Looking for something to do this weekend? Well, look no further!!
Come by Fort Mason and check out the Urban Epicurean Festival and get your holiday shopping started! There will be food and drinks too, FREE admissions. more info: http://urbanepicfest.com/

I'll be at booth #138 selling prints, tote bags, stickers, postcards and books!
Hope to see you there.

I also started to experiment lately with Sumi ink and started a series of Black Cats. They are SO MUCH FUN! but messy......but fun!

Finally got around to working on my story again! Did another draft and polished up my manuscript some more and did 4 finished paintings as color samples for my dummy! Can't wait to show my critique group my new dummy and see what they think. Then after is the dreaded process of research and submitting it.....><

For father's day this year, I finished an illustration just in time for my Dad. I remember there used to be a fence covered in morning glories near my home in Hong Kong, my dad will always pick me one when we walk by, and I always called it trumpet flowers.

Here's a few demos I've done for my classes this semester.

Did this little sheep as an example of the Facet Shaped Assignment, it's a great exercise for practicing edge control and play with design/patterns:

February - May, I made a point to force myself to go to more quick studies workshop at the University that I teach at. I've always been rather intimated by all these 1 min, 2 min, 3 min poses, especially when some of my friends and colleges who go there regularly are just so amazing at it.

I had only gone a handful of times before this year. BUT NO MORE! The only way to get better at something is practice! I went almost every week, sometimes every other week...

Yikes, has it been almost 3 months since I last updated? Well to make it up. I'm going to post quite a lot these next few days! So where did I leave off last time? February - March....

In my last post I mentioned I did some experimenting then with Yupo paper. It is basically like painting watercolor on plastic. Hard to control but a lot of fun. Unlike normal paper, the watercolor does not get absorbed into the paper. Instead, it sits on top of the Yupo surface. I love the interesting patterns and edges when you do wet-on-wet, but it also means you can't build a lot of layers on top because it lifts so easily. The upside to that is you don't have to save your "whites" anymore and can easily scrub away any mistakes/highlights...

I named it the Aftermath. I watched a documentary last year where a scientist explained that an over populated ocean with jellyfish is a symbol of an dying sea, one of the many effects of global warming/pollution. Since then I had this idea of a single boat passing through an oil spill, revealing our sea over crowded by jellyfishes, creating a beautiful mess. Below are some WIP and final pictures.

I also did a fan art illustration for my friend Ben Jelter (Instagram name @BenJelter ). This is the main character in his webcomic Heliosphere. You should all check this crazy story out, really great stuff. http://Heliospherecomic.com

I like this paper, plan to do some more of these in my spare time!

Been sketching more lately:

Finally started doing yoga again and it felt great. Did a few doodles of some poses.

Its been a bit more than a month since my last post, and so much has happened! I must say it is the busiest I've been in my entire life! I have never been so exhausted physically and mentally, glad I got to go on a vacation to unplug afterwards. So to recap:

Me and my booth mate Ciaee

After that weekend, I wrapped up teaching for the Fall semester and started packing. Yes you read right! I moved! And boy did we had to move fast, packed everything up in 4-5 days, WHILE taking 2 full day (9 hours) scuba diving lessons. Moved into our new place and had to unpack everything in 3 days! Mostly because we rented these recyclable plastic boxes designed for moving, and we only had them for a week. It sounded like a great idea at first, better for the environment and don't have to worry about tape and all that stuff....but after experiencing that, I would not recommend it. The movers actually don't like them, they are heavy and the time constraints were just stressful. At least we got it all done fast and I love my new place. I finally get my own studio space separate from the living room and lots of sunlight. My cats love it too.

That weekend right after, we drove to Monterey and did our ocean dives and got our certification! It was FREEZING cold, but we were glad we got it done in time for a trip to Mexico where the dives were amazing! Below are a few sketches while we were in Monterey.

As soon as I got back from Monterey, I jumped right back into finishing Leo's Ball. I painted day and night to make my deadline, and I think I broke a record even! 8 spreads/16 pages in 2 weeks, plus scanning and editing too! Heres a sneak peak and a wip:

The back to back work schedule for months on end was soul crushing. Looking back, I am very proud I did so much in the last 4 months. Though there was a downside, I got sick twice, constantly stressed and I was absolutely burnt out at the end of it. I'm still currently trying to get myself out of it. Been feeling a bit stuck creatively. I am a very lucky women to have my husband to be there for me, I honestly don't know how I would make it without him.

For 2015, I definitely need to say no to projects sometimes and really carve out some "me" time. To play and have fun with my work again, to live life and let it inspire my work, to enjoy my time with my friends and family.

At least out of this overworked tunnel was a light! It was Mexico! My husband and I finally got to relax and enjoy the sun and beach for a few day, did a lot of diving and visited ruins. It was a lovely vacation and I was glad I got to unplug for a little bit. Here are a few sketches I did there:

Painted this old man on the plane back to SF, but had to stop because of turbulence. That was seriously the bumpiest plane ride I ever had! At least we arrived safely and early too. Now, its back to reality, got to work on alternations on 2 different books and get ready to meet my students this week.

Thanks for stopping by! Once again, for more frequent and shorter updates, follow me on instagram:
http://instagram.com/isabellakungill

I will be at ‪#‎SFBAZAAR‬ this weekend (12/13 & 12/14) at Fort Mason with my Booth mate Ciaee Ching! This place is like a live esty store, perfect place to complete your holiday gift shopping, AND its FREE admission! Come by and say hi, we are at booth 28! Our friend Yuki Yamagata is right next to us at booth 27 too.

Phew, time just flies on by! It's mid November already. Work has been crazy! Juggling teaching, finishing painting "Leo's Ball" a sequel to "Leo's Job", painting a set of Fuzzball emojis, worked on an exciting but secret project, preparing for Holiday SF Bazaar, planning for a move and a trip etc etc..... I've never been so burnt out! I need to stop saying YES so much. Just need to push through another month! Crossing my fingers I don't get sick!

Meanwhile heres an update on October, it was inktober and I managed to participate 15 out of 31 days. It was a lot of fun, wish I could do more or spend more time in my sketchbook, these definitely revived my love for ink! Here are my ink doodles: