Adventures of Anra

Work in progress

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:26:00 +0000

I'm working on an illustration for a certain magazine that I cannot reveal until it comes out in December. I can, however, give you a little glimpse of the painting!

I'm calling this painting "Young Boy's Fancy" inspired by all the Twilight Zone episodes I have been watching lately.

Ara is working on a top-secret project for an exhibition in September. He is also working on multiple other projects including storyboards, his website, and portfolio.

A possible encounter for Ara?

Drawings

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:18:00 +0000

A quick update of some drawings from this past week. These are not going to be part of the 85 drawings because they're not the right size, but I will update regularly on my progress.

"Nicolette" will be available at Nicole & Suzette's Wedding/Cannibal Flower 8-Year Anniversary show on August 30th.

The following will possibly be future paintings.

A boy!

Another boy! Maybe...

Baby Tattooville

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:02:00 +0000

I'm going to be participating in this year's Baby Tattooville event on October 3rd-5th. It looks like last year's event was successful and everyone had a good time. In fact, they had such a good time, that some of the artists are coming back to hang out with us this year!

Here are some stolen pictures from their press section.

The collaboration piece everyone worked on.

12-in-1 print signing.

The final piece that was made into a giclee print that weekend and given out to everyone!

All the "free" goodies collected throughout the weekend.

I will be contributing a mini-print set and a drawing for the attendees to take home. My goal is to do eighty-five drawings in between the illustration and two commissions I'm working on and forty-seven days to do it. If I squeeze in two drawings a day starting right now, I can make it!

826 LA & Re:active Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:02:00 +0000

Here is a photo-documentation of our time with the kids of L.A. High School. You can purchase the issue we worked on, Dead-End Door, by clicking here.

Ara and I kept a sketchbook for demonstrations.

Olga working on her collage.

Ara at the launch with our students.

Reading his contribution to the zine.

826 LA & Re:active Zine Launch

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:25:00 +0000

Ara & I were asked by Michael Etter to teach the art segment of Re:active's newest zine project. The zine's writing and art is produced by the lovely kids at Los Angeles High School. Please join us next Sunday!

Portland

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:24:00 +0000

Ara and I flew to Portland for Ara's meeting with Wieden + Kennedy. Coincidentally, Portland was having beautiful weather so we met up with our friend Steve and his friends for a weekend of hiking and beach camping.

Steve and the Love Boat.

Trespassing is what I do best.

The first stop was a short hike from the road to the edge of the cliff.

The boys decided our wimpy firepit wasn't enough.

Much better.

Armenian Gothic in front of Steve's house.

Our beautiful baby waiting impatiently for us to return.

Home Cookin'

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:31:00 +0000

This week I bought only fresh fruits and vegetables while grocery shopping in an effort to cook healthy meals for Ara and I. I only half succeeded.

Butternut squash soup with leek, mushroom and red wine risotto.

See recipe below to try this soup yourself!

Roasted corn and red pepper salad with garlic-shallot vinaigrette dressing.

Butternut Squash and Granny Smith Apple Soup Recipe

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
1 butternut squash (peeled, seeds removed, chopped)
1 tart green apple (peeled, cored, chopped)
3 cups vegetable broth
Pinches of cinnamon, salt and pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated cheese (I used swiss)

Combine butter, onion, squash, and apple in heavy sauce pan. Cook for 5 minutes. Add broth and heavy cream, cheese, and seasonings. Bring to boil. Simmer until squash is soft. LET SOUP COOL FIRST then puree in a blender. Reheat and serve. Makes 4-6 servings.

Head in the Clouds

noreply@blogger.com (Anra) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:38:00 +0000

Radiohead & Aniboom.com are having a music video contest and Ara & I are in! We just now posted our rough storyboard animatic below -- this is only the first phase of the contest -- but please please please do us the favor and vote for us. You have to sign up but its swift and painless. Thanks!

Story: A young child is sprung from the waters of an unknown land on a two-headed mammal (of sorts). She enters a forest of her own making only to find dark surprises and eventually become the mainstay of its puppet theater.

Tiffany & Ana’s Mini Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:01:00 +0000

Every Monday, Tiffany Liu and I pack a few essential items and hit the road in search of new adventures. We make no plans and let Lady Liberty decide which direction to turn and which freeways to take. Unfortunately, this also means we never know where we are.

