Los Dos Mujeres de las Islas

I am proud to say that there are two comic properties that star Puerto Rican's that are making noise. One is La Borinquena and the other is my series, "A Reason to Smile!" I've been able to cultivate a decent little following due to my series starring this little Puerto Rican girl named Luiza Brillante, but I aspire to have her be as culturally relevant as Marisol Rios de la Luz.

Edgardo Miranda Rodriguez created her as a comic representation for the Puerto Rican Parade and as a comic book character named La Borinquena. She has the powers to help people due to her connection to Atabey, the creation mother of Boriken, Puerto Rico's original name, and goes back and forth to from PR to NYC to help people on both island. Sadly, I do not have as close of a connection to Puerto Rico, but my roots there have inspired my character, my series and being that I am from NYC, I aspire to make her relevant to this island's inhabitants. Through the stories I tell here, I hope to one day create stories where Luiza tries to see why Puerto Rico is important to her, in more than name. 

I've created this image to show solidarity with my Boriqua brother and his creation, and show others that we can all coexist in the same market. I decided that since both ladies have connections to Manhattan and Puerto Rico, joining them in a setting that shows both, showcasing my new animated cell style as well,  would be a great way to show some love and spread the word about both of our creations. The more people see us doing the same things they do in their daily lives, the more they may come to understand us and see us as they see themselves.

If you'd like to order any of my books, you may email me at thelearningcurv@gmail.com, go to www.etsy.com/shop/thelearningcurv or click here, and https://www.la-borinquena.com/#Store, or click here to buy La Borinquena!

Teen Titans GO!

I was commissioned a while back to create the a Teen Titans Go! illustration but with the faces of the friends of the person who commissioned me in the place of the originals. Seeing the opportunity to have this piece as a good illustration in my portfolio,  I drew the originals, saved the pencils in Photoshop and then drew the commission as it was requested. When I inked the piece, I scanned that, deleted the faces, and digitally inked over the older pencils. I now had a piece of art that satisfied the younger people in my audience to go along with the original Titan's piece I have as well.

When I saw how much space I left in the art, I realized I could make the piece more dynamic by tilting it and cropping the piece around the key figures. I have the artist Gabriel Picolo to thank for that. He's done some AMAZING Titan's inspired art and it's inspired me to do more slice of life pieces like this!

Email me at thelearningcurv@gmail.com if you'd like your very own custom commission!

Disney's Avengers!

I've worked on this piece for a few months now in between everything else and now have a second, pop culture full illustration (the first being my Sesame St. piece) with a painted background and a digital foreground. I'm digging this direction I've undertaken with these Disney's Avengers. I realized too late that I didn't include the GOTG but with as many characters that are here, I'm okay with that. I hope I did your favorite Disney and Marvel character justice. This was designed as if it would be a wrap around cover and the right side would have the logo/title over top of everyone. Would you read this comic? 

Check out what the art would look like with a HOUSE OF MOUSE logo on it!

...and here is the process for the piece from pencil drawing to inks, and on to how the background was painted in watercolors!

One Punch Academia

I have loved cartoons since I can remember and the older I've gotten, the more I have loved creating mashup stories where heroes and cartoon universes collide or interact! The more I get into writing my own books as well, the more I want to write and create stories and fan fiction is an amazing place to do that in!

The way I see these universes connecting is that Metal Knight from One Punch Man finds the hair that Saitama lost from his evolved state and makes a serum that he disseminates into the water. This experiment ends up giving quirks to 80% of the population! All For One comes from a higher dose being given to the first test subject, and All Might is a descendant of that first subject. From a heroic organization to a hero school, it doesn't seem too far a stretch... what was a further stretch would be if down the timeline, we saw Naruto  in is the distant future and kakegenkai end up being quirks passed down through families... but that's a whole other conversation!

Ben 10

The original Ben 10 has the same feel as many of the cartoons I watched as a kid during the age of Saturday morning Cartoons. There's innocence, adventure, fun, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. The characters are all very distinct and the designs are fun to see when they pop up. Whats really fun is seeing which alien comes from the mix when Ben wants to jump into the fray. He's a 10 year old kid so we don't expect much from this young kid but he has a great supporting cast in his Grandpa and cousin Gwen that help him grow and be a better person. If you want a good new show to watch and haven't seen this one yet, I highly recommend watching the original series of Ben 10!

Incredibles 2

In trying to celebrate the debut of the sequel to one of my favorite movies, I wanted to draw some fun and family love in my depiction of the Incredibles! I have my own book series that shares this theme so I want to try and infuse some of that into my fanart as well! I hope you enjoy this!

A Reason to Smile!: Making Friends!

I have officially launched a kickstarter campaign for my 3rd book in the "A Reason to Smile!" series! It is titled, "A Reason to Smile!: Making Friends!" and it continues to star Luiza Brillante, but this time she is much younger! As much as she enjoys time in the house playing with her toys and reading her books, she really loves getting outside and enjoying time at the park. In this book she meets the friends we've read about in volume 2 for the first time and she has some great fun meeting her new friends!

This book, like volume 1 and 2 of the series, is great for reinforcing the ideals and morals that we want our children to have as a society. Being kind to others, being active and healthy, and family time are the focus of this particular book and I had a blast making each page look like an animated cell. I painted the backgrounds while keeping the characters and the foreground colored digitally in order to help create more depth in the artwork. I expect that this will keep our children engaged and wanting to read the book over and over again!

For only $15, you can preorder your very own copy of the book which includes shipping, just in time for the holidays to come! Head to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/969189472/a-reason-to-smile-making-friends today and preorder your copy before the campaign ends!