

colorful mermaid

here she is in color, finally!

Faces

Drew a bunch of stupid looking faces while waiting for playblasts today....the one in the upper left corner is a self portrait kinda. My hair is getting long and annoying again.

Annie!

annie was one of my favorite movies when i was a kid. i loved it when she beat those boys up in the alley for picking on the dog, sandy. the color version of this is soon to follow.

i've had a long dry spell of posts because 1.) this week we got slammed with work and i had to pull some overtime, and 2.) my brother and sister-in-law were in for the week. we had a blast with them here! it was a perfect week for them to tour the city of portland, as we had freakishly rare sunny and 50 degree weather! we even hit the coast this weekend. it was lots of fun.

Suzy Snowflake

hmmm....what's that tapping at my window pane? why, it's suzy snowflake! why yes, i'll come out and play, suzy! thanks for making all the fun frosty patterns on the glass!

SNOW DAY!!!!

Portland is having a snow day today! we're supposed to get about 3 inches before all is said and done. Everything looked gorgeous this morning when I woke up, and work was delayed until 11am! Bonus! We got up instead of sleeping in, took a walk, and then made coffee and waffles for breakfast.

Here's a picture from our morning walk. :)

yay, i'm a dork!

world of warcraft is coming out with the new expansion! time to play as the prettiest bad guys of them all...the blood elves!

birthday hats

so, joe got me this rediculously cute hat with cat ears on it for my birthday. amongst a bunch of other things that he spoiled me with. i might look totally dorky in it, but i love it.

my birthday was this past saturday....i hit my last year in my 20's. some people dread birthdays, but i don't really mind them. for one, i don't feel old or anything. (don't you hate it when people ask you on your birthday, "so, how does it feel to be *insert number* years old?!?!"). and secondly, because i can get cake and presents for no reason other than the fact that i lived another year. how awesome is that? no real accomplishments other than living.
i'll take cake for that anyday!

Mermaid

quick mermaid sketch today. she's a very vain mermaid.

animals!

did a bunch of silly animal sketches today.

snow white in color!

finally got around to painting this one. tried to do it in a painted animation cell type way.

Silly dogs

Saw a dog like this the other day...it was teeny-tiny and weighed only 2 pounds. the lady who had her dressed the poor pup in a rediculous pink snowsuit with such a huge fuzzy hood that the doggie was nearly toppling over head first from it!

Happy New Year!

Sierra, Kaipo and Phoenix want to wish you the best in 2007!

girly crap

i felt like doing something super girly today. maybe it's cause i'm wearing the pink shirt my sister got me for christmas, of which i rudely told her that i hate pink.

it's not that i'm totally against pink, i just don't like to wear it personally. it was ruined by my insanely pink room that my mom made for me and my sis when we were kids. it was way cute, for a 3 year old. then when you're a teenager, you're getting kinda sick of seeing all that pink. then when you're in college and you come home for the weekend and it still looks like a kid's room you swear pink is the worst color in the world.

bah humbug!

did this really quick while sitting in the airport. if you're flying this holiday season, good luck to you!

Merry Christmas!

I leave tomorrow night to visit family in Pennsylvania for the holidays. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white!

snow white 3

snow white is SO goth.

snow white 2

Here's a different one i did today. i think i may try to paint up both of these.

snow white

a cleaned-up version of the sketch i did today for the next drawergeeks assignment. don't know how i feel about it right now, i guess i'll decided after some color!

Try the coffee...or else.

here's a quick sketch i did of one of the guys i work with...renowned for his love of Vivace's coffee. he's a bit of a pusher for it. i think he's never forgiven me or Joe for saying we like Starbuck's better.

Sierra all decked out!

did a quick drawing of Sierra today. at the oscars...or something.

i just noticed that i forgot to post yesterday. my bad!

Santa!

here he is, in color! i cut out the M&M guy...santa just looked better without him.

Jingle bells

did a few sketches of our cat Jingle when i was bored the other day. i especially like to draw her all angry because we've put her special Christmas collar on.

now, (disclaimer) i'm not one for dressing your animal all up. it usually makes me feel a pang of pity when i go out and see one of those fluffy, unreal looking tiny dogs with the little sweater and booties and pink ribbons in their fur. but...with a cat as evil as Jingle, it gives me great satisfaction to put this stupid velvety fluff on her neck and make her look like a circus clown. and she takes it pretty well. she usually gives me one look of utter disdain, and then goes about her business as usual. whatever cat business is like. maybe eating plants and knocking things over.

here's a picture of the real Jingle with her Christmas finery on from last year.

Here comes Santa Claus

Here's the line drawing for next week's drawergeeks.