On Cultural Appropriation

Another "Festival Fashion" season, another case of stolen cultural identity.

Just say "no" to cultural appropriation.

Bass x Batgirl of Burnside

I'm all about that Bass, 'bout that Bass, and Batgirl.

St. Valentine and Me

For the Valentine you sext.

Even if I spend most nights curled up with Netflix and a sketchbook, I love Valentine's Day.

I love the cards, the candy, the despicable capitalist commercialization of love– I love all of it.

And since I don't have a date this year, I made Valentines to suit a few different tastes:

For your respectfully kinky Valentine.

For my punny Valentine.

If you stare long enough

Everything just starts to look like galaxies after a while. 

(Colored to match the tumblr dash.)

Bad Memories

I sketched out some bad memories a few weeks ago.

Merry Krampus! And a happier New Year.

It's New Year's Eve! The perfect time to post your Christmas card and make some resolutions, I guess. I've got the same resolution as always: take better care of myself, draw more, work harder.

2014 falls dangerously close to being in the negative column for me; my sweet little bear of a dog died, and I just spent Christmas visiting family in the hospital. World news is all plane crashes and innocent people being systematically murdered. Yet, here we are. Let's resolve to take care of each other and make this planet a little better, ok?

And like your friends' selfies on Instagram. Every little bit helps.

Cheers, everybody. I love you.

Elvis Cat

I drew this little Elvis Cat for my friend and co-worker for her Birthday.
Swing it, little king!

Edible.

Apologies that my blog's been slow lately, but you'll see more updates soon. Food, and in particular, pastry, has been my medium of choice lately. Some highlights:

Flourless hot cocoa cookies for my Art Director's birthday! Recipe from forkknifeswoon. #glutenfree #CookieBrag

A photo posted by Sarah Hiraki (@sarahhiraki) on Dec 12, 2014 at 3:22pm PST

Crime Scene

This started as a little crush doodle about how much I wanted someone to text me back.

I've been watching a lot of violent television lately.

But jeeze wouldn't it suck if you died before the bae hit you back?

Emoji: Bunny Girls Party

A sketch about my favorite thing: Emojis.

Nobody knows how to party quite like the bunny girls emoji.

Shout out to my cool friends who text me a lot for inspiring this one. <3

#Swag: Recap and Haul from San Diego Comic Con

The view from the roof of the convention center. 

I haven't even finished unpacking from San Diego Comic Con, and I already want to go back. Scratch that, I wanted to go back when I was packing up my hotel room on Monday. My second SDCC ever, it was absolutely lives up to the hype.

Pics or it didn't happen:

Made it into Hall H for the Batman '66 panel to see my idols:
Burt Ward, Adam West and Julie Newmar.

Took some photos as/with Batman for
my friends at Committed Comics.

Spent a lot of time at the Hilton Bayfront with the most
incredible people on the planet, including these lovely ladies.

Made very good use of my Instax camera!

Met up with the AMAZING DC team behind the new Batgirl––
Cameron Stewart, Babs Tarr, Brenden Fletcher, and Mark Doyle.

And! Debuted my (unofficial) Batgirl "Oh Snap!" tee shirt,
modeled here by Steph.

Haul (everything I bought* at Comic Con) after the jump!

Oh Snap! The New Batgirl

Last week (heck, this week too!) was a big week for Batgirl!  She has a new look and a new team, so naturally, the internet exploded with Batgirl fan art. I love Batgirl's new shoulder-snap breakaway cape so I doodled a little doodle because I was just THAT excited.

Original Sketch + Finished Design

I was just amazed at the response to this little mark I designed–– Especially considering the wave of absolutely amazing Batgirl art that has been flooding the interwebs in the past few days!

Thanks, everybody! Especially Team Batgirl.  I am so humbled by all the tweets and shares! <3

I couldn't resist! A quick sketch in celebration of the new #Batgirl! #ohsnap! pic.twitter.com/ckl1j39DKL

— Sarah Hiraki (@sarahhiraki) July 11, 2014

Ice Cream, I Scream

Just a little sketch from last night of some ice cream cones.

Talking with Kids: Nelsen Middle School

I went back to school last Friday. Sort of.

I had the privilege of hanging out and having some real talk with the fabulous students at Nelsen Middle School in Renton. It was my second time speaking with these kids– and it was a blast, as always. We talked fandom, graphic design, and school bullies. All of my favorite things.

Here's some of what I said:

Make art everyday.

Collaborate with friends.

Outshine your bullies.

Use the internet in a positive way.

Show love to other people.

I'm always a little nervous to speak with tweenagers. They're a tough group. Totally smart and savvy, but SO YOUNG! I think adults don't give young kids enough credit. They may be awkward (at least, I was at 12), but they're capable of so much– all you have to do is give them a good reason to care.

Just look at Tavi Gevinson and Malala Yousafzai (to name just a couple)!

Basically, I love these kids and I'm excited that they are our future.

PEACE!

Takeout > Make out

A mantra for 2014.

Share it on tumblr.

Pizza Roll Princess

Our fan Sarah from Seattle made this wicked Pizza Roll art. See more of her mad skillz: http://t.co/JigNUdvaiy pic.twitter.com/eGBijuT1Zv

— Totinos (@totinos) November 30, 2013

Stoked to be shared by one of my favorite food brands OF ALL TIME, Totino's. Pizza Rolls and Party Pizzas have been there for me through good times and the greasy times.
I love you, Pizza Rolls. I love you.

Prints now on Society6!

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally decided to make some prints available for purchase on Society6! My famed Pokémon poster, as well as some Batman typography work and my editorial piece on street harassment are available as prints! And just in time for the holidays, too! You can order them in any size, and even have them framed if you like. Fast and easy, and they will be professionally handled and shipped. Go check it out at society6.com/sarahhiraki

Middle School is Awkward.

This past Wednesday I spoke to several groups–about 150 in total– students at Nelsen Middle School in Renton, Washington for their Exploration Day. We talked about art, college, feeling awkward, and Pokémon. Mostly about Pokémon.

It was a great experience, my first time speaking to a school group as an "adult." And the kids at Nelsen were fabulous. I was very impressed! Especially by the number of kids who raised their hands at "How many of you use Photoshop?"

My presentation is below, if you're in Middle School, or just curious.

Like, UGH, um so, I know, right?

Millennial Medals

Millennials.

We're the best; we're the worst. We're creators and destroyers.

One criticism of my generation (as it's shaped up so far) that I believe to be accurate is that we love rewarding, and to be rewarded for, our innane anti-accomplishments. Everything from getting out of bed in the morning, to being retweeted, to paying our rent is a "treat yo self" moment.

So while you debate whether or not your selfie deserved more likes, take one of these medals:
Except I like, didn't like have time to like write out what you did, so I like ugh you know?

And Jesus Christ, go volunteer or something.

MakeMe

Earlier this year I worked with the team at MakeMe to create some illustrative assets for their app. MakeMe is a social game that helps you accomplish your goals by engaging with a "do or die" pact with your friends via your iPhone.

I created a trickster fox mascot as well as some tarot-esque special ability cards for MakeMe. Because of my experience with fuzzy animals in the past, MakeMe was a fun project. If you'd like to see more, you can download the app in the App Store.