In The Mix

My love of comic books and sci-fi were instilled in me early on by my mother. She indulged her love of reading in Belize with Little LuLu, Little Dot, and Archie Comics. She spent her days in the library reading comics. As an adult, the television stayed glued to the Sci-Fi channel, Outer Limits and Star Trek. Our house was taken by storm during the Death of Superman. In 2006, I was still a neophyte on the comic book convention circuit. After being enlightened by several Illustrators that there was a lot more to Comic Con than comic books and superhero costumes, I only attended a few comic book conventions.

Among the thousands of people in attendance, I ran into an old coworker, Cedric Kinlow, who also shared a love of comic books. While we worked together, he raved about every book put out by Milestone and imparted the history of the line’s creation. He told me the next day the legendary Michael Davis of Milestone was conducting a panel and that I MUST be in attendance when he tried to meet Michael. I was in so much sensory overload from the convention floor, I never made it past the crowds and into the panels.
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You’ve achieved success in your field when you don’t know whether what you’re doing is work or play. -Warren Beatty

The idea of success has been a passing topic that has come up a few times in the past few weeks during my personal reflection. I’ve had a couple people approach me for guidance because they said my drive and success is an inspiration to them. It kind of threw me off because lately I’ve been consumed with work, an immense amount of work! With Comic Con nearing my personal projects have dwindled. Deadlines are mounting and projects are gearing up for their debut at Comic Con- which is in one month! Yikes!!!

I’m sure MOTU will start teasing some of the Comic Con announcements over the next couple of weeks. The Black Panel this year is impressive, the star power is out of this world and the projects that will be debuted are amazing- if I must say so myself. Let’s just say if you thought Michael “MOTU” Davis’ party last year was star-studded and filled with movers and shakers, you haven’t seen anything yet!       continue

Recently I was working on a film shoot and ran into an old college classmate from my first major- Digital/ Video Art. I was amazed that we were in the same place working in the entertainment industry but took different routes, he’s doing lighting and I’m doing Illustration, among a lot of other titles. Many choices along the way and twists and turns through the rat race have shaped my current place in my life and career.

When I was applying for college, I had no clue what I wanted to do or study. I felt the pressure mounting as I equated picking my college major to setting my path for the rest of my life. Dramatic? Yeah a bit. But everything during your teen years is filled with melodrama, this choice was no different.

I began to reflect on my passions and comb through what stood out. I’ve always had an inquisitive mind and leaned towards exploration. I had dreams of discovering a new ancient city or a long lost artifact that would change the way we view modern society.
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When I think about summer, I have fond memories of road trips. Growing up, every year my family took a summer vacation within driving distance of Los Angeles. We ventured all over, from Las Vegas, Arrowhead, Big Bear, San Diego, Yosemite, Monterrey, to Laughlin. I think this was the most American pastime my hodge-podge of cultures family engaged in, One of my favorite parts of the trip was loading up my bag with enough toys and food to keep me occupied so I wasn’t annoying my parents chanting, “Are we there yet?”
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Once upon a time, I was the quietest little girl in the land. I even won an award in Kindergarden with the title. My teacher, Mrs Diaz, marveled at my restraint and discipline. Fact of the matter, I was to shy to break the rules, let alone engage my classmates in conversation outside of classwork. It comes as a shock to many, as my gregariousness now does not lend people to believe I was ever that silent.

After years and years of that quiet state, I’ve come out of my shell in a major way. It always throws me off when I’m asked how I am able to be so comfortable in new settings. A bit of it is second nature, the other part is just a flight or fight sensation. Before going into a mixer, business meeting, I mentally prepare and gear myself up for the task at hand.

With social networks becoming more popular as a tool and way of life in business and inter-personal relationships, a lot of the angst that comes along with dealing with people in person is gone. I’ve also had a myriad of opportunities come my way based off of my online presence. A few months ago, I was approached by an unusual assignment via email that I thought was too good to be true. Based off of my tweets and column here, I was asked to do a job that would normally go to a car journalist.
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I’m a very inquisitive individual and have always been interested in exploring the depths of anything that intrigues me in the least bit. If you are ever in a conversation with me and are stumped on anything, and I mean anything, my internal gears start churning and won’t stop processing until I get the information. I do the same thing about random subjects I’m interested in. I make a mental note of it, tab it and file it away.

