Anonymous asked: Your drawings are lovely! Since you mentioned reading books and watching movies a few posts ago, I was wondering: what are your favorite books and movies?

books:

• Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (can’t wait for the movie!!! but also terrified…) 
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
• A Farewell to Arms & The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway

Anonymous asked: Could you avoid reblogging Internet 'feminism/social justice' rants (like that last one), please? I really like your art, but these kind of posts are absolutely ridiculous, uninformed and simply hateful from an outside point of view. It's your blog in the end obviously, but I'm just warning you against crossing art & rants together.

1) I am curious why you think it is “ridiculous, uninformed and simply hateful from an outside point of view.” Yes, it presented a logical extreme, and I don’t agree with everything in there, but the purpose of the exercise was to make the reader think, which it accomplished for me. I definitely don’t think that the problems raised in the original post are isolated to women. I also think there’s a way to interpret the writing in a non-hateful way. We still live in a very male-centric society (I believe), and I do think it’s important to get another point of view every once in a while, whether I completely agree with it or not.

2) I’m glad you like my art. I’m new to this reblogging thing, but I’ll continue to occasionally reblog anything I find meaningful or worth thinking about. You are free to find it either offensive or agreeable! 

3) Thank you for voicing your concerns, and I would be happy to keep debating with you if you come off anon so we can discuss this privately!

jon-of-art asked: Im also a big fan of your art! I found out about you through your Google Doodles. Just curious, how did you get involved with them? I can't wait to see what you'll do in the future

Thank you! ⚆ ☋ ⚆ ☂

Last March I saw the Charles Dickens Google Doodle. (I’m not sure how I stumbled on it four weeks after it got posted, but w/e.) It blew me awayyyy, man. It was so cool. So I looked up the artist, Mike Dutton (nicest guy), and sent him an email… I’m sure they all thought I was super creepy and weird… but here we are today.

shieldhydraleviathan asked: that finding dory twitter is making me actually want to see the movie. i feel i need to support. that is all

Me too. How else are we gonna know where the fuk she iz?!

cassied asked: You're a huge inspiration to me and I'm in love with your style! I'm hoping to apply to CSSSA next year for animation. Do you have any tips on what I should be focusing on in terms of improving until then?

Thanks!  ( ⤶ ∢  ⤷ )☝ ! Be thoughtful as you go through your day and observe what makes people interesting or uninteresting. Keep a visual diary. Go to life drawing workshops and see which parts of the body are the most difficult for you to figure out, then go home and study those on your own until you can do it from heart. (There is nothing sadder than a drawing of a person with their thumbs on the wrong side of their hands.) 

Watch movies! Pick one director or actor with a long filmography and study him/her. Ex: P. T. Anderson, Terrence Malick, Vivien Leigh

Edit: Also, read books. The nice thing about high school English class is that it forces you to read all these amazing books that you won’t have time to read once you get to art school. ;_;

littlebazooka asked: Hey there! Your work is fantastic and very inspiring! I love your use of colours and shapes in every piece of art that you're doing. I'm a little curious. Who are the major inspirations for your art? :)

Thanks (   ❩ ⚉ ❨   )! I just answered this! But I’ll expand that list here and put in some links to my friends’ blogs. They inspire me daily:

• Jasmin Lai - beautiful beautiful work
• Elle Michalka - everything Elle does is jaw-dropping!
• Eusong Lee - what an incredible man and dear friend
• Kevin Dart - wow man wowowow
• Tiffany Ford - charm up the wazoo!

I hope you’re okay with me answering this publicly.

For better or for worse, all “good” art makes people feel something. So much of our memory is visually based. When you make something for people to look at, you’re drawing upon your own memories and sharing them with others. I love work that is telepathic - stuff you can look at and feel how the maker was feeling at the time, stuff you can’t really explain rationally why you like it (or hate it) but you know how it makes you feel. This applies to drawings, movies, books, music.

“It has this thing with the color that I just can’t explain” - a lot of people say this to me. I can’t explain it either. Every color choice I make comes from my gut. There are rules and theories about color that are vitally important but I almost never think about them when I’m making something. I don’t know if this is good or bad. There is no reason for me to put this purple on top of this green besides the fact that I feel that I should.

