Zar's Blog

Another Mermaid!

2011-12-30T01:03:00.000-08:00

This was a commission I was asked to do for my awesome and talented friends Erik Benson and his wife Lindsey! I had a great time doing this piece... I love drawing mermaids! This will probably be the last post I make in the year 2011 which I have to say, was a darn memorable one. Wish everyone the best in the upcoming year! P.S. I'll update with a better quality picture, this was taken with my ipod touch, but it'll do for now!

Tinkerbell and the Pixie Hollow Games Part 2

2011-12-14T22:14:00.001-08:00

I had to reference soccer players to design this character... poor me...

Tinkerbell and the Pixie Hollow Games Part 1

2011-11-28T23:12:00.000-08:00

This was a half hour t.v. special that I worked on while I was at Disney Toon Studios. It was a lot of fun working in the fairies style, although the style has changed and adapted to fit CG, I really drew a lot of inspiration for the old Marc Davis drawings of Tinkerbell, they are simply exquisite! I'll update soon with more work from this show. All artwork is copyrighted Disney.

Original Woodburnings for CTN

2011-11-17T00:12:00.000-08:00

These are a few of the originals I'll be selling. And I'm also going to be selling coasters again this year, along with prints and other goodies! Hope to see everyone there, make sure to stop by and say hello... until then!

CTN Expo!!!

2011-11-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

It's a week away! I'm going to be selling some original wood-burnt art, coasters, and prints! Can't wait! And my apologies for the crappy iPod photos.

Kermit the Frog

2011-11-05T16:17:00.001-07:00

Finally, an update! Here is a commission wood burning I did of Kermit singing the Rainbow Connection. It was either this or him singing "Being Green" which is my favorite Muppets song, but his banjo won! I got to see the new Muppet's Movie at an advanced screening at work, and it's really great, it's definitely worth checking out!

On another note, I will be exhibiting at CTNX again this year at booth T-25! It's on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of this month. Here's a link to my artist page on the site. There are some amazing things lined up this year, it should be awesome! I'll update real soon with the CTN loot. Until then!

A New Frontier

2011-07-13T23:03:00.000-07:00

This upcoming Monday I start my first day at PIXAR Animation Studios as an artist! I cannot put into words how excited and thankful I am. During my internship there a few years ago, I got a small snippet of how awesome and inspirational that place and the artists there are. It felt like tasting a sample of something delicious and now I can finally have the whole entree! I look forward to growing as an artist and embracing, with both arms open, every aspect of this new chapter in my life!
I thank you all whole-heartedly for all the words of encouragement over the years, you all are swell!

Art Auction (Cont'd)

2011-06-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

The Art Auction is tomorrow night!

June 17th @ 7-10pm
Undergrounds Coffee House
23841 Newhall Ranch Rd,
Valencia, Ca 91355

I urge everyone to come out and help support this amazing cause and snatch up some amazing artwork by some seriously talented artists! All proceeds go to She Dances and Zoe, two amazing organizations who help victims of human trafficking.

This is my piece, it's a Peace Dove eating one of the olives from it's olive branch.

A special thanks to Andres and Sunha for asking me to be a part of the show! Hope to see everyone there!

And a little shout out to my awesome friend Marci for introducing me to these amazing frames!

Art Auction

2011-05-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in an art auction in which all the proceeds will go to benefiting the victims of human trafficking. This show is being organized by my friends and super talented artists Andres Salaff and Sunha Yoon. You can visit the website HERE for more details and if you want to donate a piece for the auction you can e-mail Andres or Sunha, their e-mails are on the site. I'll update soon with my piece!

The Armenian Genocide

2011-04-25T00:46:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I am Armenian, and like all Armenians April 24th is a day of reflection, remembrance, sorrow, and vexation. For the past 96 years the Turks fail to recognize a genocide against my people where 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children were slaughtered in a plot to obliterate us from this planet. My great grandmother was one of the surviving children of the genocide, and this event has affected most Armenians living today.