One of those odd subjects I’ve filed away for years is handwriting analysis. I often integrate handwritten elements into my artwork and designs. With computers and machines having such a big part of our daily lives, I feel the hand touch of actually writing elements take people to a very simple place. It’s like getting a handwritten letter, who really does that anymore?
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If you meet me, it’s likely you will think I’m a friendly, cordial individual. I’ve been told I’m well-mannered, polite, and a joy to be around. Some say I’m like a character from my beloved Disney movies. But the truth is, like us all I also have a dark side. When I reach threshold, my dark side is quick to rear it’s ugly head in a swift attempt to rectify the situation.

Four months ago I was crossed. I called MOTU with an uncharacteristic rant, to which he listened politely. I could tell later he was amused. My anger was over a situation which had been growing for over a year. I decided I had enough and was going to resolve it in a very uncharacteristic way, which no surprise to me was supported by MOTU. His exact words, I don’t use, but let’s just say it dealt with destroying them and then going after their families. Except he said it in exactly four words, you do the math.
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It’s Time Now - To Sing Out
Though The Story Never Ends
Let’s Celebrate
Remember A Year in The Life of Friends

Remember The Love (x3)
Measure in Love

Oh You Got to You Got to Remember the Love,
You Know that Love is a Gift from Up Above
Share Love, Give Love, Spread Love
Measure, Measure your Life in Love.

Holidays are great ways to measure milestones and usually put me in a reflective mode. Celebrations are best shared with communities and I’m ecstatic to be apart of the great mix of people we have on MDW. Since I’ve been writing In The Mix for MDW, I’ve had the pleasure of writing on Christmas Day and New’s Years Day. Today I’m happy to share my birthday with you all. Since I’ve surpassed MOTU’s 21st birthday last week, I thought I would share a few things I’ve learned over the years.
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The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles’ Illustration West 47 exhibition website is now live! Check out all the award winning work, which includes MDW’s own Kevin McCarthy winning the Gold Award in the inaugural Graphic Novels/Comic Books category. Also many thanks to MDW’s own Michael “MOTU” Davis and Mike Gold who graciously helped judge the competition. It was a labor of love organizing the show over the last year and a half, I hope you enjoy all!
http://www.si-la.org/47/

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Since my article last week about my writer’s block, I’ve received a lot fantastic advice and suggestions from the MDW community and followers of my column. I deeply appreciate all the fantastic advice and I will definitely be putting some into practice. In addition to the great advice, I received a few emails with specific topics or events that I was asked to cover.

In the comments section, one suggestion from frequent commentator, Pennie, asked me to write about things that move me. One thing that I’m very passionate about is empowering the youth. I’ve always been gunho about volunteering and doing my part in my community. My mother instilled in me to share my gifts and be conscious of people and groups that didn’t have it as good as me.

As a child, watching PSA’s would engage and insight me to try and do my part. I was always looking for groups and causes to volunteer my time. I have strong hopes to have my own non-profit arts organization in the near a future to empower youth with art and cultivate their creative spirit. It warms my heart to see other children take pride in their community and world. A good friend/sorority sister informed me that her daughter, Jasmine, would be participating in a cause raising awareness for the children in Central East Africa who are abducted and forced to fight and kill. For the past month, Jasmine and her classmates have been wearing the same Invisible Children shirt to gear up for the culminating event this coming Saturday, April 25th.
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The last few days the site has been going white and I have been in technical service mode. I was so wrapped up with making sure all the loyal MDW contributors and community had their fix; I forgot about my own column. Everyday it’s been something different, despite the technical difficulties my favorite part of the experience was reading Mike Gold’s email notices and musings sent to me and MOTU letting us know of the blank site:

I mean, negative space is a good concept but…

Site’s whiter than Casper’s ass in a bleach storm…

Instead of being placed in a mood that had me dreading opening up the site files, his musings were a very creative way to present the problem which got a smile on my face initially. So while I sit here staring at my blank page and thinking of the blank site I dealt with earlier this week, I really appreciate the talent of bringing together well thought out words and musings.

