Ink

A girl with tattoos. And goggles.

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So my brother Joe is down in NYC trying to break into the film industry, and he's gotten some pretty interesting opportunities so far! I just thought I'd show off a little of his handiwork here, with something he filmed/edited the other day:

NYC (2011) from Joe Rettberg on Vimeo.

I think his work is great. He's a talented editor, and has a really intelligent, artistic eye. If you need an editor/director for anything, hit him up at f4ucorsair98@gmail.com

Oh and while you're at Vimeo, check out my short animation Chameleon (2010) :)

-Anna

Poofy Dresses

I've been drawing ALL DAY. Here's a girl in a poofy dress with an umbrella.

And here's a girl in a poofy dress with a sword?? I don't know. Don't ask.

I have no idea why I felt like drawing girls in poofy dresses. Anyway, I need to stop staring at the computer screen now... My head is starting to hurt. One of the down sides of working digitally!

-Anna

'Korra' Rant

So, I realize that this blog is for my art and whatnot, but I just have to share this. It's a trailer that was released minutes ago at Comic Con for Nickelodeon's new series 'Legend of Korra' (to be released some time in 2012). The series it's based on, 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' was one of the greatest pieces of television animation ever made (Yeah. I said it). I think the show set a new standard for what can be achieved with an animated series, and it's sequel looks just as amazing. In fact, it looks better than amazing. The world seems more interesting than 'Airbender', apparently the music is "1920s New Orleans Jazz, if it was invented in Shanghai" (WHAT?!) and the overall tone seems a bit darker. It's seriously like a show that my brother Joe and I would've made if we'd worked on an animated tv series together... In the words of my bro: "So I'm watching the Korra panel, and Bryan just said "jazz age", "Manhattan", and "Dickens" in the same sentence. I was like wait a minute, when did I start doing art direction for Korra?"
Also, Korra (the character) looks amazing!! 'Airbender' had some groundbreaking female characters, and this character looks like she's going to empower some young women with her badassery. Gah, I wish I could've gotten an internship with Nick Animation and then magically been able to work on Korra. That would've been amazing...hehe. Maybe someday! Anyway-- Here's the trailer:

The original series had a huge impact on me. If I could choose to work on any animation project with any studio, it would be Avatar. It's served as a huge inspiration for me: the two creators, Mike and Bryan, are in charge of not only the art, but the story, and even write many of the episodes themselves (and Bryan is an illustration major!!). That is like... my ultimate dream. I would love to be able to pitch an animated series that I could not only be a part of artistically, but with the storytelling too. These guys have proven to me that if you have an idea good enough, you can make it happen, and that inspires me so much!
Okay. Now that I'm done fangirling, here are some drawings I did last summer of some of the 'Airbender' characters, so this post isn't completely without some of my art.

It's A Magical Internet

Just a quick blogitty update. My art has been featured in a couple different places in the past few days! First, on the official Buffy Facebook page, two of my pieces have been featured in a fan art contest. In an attempt to get more votes for the Trio piece (right)-- link -- I enlisted the help of actor Tom Lenk (who played Andrew on Buffy. He's the guy in the center) on Twitter and asked him to vote for it by 'Liking' it on Facebook, and he did! I think it's all pretty fun; being able to show some of my cartoon caricatures to the actors and actually get a response. Fun and satisfying!

Also, my Firefly piece was featured on io9-- link -- and was linked to by the Joss Whedon fansite Whedonesque. Cool! And a few weeks ago I was offered a Firefly-related commission from a UK fansite. I'm not sure if it's actually going to happen anymore, but if it does I'm sure you'll hear more about it on here. If it doesn't... oh wells, I guess. It's just exciting that people can stumble across your art online so easily. I've been feeling really good about my art lately, and I think it has a lot to do with some of the recognition I've been getting online. It is indeed a magical internet.

-Anna

Winning

Are you ready to go play Ultimate Frisbee in a large field with an 105°F heat index? I AM.

Window Shopping

I was looking through some old files, and I found a quick sketch I did of two characters looking out a window down on a planet (Earth?), and I was like... cool! Why didn't I color it?? So I colored it:

Here's the sketch:

I likes me some sci fi.

-Anna

The Girl With No Name (and HP 7.2)

This girl actually does have a name, but I'm not telling. 

It's kinda weird. I used to be really secretive about my drawings, but I've gotten much better about that over the past few years. But I'm still SUPER self-conscious about the stories and characters I come up with (for me, not for like... other people. If that makes any sense).

ANYWAY, I saw Harry Potter 7.2 last night at midnight. My biggest expectation for the movie was a piece of music I hoped they would use for the epilogue... Leaving Hogwarts by John Williams. Listen to it, and I dare you not to tear up-- link

For months I've been saying (my brother can attest to this) that I would be disappointed if they didn't use that at the end of the final movie (it played at the end of the first movie). And they did use it!! I was so thrilled. I'm so glad the filmmakers and I were on the same page :)

While I enjoy the books and movies, I've never been obsessed with it like a lot of people. I mean, I'm really not one to criticize, because I'm certainly the type to get overly invested in stories, but people were losing their shit at the movie... a lot of people cried through pretty much the whole thing. I guess it's kind of the end of an era. My generation has grown up with Harry Potter... the first book came out when I was in 3rd grade, and now I'm 21 and a senior in college. So I guess I get the crying, even if I don't get it.

I think Dumbledore summed it up best:
Harry: "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"
Dumbledore: "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"

-Anna

Tipping

A girl with no name. She looks like she might fall over. Also, those pants do NOT flatter her. Oh wells!

Once again, mindlessly listening to music and drawing. This time I was listening to a cool band called Common Rotation. Indie folk ftw.

-Anna

Bored Now.

Dark Willow, and a random boy with a strange expression... a few nighttime digital doodles. I was just kind of mindlessly listening to music and this is what happened.

It seems like I'm always in the mood to draw around 11pm for some reason... who knows. Oh, and here's a me (with new haircut that I don't like as much as my long hair...). She doesn't really look like me. I've never been able to do a decent cartoon of me (though I've never really tried that hard):

-Anna

Oww

So I'm working at a barn this summer mucking stalls and whatnot for a little spending money. And yesterday I whacked my drawing hand super hard, and the knuckle is all purpley and swollen. Lame. Luckily, it seems to be getting better. To make sure I can still draw (hehe) I made this crappy doodle of me with my newish haircut:

(I can't tell if the drawing is cute and endearing, or if it just sucks.) 

Color

Check out this cool color acuity test... you can use it to figure out how well you see color. Fun!-- link

I scored 8, which on a scale of 0 to 99 (zero being perfect, 99 being... not perfect), isn't too bad! Apparently women are better than men at seeing colors, which isn't surprising at all :P

And because I feel like I can't post something on here without including at least a little bit of art, here's a character study of a girl I did earlier in the summer:

And here's a girl that I drew randomly on my Wacom tablet while listening to Maroon 5 (because I've been listening to them obsessively since the concert). I was barely even paying attention to what I was doing, and she's what happened!

-Anna