Every year since April 24, 1915, we Armenians protest and try to get the genocide recognized, and every year Turkey threatens to cut off ties with any nation that does. This has become a matter or money and politics rather than humanity and healing. How can the world turn a blind eye to something so catastrophic. Can you imagine telling a Jewish person that the Holocaust never happened? That is what it feels like to be an Armenian today.

Armenians were the first nation on earth to accept Christianity and since the Genocide landed on Easter this year, I thought I would share this piece of history with you. The history books barely mention it, and according to the Turks, this never happened, but it did happen, so I want to share with you an amazing German documentary that came out recently about the Armenian Genocide. It has first person accounts of all that happened and relates it back to modern day and explains the agenda as to why Turkey is keeping its people ignorant of the Genocide.

. from AGHET1915 on Vimeo.

And System of a Down was involved in a great documentary about the Armenian Genocide which is worth watching. SCREAMERS

And I am also linking some amazing news coverage and various other documentaries on the annihilation of the Armenians, these will explain the events better than I can ever wish to write them.

CBS 60 Minutes:The Armenian Genocide
BBC Documentary: Armenian Genocide:'The Betrayed'
PBS: The Armenian Genocide Trailer

With all the ugliness going on in this world today, please take some time to educate yourselves and heighten awareness of this sort of thing, so it will never happen again. So that me and every single Armenian on this planet can finally heal and move on. Thank you!

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS TRIBUTE: Shish Kabobs

2011-04-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the long absence on my blog, updates will be more frequent from here on out. I'm really excited to announce I will be contributing to the EDWARD SCISSORHANDS 20TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE show at Gallery Nucleus this Saturday (I love this movie, and I must've watched it 20 times while doing this piece). This will be my first time exhibiting at an art show, so a special thanks to Sebastien Mesnard for asking me to be a part of the show. He put together an awesome BLOG showcasing the pieces. Hope everyone (in the LA area) can make it out, I'm sure it's going to be loads of fun!

Final Mermaid Wood-burn!

2011-02-15T01:03:00.000-08:00

Here's the final, I had some trouble with the stains. It's such an organic process in that different woods adhere to the stains differently. This wood in particular absorbed the stain instantly, so it was less forgiving. there's still much to be learned about this process. Until then, Opa!

A Project in the Works

2011-02-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a sneak peak at the latest wood-burning project, I'll post the final when it's done.

A Woodburn Doodle

2011-02-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Girl Doodles

2011-02-01T14:03:00.000-08:00

I watched "Public Enemies" last night, and Marion Cotillard's 1930's haircut was still fresh in my head, so I did these.

Goldilocks Model!

2011-01-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

A few months back one of my friends, Tovo, asked if he could model one of my characters and I immediately agreed. He is so talented and the final came out absolutely amazing! Here's my drawing and the final model. Click HERE to see Tovo's blog and the full render.

3D Glasses

2011-01-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

I don't like these things, and I have very legitimate reasons as to why. I wear glasses and I love them, but wearing 2 pairs of glasses isn't fun...

It feels like my nose is going to cave in, and I have to constantly adjust them during the movie which takes me completely out of the film. They always have smudgy fingerprint or popcorn smears all over them which are IMPOSSIBLE to remove... even with my special eyeglass cleaning cloth, believe me I've tried. And as if the smears aren't bad enough, the dark coated lenses completely screw up the colors of the film. I take them off and the brilliance of the color shows through until I get dizzy from the double vision thing, and then I have to watch the rest of the film in a dulled down smudgy version knowing what awesomeness my eyes are missing out on. Plus, it's not bad enough being called 4 eyes when you were younger, but six eyes... yeeesh. 3D goggles (as I like to call them) just go away.

Insincerely,
Zar

Expressions

2010-12-28T01:09:00.001-08:00

Here are some expressions of the Ice Princess. Happy holidays everyone!

Ice Princess Final Design

2010-12-14T00:51:00.000-08:00

24 Hour Toons

2010-12-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

Me and my boyfriend, Edgar made 24 Hour Toon last weekend, with "frozen" as the theme. Check out the site for details and previous films, it's awesome! The site is run by Alex Hirsch and Joe Pitt, it's a fantastic idea, and Ed and I had a lot of fun being a part of it! You can watch our film HERE!

