ABOUT MY ART
One of my most interesting art-related jobs was as a balloon cartoonist. I created hand-drawn illustrations on five-foot mylar balloons for the entertainment industry. Part of my hourly wage was paid in expensive Beverly Hills deli, consisting of gourmet paté and beef tongue sandwiches. No vegetarian options, and no overtime pay. But with that job, my cartooning skills grew, and the experience opened the door to being hired as a cartoonist for a custom greeting card company, and later, as an illustrator for children’s books.
My first published illustrations are a collection of watercolor/mixed media paintings for a series of beautiful elementary-grade textbooks, Estrellas De La Literatura, published by Harcourt/Brace/Jovanovich. In one of the anthologies for young readers, my illustrations for a reimagined classic Spanish fable were later published as a juvenile picture book, El Conejo Y El Coyote, written by Clarita Kohen and published by Loredo Publishers.
I continued my work in children’s education as an illustrator for Education.com, creating vector illustrations and copy for a collection of educational worksheets for Pre-K through 2nd Grade. After working as an in-house designer for a variety of companies, I started my proprietorship, Electrik Canvas, doing freelance design, illustration, and copywriting.
My background with regard to my formal education is a bit eclectic. After briefly studying English and fine art at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, CA, I started working as a professional graphic artist, learning the necessary skills on the job. Later, I attended Platt College in Los Angeles, CA, and earned a diploma in graphic design/desktop publishing. To update those skills, I studied fine art and animation/digital media at West Valley College in Saratoga, CA. In addition, I studied guitar theory at the Dick Grove School of Music in Los Angeles, CA.
I’m currently writing full time, and though I no longer work as a freelance designer/illustrator, I continue to draw with charcoal, Prismacolor, and in Illustrator, and “paint” with digital media. I plan to create a series of custom illustrations to promote my novel, BLUE SKY ECHO, and I’ll be posting the illustrations on this website and social media.
*Illustration of HBJ ESTRELLA DE LA LITERATURA by Gina Menicucci