This week we only had to drive a short distance before discovering this lovely hiking spot on the side of the mountain on PCH.

Sushi loving the outdoors.

Leaving our mark on a tree at the bottom of the hike.

Tiffany with her Crayola character.

Sleeping Ara tree.

A short documentary of our day.

We found this snake skeleton on last week’s road trip!

Ana’s Gallery Show

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:47:00 +0000

On March 14th, at the preview opening at Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery, Yoko Tanaka & I were asked to do a talk for Nathan Ota & Bob Dob's classes at Otis. Being my first time in front of a big group of students, I was quite nervous, though I had a lot of fun!

Yoko flew out to Los Angeles from Thailand for the show!

“So my name is Ana. And I went to Art Center...”

Yoko & I in front of her work.

Judith, Yoko & I at the public opening.

Owen with my babies.

After party at the Anra house.

Sushi and I snuggling. Photo taken by Ara.

New Mini Print Set

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:08:00 +0000

I have added a new print set in my store!

5 mini prints featuring "Mother's Babies" from my current show at Billy Shire Fine Arts.

The image size is a 2" square. All prints are a signed and numbered edition of 100.

Please give Stuart, Sammy and Roger, Ginger, Chuck, and Tobie a loving home!

Upcoming Show

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:53:00 +0000

“Sweet Cheeks” painted with Ara.

I'll be showing twelve new paintings in a three person show with Yoko Tanaka & Judith Schaechter at Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery this Saturday from 7 - 10 pm. Please say hello if you see us!

Billy Shire Fine Arts
5790 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

Edgar’s Prose

noreply@blogger.com (Anra) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:31:00 +0000

An excerpt from my brother’s blog. -Ana

I don’t know if I slept. I don’t know if I can take credit for the little vignettes my mind created. He was sitting there in the front seat, talking trash, and I in the back. Oddly, I thought I was driving. I didn’t like the remarks he made about my shoes, because his were brown mountain hiking shoes and he said that’s the way to go. His culture and mine, we think completely unlike. He wouldn’t spend that much money on clothes and on cars- that is to say, on the brands that determine those prices. But he has a cozy home, probably invests in stocks, will teach his children the value of independence and earning your own dollar. He has visited the Grand Canyon and the Nation’s Capital and Hearst Castel..and Virginia. I thought I would slyly steal the money from his wallet, I don’t know how, but I could distinctly feel that the money would somehow be in my hand. I could take it and when I woke up he couldn’t hold it against me. I opened my eyes, and I thought the same, that I need to do it, I’m going to do it. That’s when I realized - my eyes were open and it hit me, that I was on my couch, the room was dark except for some buzz. My own buzz was basically useless and transitory. This time I knew it would be impossible; the only way was to sneak into his home maybe another day, like an ordinary robber. The impulse left me; even if I had succeeded in getting the cash, as much as I squeezed my eyes, the money would not materialize. So I closed my eyes again and I was into another vignette. I would be in the exact same state after my buzz as before, with only my sensations allowing me to stray from the normal state of things.

(Visit his blog.)

Honda - Joy of Problems

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:56:00 +0000

+ Click to enlarge

After two long months of painting grass blades one at a time, my Honda ads commissioned by Wieden + Kennedy London are finally finished and posted around the UK!

The website, inspired by puzzles found in children's magazines such as Highlights, will fully launch Feb 4th to showcase the many eco-friendly product innovations Honda has developed, with a focus on the Honda Civic Hybrid. Ironically, during the construction of the paintings, I crashed one Honda Civic and purchased another.

Meet Sushi

noreply@blogger.com (Anra) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:53:00 +0000

Apologies to all faithful subscribers (Josh) for the lack of updates. Ara is currently designing for Prologue while Ana has been working intensely on her show at Billy Shire Fine Arts gallery in March. Anyhow, on to the news. Please welcome our new puppy Sushi. She is a Yorkshire / Pomeranian mix with a wily penchant for pooping and prancing atop our sleeping faces.

The Secret

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:40:00 +0000

A month ago, I did an illustration for Financial Advisor Magazine for an article criticizing The Secret. I had this sketch that I had been meaning to paint for an upcoming show in March, and it worked perfectly with the article.

Anra Babies

noreply@blogger.com (Ara) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:44:00 +0000

Ana was asked to participate in the Kokeshi Show opening November 3rd at Subtext Gallery in San Diego. She asked me to work on the dolls with her and we came up with the idea playing off the form of the Kokeshi doll to create our Anra characters.