Ice Princesses

2010-12-01T18:50:00.001-08:00

It has been getting colder and colder and my tea kettle whistles more in one day than it has all year. I'm making Christmas cards this year and I had designed an Ice Princess a while back and thought she would make a cool character for a card. I'm re-designing her and here are a few concepts I did, I'll update with progress soon. Meanwhile, stay warm!

CTN X Recap

2010-12-01T01:44:00.000-08:00

I had an amazing experience at the Expo! It all happened so fast and it was so much fun. It was great meeting and speaking to everyone and putting faces to names, my vocal chords had quite the workout that weekend. I think me and Marceline will definitely be back exhibiting next year, it was great fun!

Here's what our booth looked like.

More Coasters

2010-11-14T23:54:00.000-08:00

Here are the rest of the coaster designs of the Martini "enthusiast." All are signed by me on the back with an illustration of the Raven passed out.

Cork Coasters!

2010-11-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a series of coasters for the expo featuring this Raven who is very fond of dirty martini's... more coming soon!

CTN Expo

2010-11-04T01:23:00.000-07:00

The expo is coming up this month! I will be selling these frames along with some prints and other wood-burning goodies, that I'll update with later. You guys can get 10% on any 1-day or 3-day general pass by using this discount code as my guest GALZAX10 by clicking HERE. Can't wait!

Another Mermaid Frame

2010-10-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

CTN Animation Expo is next month, and I can't wait to meet everyone, I'm very excited! And I will be selling these at the Expo, I'll update with progress real soon, and have a more thorough Expo post. More wood-burning on the way!

Mermaid Frames

2010-10-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

Fishies

2010-09-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

These are some preliminary sketches for a wood-burning project I'm working on. I got inspired to draw fish because my family went on a trip to Mammoth for the long weekend and my dad caught the biggest trout I had ever seen. I'll update with progress soon!

CTN Animation Expo

2010-09-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

Me and a great friend of mine, Marceline Tanguay have a table in this year's CTN Animation Expo. I met Marci during my internship at Pixar, we were both working on Toy Story 3, we shared a cubicle and were roommates that summer, she's very talented and just plain awesome! We're putting a blog together to showcase some new work and document our process throughout this whole experience, which is very new to both of us. I'll put up a link when the blog is ready to go. I am so excited to be a part of the expo this year, I was there last year, and thought it was an awesome event, and I'm thrilled to contribute this year! OPA!

One for Monday!

2010-08-16T13:39:00.001-07:00

Here's a quickie to start off the week! Happy Monday!

A Sketch

2010-07-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

If I were a boy, I would dress like him...

Summer, Summer, Summer!

2010-07-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again!!!

Doodle Dump...

2010-06-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

Just a few doodles, I recently invested in a cintiq and I've been testing it out. Have an awesome weekend everyone!!!!

Goldilocks Beats

2010-06-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't had any time to touch this project in a while. Here are all the black and white beat boards I did, thought I'd post them up. I can't wait for some free time to do a color pass on these and explore this world a bit more... I haven't even begun developing the bears...until then! Have a lovely week everyone!

Cattails

2010-06-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, I thought cattails were cigars... honest mistake, right?

Woodburning

2010-05-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, my uncle taught me and my cousins how to wood-burn with a soldering tool. I remember we would take turns drawing things on a cork board. I remember always drawing horses because I was obsessed with horses when I was a kid. It occurred to me recently that I could continue the wood-burning, so I did. Here are my first few attempts and I'm hooked. So expect more pyrography from me in the future.

The Bears!

2010-05-18T00:51:00.000-07:00

Things have been really busy lately, which is a good thing! I've been meaning to write a more thoughtful post for quite some time and share some stories and drawings to go along with it, so stay tuned!

The Bears' House

2010-05-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is where the three bears live... it's a log cabin carved out of a huge tree!

Final Goldilocks Design!

