I love the Hunger Games and as excitement for the upcoming movie increases (I hope it’s good!!) I thought I’d try drawing a Mockingjay, the fictional bird from The Hunger Games that is a cross between a Mockingbird and a Jabberjay (also not a real bird). It was sort of fun to draw with the book covers being the only reference, you can kind of think what might a Mockingbird/Jay hybrid look like? This is what a came up with…

I’m curious to see what they look like in the movie, I will probably paint a more “accurate” one then.

Thinking about all my favorite comic books recently, I thought I would share some on the blog.

My favorite of the Japanese comic books (manga) is Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa. I love all of Ai Yazawa’s comics because first the art is gorgeous and with great fashion design, and second the stories are painfully honest about the trials and tribulations in life. The characters are realistic and flawed, but absolutely all lovable!

From Amazon: The last thing Yukari wants to do is stand out. So when she met the punk with the piercings and the stately drag queen while walking home from school one day, she wanted nothing to do with them. But curiosity and fate are working against the young preppy as she finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into their high-fashion wonderland of Paradise Kiss. Yukari has just the look that the eccentric fashion troupe wants in their new model, and their mysterious leader, George, always gets what he wants.

In addition to Paradise Kiss, Ai Yazawa’s Nana is equally amazing, just a little bit more to take on at 21+ volumes. (Paradise Kiss is only 5 volumes.) They’ve both been made into anime and live action movies as well.

I’m back home and Dragon*con was super fun, as usual. It was my 8th year attending, and the convention was celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary. This year was intense, go-go-go with not a moment to spare! If ever I stopped to get coffee or food it meant I was missing an awesome panel!! I saw guests from Battlestar Galactica, True Blood, Buffy, The Walking Dead, Star Wars, Star Trek, Back to the Future, The Guild, The Boondock Saints, Being Human, Supernatural, and others, such as Stan “the man” Lee. At night there were parties, concerts, and amazing costumes to behold.
I came home thinking about how much I love the nerd world and all my favorite movies, shows, and comics.

My very favorite is the comic book ElfQuest by Wendy and Richard Pini. I’ve re-read it countless times and love it to this day. I strongly suggest it to everyone, and now you can read all the comics online at ElfQuest.com!

From Wikipedia: ElfQuest is a cult hit comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978. It is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons.

ElfQuest is what got me into comics when I was 9 years old. That same year I went to my first convention, the “Megashow” (precursor to Megacon) in Orlando. Since then there has not been a year without at least one convention!

My birthday was two weeks ago, and I ordered some birthday gifts for myself on the wonderful AbeBooks. They slowly trickled in, and now I have them: Birds of the World, Remarkable Birds, and Trina Schart Hyman’s Self Portrait. They are all everything I could have hoped for! And only $15 for all!

Later on you will see all the Birds of the World and Remarkable Birds I am drawing, inspired from those books! For now, let me show you a couple pictures from Trina Schart Hyman’s Self Portrait:

Trina Schart Hyman is my favorite artist of all time. I have loved her work since I was a little kid reading Cricket Magazine, and checking out her illustrated fairy tales from the library. The Self Portrait book is beautiful and such a sweet look into her life, plus amazing artwork- of course!

Yesterday my sister’s first book came out!

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

I love this book, and I am so happy it is published and now everyone can enjoy it! Please check it out!! It is a wonderful book in the young adult fantasy genre- placed in a victorian setting, with fairies, a clockwork automaton, romance and adventure. I love it, and I’m not just saying that because Jackie is my sister. (check out the awesome reviews!)

I took my younger sister to see City of Ember yesterday afternoon. I enjoyed the book so I wanted to see it. I thought it was very good, and that it did stay true to the book. The City of Ember is an underground world that hasn’t had anything new come into it in 200+ years. Everything is patched and mended, but can’t be patched and mended much more. It’s a neat concept and the set and costumes were really cool to look at. Well done! There were a few silly bits they could have done without, but overall we both liked it.

The movie is going pretty much unnoticed though. I wasn’t even sure it was out yet due to lack of advertising. That’s a shame, I don’t suppose they’ll make a People of Sparks!

Anyway, here are a couple of thrift finds from Friday. An old school Sesame Street jar, and two matching Anchor Hocking bowls.