There are so many inspiring artists out there! Some big ones for me:

• Eleanor Davis - I found out about her last semester and kicked myself for being so late to the party
• Eyvind Earle of course
• Carter Goodrich - adore his New Yorker covers
• Berthet Yann - If you can get your hands on his Pin-up comics, do it. My teacher Andy Suriano lent them to me two years ago and I went and scanned almost every page. 
• Ivan Shishkin - I’m a sucker for forests

This is kind of sad, but I have a very, very poor knowledge of art history. The only time I’ve ever studied old painters is by doing jigsaw puzzles… Something about spending a couple days putting together a 1000-piece puzzle of Millais’s Ophelia makes you really memorize every brushstroke >_>

Anonymous asked: ur art makes my hart go doki doki

That’s all I’ve ever really wanted

vampirena asked: your art is so pretty! it's not fair to the other artists in the wooooorld! hahaha, i'm kidding i just really love your art :)

Thanks dawg ✺ ⊇ ✺  

monikoko asked: Do you have any art daily routine? If so, how did you learn it and were there any time-management fails on the way?

Mmmm no not really. In less busy times, I go days without drawing a thing. I have thought about it a lot, though. I want to get better at drawing men, so I’ve made this mental pact to myself to draw one dude every day before bed, but I keep forgetting. Maybe now that I’ve announced it I’ll be better @_@

derekabella asked: Do you listen to music when you draw? If so, what do you like to listen to? I love your work by the way, you have amazing color sense.

Yes! And thanks, still learning. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of STRFKR, Jhameel, Apples in Stereo, Stars, Wilco. I really like the new Ra Ra Riot album. Kendrick Lamar’s Section.80 album. Frank Ocean. Of Montreal.

I listen to certain songs on repeat a lot (a few of those: “Osaka Loop Line” by Discovery. “Countdown” by Beyoncé. “YOLO” by the Lonely Island).

Link to my Spotify (don’t laugh at my stupid playlist names)

excusedfromthis asked: If you hadn't pursued a career in illustration, what would you be doing instead?

Good q. In early high school I wanted to be a lawyer (lol). Senior year, I was Editor-in-Chief of my high school newspaper so for a while I entertained thoughts of majoring in journalism/polisci. For about two weeks I really wanted to do the Brown/RISD dual degree (would have been polisci/illustration) until I realized I needed an extra letter of rec and it was too late to ask someone.

I have no marketable skills aside from drawing and making breakfast sandwiches. : (

artlebee asked: Hi! I just wanted to say how much I love your art and really appreciate and admire your openness and willingness to answer questions people have. It's really great of you to do! I was wondering - did you go to CalArts right from high school? I only ask because I'm about to graduate from a liberal arts college with a double degree in English and Art, and only recently realized I want to get into animation. I would love to apply to CalArts, but that's 4 more years. I don't know if it's worth it?

Hi sure no problem! 

Yes, I came here directly from high school. I used to say I wished I had gone to another university first, for a year or two, to get that “real college experience.” Now that I’m nearing the end of my time here, though, I don’t really say that anymore - it’s switched to “I wish I had learned to draw better before I came here.” 

I feel like I had a very weak foundation in draftsmanship when I got here (and still kind of do, but at least I’m aware of it now and actively trying to work on it). It took me a while to realize that all that shit they tell you at CSSSA (“use more color! go crazy! draw in a brown sketchbook! markers are your friend!”) is great and all, but much more useful once you actually learn how to draw.

If I could do it over, I’d spend senior year of high school and the summer before first year really buckling down on observational drawing and painting so I wouldn’t have had to scramble to catch up on that here (in addition to various classes and making a film).

Ok sorry I kind of went on a tangent. How does this apply to you? Well - seeing as you’re about to get a bachelor’s degree, I don’t think having another one is super important to you (correct?). You should definitely apply to CalArts if you want to and if you think you can afford it, but know that in no way do you have to stay all four years… If I were you, I’d take a year after graduation to work really hard on your own stuff. Get to a point you feel your foundation in drawing is solid. Watch a ton of movies (I had seen almost nothing before I came to school and now, after years of effort, I’ve seen slightly more than nothing). Get inspired.

Then, come to CalArts, meet amazing people, make a ton of awesome friends, learn under some crazy incredible teachers, make a film. Stay all four years, or leave after one or two. The best thing about this place is the friends you can make. Bonus: if you’re a nice person and a hard worker and good at keeping in touch, your friends will get you jobs. This school is great if you’re ready to accept what it can give you! I wish I had known that before. : )

Sorry for the rant, I hope this is helpful. Good luck!

if-i-ventured-in-the-slipstreams asked: How old are you and when did you get into art and stuff? :3

I am 20! I turn 21 in 3 weeks, on the 26th. (I skipped kindergarten so I’ve always been the youngest person in my class. Didn’t turn 18 until the end of first year. It was a joyous night. I bought cigarettes and the Christina Hendricks issue of Esquire and those things combined made me overdraw on my account.)

I’ve been drawing stupid shit since I was a baby (see these). It was mostly princess drawings until I started reading manga in 4th grade, and after that it was Rumiko Takahashi fanart all the time. All the timeeeee

Anonymous asked: how did you get your internship at google? you're so amazing

Asking for it, and getting lucky