+ Click to enlarge

The two dolls taken apart.

Dolls were sanded and gesso'd and painted with oils (face) and acrylic (body, hair, bow).

Sans bow flaps.. work in progress.

Ana & I are gonna make a little trip down to San Diego for the show with our friend Tiffany Liu who is also presenting in the show. Please say hi if you see us!

The Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Ara) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:58:00 +0000

Dearest of friends of Anra, Jenny & Josh were married recently in a small town near Seattle, Washington. We documented our trek from California to Washington by snapping pictures consecutively from the dash every-so-often. I then compiled them into this movie clip a la Michel Gondry's Laquer video. Enjoy!

Super Yard Sale

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:27:00 +0000

Anra and friends decided to get rid of some old stuff for quick cash so we hosted a yard sale starting in the wee early hours of a lovely Saturday morning. One cunning miscreant purchased a five-dollar fax machine from us with a crisp hundred dollar bill which we later discovered was fake.

Ana lounging. Not for sale.

Danielle's delicious discs.

Our $1/item sale proved successful.

$230 in cold hard cash at the end of our day.

That night we turned our cold cash into succulent sushi at Kazu Sushi with our friends Chloe & Ben. Chloe felt sorry for our prior mishap with the bill and used it at a shady Hollywood liquor store while we enjoyed incredible ice cream at Mashti Malone's.

The dubious bill we pawned off at a Hollywood liquor store.

Daniel Johnston

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:23:00 +0000

Daniel Johnston played two fantastic shows at the Fonda last week. Thanks to our friend Jason, we got to meet him backstage after each show. He very carefully signed and drew a picture on the Casper lyric sheet we found on stage, which I gave to Ara because he’s the best person in the world.

Daniel Johnston painted as a Daniel Johnston character.

The day after his first show I spent the whole afternoon on a simple, little painting to give to him. I painted him as one of his characters. Ara’s idea was to write “I’m doing just fine”, a positive response to his famous “hi, how are you” line scrawled on the cover of one of his early recordings.

Signed lyric sheet I gave to Ara.

On the second day, we went down to the dressing rooms before the show. His manager took me in to meet him again. I handed him the painting and he loved it! He said, “It looks just like me!” He then told me he wanted to use it for the back cover of his new album which I thought would be an honor. We also got to meet the director of the documentary “The Devil and Daniel Johnston.”

The drawing Daniel did for me after the show.

The second night Daniel played a much longer show with some of my favorite songs off of the “Live in Berlin” recording. I heard he wrote one or two of the songs down in the dressing room before the show and played them that day. I recorded some songs for Ara because he was in Mexico for the weekend and I also took about a hundred pictures. I'm so glad I decided to come both nights because they were both very different from each other.

Daniel’s custom-built guitar and outfit he wore both nights.

Jason, Jamie, & me backstage.

“Casper ... the friendly ghost.”

Super Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Ara) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 19:50:00 +0000

I don't know what's worse: hosting and trying to entertain two crazy Germans (ok, just one was crazy) for four days, or drawing characters for a new cartoon series with no prior cartooning experience. Luckily for us, we had to do both simultaneously.

+ Click to enlarge

Ana received word to work on character concepts for a new cartoon series for Warner Bros called Super Girl and thought it nice for us to collaborate on the project. At the same time I received a text message from my German friends saying they were coming into town.

First vectored "hippie" Super Girl with "magic seeds".

Second vectored Super Girl.

Throughout all the madness that ensued in those hellish days, we survived and came up with a few characters. I ended up sick and lost my voice venting (shouting) to my friends at the stupidity of said crazy German. In the end, the client went with another illustrators direction.. which seemed to be inspired by high school anime drawings. But we had fun nonetheless and it was our first commercial project together as Anra.

Tropicalia - Review

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:08:00 +0000

The one dish that I will keep going back for.. Seafood Quesadilla.

A refreshing glass of San Pellegrino Limonata.

Seafood Quesadilla

I wasn't hungry and since it was listed as an appetizer, I figured it would be something small to nibble on during our business meeting. WRONG. This thing is huge! The second time I had it, I split it with a friend and it filled both of us. Its about an inch thick, stuffed with cheddar cheese, tender shrimp, soft white fish, and squishy squid all covered with a crispy, flaky, deep fried tortilla. It comes with a dollop of sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo on the side. I layer the sides on top of the quesadilla for a creamy, crunchy, texture that melts my taste buds. I finished half and had to stop myself from eating all of it. I think it could still use some more kick in the flavor, maybe something spicy other than tobasco sauce...but this is definitely the best quesadilla I've had.

