Driving along 101 FWY

These sketches are inspired by scenery along 101 FWY ... have to say ... I like the chunk of 101 up north then that the chunk connect with 405 FWY. Though can't help to miss my mischievous gang of friends in LA still ... especially whenever I saw something fun or tasty.

Oooh ... two of my new pals take me to the Berkeley Kite Festival couple of weeks ago ... we have a great time!! That's my first time going to a kite festival and seeing giant kites almost the size of a small float!! And dancing kites?! It's amazing what people can do with kites ... I never knew kites can do synchronize dance before. This bottom piece is very much inspired by the kite festive as well!!

Book signing invitation!!

These paintings are concept art for a children book, which I did a long while ago. It's a cute little story about an immovable friendship.

Dear all,

I would love to invite you to A Cartoon Art Museum Bookstore Event tomorrow.

Saturday, August 28 2010, 2:00-5:00pm
The Cartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The Cartoon Art Museum welcomes Girls Drawn Girls, the renowned artist collective, to its bookstore for a special event on Saturday, August 28, from 2:00 to 5:00pm. Visitors will have the opportunity to watch the artists at work and view past Girls Drawin Girls projects.

Copies of Girls Drawin Girls Vol III: Sugar and Spice, will be available for sale and for signing, as well as a select array of dessert themed pin-up merchandise!

Artists currently scheduled to appear:

Alina Chau
Arica H
Ashley B Cooper
Liana Hee
Melody Severns
Nicole Filiatrault
Steph Laberis

Hope to see you there!!
Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy National Banana Split Day!

Tonight is the opening reception of my solo arts exhibition at Art Institute Inland Empire. I would love to invite you all to the event. Please feel free to bring your friends and family along.

Art Institute Inland Empire
674 East Brier Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408-2800

Opening reception:
26, August 2010
6:30 - 8:00 pm

Show run from August 26 to October 8, 2010

My exhibition information is also available at my web-site.

The above illustrations are part of the collection in this exhibition. These are some early characters design concept art for children book.

Submarine in my backyard?!

I have been trying to explore the area ... the top is inspired by scenery on the road, and the bottom piece is an on-location sketch, while my friends and I hiking in Oakland.


Lately many people have been asking me how I approach my watercolor painting. I happen to have a video camera, which my friend lend me right now. I decide to tape my painting process. The painting here is for the Arthouse Coop Sketchbook project. The original size of all my Sketchbook Project paintings are very small, 4.5" x &.5" or less.

Unlike my gallery painting, those are usually well planned, and often I know what I want before I put down the color. With the Sketchbook project, I go for an slightly more spontaneous and experimental approach. I don't always plan ahead before, and not always layer color in a conventional manner. I sometimes layer light color before the dark color, while occasionally I go from dark to light. I use Winsor Newton Artist's Watercolor. Besides white, which I used gouache white, the painting is all done in watercolor.

Jedi

Lately, I start to realize, I should practice drawing some Star Wars characters for fun. Even we do 3D stuffs at work, most if not all the 3D people at work are awesome 2D artists as well. When you see a gift book passed around in the office, everyone has a cool Star Wars character drawing in it, I feel miss out ... I end up just draw Minty ... cause I don't know what Star Wars character to draw ... and ... well ... haven't really try to learn how to draw one either. LOL

I was telling my office mate, I should learn how to draw Star Wars fan art!! It would be fun!! He said, my last Minty comic is kind of a Star Wars fan art ... but well ... Minty is comic diary ... can't really count as fan art!! So ... I finally get around to draw a Star Wars character!! Err ... if you are wondering what's if the non too Star Wars like background landscape ... Err ... that's my interpretation of Skywalker ranch. HE! HE!!

BTW, if you like Star Wars, and haven't seen Clone Wars season 3 trailer!! You should check it out!! It's going to be epic!! I am real excited with the show and this would be my first TV production too!!

Also, I would love to invite you all to the Girls Drawn Girls - Sugar and Spice Book signing at the Cartoon Art Musuem. I will be there with other GDG artists signing the lovely new GDG Sugar and Spice art book!! Hope to see you there!! Happy weekends!

Star Glazer

Top is inspired by SF the city; bottom left is inspired by the rooster in my neighborhood and the right one is inspired by my hike to ... Err ... I can't remember what's the name of the place. Sort of spontaneously stop by a place, while I am driving and exploring. HE! HE! HE!!

Minty's weekend story

SInce Alina has been so lazy that she turns into a couch potato ... I am going to take over this blog post!! HA! HA!!

BTW, thank you ahead, if you can write something here to talk the girl to get me all the presents in my Christmas wish list!! I mean ... 3 items in my list isn't really THAT much, is it?! Consider, I didn't even ask for Christmas gift last year ... and I have been pretty good for the most part this year ... so far ... HE! HE! HE!! HE! HE!!


Yours truly,

Minty, the ice-cream cone

Solo Exhibition Invite!

Another painting for the Sketchbook Project!

Dear all,

I would love to early invite you all to the opening reception of my solo exhibition at Art Institute Inland Empire on Aug 26, 2010.

“The Creative Journey of Alina Chau”
Art Institute Inland Empire
674 East Brier Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408-2800

Opening reception:
26, August 2010
6:30 - 8:00 pm

The artwork in this exhibition contains collections from my gallery paintings, book illustration concept arts, graphic novel arts, original watercolor sketchbooks and animation clips.

I will post more information as the date get closer.
Hope to see you there,
Cheers,

Alina

San Francisco Sketchcrawl

My first San Francisco Sketchcrawl is a lot of FUN!! Although I start the day with 2 hours getting lost in the city ... trying to find the meet up location ... stupid GPS give me a wrong direction, take me to everywhere in the city and end up at the other side of the city, BUT the meet up spot under the Golden Gate Bridge ... anyhow, long story short ... all well end well, I find the group eventually. And the rest of the day is fun and relaxing!! It's wonderful to meet the artists here ... many are super talented artists, who I have admired their works for a long time. So it's a treat to finally meet them.

Here are sketches from the crawl. The top one ... if you look closely I sneak in a big "USS" submarine in the picture. I don't know why, but when I look at the fort under the bridge, it feels like it could house a submarine ... must be cooking up too much Arthouse Coop ideas lately. So this painting is going into the Arthouse sketchbook!! LOL The rest are on-location drawings ... no "imaginary" stuffs added ... HE! HE!!