Random Hallmark Moments: Rainbow Brite

   Here it is... my entry in Hallmark Cards' headquarters art show featuring dozens of artists, each with their own interpretation of RB! Rainbow Brite was created by a Hallmark artist in 1983 and was wildly popular, with animated TV series, live action TV, Macy's Day Parade float, multiple Emmy awards, dolls, toys, games, sheet sets... you name it, this girl was likely on it. It's kind of mind-boggling.

    I will readily admit that although I liked some of the characters back in the day (before I developed a lil' thing called "taste"), I am not a fan of the character design style of RB and her contemporaries. This includes Strawberry Shortcake, Pound Puppies, My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Dolls... the styling looks dated and doesn't hold up well against modern character design. But they were modern for their time. My goal with this piece was to keep enough of the hallmarks of the characters to make them immediately recognizable, but to update their style, with a Japanesey "chibi" or "kawaii" look, and costume updates like shifting the color palette away from those hideous primaries, and making the arm and leg cuffs transparent.
   Here is "the making of" the piece, step by step... including the fancy chocolate and sauvignon blanc which clearly aided the process. Considering how infrequently I get the opportunity to paint (not since Hallmarket 2013, and before that... who knows!), I needed all the help I could get. LOL!

   I completed the piece during the Sochi winter Olympics.That was my background noise. It kept me going longer and gave me a front seat to all the snowboarding action.

Snowbird, day 1

Los Tres Amigos!

   Snowbird proved to not be as difficult of a mountain as everything I've read... Either that, or I'm becoming a better rider! Spent all day on the blues and some greens. Great day to ride, with the sun and even a little blue sky peeking out at times, near white out at others.

   Met up with Brad & his family briefly and then went back up to kill it some more.

   Traveling with five dudes + others met along the way = awesome

Sketchy Behavior

   I'm trying to make one of these lil' standee / stand up characters as each person on my team has a birthday. It's fun for me, more unique than a card (we make cards, so we've all seen 'em all!), and so far people seem to like 'em! This one is for Stephen, who attended Mizzou.

This one was for Sacha (As you might have guessed):

   I also made two different versions of Bess's dog recently (couldn't decide) but forgot to get shots of them... more later!
   And as I'm trying to draw more this year in general... This lil' kitty was on Carrie's thank you card. She gave me a really gorgeous Japanese washi-paper calendar for Christmas.

Happy Birthday + Merry Christmas to Me!

   The board that I ordered just arrived, and though these low-light pictures clearly don't do it justice, I am SO. FREAKING. EXCITED. It's even nicer than I remembered! I can't wait to not ride it!!!

My horoscope made me do it

The Radiant 2010 by Salomon

   Today's horoscope says, "Treat yourself to something you want that you didn't get." And I'm sure it meant to say somethingS, so I bought myself an electric-yellow snowboarding coat so I can be easily spotted on the slopes, and an equally-awesome new animal-themed board. (I feel slightly less guilty since they were both heavily-discounted, and will be happily enjoyed.)

   Now, if I were completely out of control, I also would have purchased the following two awesomely-designed boards. (Lord, please grant me the strength to resist...) It is a really, REALLY bad idea for artists to become snowboarders... these things are real works of art!

b
Bataleon Violenza 2012 (maybe it will go on sale in 2013?)

The Coda 2012 by Arbor shows off gorgeous bamboo with a Japanese motif

Christmas Came Early! My Birthday Too!

Maureen, you are so good-slash-evil. Best cookies ever!!!

Tad, your new screen printed board game rocks!!!

Donna, I am SO excited to own one of your squirrel mosaics!!!

All in one day? I'm gonna get spoiled!  ;)

Art Unleashed 2011: The Logo

   Today I finally got into a groove on the Art Unleashed 2011 logo for The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City (HSGKC) and worked on it all day—more than 15 hours—from concepts to sketches to roughs to final linework to color. Whew! I did take a couple of short breaks in there to eat, and to walk the dogs, but that was it. Artwork is work after all, but it's really fun work that I'm privileged to do. It felt good to get back into artwork and be in one of those grooves where I just kept at it, and kept liking my drawings better and better as I worked. But of course I have to stop somewhere.
   Here's a peek into my process: First, I fill up several pages with concept sketches. (And, as is often the case, one of my first ideas is my favorite):

Then I do linework & lettering on a few, to narrow it down:

   Once I've chosen, I create a simple, informational version of the design for the logo and a design for t-shirts:

    Next, I experiment with color on my chosen t-shirt design (which I'm calling "Animandala"):

...Until I land on the final color versions for the t-shirts.

Girls':

And guys':

   I still need to do all the technical prep of the files, my least favorite part. (I'm not so detail-oriented, so by the time I get to this stage, I'm restless to move on to something else.)
   So what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Is the guys' version boyish enough? I love that green, but I'm not the best judge... Leave some comments for me, please.

おいしくてかわいいキャラクターですね。

   I first posted about these Shiesare chocolates for Chinese New Year, then recently found more of the box art online. Great stuff!

