samillustration

2012-02-02T21:12:00.000-08:00

Let's try something new...

2012-01-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

This week's art challenge was an excerpt of Annabel Lee. I usually don't do much dark themes, so I thought this should be fun. I didn't want to take the assignment literally and just do a character design.

My pet dragon

2012-01-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

We started a weekly artist challenge at work. Thought it would be fun to try new ideas on illustrator. Such a great way to relax and enjoy the weekend :)

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

Office Dog is back!!

2011-11-06T18:36:00.000-08:00

Making mischief at work :P

Monkey Tree Vine

2011-08-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

Hello!!!

Glad to be posting again. Working at Playdom has been intense and fun. I love my job. I had the opportunity to meet amazing and talented people. Finally I managed to finish this piece. I was late for my submission for the "Girls Drawing Girls" book but I wanted to finish this one. It is totally different from what I've been posting. Change is good :)

Why I've been away for months?

2011-07-28T11:11:00.001-07:00

In the middle of April I had a new job offer in California. I had a couple of weeks to pack my life and move to the Golden State. Since then, life has been hectic. I've been slow all this time with my personal art, trying to adapt to my new life. Now I'm working at Playdom which produces Facebook games. Afters months of hard work, it finally paid off. We have a really cute game. Please check it out when you get a chance :D I am so excited, this is my first game to be released. Congrats to my team who made it possible.

http://www.play.dm/2Gfdm

Girls Drawing Girls

2011-04-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

I just joined the Group "Girls Drawing Girls". This group of women artists work for the entertainment industry and help promote each members work through pin up art at conventions, gallery shows and books. Currently we are working on their fourth book. We have all submitted our roughs and so far I've seen amazing work. This is my rough submission for the book. I should be done with the final in a month.

Fun with Bubble Magnets

2011-04-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

It was exciting to apply my artwork on a tangible item. Bubble magnets turned out to be perfect for these Easter Bunnies. And I also used each bunny design for additional magnets. Happy Easter !!

Easter Bunnies

2011-03-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

I'm happy with these guys, I'm gonna try to make bubble magnets out of these guys, sooo cute :)

Spooky Mansion + Art Show = Total Awesomeness!!!

2011-03-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

James Kennedy has done it again! Last year he hosted a fan art show based on his book "The Order of Odd-Fish".
For those who missed last year's show, check it out here:

http://samillustration.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html

This upcoming April 2nd he will host a second show at Hegeler Carus Mansion in La Salle, Illinois.
If you are in the area I recommend to check it out. Aside from the fantastic artwork, James will be running a writer's workshop, a dramatic reading from his book, entertainment and food.

For more information, follow this link:

http://jameskennedy.com/2011/02/23/odd-fish-art-show-at-the-hegeler-carus-mansion-april-2/

I am so excited that my piece is going to be displayed in a mansion. Not even in my wildest dreams!!

Can't have enough puppies

2011-02-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

This little fellow just loves the couch :)

Catching up

2011-02-18T17:35:00.000-08:00

Did some doodles last week that I couldn't post. Better late than never. Happy VDay

New fresh face

2011-02-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Great news!!! I have updated my website. I change the look and added my latest work. Enjoy :)
http://samantha-jo.com/

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

Just made a doodle for Chinese New Year. Playing around with other technique.

Yen Shen 3

2011-01-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

This is the third and final of my Yen Shen story series which I started a while back. Yen Shen is a chinese adaptation of cinderella. This last piece had more changes than the first two, the original idea is so different from the final. And I am happy that I put a lot of effort on this piece. I got a bunch of ideas in the back burner for my next project. :)

Lunch or Tea time?

2011-01-15T17:12:00.001-08:00

mmm... I like both :P

More doggie doodles

2011-01-11T18:33:00.000-08:00

These designs were inspired on my coworker's pet. More to come.

Season's Greetings

2010-12-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the holidays!! :D

Office Signs

2010-11-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

I loved the doodles I made for Lisa's birthday, so I used the same character to make signs for my desk while I'm away. Turned out to be so much fun that my co-worker commissioned a set of signs. They will be posted soon :)

Happy Birthday Lisa!!

2010-10-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

At work we celebrate each coworker's birthday by decorating their cubicle with a theme they like. Lisa loves target so we decided to go with that theme. I created some doodles for her.

Refining Scene 3

2010-08-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm working on the color for Yen Shen Scene 3. Is already past a month since my last post. Figure I should update my progress. Here is the pencil work refined and my cleanup in illustrator. The year is going fast, I'm already making christmas plans :P

Promotional Tear Sheets

2010-07-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

I'll be printing this baby soon. July is almost over????? Gotta start with those christmas cards anytime.