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When I was in high school, I was pretty quiet and a bit of a wallflower in comparison to my group of friends. Instead of focusing on dates and style, I did a lot of volunteer in after-school groups or church groups.

Once I was working on the crew for the musical, The Wiz. I was painting the backgrounds for the sets and needed instructions for my next task. Instead of giving me more work, the crew leader brushed me off because she assumed I was one of the many involved in the crew there for academic credit instead of a genuine interest in set building. There was another instance during a meeting, my integrity and motives were called to question. I was told that their outrage stemmed from my actions hurting their feelings.

The truth is one of those happened in high school, the other happened as an adult.
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I’m a huge fan and have an even bigger appreciation of art. When many of my friends and loved ones find out I’m an artists, my tattoo-clad friends usually ask me to draw their next tattoo. I always deny the request.

It felt like a lot of responsibility on my shoulders to create something that would be long lasting and forever apart of this persons body. I designed the logo for a family business some years ago. An accomplished graffiti artist who’s work I admired was commissioned to recreate my art on the business’ storefront. I was excited to know that my art was going to be the flagship of the store and greet everyone upon entering.

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The last year and a half, I have been coordinating the Illustration West 47 competition for the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles. It is noted as the largest juried illustration competition west of New York worldwide. We received entries from all stretches of the world from the continental U.S. to the UK and Singapore, representing some of the best working illustrators and emerging talents. Just ask MDW’s own Mike Gold or Michael Davis. They were gracious enough to join my esteemed panel of judges along with Denys Cowan, writer Marv Wolfman, Bob Kato, Simone Legno (Tokidoki), Isabelle Dervaux, Joe Cepeda, Penelope Dullaghan, Tomasz Opasinski, Edel Rodriquez, Heidi Volpe, and Nate Williams.

This article won’t be an all out plug, but the opening reception is next week March 28th 7pm at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, CA!

O.K. Who am I kidding! This is an all out plug.
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In the last few years after college, among the gallery openings, film screenings, award show, and Hollywood party invites; the invitations to weddings from my college friends have increased at a staggering amount.  It’s about that time a year again- more engagement announcements and wedding albums are popping up in email. Sometimes I feel like I’m not on the same wavelength as my peers. When I mentioned my observations to a few of my friends, their response was, “What do you care? You’ve chosen the path to a successful career not marriage and a family.”

Really? Me? Huh???

Yes, I know what you are thinking:

Duh!

Tatiana you are probably too picky.

You need to get out more and stop working so much.

Guys may be intimidated by your drive and power, you think of toning that down?

I don’t understand why people automatically place that stigma on me because I happen to be a strong, goal-oriented woman. Goals are great- in fact I feel they are necessary to achieve success, they act as a map, a guide of sorts.

So why is it that my goals to be a successful career woman, make people leap to the conclusion that having a marriage and family are not destinations on my path?

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Last week I created quite a stir (pun intended) with my article on slow cookers and inspired the great MOTU to write an article on soup that garnered him a site record for the most comments, with over 70 comments. When I received the preview copy, I laughed the hardest that I have in a while. It was a great piece of satire poking fun at my subject choice and by my writing. I’m confident enough to get the joke, however that was a lesson I began learning very early.

When I was the tender age of 5, I was at home after school enjoying a lazy afternoon coloring. As I colored to my hearts content, I took a look at the pages of my book and came to the conclusion that my coloring book was simply a collection of line drawings. My budding entrepreneurial spirit cried out and I came up with the brilliant idea to create my own line of coloring books to sell to my classmates.

