Work has been taking up quite a bit of my time recently. I've been having to burn the proverbial midnight oil quite a few nights over the past couple months. So unfortunately I don't have much to post in the way of artwork this month.
I can't go to Japan this year, which is a bummer. I have really enjoyed spending the past couple of New Years there and picking up all those lucky amulets, called Omamori, for the coming years at the Shinto shrines. The luck from those amulets has served me pretty well.
Here is the Shrine I went to last year. When I was thinking about moving back to Southern California after my car accident in 2007, I picked up a "job" amulet from here. I was hoping to get some luck finding a new gig closer to home in L.A. and it worked out!
Speaking of the new job...
This year I have to stick around L.A. for the holidays, just in case some work needs to be done. We are on a pretty tight schedule. I don't think I'll mind it too much though. Working with Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois on this project I'm on has been a fun experience so far. Our head of story, Alessandro Carloni, has been cool to work with as well. Congratulations to him on his Annie Nomination.
My office mate and fellow story crew member, Dave Derrick, has also been great to be around, and he has really helped me learn the ropes at the new studio. We went to school together at CalArts. He was in my class, so it's been nice to be around an old classmate and friend every day. Dave just recently published his own art book called African Diaries. It's filled with Dave's beautiful drawings and has some really insightful writing about his experiences in Africa. I highly recommend picking up a copy.
I don't know if I'll get to post anything else before the New Year, so Happy Holidays to everyone and have a great New Year!
To close out, here are some photos of the things I will miss about going to Japan this year, besides those lucky amulets.
1. Riding bikes through Takatsu-ku.
2. The Christmas decorations in Odaiba.
3. Street/Festival Food. I think these are Okonomiyaki...
4. Sleeping on the train after a long day of shopping....
5. ...and finally Tina, she is a good dog.