Cabela's

2010-07-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been to Cabela's, it is a pretty large store. Mostly hunting, fishing and camping goods. The store displays more stuffed animals than the Academy of Sciences. Being there was like a museum trip to me. Got to do some sketches.
In other news, I was lucky to be hired as a full time graphic designer. For the past weeks I've been organizing myself so I can keep up with my artwork during my free time. There has been some delay on my posts but they are on their way. Cheers!

Yen Shen piece #3 Sketches

2010-06-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

So far, so good. I'm getting excited with this new piece. Can't wait to finish it. I've been reviewing over and over and I always find something to fix :P

Critter Color

2010-06-02T13:47:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to show my portfolio to some potential employers. When I showed my creature designs, they were all wondering, Did you color your characters? You know what, that's a good idea, I got too excited on other projects that I forgot to color them. After trying several techniques in photoshop, I came up with something I could work with.

The third piece for my Yen Shen series is coming along. I am very excited with my current project. Another post will follow soon.

Pictures from the show

2010-05-31T10:09:00.001-07:00

I was very excited when I got these pictures from James and Kathleen (they are on the pictures too) The show was a blast and tons of magnificent artwork. You can check more pictures of the show on James website:

http://jameskennedy.com/dome-of-doom-party-gallery/

I have been in San Francisco for the past weeks, which has taken some of my time away from posting. It was good to see old friends and visit my favorite places. I am starting a new piece for my Yen Shen series (actually I am redesigning the third piece, since I wasn't happy with it) and I'll be posting soon a creature painting.

I really feel guilty for not posting in weeks, remind me not to do that again.

Intermezzo (Part 2)

2010-04-24T17:15:00.001-07:00

Intermezzo

2010-04-24T17:09:00.001-07:00

I've been working on my tear sheet. Woo Hoo!! almost done. I love it so far. I will be giving them away soon :) Among other things, I am in the process of a new illustration, a fishy one :P In the meantime, I came across some old sketches I wanted to post for some time. Enjoy

A little PR...

2010-04-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

The Art of Odd-Fish Show in Chicago will open this upcomming Saturday. I am excited to be part of the show. I am happy that my name has been mentioned in the Chicago Sun-Times and on James blog. Check them out!

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/2149886,SHO-Sunday-oddfish11.article

http://bit.ly/bdx0t6

If you happen to be in Chicago this weekend come by the show. There's gonna be a costume party :)

http://jameskennedy.com/2010/03/08/domeofdoom/

The Order of Odd-Fish

2010-04-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

James Kennedy is a talented and whimsical writer. He wrote "The Order of Odd-Fish". It's a fantastic adventure full of endearing and fun characters. I highly recommend his book.

His writings have inspired many of his readers to create fan art. When I found his blog, it was filled with incredible artwork in different mediums. He was so thrilled about the artwork that he will be hosting an art show in Chicago on April 17. I submitted this painting that will be part of the show. Please check James website http://jameskennedy.com , you'll have a blast.

Yen Shen Scene 1

2010-03-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

It's finally done :) This is the first scene of the story I am working on. It's an intro of Yen Shen, her stepmother and stepsister. I used the patterns of the furniture for decoration and to frame my scene. That was the fun part of this painting.

In other news, I've been sketching tons of cool animals, too bad that my actual scanner can't scan a sketchbook (it's a fax machine). I have to figure out if I should take pictures :( (been lazy about it). Other projects that are "work in process or progress" : a mermaid painting, a redesign of my website, tear sheets, and experimenting with a new painting style.

See you guys soon.

Pretty lights...

2010-03-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

I'm very happy with what I came up with. Let me explain a little about this piece:This is a scene from Yen Shen, which is a chinese version of Cinderella. I took some liberties in changing details from the story. In this scene, Cinderella has a pet fish. The fish dies and turns into a spirit who is going to help her through the story.

I have another scene from the story I am reworking. As you may have guessed, I didn't like the color at that time too. I'll be posting pretty soon :)

Old Project Revamp

2010-03-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

I went back to my shelf of old projects. I didn't liked how the color turned on this one at that time. Right now I'm working on the color which will be done soon. Stay tuned...

Some details from my illustration

2010-02-11T13:17:00.000-08:00

Yeah some fun stuff going on :P

CCC Lake final

2010-02-11T13:16:00.001-08:00

I'm pretty happy with the end result. Enjoy :)

Color scheme

2010-02-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

After my black and white studies I picked a color scheme I wanted to work with

Black and White Study

2010-02-08T13:44:00.001-08:00

CCC Lake Illustration early doodles

2010-02-08T13:36:00.001-08:00

I always like to post here all the steps I took for my artwork(At least try to :P). These were the initial rough ideas for this illustration.

