Megan Brain

Breath of Embers:Art of Dragons Gallery Nucleus

2011-10-07T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Dragon art show is this Saturday October 8th at Gallery Nucleus

This is the piece I made for the show. It is inspired by a Norwegian dragon myth.

I found the story on the website Draconika.com
"Like St. George and the Dragon, many other stories have been told about dragons and the heroes who kill them. One story like this comes from Norway. The king left his daughter in the castle while he went away on a long trip. He left her a tiny dragon to be her guardian. The princess was skeptical of the tiny creatures, fearing that it could not protect her. However, the dragon soon grew into a large monster. He soon became too good of a guardian for the princess when he grew large enough to wrap his body all around the castle and not let anyone in or out of it. When the king returned home, even he was not permitted inside the castle. The only thing to do was to kill this dragon, so the king offered his the marriage of his daughter to anyone who could kill this dragon. No man in Norway was capable, but a man in Sweden finally killed the beast. As his reward he married the princess and they returned to Sweden together."

This piece measures 17x21x4 and is in a box frame that opens from the front.

"PUSH PAPER" book release

2011-09-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Illustrator Jamie Zollars collaborated with Lark publishing to create this wonderful book that exhibits paper art from 30 international artist.

I love the layout of this book!
1. Really cool cover (continuing the theme of past books from the "PUSH" series)

2. Very clear table of contents that allows you to quickly flip to the various artist.

3. She picked a very diverse group of paper artist. It is great to see the versatility of paper techniques and design. Here are just a few of the artist that I really like in this book:

Will post more of these paper artists from book in near future.

Buy here on Amazon

UPDATED WEBSITE!

2011-08-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to friend and computer wiz Johnny Byrnes, MEGANBRAIN.COM can now be viewed on iPhones and iPads! I also updated the gallery adding a "New Work" and a "Commercial Work" section. I decided not to have a store on my site, but aim to have an Etsy site set up by the end of the year. An Etsy link will be added when I get around to doing some new work, and figure out what to make prints of.

I also want to credit my friend Ariana Murray who designed and constructed my site back in 2005. She is a sweet multi talented lady. Great visual artist and fabulous musician. I recommend hiring both of these guys.

Bob Logan's Blog

2011-07-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

Bob works at Dreamworks and is a friend of my husbands. We were dorking out over his blog tonight and I think others should do the same. Bob Logan's illustrations

Japanese Paper Man

2011-07-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

These were created for a project I worked on back in December of 2010.

Samuri

Samuri Helmet Detail

Karate Gi- Anime inspired hair

Mad Eye Moody- HARRY POTTER TRIBUTE EXHIBITION

2011-06-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

The show is at Gallery Nucleus on July 9th 2011. Mad Eye is going for $600.

I made a paper version of "Mad Eye Moody"--the character that actor Brendan Gleeson plays in the Harry Potter films. He has such an interesting face, and I liked the idea of creating a scruffy character.

A little optical trick.

Reference and inspiration material.

PAPER CRAFT 2

2011-06-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

The German publisher Gestalten released their second "Paper Craft" book in March 2011. I'm a big fan of the first book so it was wonderful to be asked to submit images for their second book.

Gestalten did a wonderful job finding a wide variety of artist currently using paper as an artistic medium. It is very inspirational to see the variety styles and techniques being used around the world. I'm going to go through the book and post some of the paper art that I'm most excited about. And by "most excited" I mean "I wish I made this and I'm jealous that I didn't" :)

They included my images in the"Reality Reimagined" chapter.

This book can be purchased from Amazon

Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall -Tokyo Disneyland

2011-06-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

This piece is part of the newly opened "Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall". It is a walk through exhibit inside the castle at the Tokyo park.

I was commissioned by the Imagineering division to create a paper sculpture diorama from the Cinderella tale. They specifically assigned me the moment when the prince sees Cinderella for the first time as she arrives to the grand ball.

The interior case measures approximately 30 inch tall, 22 inches across, and 14 inches deep.

The color scheme for the ballroom is taken from the movie...PINK PINK PINK in all of it's various tints, shades, and tones. Having a predominantly warm color worked out well. Cinderella is the only one in a cool blue tone. The other ballroom ladies are in warm monochromatic colors so they blended into the background and are secondary in importance.

The various dress designs on the ladies are inspired by drawings of old Victorian fashions.

This is a picture of the portion of the walk through with the various diorama scenes from the film. Each scene was created in a different medium by a different artist--wood, metal, glass, acrylic, porcelain, and paper. It was a really challenging and fun project to work on. I hope to see it in person at the park one day.

NORTHWEST AMERICAN INDIAN TOTEM PROJECT

2011-05-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

This was a personal commission created for friends Anette and Jon. The heart part of the totem represents their love, 2005 commemorates the year they met, and then I stylized their initials "A & J".

INSPIRATION AND REFERENCE MATERIAL

New Yuki 7 book! Summer 2011

2011-03-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

KEVIN DART AND ELIZABETH ITO are going to release the second YUKI 7 book this summer! I saw a sneak peak and it looks wonderful. A majority of the art was created by Kevin Dart and the story was written by his wife Elizabeth. The book also features work of guest artist.

