Hello Everyone: My father recently died of complications of cancer a few days ago at the hospital. I have not been able to create or blog any work for this period and will be returning Saturday to the Los Angeles area. This is one of the last photos taken of him; we were very close. He is the greatest man I have ever known and it is because of him, that I am the artist I am of today. Kimberly See you all in February.

Amazing, amazing gallery show at the Weisman. It's the first time an illustration show has been featured at Pepperdine. For all you that could not make it, this is one of the best shows you will see for the year 2013, esp if you like art from this period. You won't likely find the quality and amount of the draftsmanship, craftsmanship in one gallery this year. I believe it runs til March so you still have enough time. It's free! What's astonishing is the concentration of talent that flourished in this short period. I can't get over how creative each artist was with composition, gesture, the ability to tell a story in a glance, and the brushwork! Oh the brushwork! Leyendecker, Pyle, Wyeth, James Montgomery Flagg, Mead Schaeffer (next to Leyendecker, one of my favorite work examples, powerful, with huge bold and brave brushstrokes), Cornwell, Parrish, Charles Dana Gibson and even a Frank Leyendecker were represented. This is why I became an Illustrator. And the gallery was packed after 6! I talked to Stuart Ng, Ruben Procopio, http://maskedavengerstudios.blogspot.com, animal sketch teacher, Marshall Vandruff (Gnomon), even ran into my illustration teacher, Bunny Carter, who had flown in from San Jose, California just to see the show and the collector of these extraordinary pieces. Many people were not able to make it this weekend, but I am planning to circle back to visit again with some folks so I will keep you notified of the next gathering. Thank you, everyone, for your interest and support! Kimberly

FINI! Finally gave birth to this one! I'm actually sick of looking at it, but did have lots of fun with it.

Doggone tired today..Miss painting; did not get a chance, but drew some horses. The lines which go beyond the figures are guidelines and help to keep the flow in the subject. I learned this method from Mark Westomoe and Paul Wee. Paul pushed me to find the "calligraphy" of the figure, a much more eloquent and descriptive word which made more sense to me than "find the gesture" or "design of the figure", etc.

Update on screen pic: A few days ago, Pop was diagnosed with cancer literally flowering at the end of his esophagus. And the reason why I mention this is because I fell into a deep depression; my Dad one of my favorite people, the man who has taught me how to be independent, to have integrity, the man who brought me into this world, was dying. Usually I attack everything with speed and confidence; I never rest and this day, could did not even know who I was. I was frozen. In order to break out of this I unplugged myself from the world and needed to get my brain activated. I painted. Back in November, I attended CTN in Burbank and talked to world class artist, Rob Rhuppel, and had shown him my book of painted screen shots. I am learning to turn the figure with warms and cools, learning to abstract the painting a little esp. in the background, getting some environment in there and he said simply, you now need to show some depth, make sure the fore figure comes forward and everything is pushed back in the background. So this will be the next goal. This will probably be the last entry for this year. Everyone, have a wonderful and memorable Holiday! And stay safe out there! Kimberly

Quick plein aire in Mission Viejo with my best friend's daughter. It's a bird sanctuary called See and Sage. I suck at plein aire since I don't get enough practice in..it was a dark overcast day with brackish water...

WHAT'S NEW: An interview with Animation Insider: http://www.animationinsider.com/2012/12/kimberly-m-zamlich/ and thank you, Mike Milo: mike@animationinsider.com

This is a book published by artist Pascal Campion, titled Papa c'est Moi. I met Mr. Campion at CTN this year in Burbank and as I rarely buy art books at these kind of events, I highly recommend this one as a Christmas gift, and yes, I did buy it. It is was wonderful mix of the magic and joys of being human. Garunteed you will feel lighter and at peace after looking at his family oriented art. These images stand out among the edgy, dark and cynical work that you typically see on the internet. Sit down with the family, relax and immerse yourself in this kid friendly collection of images which will have you wonder and smile.

Ruff for a digital illustration

Update: Feeling weird today, not sure of what I was doing, but it worked to my advantage. I like the non editing going here and will try to stay in this vein...done during lunch...

As posted on FB: "What goes on in my mind when I work or just breathe? Pushing the pencil around! The loving dog belongs to Steve Andrews and we dogsit him when we can. He is really fun to sketch while I work. But drawing him helps me draw dragons...sabor tooth cats ...And no matter how I put the drawing in the scanner, it's always upside down!"

Actually finished this one this last weekend...a bit overdone I think...

ROUGHING IT IN: This is where the ability to draw really kicks in. First I sketch in the figures; hence story, with umber and aliz. crimson. This is a tense scene in which Queen Elizabeth has found out Mary, Queen of Scots, was found plotting to assasinate her, and now Elizabeth must have Mary beheaded. She literally becomes ill; and I read somewhere that Queens did not like to kill other queens because they felt that all queens were appointed by God and thus Elizabeth felt she was going against the will of God. One of my favorite scenes because it shows that even tho Elizabeth was beholden to no mortal, she did have a moral compass and thus made her more human. This is a great shot since it has some remarkable silohuettes that tell the story. I had to repaint the position of Elizabeth's head to lower it, to show how she is struggling for breath, trying to pull it together to appear a strong leader. The first sketchbook I filled was color thumbnails, almost color keys, to push for speed. The second sketchbook was to go to a bigger canvas space, turn the form with warm and cools, ad more environment; and slow down and be more contemplative with my color decisions. This next one is to saturate my colors even more, find that fine line between a color sketch and not overdoing it, with the intentions of really stepping it up this time.

More from Elizabeth: The Golden Age

INFLUENCES My art career began with the gaming industry years ago in San Rafael, California. Back then, there was no 3D and a very disappointing and limited color palette. I found these images on Yahoo from a game called Dishonored (I think). It's strong art direction is just striking; whoever did the concept art in this game really knew what they were doing. It's a colored film noire, gorgeous dramatic, moody lighting, the stills look like they were painted. Just lovely to look at. I did not work on these altho I wish I had...

More from Prague: a shot of my Dad at the Hardrock Cafe. He looked so regal, I thought it would make a good shot. Ok~I love my Dad. He is the only soul in this world who I can hang out with and hardly say a word, and feel completely at peace. I guess it's just his familiar energy. He has taught me to love what I chose to do, know who I am and to keep on aspiring. Also in this set is a religious figure on a tour to the underground cities of Prague. There are a set of cities on top of each other under the clock tower; fascinating history of the residents; and all I can tell you is that: I am glad I was not born in that era. Lots of torture and drudgery and when you look at the holes in the ground where people were thrown for 7-8 days with no food and water..it's inconceivable...And can you guess why they were thrown down there in the dark? It was not for violent crimes or stealing...it was for not paying their taxes.

Some of the light and colors of Old Town Prague at dusk. Some of the images are blurred and I apologize. When traveling I am not in control of when I eat sometimes and the crash in blood sugar makes my hand shake and head spin. These are mostly shot for color and when I do look, I squint anyway just to see the form and color and value simplified. But the colors and light are just a dream here. Towards the end of the day, it was so pleasant and peaceful that I felt so far away from earthly troubles that I felt I was floating. I imagine this is what my heaven will be like...