MariNaomi's Blog, page 22

I am a pussy.

Today I did an in-person interview for a college student, for his midterm. He asked me about some of the themes in my artwork, particularly the animal liberation stuff and what got me passionate about it, and while I described a scene in a documentary about factory farming involving baby chickens being saved from a slow death in a dumpster, the tears they started coming. I was mortified! But it got much worse when he squinted at me and asked, surprised, "Are you crying?" That's when I started laughing (through the tears) and said, "Never ask an artist about her passions!" Later in the interview, after I composed myself, he asked what my hopes and fears were, in regards to my career. I answered, "I hope never to cry in front of a stranger about baby chickens again."

I hope this interview will go down in the-history-of-me as the worst interview ever. Although, to be fair, the rest of it went pretty well. I'm just embarrassed that I'm such a pussy.

Ono Ono Ono!

Ono Ono Ono!, originally uploaded by marinaomi.

Watercolor on paper, painted for The Soap Factory gallery in Minneapolis, MN, on 8/6/10.

Soap Factory

A quick one today:

If you are in the Minneapolis area, I will have a painting up at the Soap Factory on September 24 and 25.

I'll post a photo of said painting next week, after the show!

Ex Reactions

People have asked me what kind of reactions I get from my exes that appear in my comics. I've told quite a few of them, the ones I've kept in touch with (thank you, Facebook), that they appear in my book. Of the ones that have seen their stories, I've often found their reactions a little surprising. One of them read the story of our teenage tryst and became apologetic, as if he'd permanently scarred me. I had to set him straight. No, really, it's okay! I'm over it! (It happened more than twen...

I got a blurb!

I got my first blurb for Kiss & Tell! It was from Amy Bryant, author of the amazing book, Polly. I adored this book—I wanted to be BFF with its narrator—and I'm starting to see the connection between books and the blurbs that sell them.


For example, I recently purchased a book by a popular comedienne. The blurbs on the back cover raved about how funny and edgy the writer was, using so many superlatives that I thought, "There's no way I am not going to enjoy this book." But this alleged funnine...

Terry

Terry, originally uploaded by marinaomi.

Terry, originally uploaded by marinaomi.

Here are a couple pages from my figure drawing notebook from last Friday, 9/10. The model's name is Terry and he had a lot of character. Er, I mean, his body did. He was really fun to draw.

Kimono My House

Kimono My House (sold), originally uploaded by marinaomi.

marinaomi @ 2010-09-07T14:55:00

Labor Day weekend in San Francisco was sunny and warm, with lots of art-related fun to be had. I started it off by attending AAWAA's A Place of Her Own art reception at the Driftwood Salon at 39 Isis Street, San Francisco, where I have some sumo clown watercolor paintings up, plus some prints for sale. (This show lasts through the month—check it out if you can!) I could only stay for a moment, but I happened to walk in right as a nice lady was purchasing a print of my painting, Kimono My...

Shut up, brain!

Sometimes the act of drawing can get really tedious. When I'm not laying out scenes or doing anything that requires a lot of brainwork, my mind has a tendency to spin itself into a web of introspection that can range from amusing ("I wonder if I would've had big hair in the eighties if I had stayed in Texas?") to neurotic (such as poring over every word of a conversation and wondering if any of my words could be misconstrued). At such times, there are several things I like to do to keep my br...

Drawing naked people

My first experience with figure drawing was in 2001, when I tagged along with a coworker to a cheap class ($3) at San Jose State University. Throughout the class I tried to make my buddy laugh by only drawing the model's penis again and again, with plenty of wrinkly detail. This almost exploded in my face (so to speak) when the model cozied over to me and tried to simultaneously flirt and catch a glimpse of what I was drawing (I covered it up and stammered that I was embarrassed by my drawing...