The Kaiju Cometh! かいじゅうが来ますよ。

Meet Kaiju Eyezon

    I started studying Japanese around 2003 for a couple of reasons. First off, I had not yet visited Japan and desperately wanted to do so, but was apprehensive because if I didn't know the language, I was afraid I'd waste precious time on the trip being lost. Secondly, I dreamed of showing my work at a gallery in Japan someday and figured I'd need to know the language to work it out.
   So I studied for 5 long years, once or twice a week in the evenings during regular semesters, on top of a very full-time work schedule, and put in 8-12 hours per week on completing the homework assignments. I also worked with a private tutor over the summers. When I think about the amount of effort it required, it's hard for me to think of how I managed it all. Of course, this wouldn't have been possible if I didn't thoroughly enjoy it. It really is a fascinating and challenging language to learn, and you simply have to put in the time.
   Flash forward to winter 2010. First, my plush renditions of Hallmark's founder's grandsons made its way to Japan for the company's 100th anniversary. Then my friend (and co-founder of Super 7 Magazine) Mark Nagata contacted me to see if I'd participate in a show he was putting together... that would be traveling to Japan. AND my work will be alongside my favorite vinyl toy designer, Touma!!! Blew my mind! Check out my collection.
   I'll post more pics of my three plush submissions soon. Here's the press release:

"Celebrating Max Toy Company’s 5th Anniversary, on April 2nd & 3rd, 2011 there will be a group art show at Design Festa Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. The show will feature art by Japanese and Western artists, each using Max Toy characters,  Captain Maxx or Lady Maxx as their subjects. There will also be exclusive toys, prints and more!  Artists confirmed include: Japan: TOUMA / KAIJIN / NAWOKI KARASAWA / HARIKEN / YOSHIHIKO MAKINO / TAKESHI ONAKA / NAMIKO SONOBE / TERESA / JoBo;LuBo / MIROC / TULIP / REN OTORI / TOMOE and more to be announced! Global: RALPH COSENTINO / SEBASTIAN CURADEAU / HELENA GARCIA / DANIEL GOFFIN / MARK NAGATA / JEN RAREY/ MATT WALKER and more to be announced!

Design Festa Gallery, Harajuku, Tokyo (map). The work will also be featured in Play Times Magazine and Hyper Hobby Magazine

The celebration and show continues, traveling to Double Punch Gallery and Store in San Francisco, California, on April 23rd , 2011 for the US premiere. Also on April 23rd at Double Punch will be the " In Living Kolor, San Francisco " tour event !!! Featuring Matt Walker / Dead Presidents Designs, the event will include many custom figure artists, all painting live with Monster Kolor paint for the first time in the US !!!  This is the perfect chance to see these amazing artists at work and to try your hand at using Monster Kolor!"

www.maxtoyco.com
www.deadpresidentsdesigns.com
www.doublepunch.com
www.designfestagallery.com

My bio:

ジェン・レアイー
ジェンは、創作ディレクターであり、イラストレーター、ぬいぐるみアーティストでもある。
趣味は、旅行、スキューバダイビング、ヨガ、そして2匹の柴犬（アキとテイラー）と、山にハイキングに行く事。 日本の文化や、キャラクターデザインが大好きで、近年は日本語の勉強もしている（すごいね。）
彼女の作品で幸せになってくれる人がいれば、彼女自身も幸せ！
米国ミズーリ州、カンサスシティ在住。是非、ブログをチェックして下さい。

Japan-America Society Presentation

Tonight I was honored to be a guest speaker at the monthly JAS meeting. When I was first approached about the idea a few months back, I knew exactly what my topic would be: the phenomenon of character design in Japan and the nuances in character use between Japanese & American societies. Lord knows I have enough photos to illustrate the topic! It gave me a good chance to do some real research into a topic I'm already passionate about. It was very well-received, too; Patty said it was the best attended meeting yet, and there were some great questions from the group. Fran Lemery, the director of the annual Greater Kansas City Japan Festival approached me afterward to see if I'd present again at the festival on October 2. 行くぞ！  

...I may conquer this fear-of-public-speaking thing yet!

This was my screensaver before & after the presentation...

1000s of character photos!

Sachie met me & handed me a lovely note full of

handmade paper dolls that double as bookmarks.

Before the meeting, I was treated to a relaxing stroll through the rose garden & all around Loose Park, where the meeting was held. And afterward, to a great dinner & live Jazz performance by the Brian Hicks Quartet at Jardine's. とても楽しかったですよ。Review:

Logo design for Beans & Greens

On Friday afternoon I was contacted by the sister of a friend from MSIR, who needed a logo design on a super-quick turnaround. Here's what I came up with yesterday. I think there are some fun options, so hopefully she'll see something that works. The program is really cool & I'd be so thrilled to be involved with it!!!

"Beans and Greens is a new three year pilot program created to assist low-income families in purchasing locally grown fruits and vegetables at Kansas City area farmers’ markets.  The program seeks to make locally produced nutritious fruits and vegetables more affordable and available to neighborhoods within our community that have a significant degree of food insecurity.  Additionally, the program aims to foster relationships between lower income shoppers and the farmers who produce and sell the food at the neighborhood farmers’ market."

Product review for Fetchdog.com

LOVE LOVE LOVE the designs!

By Jen the Shibamaster from Overland Park, KS on 5/3/2010

5out of 5

Pros: Durable, Colors, Patterns, Strong, fun
Cons: Length, Inconsistent, DIFFERENT

I purchased 2 sets of the striped leashes & collars for my 2 shiba inu. I LOVE the designs & the colors & get compliments on them every time I use them. The products are very well-made and sturdy. Only odd thing I noticed is that I ordered two 6' leashes, and they are actually not the same length (one is a few inches longer. Not a dealbreaker, but I would have preferred that they were the same, because I run & walk with my dogs.   Originally submitted at FetchDog.com

Up in the Air: the posters

Love the Saul Bass inspired graphic treatment in these posters & also in the opening credits, which were a collage of aerial photos of the ground, reminding me of my recent flights.