I figured there was not a lot to it, so I set out to start my first business. I told my mother my idea and she was nothing but supportive. She brought home extra printer paper from her job and a stapler, and I had all I needed. Proud of my idea and sure my classmates and their parents would be interested in purchasing my affordable homemade coloring books opposed to the expensive commercial coloring books, I created my coloring books with gusto. What I drew, I have no clue anymore!

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As a self-proclaimed foodie and huge book fanatic, I just added a few great books to my collection over the weekend in a visit to the bookstore where I spent the bulk of the time the cookbook section.  As I walked through the surprisingly crowded Barnes and Nobles at the Grove, I was curious what my stack of books said about myself. I was on a mission to pick up some great Slow Cooker recipe books to feed my new obsession. My search was complete with Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook and The $7 a Meal Slow Cooker Cookbook.

Combine a somewhat cold winter for Los Angeles with my love of soups and stews, along with the recession and my interest in spending wisely; the Slow Cooker fit the bill.  The thing I really have  come to enjoy about the cooking technique is how well it fits with my packed schedule as a freelancer. When I’m working on a project that I love or am in the middle of a painting, I find it hard to pull away for anything even the simplest of needs- food.

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Last week, I mentioned my love for Disneyland and amusement parks in general. As a proud card carrying Annual Passholder of Disneyland, I can go on and on about the wonders and magic of the park. It was instilled in me early during my first trip at the tender age of 3 weeks old. I often tease my mother about taking me as a newborn to Disneyland so early. But she was a proud mother of her first child and like anything joyous in life she said, “I’m going to Disneyland!”

As an adult, my visits to the Happiest Place on Earth are filled with nostalgia of my childhood school trips and explorations of the park with my grandmother. But that’s not the reason I’m a passholder and visit the park at least 2-5 times a month. It’s inspiring as an artist.

The attention to detail as you travel through the different areas is reflective in the signage, cast member uniforms, color palettes, trash cans, line waiting areas, the vendor booths, sounds, and music. I feel transported to a new land and carried away to a place of imagination.

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For the past two weeks, I’ve been serving jury duty. Like a lot of people I know, I balk at a jury summons and loathe the day I wait to find out if I will be on a case. However this is my second case I’ve served as a jury member, and each time it makes me proud to be an American and excited about fulfilling my civic duty. I feel like a magnet for the lawyers because despite my reasoning for why I shouldn’t serve, they pick me.

A City client of mine told me it’s probably a novel idea to have an artist on the jury because I represent the cross section and the diversity in the city of Los Angeles. Well with that said, one of my favorite parts of the process is meeting my fellow jurors and learning about people from all walks of life. I’ve only just begun to learn everyone’s name in the last days of the case. But everyday as we have gotten slightly more comfortable with each other we’ve learned fascinating tid bits of each other that adds levels to the brief description of ourself when we met the first day. Everything from a veteran nurse whose leisure escape is leading a billards team, an ex-employee of the financial industry who’s real passion is musicals and acting, to a chemist who also runs a doggy day care.
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Growing up, I was never concerned with dress up, playing fashionista or how my style reflected on my personality or work ethic. Attending an all-girls catholic high school, I really wasn’t concerned with outward style or appearance. To the chagrin of my friends I refused to wear make-up or add an extra 30 minutes to my morning grooming routine. My thought was, I wore a uniform and I was surrounded by girls. Who cares??? With bone straight hair, down to my waist and a waif-like figure, my daily routine took 5 minutes- brush teeth, comb hair, put on uniform. That was it, no fluff, no muss.

Once I got to college my outlook slowly changed. For the first time in 13 years, I had to make daily wardrobe choices. I was convinced I didn’t have enough clothes and longed for a structured uniform schedule. I got the hang of it and experimented wildly. More day to day I was unrecognizable to many. I became a chameleon and enjoyed how different I could look with a different hair style or clothing style. I began dressing very differently for my general education classes, opposed to my art classes. I was more free and comfortable in my art classes and more trendy/vintage in my general education classes.

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Earlier this week, I caught up with a couple of young female artists. The conversation ran the gamut from our favorite reality shows we hate to admit we follow to establishing our artwork and presence in a new city.