2010-04-28T00:35:00.001-07:00

Here's my final design for Goldilocks, I'm working on coloring her, this project has been treading along slow as of late because I got a lovely little gig at Disney Toon Studios as a character designer for a bit. I've only been there a few days and I can't believe how much I'm learning from the artists there and how much I'm being challenged as an artist... I love it! I will continue to develop this project on my own time, so stay tuned!

More Beats!

2010-04-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

Doing these beats in black and white has been a lesson in values, now on to color!

Goldi and a Butterfly

2010-04-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

This butterfly is what Goldilocks follows deep into the forest... and a VERY rough color script.

A doodle.

2010-04-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Another Goldilocks Sketch

2010-03-29T22:24:00.001-07:00

The hardest drawing problem with her is the hair, I want it to be wild and fun but simple enough to draw, I have to chisel away at it.

BMW 2002

2010-03-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

This car has got to be one of my favorite car designs. My boyfriend Edgar is quite the car guy and introduced me to this amazing little car and I fell in love with it! SO I decided this would be the car Goldilocks and her family travel in while they head to camp.

Ready for a Night on the Town!

2010-03-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

I was going through some of the sketches I had done this past summer, and came across this. Though I'd finish it up...happy weekend everyone!

Goldilocks Story Sketches

2010-03-04T00:40:00.000-08:00

These are a few quick passes on some of the story points from the story. Except I want my Goldilocks to be a little more like-able than the one the original story portrays. She seemed like a brat to me when I heard the story as a kid, she was so destructive and I felt so bad for the baby bear because all his stuff got destroyed by this nosey little girl. So I want my Golidilocks to be more curious, and it's her curiosity that gets her into some trouble.

My Portable Vacuum Cleaner... and so Much More!

2010-02-26T00:48:00.000-08:00

My family doesn't vacuum, here's why...

My dog Richie has been serving as our portable, organic vacuum cleaner for about 12 years now. Every time my family sits down for a meal, he's there front and center waiting for food to hit he ground. Needless to say our kitchen floor is very clean!

He has also taken place of many house hold items and appliances... For instance, I don't need an alarm anymore!

He's getting pretty old and can't jump on my bed in the mornings, so he just sits there and barks... he doesn't have a snooze button.

Once I get out of bed, I lift him up, and he quickly settles right dab in the middle of my pillow and fits snugly where my head had been...

He's the softest living pillow I've ever come across, and I always listen to his little heart beat, and the weird noises his tummy makes.

He's also the best traveling companion...

He has no preference on music, and makes no comments on my driving.

I have come to share some of the most peaceful experiences with this little guy. I remember one day we went outside to sit on the front porch (Richie likes the front yard better because there's a lot more happening out there) A gust of wind blew through the air and he closed his eyes, stuck his nose in the air and took a deep breath... so did I. I felt so alive while doing nothing at all, so much so that its one of the richest memories I've had. And the fact that this little dog can put me so at peace and make me feel so happy with just existing astounds me!

Dogs are awesome!!!!!!

Experimentation with Gouache...

2010-02-23T00:03:00.000-08:00

The experimentation continues... it's a hard medium to work in. Going back to paints and traditional mediums has been tough after "Command Z" and infinite numbers of layers. I'm going to make a point to noodle around with paints more often, and get in the habit of getting my hands dirty, so to speak. Comes to show how important it is to know how to use the actual thing.

Bad Hair Day?

2010-02-20T00:41:00.000-08:00

Here's another quick pass on little Miss Goldie... She's wearing a dress here but in my version of the story, she'll be in more casual attire... just experimenting until the right Goldilocks comes along. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Baby Bear

2010-02-17T19:58:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be a fun project to start developing "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" story. It was one of my favorite stories growing up, and I find it so rich...visually. I'm going to add my own spin to it, and make it my own a bit. I'll post my progress along the way, so expect to see more bears, and golden curls! Cheers!

Ed's Mind Movies!

2010-02-08T02:22:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend, and talented fellow artist just created a blog, and quite frankly I can't wait to see what he comes up with! Here's the link... Edgar Karapetyan Check it out!!!

