Saturday, July 23, 2011

BeeWoman!


::BeeWoman as depicted by Jim Lujan.::

On either end of the convention room floor, at Comic-Con, are artists, entrepreneurs, writers... small booths. In the center are the mega displays from the big studios and corporate types. We like kickin' it around the periphery, where you can shakes hands with the creative forces, the famous, and the new faces of the comic art scene. I have the most fun here.

Hold on... I need to back up a bit. For Comic-Con, the fun starts at home when you are dreaming up your costume, for a real, imagined, newly minted character. The fun spreads as you start spilling the glitter, cutting the fabric, gluing and painting, and measuring for size. Then you are in the parking lot, and you see your first Stormtrooper, a Sailor Moon, some Pokemon. All over downtown San Diego, and all over the Convention Center, you cannot help being amazed at the sight of all those inspired and enthused people, expressing their alter egos, or maybe their truest selves. Revealing, reveling, and sometimes slightly revolting. Always in good spirit. Amiable zombies, friendly Stormtroopers. Even Captain Hammer kept his ego in check.



And so, it was with fun in mind, that I decided to take Maria's original concept drawings for BeeWoman and make them as real as possible. She and I had a good time choosing a dress style, sewing the strips for bee fabric. Twisting her hair with yarn to build a beehive. She helped make the pipe cleaner bees in her hair. She drew the bee and heart on her bag, which reads: BeeWoman: Saving the World, one garden at a time! And when she arrived at Comic-Con she was thrilled to meet everyone. Everyone! She wanted to admire what they had accomplished, and she wanted to share her creation... a superhero who protects gardens, pollinates flowers, makes honey, and shoots laser spiders from her boots.


:: "Creepy fun." (Rated M, for mature audiences) ::

You may have heard about my epic fail, an entire day taking pictures with no memory card? Still feeling mighty pukish about that. I am so grateful to have in my possession some priceless memories, and even some tangible evidence of the many great men and women we met. Jim Lujan was one of the first to really appreciate Maria and her bright concept. Together with his booth brother, José Cabrera, Jim Lujan gave Maria... er... I mean BeeWoman the star treatment, and his personal interpretation of her persona. We love it!


::A busy little bee by Karen Knighton. ::

It would be so great if we had a keepsake of all the cool people we met. Maria and I keep recalling one more moment, one more character. She stood next to the Tardis, and with a weeping angel. She met princesses, and Darth Vader, Wonder Woman, Bob the Angry Flower... and even the scary or "angry" characters were all super nice, very friendly.


::Adorable and classy... a little Bird Envy indeed.::

Maria exchanged drawings with several artists. Some of them took photgraphs with BeeWoman, possibly using actual memory cards! I hope they can take a moment and share their pictures with us. We do feel really fortunate to have some original art. Thank you awesomely cool talented Comic-Con people!



We bought the book! Joey and Maria Andrade wrote a Christmas story with a robot elf! You know I could not resist that!


:: A BeeWoman Dreamworks' story board? Maybe... ::

This is David Pimentel's sketch. He is Head of Story at Dreamworks. After forgetting a memory card, not buying his book was the second biggest error of the day. He says, "Life is short, do a sketch!" I am so glad he made this one for us. BeeWoman is kicking into action. David also took the time to give Alex encouragement and advice... words of wisdom from one artist to another, priceless.


:: Evoke a book of David Pimentel's art is available at his blog. ::


When she grows up?
Maria says, "I want to be myself."
My hope is that she always finds herself in the company of fellow scientists, technicians, engineers, artists, musicians, and mathematicians, inspired to play, create, and keep her garden safe.

6 comments:

Tiglizzyclone said...

That sounds like so much fun! And I love that Bee costume!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I see the start of a new superhero comic... BeeWoman! I'd totally buy that.

Jennifer said...

Wanting to be yourself when you grow up is the most awesome, inspiring aspiration I have ever heard.

And as much as it is crushing, I tell myself -- those times when photos were, for whatever reason, not to be -- that having had and shared the experience was the most important thing of all, and that we just have to talk about it to re-live it oftener so the memories stay fresh.

judy in ky said...

She will be herself and she will be in fine company. Such a lucky girl to be surrounded by and inspired by so much creativity and talent!

Tracy said...

WOW... "I want to be myself"...that girl of yours is wise beyond her young years, Natalie. She inspires... And empowers in that great bee suit--yes! :o) Many thanks for you loving comment at my place. We are still in great shock & sadness over the tragedy that happened here this past weekend. Thank you for thinking of us! ((HUGS))

birdenvy said...

Howdy Natalie and Maria!

It was so great to meet the two of you at Comic-Con this year! Maria's drawing of the bee and beehive is posted prominently on my cork board above my desk. I hope you guys had a wonderful Comic-Con experience.

And Maria....you did a wonderful job of inventing such a unique "Bee Woman" costume! Keep up the good work. I hope you're having a good summer and have fun in first grade!