TOON swag is the best swag. It's fun, it lasts forever and it fits in your luggage. I can't wait to do it again.
August 9, 2012
SKILLZ...
This is from @MaryMac's BlogHer recap at PajamasandCoffee.com (thanks for letting me screen cap this!!) I live-drew them from about 20 feet away in about 20 minutes. It's very cool for me to see the photo after the fact, noting the hand gestures and expressions from drawing to photo.
TOON swag is the best swag. It's fun, it lasts forever and it fits in your luggage. I can't wait to do it again.
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TOON swag is the best swag. It's fun, it lasts forever and it fits in your luggage. I can't wait to do it again.
August 8, 2012
#BlogHer12 TOON swag - part 5
Continued from Draw Someone In - TOON swag.
After hanging out with Rachel Nabors it was back to the Grand Ballroom where I bumped into @ReneeMMartinez, whom I've met before at the 140conf in Montreal. She gave me 3 body builder poses to draw, making it really hard to choose. Also dimples!!
One of my most successful drawings from the whole entire Blogher event is this impression of Vikki Reich AKA @uppoppedafox. I drew it at the Come As You Are (#CAYA) party co-hosted by Aiming Low - hands down THE best party I went to at BlogHer. I found myself really studying Vikki's face...she was so unassuming and open in her demeanor. She seemed to draw a quiet confidence from her own vulnerabilities. Does that make sense?
At one point to get her to laugh I did a big fake laugh and she copied me and then we got the giggles for real.
The thing is that although we'd planned to meet at BlogHer, we didn't even recognize each other until I was halfway through my drawing of Cecily Kellog. And then all hell broke loose. Kristin also posed for me at he #CAYA party.
All through BlogHer you could see groups of women sitting around on the floors of the Hilton hotel. There just weren't any comfy sofa-places set up in areas of movement where you might run into someone you know. So there we were, a bunch of us plonked down in the hallway between parties. I met a woman named @KirstenPiccini who told me she blogged about shoes and cupcakes. Which meant I had to draw a totally boss high-heel CupCake stiletto. Uh-huh.
The very cool thing about this drawing is that all the women on the floor had input on the colours. I would so wear these shoes. I have seen cupcakes in the shape of shoes, but I've not yet found shoes in the shape of cupcakes. Christian Louboutin pulllleeeeeze make them for us.
We ended up at the Cheeseburger party. There was more wine...I admit to being slightly tipsy at this point. I bumped into @LisaMcKenzie (like me, reppin' Montreal) who asked me to draw her. I told her I was just too wined up to be trusted. Lisa didn't mind. And Drunk Drawing was born.
I could barely see her in the dark so I just went with my Chardonnay fueled instincts on this. The next day I saw her Twitter avatar, and I was struck by how much it looks like the drawing. Skillz, right?
I went back to my hotel room. Brushed my teeth. Fell asleep. There were more Karaoke induced RockStar galivantings during the night, as my roomates came and went...but by the time I left to explore Central Park the next day, Megan had checked out and Faiqa got to finally sleep...
...for a whole hour.
Thank-you Internet Media Labs, and SeeS.aw for sponsoring me at BlogHer12. I really can't wait to TOON swag again!
I drew this toon swag on my iPad with my Wacom Bamboo stylus, using Adobe Ideas.
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After hanging out with Rachel Nabors it was back to the Grand Ballroom where I bumped into @ReneeMMartinez, whom I've met before at the 140conf in Montreal. She gave me 3 body builder poses to draw, making it really hard to choose. Also dimples!!
 |
| ReneeMartinez.com |
One of my most successful drawings from the whole entire Blogher event is this impression of Vikki Reich AKA @uppoppedafox. I drew it at the Come As You Are (#CAYA) party co-hosted by Aiming Low - hands down THE best party I went to at BlogHer. I found myself really studying Vikki's face...she was so unassuming and open in her demeanor. She seemed to draw a quiet confidence from her own vulnerabilities. Does that make sense?