Profiteroles

The profiteroles themselves were bland but the frozen custard-y ice cream that comes with the profiteroles was a tasty treat. I have a weak spot for anything that tastes like condensed milk.

I got a refreshing glass of San Pellegrino Limonata but they have a nice wine selection, sangria, a variety of coffee drinks, sodas, etc.

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Service

We got our food fairly quickly and the waiters were very friendly. My friend found a piece of plastic (that looked like chocolate) on the profiterole plate and they explained that it was from the box that the profiteroles came in and apologized and took it off our check. It really wasn't a big deal, it could have been worse but they handled it well.

Atmosphere

Clean, fairly quiet, upscale decor but casual.

Tropicalia

1966 Hillhurst Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Powerpuffesque

noreply@blogger.com (Ara) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:42:00 +0000

So I got a call from a motion design firm in town to illustrate in a style a la the Powerpuff Girls. After a moments hesitation, I said "I don't have any examples in that particular style.. but I think I can do it...." dot dot dot. Anyhow I started drawing and eventually after a few botched attempts came up with the characters below:

Portrait of Ana. What was important was capturing her lip.

Tried vectoring her unibrow but it was just too busy.

Self-portrait. This is me angry with the world.

This was the first of the drawings.

A curious, croissant-charming French fellow.

This was the one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had working in a long while. Can't wait to draw some more.

Anra Marionettes

noreply@blogger.com (ana) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:04:00 +0000

The Ara Doll. Born on Christmas day, two-thousand & six.

Ara and I decided to make each other gifts on holidays and birthdays. I made the Ara doll for him on Christmas and the Ana doll was born six months later, coincidentally, on my birthday. This was Ara's first toy sculpture!

Ana Doll w/Ara. Born on Ana's birthday, two-thousand & seven.

Anra sleeping in harmony.

Happy Family - Review

noreply@blogger.com (Ara) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:05:00 +0000

Happy Family is a staple for all our carnivorous and vegetarian friends. Go for dinner (after 5:30pm) and order "All you can eat" style for approx. $10 and stuff yourself silly. Here are some must-have vegetarian dishes that we typically delight in:

Minced Squab. Crunchy, crispy, nutty deliciousness.

Sweet & Sour Pork, Pork & Broccoli, Green Beans, Deep-fried
Chicken w/Sesame, Deep-fried Tofu, Eggplant w/Basil, Tea

Minced Squab

Unlike all the other items, you can only order one of these per person. A fresh leaf of lettuce stuffed with crunchy bits and diced fake meats. We always start our feast with this.

Deep-fried House Chicken w/ Sesame

Meat made out of mushrooms; an alarming concept at first, but once you taste you will never question it again. Deep-fried, sweet, savory, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. I prefer these dishes to the wheat gluten or silken tofu ones, for savoriness.

Deep-fried Tofu

About ten or so large chunks of golden fried and crispy tofu with a side of a rich savory sauce to dip in. One of my favorite dishes.

Braised Green Beans

Finely diced caramelized onions and a delicious sauce cover these tasty green beans. We order this dish about four times over with our meal and its the plate that is devoured almost as fast as the deep-fried house chicken.

Fried Buns

Delicious, soft, slightly sweet, puffy, slightly crunchy. Perfectly compliments the twenty seven half-eaten dishes on your lazy susan. I've never had a bun this tasty.

Sizzling Pork & Broccoli

Comes out on a sizzling hot plate with veggies and tofu and fake meats. Not excellent like the other dishes but still tasty and a great presentation to boot.

Fried Rice

A nice alternative to the steamed rice they typically bring with the meal. Bits of ham (that almost mimic the real thing) and veggies mixed with white rice.

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Service

Relatively prompt if there aren't too many people. Sometimes they forget orders, so you'll have to remind them if a particular dish doesn't arrive with the general flow.

Atmosphere

Clean and a step up decor-wise from their old location up the street which resembled an accounting office. Though, I do prefer the quaintness of the old place.

Would we recommend it?
Very much so! All you need is one sitting and you'll be a regular.