Illustration Clean Up

2010-02-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

Here's my clean up version done in Illustrator. Final Illustration on it's way :)

2010-01-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

CCC Lake Rough

2010-01-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Another CCC adventure in the making... stay tuned :)

Doodles

2009-12-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a really long time... and Car Designs

2009-12-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas Card

2009-01-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

2009-01-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

Character Designs

2009-01-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

These are some designs I did for a game last year, took me a couple of weeks and it was intense. I'm happy with the results.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T08:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. The last couple of months have been hectic. Finishing classes, moving and new work coming. Here are some stuff I did last year. Enjoy :)

Banners

2008-10-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

I did an internship for Jim Henson a year ago. It's the coolest place to be and did some graphic work for them. Brings back good memories of my favorite shows. To see what they are up to, visit their website www.henson.com
Happy Halloween :)

Background Design

2008-10-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to add more background designs for my portfolio. So this is what I've been up to :)

Fun with Watercolors

2008-10-07T18:50:00.001-07:00

Website Update

2008-10-04T18:46:00.001-07:00

Finally I could figure out Flash :) Yay!! Please enjoy my website , I added new goodies on it.
www.samantha-jo.com

Yen Shen 1 Sketches

2008-10-02T16:45:00.001-07:00

This was the process I went through to make this drawing. Lots of fun:)

Yen Shen Scene 1

2008-09-22T11:57:00.001-07:00

Sketching time

2008-08-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

I was trying to capture the essence of their personalities with minimal use of lines.

2008-08-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

I've been careless with my blog lately :(
This is a test I did for an internet gaming company.
Right now I am in the process of updating my site in flash(which is taking time)
More work is on the way :)

Another Doggie

2008-06-28T00:22:00.001-07:00

This is a clean up of an old doggie sketch. Color is on its way :)

Night at the Museum

2008-06-07T23:07:00.001-07:00

Pet Store

2008-04-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

Long time no sketches :P

2008-03-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

These were overdue...

Another Chop Chop Chow Adventure ...

2008-03-12T20:08:00.001-07:00

Very Colorful

2008-02-19T22:26:00.001-08:00

I'm getting addicted to the crayola texture......

Mixed Media

2008-02-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

This piece is part of a series of three paintings. Still in progress.

Happy New Year :)

2008-02-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

Website Update

2008-02-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

I've been working on redesigning my website, Still needs more work to be done but I like it better than the previous one. Please check it out.
www.samantha-jo.com

Watercolor Sketches

2008-01-29T14:02:00.000-08:00

I recently bought a moleskin watercolor sketchbook as a christmas present for me :) Love it a lot. A trip to the zoo is due soon :D

Poodle

2008-01-09T19:39:00.001-08:00

Another Photoshop sketch. Playing with texture. Wondering why too many dogs on my posts? Hehehehhehe is for a film project and you guessed it. Is about a dog :P

Scruffy

2008-01-06T09:31:00.001-08:00

I have so many drawings, so little color; thought I might practice Photoshop and sharpen my skills . Happy New Year :)

Sketches

2007-12-22T17:25:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted sketches at all :P I should be doing that more often.

Dog Sketches

2007-11-11T22:04:00.001-08:00

Kitchen Color

2007-10-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

Finished for now. Can't wait to start another painting. Please let me know any suggestions to make it better. Gotta keep learning :)

Doggies

2007-10-25T22:03:00.001-07:00

Which one would you adopt? :)

Imperial Palace at Night

2007-10-08T23:22:00.000-07:00

Chop Chop Chow in the city

2007-08-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

My favorite pooch is back. Color coming soon :)

Kichen Update

2007-08-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

2007-08-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

More Sketches

2007-08-06T23:41:00.001-07:00

My latest addition to my creature portfolio. Still in the works

work in progress

2007-07-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

Website Updated

2007-04-23T01:18:00.000-07:00

I updated my site with new work. Please visit http://www.samantha-jo.com to see what i've been up to

Lakota

2007-04-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

Acrylic 7.5 x 10

Maine

2007-04-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

Watercolor 12 x 16

2007-01-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

Watercolor 6 x 5

Molly

2007-01-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

Acrylic 7.5 x 10

2007-01-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

Watercolor 11 x 8.5

2006-12-28T19:59:00.000-08:00

Acrylic 7.5 x 10

2006-12-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

Snowman Painting - watercolor

2006-12-05T22:07:00.000-08:00

final

thumbnail

line drawing

Ocean

2006-12-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

Watercolor 15 x 22

Still Life

2006-12-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

Watercolor 11 x 15

Quick Studies

2006-12-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

2006-11-29T20:08:00.000-08:00

Acrylic 7 x 10

2006-11-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

Acrylic 7.5 x 10