At one point to get her to laugh I did a big fake laugh and she copied me and then we got the giggles for real.
 |
| UpPoppedaFox.com |
Vikki was one of the treasure's of BlogHer's Voices Of The Year in the category of Identity for her post "Ministrations". It was pleasure to hear her read, each phrase framed with a cinematic quality; it was like watching a film.
You know those people on Twitter and Facebook and blogs that you really share with and feel like you know them? I have that with @DragonDream.
You know those people on Twitter and Facebook and blogs that you really share with and feel like you know them? I have that with @DragonDream.
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| Kristin Cruz - Dragon Dreamers Lair |
The thing is that although we'd planned to meet at BlogHer, we didn't even recognize each other until I was halfway through my drawing of Cecily Kellog. And then all hell broke loose. Kristin also posed for me at he #CAYA party.
All through BlogHer you could see groups of women sitting around on the floors of the Hilton hotel. There just weren't any comfy sofa-places set up in areas of movement where you might run into someone you know. So there we were, a bunch of us plonked down in the hallway between parties. I met a woman named @KirstenPiccini who told me she blogged about shoes and cupcakes. Which meant I had to draw a totally boss high-heel CupCake stiletto. Uh-huh.
The very cool thing about this drawing is that all the women on the floor had input on the colours. I would so wear these shoes. I have seen cupcakes in the shape of shoes, but I've not yet found shoes in the shape of cupcakes. Christian Louboutin pulllleeeeeze make them for us.
We ended up at the Cheeseburger party. There was more wine...I admit to being slightly tipsy at this point. I bumped into @LisaMcKenzie (like me, reppin' Montreal) who asked me to draw her. I told her I was just too wined up to be trusted. Lisa didn't mind. And Drunk Drawing was born.
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| Lisa McKenzie |
I could barely see her in the dark so I just went with my Chardonnay fueled instincts on this. The next day I saw her Twitter avatar, and I was struck by how much it looks like the drawing. Skillz, right?
I went back to my hotel room. Brushed my teeth. Fell asleep. There were more Karaoke induced RockStar galivantings during the night, as my roomates came and went...but by the time I left to explore Central Park the next day, Megan had checked out and Faiqa got to finally sleep...
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| Native-born.com |
...for a whole hour.
Thank-you Internet Media Labs, and SeeS.aw for sponsoring me at BlogHer12. I really can't wait to TOON swag again!
I drew this toon swag on my iPad with my Wacom Bamboo stylus, using Adobe Ideas.
August 7, 2012
Draw Someone In - TOON swag - part 4.
Continued from Katie Couric is TOON swag.
The two beds were not quite big enough for three people. I had one bed, and my roomies Megan and Faiqa shared the other - pretty sure they didn't sleep much the first night. Well they totally solved the problem on the second night by simply NOT SLEEPING. How?
I drew this toon swag on my iPad with my Wacom Bamboo stylus, using Adobe Ideas.
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The two beds were not quite big enough for three people. I had one bed, and my roomies Megan and Faiqa shared the other - pretty sure they didn't sleep much the first night. Well they totally solved the problem on the second night by simply NOT SLEEPING. How?
After turning down their kind offer to accompany them at 1:30 AM, I watched them sally forth to sing songs from Glee uh...I mean Journey, in the city that never sleeps, and I nodded off. I think I was having another dream about Channing Tatum bananas when these two bloggers burst back into the hotel room at 6 AM, loudly crowing and proclaiming themselves to be Rock Stars. I couldn't argue. I couldn't even draw it. I was that impressed.
Up jumped JC to stuff my face with bagels and cream cheese; this is an aside, but it's worth reporting that BlogHer offered a vegan selection of food, which is thoughtful, no?