We spent a great deal of our time discussing how to navigate the art world amidst the predatory men that try to take advantage of a young woman’s innocence or desire to move ahead in the industry.

The question of the hour was, As a young attractive female professional, how do you deal with a man in the industry that has power but has a sleazy demeanor?

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What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.
-Helen Keller

The night is my favorite time of the day for various reasons. For many its a time to wind down and reflect on the day. For others, it is a time to pick up energy and party the night away. For me the darkness has another meaning, the darkness represents vulnerability and pushing comfort zones. Have you ever tried walking around your house at night with no lights on? I love mazes and often make sport of navigating through familiar spaces with no lights. I’ve gotten very good and perceptive of obstacles and changes in layout as well. This may sound like an odd pastime, but I personally have a fear of going blind, Scotomaphobia.

When I was in art school, a pinched nerve caused me to lose some motor control in my right arm. I was unable to grip anything without dropping it, let alone hold a pencil or paintbrush. After a month or so of it not getting better, I began retraining myself to learn to draw with my left hand. During my marathon training, I met a chiropractor that slowly adjusted me back to mobility. My fellow art students and teachers, sympathized because this was there biggest fear- losing the use of their arms.

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“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.”
-Mary Kay Ash

Writing about my journey as an emerging artist, has been a great tool to voice my goals, outlooks and shortcomings. I have a wide network of people that include many creative professionals and entrepreneurs. It has taken me time to develop and amass the business relationships and connections I’ve created in my network. I recently asked them to share with me aspect that they felt were unique to building up a career as a creative professional or entrepreneur. Their feedback dealt with money, time, and discipline.

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Happy New Year! 2008 truly flew by and was a blur to me.  While wrapping up 2008 and reflecting on the highlights and lowlights- I realized that it was one of my best years as an emerging artist. It reminded me of how much I’ve grown since I started my personal art blog over 4 years ago, which contained regular updates of my milestones, setbacks, and lessons learned while I was establishing my style and finding my artistic voice.

I’m a pretty headstrong individual and have enough perseverance to power a small army. The last three years I’ve made conscious choices to be involved in professional activities, seminars, conferences, conventions, and organizations that helped me build a solid foundation and network of colleagues that I can now call upon for advice and collaboration. In doing so, I sacrificed a lot of my time, energy, and money. Initially it was a struggle to convince the people closest to me that Art was a viable field and my efforts and time would not be in vain.

What parent really wants to see their talented first born daughter become a starving artist?
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Christmas is finally upon us! The holiday season has been filled with lights, good cheer, sales galore, and plenty of relationship status changes in my online social networking contacts. It’s amazing how this time of year either inspires people’s inner romantic to jump out and attach themselves to a willing participant or sends people in a committed relationship running for the hills.

In the past few weeks, I’ve seen about 50 of my friends declare their love for a new beau through their Facebook and Myspace profiles. Alternately, I’ve seen quite a number of  people announce their arrival back to the singles market just in time to avoid Thanksgiving Dinner with their ex’s family, Christmas gifts, News Years Kiss, and the lead into Valentine’s Day.
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My name is Tatiana and I’m an artist and designer and I work with Michael Davis on a variety of projects. One of those projects has been building this site.

Putting together this site has been a fantastic experience. The blend of some of the greatest columnists and exciting new original content has made Michael Davis World (MDW) the place to be. I’m pretty net savvy and I speak from experience when I say this site is unique.  There is a lot more groundbreaking, entertaining content coming but that’s a column for another day.

However while maintaining the site, I realized Martha Thomases was the only female columnist and brought that to Michael’s attention. To which he soundly looked at me and calmly said “ So what?”  I said I wanted a spot and he looked me up and down and said; “You’re not Asian.”  I told him neither was Martha and he told me; “No, but she has magical powers and you do not.”

Well I have something better… Access! Access to the site that is- so I’m officially bogarting a spot in the great land of MOTU and declaring Thursdays as Tatiana’s In The Mix days.

What’s Michael going to do? His technical expertise ends with the ON button.
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