A Part of my Identity

2010-02-06T01:45:00.000-08:00

I have been wearing glasses pretty much my whole life. I was one of those kids whose glasses took up more than half of their face. When I think about it, they are a big part of me. Physically, they become a part of my face, but these framed pieces of glass help me out a lot, and a lot of care goes into them. I feel like we make relationships with objects in our lives that we are in constant interaction with... some people have relationships with their cars, I have a great relationship with my spectacles!

I go through quite an array of emotions with these guys, just like any relationship... I get sad and frustrated when I drop them and they get scratched. I get annoyed sometimes when people hug me and press their cheeks against my glasses leaving oily smudges, which are a pain to remove. But sometimes they make me laugh at myself, which in my opinion, not too many inanimate objects can do.

For instance the number of ways they fog up... like drinking tea...

I usually just wait for them to defog...

Same with opening the oven or dishwasher...

And... I've observed 3 techniques to cleaning glasses...

1. The "casual steam and shirt dry" technique...

2. The "formal special eyeglass cleaning spray and cloth" technique...

3. Or my Granny's "who cares lick em' and shirt dry technique"... I'm serious I've seen her do this before. That's the awesome thing about older people... sometimes they just don't care.

I know what you're thinking... why not just get contacts pop a pair in and forget about it? I don't know... I've just been wearing them for such a long time I can't imagine not having them on, like I said they've become a part of me. Plus, I would never be able to do this anymore without them...

Believe me, the "press your nose against glass making you look like a piggy" technique is quite the charmer, and the beauty of it all is I can do it on location without the need of a window... pretty sweet.

2010-01-27T02:32:00.000-08:00

Goldilocks in Gouache

2010-01-22T02:16:00.000-08:00

I had forgotten how much fun traditional paints can be, I hadn't painted in a while, it was a nice change! When I was a kid, I loved the 3 Bears story, I remember being so upset with Goldilocks for breaking and ruining everything for the Bears... I thought she would be a cool character to explore further. I think you'll be seeing more from Goldilocks... until then. Have an awesome weekend!!!

A Sketch Turned Idea

2010-01-05T00:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I'll start to sketch with a blank mind. I kind of just go with the flow and see where it takes me. The initial starting point is free and then decisions start being made, with the detail and all. They're fun little "workouts" but sometimes they spark an idea. This was a little sketch that inspired me to do a series of paintings in a more simplified human form. I'll develop it further and post the progress...until then!

A Grand New Year!

2009-12-30T22:05:00.000-08:00

Looking back at this year, I do have to say it's been quite the ride... and with it coming to an end, I find myself looking back and reevaluating and reminiscing. Although its a new day like any other, the sun will rise and set and the earth doesn't care that we're making resolutions and drinking champagne to celebrate the last 10 seconds of the end to the year 2009. I'm telling myself its just another day but it's not. There's a subliminal reset button in the back of my mind that I'm using as a guiding post to take the initiative to better myself and make things happen.

The real world hasn't been too kind to us kids coming out of college, and although the months after graduating CalArts have been frustrating, I am thankful for the opportunities I have been given in the pursuit of making a living doing something that I love. The grass is greener on the other side in the sense that I am in a situation where I can work on exactly what I want, and have ample time to do so.

And with this blog, I've been blogging for 3 years now, and decided to erase all my previous posts for reasons I can't explain, it just felt right so I went with it. I think because I want to be more expressive and speak my mind more here. Three years is a long time, and I've changed so much these past three years, so naturally there was a pre-conceived vibe to my old blog that I wanted to break out of. With that gone it's a fresh start and I can make whatever I want of this blog, and that's precisely what I intend to do! So thank you all for the wonderful support and encouraging and inspiring comments, its all so very much appreciated! Wishing everyone a grand and happy and prosperous new year! Cheers!

Oh, and a lot of my "old" work can still be found on the Character Design Blog, I put a link to it on the right. Opa!

A New Year, and a Fresh Start!

2009-12-24T14:57:00.000-08:00

There's about a week or so left to this year and goodbye 2009! A fresh year and an infinite amount of possibilities. Good bye old work and hello new unexplored ideas!