Fortified with carbs and coffee I charged off to another panel session. This was called "Telling Stories with Pictures" and hosted by @CrowChick with co-panelists @cakespy and @booksnchickens. These three women offer blog-fare that is personalized with their own unique illustrations: scroll downy downy for the links. Their panel at BlogHer offered guidance on why and how one can and should do the same.
One of my philosophies in life is that one should draw, whether one believes they have ability or not. "Drawing is good for your brain," I always say...tweet...etc. Expression through drawing is inherent in both my Kids Stories DVD's and my TV series, and it's a focus in ye olde animated blog and my speaker-ing. The panel session was pretty full so it was super cool to see that other bloggers wish to use images to help tell their stories. Alas, it ended too soon. This subject could use it's own conference too!
One of the best things that came out of this session was that I got to hang out with the elegant, intelligent, talented and hilarious Rachel Nabors (@CrowChick) afterwards. We even discovered that we have a mutual friend: an intersection between the interwebs and real-life.
Oh wow, I just went on and on there. Whelp, I'll stop now and post the rest of the toon swag HERE!
Oh ya, here's those links:
Jessie Moore Oleson - cakespy.com
Rachel Nabors - RachelNabors.com
Shalini - Reading and Chickens
Fortified with carbs and coffee I charged off to another panel session. This was called "Telling Stories with Pictures" and hosted by @CrowChick with co-panelists @cakespy and @booksnchickens. These three women offer blog-fare that is personalized with their own unique illustrations: scroll downy downy for the links. Their panel at BlogHer offered guidance on why and how one can and should do the same.
One of my philosophies in life is that one should draw, whether one believes they have ability or not. "Drawing is good for your brain," I always say...tweet...etc. Expression through drawing is inherent in both my Kids Stories DVD's and my TV series, and it's a focus in ye olde animated blog and my speaker-ing. The panel session was pretty full so it was super cool to see that other bloggers wish to use images to help tell their stories. Alas, it ended too soon. This subject could use it's own conference too!
One of the best things that came out of this session was that I got to hang out with the elegant, intelligent, talented and hilarious Rachel Nabors (@CrowChick) afterwards. We even discovered that we have a mutual friend: an intersection between the interwebs and real-life.
Oh wow, I just went on and on there. Whelp, I'll stop now and post the rest of the toon swag HERE!
Oh ya, here's those links:
Jessie Moore Oleson - cakespy.com
Rachel Nabors - RachelNabors.com
Shalini - Reading and Chickens
I drew this toon swag on my iPad with my Wacom Bamboo stylus, using Adobe Ideas.
August 6, 2012
Katie Couric is TOON swag - part 3.
Continued from Part 2.
Katie Couric gets her own post in my BlogHer recaps.
When I think of Katie Couric, I think of intelligence and warmth, humour, curiosity, honesty and critical thinking...perhaps it's because I have teenage daughters, but the words "role" and "model" gravitate towards each other when I hear her name. Interviewed by BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton NY, in front of 5000 breathless women, she did not disappoint. Katie Couric was undeniably animated.
She was talking about how the internet has unleashed good things and bad things, citing the "anonymous vitriole" on Twitter and saying "I spend a lot of time blocking them." And then she turned to one side and made stabbing gestures at an invisible smartphone, and actually said this:
And I fell in love.
The Katie Show premieres September 10th, 2012. I may just have to get cable for this.
More toon swag HERE!
I drew this toon swag on my iPad with my Wacom Bamboo stylus, using Adobe Ideas.
Tweet
Katie Couric gets her own post in my BlogHer recaps.
When I think of Katie Couric, I think of intelligence and warmth, humour, curiosity, honesty and critical thinking...perhaps it's because I have teenage daughters, but the words "role" and "model" gravitate towards each other when I hear her name. Interviewed by BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton NY, in front of 5000 breathless women, she did not disappoint. Katie Couric was undeniably animated.
She was talking about how the internet has unleashed good things and bad things, citing the "anonymous vitriole" on Twitter and saying "I spend a lot of time blocking them." And then she turned to one side and made stabbing gestures at an invisible smartphone, and actually said this:
And I fell in love.
The Katie Show premieres September 10th, 2012. I may just have to get cable for this.
More toon swag HERE!
I drew this toon swag on my iPad with my Wacom Bamboo stylus, using Adobe Ideas.
August 5, 2012
#BlogHer12 TOON swag - part 2
Continued from Part 1.
Besides the masochistic desire to not sleep at all for three days, one of the reasons we attend conferences like BlogHer is to learn. I was curious as to how other women deal with blogging about their children, so I dropped in on @redneckmommy, @Ooph and @marymac's panel session called "Mom! Stop blogging about me!".
Parenting is a sensitive and deeply personal subject and so is blogging about your children; different women have different philosophies. For me personally, it's about respect, same as anyone (except when lampooning a public figure, in which case you're on your own). Anyhow, I thought the panel was much too short, as we'd only skimmed the surface before it was over. This topic deserves it's own conference.*
*Wanna see how closely the drawing resembles the real deal? Check it.
Time for lunch! While stuffing my face the ebullient @missversatile showed up and posed for me.
And then there was @MarthaStewart... while I'm not exactly a Martha fangirl, I do admire her strength and well, balls. For example, when BlogHer co-founder Elisa Camahort Page asked her during the interview, if there was anything she wasn't good at, Martha replied, "something I haven't tried yet". Haw haw!
This is what she looked like on stage (to me). Happy Birthday Martha!
One of my fave bloggers is @LadyEstrogen. She's funny, she's smart and she 's very provocative. We sat down and had a drink together and she showed me the present she got from Trojan. Yes, people, apparently they were giving these vibes away at the booth and Lady E scored one. At least I think it was one; she may have had others hidden from my view. Tee hee.
The Voices of the Year event was amazing. I was impressed by the caliber of writing and performance. It was world class. And I was humbled to be included in presentation of Honorees in the Visual category. Needless to say I was so busy, laughing/crying/feeling that I didn't actually draw anything. Sorry.
However, at the Open Mic session right after the VOTY reception, I was pleasantly surprised to see the oh-so-dry reading by the elegant @PHDinParenting. She had me in giggles. So I drew her.
There was apparently a double Unicorn cake that caused a fuss at last year's BlogHer Sparklecorn party. Ever curious, I went down to check out this year's Unicorn cake, which looked pretty nice; but nothing really magical happened until I started to draw it. Lo and behold! Pickle Weasel materialized and took that silver ponycorn for a ride.
By this time, the music was starting to make me a little nauseous, with its unrelenting thrum-thrum-thrum. It dawned on me that I was completely exhausted. On my way to the elevators I passed a group of women sprawled on the Hilton hallway floor, mid-powow. Reclining with her friends was @cecilyK who I've admired for the past year for the strength of her personality. She appeals to me as a woman who endeavours to live life on her own terms.
As I walked past I really hoped to catch her eye, but she didn't look up. I kicked myself for my shyness, turned back and just asked if she'd let me draw her. She said yes!
And so my day was complete...or so I thought. I went to my room and fell into a deeeeep slumber. For about half an hour. Whereupon my roomates @Faiqa and @msmegan came bouncing in, jumped on my bed and tried to get me to go out to Karaoke with them. But that's another story.
Wanna see my toon swag of Katie Couric?
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Besides the masochistic desire to not sleep at all for three days, one of the reasons we attend conferences like BlogHer is to learn. I was curious as to how other women deal with blogging about their children, so I dropped in on @redneckmommy, @Ooph and @marymac's panel session called "Mom! Stop blogging about me!".
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| Tanis Miller Attack of the Redneck Mommy - Stephanie Mullen Ooph.com - Mary McCarthy pajamasandcoffee.com |
*Wanna see how closely the drawing resembles the real deal? Check it.
Time for lunch! While stuffing my face the ebullient @missversatile showed up and posed for me.
 |
| NoniShanay Cavaliere |
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| MarthaStewart.com |
One of my fave bloggers is @LadyEstrogen. She's funny, she's smart and she 's very provocative. We sat down and had a drink together and she showed me the present she got from Trojan. Yes, people, apparently they were giving these vibes away at the booth and Lady E scored one. At least I think it was one; she may have had others hidden from my view. Tee hee.
 |
| LadyE.me |
However, at the Open Mic session right after the VOTY reception, I was pleasantly surprised to see the oh-so-dry reading by the elegant @PHDinParenting. She had me in giggles. So I drew her.
 |
| PhD in Parenting |
By this time, the music was starting to make me a little nauseous, with its unrelenting thrum-thrum-thrum. It dawned on me that I was completely exhausted. On my way to the elevators I passed a group of women sprawled on the Hilton hallway floor, mid-powow. Reclining with her friends was @cecilyK who I've admired for the past year for the strength of her personality. She appeals to me as a woman who endeavours to live life on her own terms.
As I walked past I really hoped to catch her eye, but she didn't look up. I kicked myself for my shyness, turned back and just asked if she'd let me draw her. She said yes!
 |
| Uppercase Woman |
Wanna see my toon swag of Katie Couric?
I drew this toon swag on my iPad with my Wacom Bamboo stylus, using Adobe Ideas. I'm posting this with Blogsy. August 4, 2012
#BlogHer12 TOON swag - part 1
Big conferences can be intimidating....
I wanted to tweet constantly, even during the flight to New York. I felt like such a twitter addict, heheh...
First stop in NYC was to meet with my sponsor, Sees.aw at The Lab. It's like a media hub - The Lab is literally buzzing with activity. And as you can see, it even has its own @medialabrat, lounging around on the sofas, with his tail rather provocatively exposed.
Then it was off to BlogHer! I wasn't the only noob! My friend @lttlewys was right by my side the whole first day. Her thumbs were a blur on multiple devices - she's a social media dynamo!
The very first speaker was the President of the USA, live via satellite. I wanted to thank Mr. Obama for letting me draw him. He made it easy for me, cuz he didn't move around too much.
Since I'm here to draw ACTUAL PEOPLE, not just, you know, world leaders, I met this purdy gal called @nataliedaily. She's got purdy hair, and she's smart and funny so I drew her.
And then I went to The People's Party. @DontSpkWhinese was tearing up the dance floor and ninja humping everyone! And she was doing all this whilst drinking and eating wiener snacks and wearing a party hat. Multi-tasking like a pro.
I was a little nervous about live drawing in front of total strangers but it turned out ok. People are really fun to study, with all their little mannerisms and stuff.The next day was even more interesting. So stay tooned for more toon swag.
I'ma go party now.
Wanna see Part 2?
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First stop in NYC was to meet with my sponsor, Sees.aw at The Lab. It's like a media hub - The Lab is literally buzzing with activity. And as you can see, it even has its own @medialabrat, lounging around on the sofas, with his tail rather provocatively exposed.
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| Internet Media Labs |
Then it was off to BlogHer! I wasn't the only noob! My friend @lttlewys was right by my side the whole first day. Her thumbs were a blur on multiple devices - she's a social media dynamo!
 |
| LTTLEWYS |
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| NatalieDaily.com |
 |
| DontSpeakWhinese.com |
I'ma go party now.
Wanna see Part 2?
August 1, 2012
Humbled.
I heard they're expecting something like 4,500 attendees at BlogHer12, the largest women's blogging conference IN THE WORLD. (sound FX: reverb, cavernous)
And if that's not humbling enough, many of the folks attending are amazeballs bloggers. Usually I go to animation festivals, but this year I'm going rogue by going to BlogHer. Can you say "fish out of water"?
*gulp*
How does conferencing at this level make you feel?
*gulp*
How does conferencing at this level make you feel?
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