Here is the piece I contributed to the book:

This is an early version of the piece. Yuki is a secret agent trapped in a snake pit. Her friend, agent Lotus, is trying to pull her out to safety.

"The Sound of Music" goat puppets

2011-03-07T09:51:00.000-08:00

This was created for my friends Robyn and Joe Moshier. Robyn is a HUGE "Sound of Music" fan so I thought it would be cute to make the puppet goats from the film and then add Joe's signature black glasses to the boy goat.

JASPER the dog as Babushka- commission for a friend

2011-02-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

This is a commission I did for my friend Erik who lost his beloved dog Jasper and wanted to memorialize him in art. I'm a huge dog lover and fell in love with this dog after seeing his pictures. The funniest picture was the one where Eric put a napkin on his head like a scarf and made Jasper look like a Russian grandmother. Then I was inspired to surround Jasper's head in flowers inspired by the folk art style.

The inspiration!

GALLERY NUCLEUS "SWEET STREETS 2" SEPT.11 2010 7-11pm

2010-08-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

Below is a piece I did for the upcoming Gallery Nucleus "Sweet Street" show. The show consists of 70 artist all celebrating the Harajuku kids of Tokyo Japan.

...He was my inspiration. I loved the hair and the body attitude of this guy. I took some liberties with the scarf color because I did not want to make him solid black.

This is how the piece is cropped. He is in a black frame with a light gray mat.

Disneyland Blue Sky Cellar Display for "World of Color" show

2010-05-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

I recently switched out a display of paper sculptures in Disney's California Adventure park. These are some of the puppets I made for the Little Mermaid sequence in the World Of Color water spectacular opening next month. I was asked to pick 8 fish that show up in the "Under The Sea" song and dance sequence from the film and design them out of paper . I selected fish that varied in shape, size, personality, and color. I had a wonderful time making these and really appreciated the creative freedom the director gave me. They are going to be up in the Blue Sky Cellar till 2011. The show is going to be magical! I watched some clips on youtube that guests staying at the hotel filmed on a test night. Pretty darn cool.

p.s. pictures are crappy but it was the best I could take before they put the lid back on the case.

D23 CRAFT ARTICLE

2010-02-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

I was recently interviewed for the D23 (Disneyland Fan Magazine) Spring issue 2010. They asked me to explain some of my paper sculpture techniques through a craft project. I remade the Cheshire cat that is going to be in the "World of Color" water spectacular. The paper puppets I made were animated by my friend Todd Hemker, and the animation is going to be projected on very large water screens.

Here is the

D23 CRAFT ARTICLE

that is on the web.

list of the other articles in this issue

Queen E1 piece for gallery show

2009-12-01T21:21:00.001-08:00

THE INSPIRATION:

MY INTERPRETATION:

How could I resist! I love the crazy outfits Queen Elizabeth wore. The crazy stand up collar, bloated puffy sleeves, and jewels. It sounds like an Esprit outfit I would wear in 1985.

Bridal Shower Card

2009-11-07T23:45:00.001-08:00

This is a card I made for my friend Cristina's bridal shower.

Caricatures

2009-10-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

This is a project I just finished for my friends Sam and Rick.
I've given them costume changes for the seasons.

.

Russian Article

2009-10-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

I just got an article published about my work in a Moscow magazine called "Echo of the Planet". Very excited about this. Can someone translate it for me?

Меган Брейн- I believe that is my name in Russian.

Thank you Мария Дубинская (Maria Dubinskaja) for the interview and exposure!

Press release for Disney's "World Of Color" 2010

2009-08-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

In the spring of 2009, I had a wonderful opportunity to to be apart of a spectacular project with some great people at Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment. The Show is called "World of Color" and it primers in June 2010. This is some of the artwork created for the show that was on display at the Blue Sky Cellar in the California Adventure park.

Some of my paper sculptures on display in the Blue Sky Cellar.

Beautiful concept art created for show.

Inside the Blue Sky Cellar.

YUKI 7 SHOW

2009-07-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

FINAL PIECES FOR SHOW:
Final of agent Lotus. I added a cool abstract world map. A great suggestion from my husband.

PINK HOBO HOSTS "The Art of Yo Gabba Gabba" Show

2009-06-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

Below is some of the art work that I have submitted to the exhibit. They are from the two "Yo Gabba Gabba" shorts I worked on: "Forest Pan" & "Princess and the Dragon". If you would like to watch the shorts, please visit the animation section of my website MEGAN BRAIN.COM.

MY 2009 BLICK SCHOOL CATALOG COVER

2009-01-05T10:39:00.001-08:00

Every year the Blick art supply company comes up with a theme for their annual art supply catalogs. My luck the 2009 theme is paper! I was asked to submit some concepts for the cover, and one of the three I submitted was picked. I came up with the concept of an open box spilling out art supplies because it happened to me one day when I was rushing to a class.
It was thrilling opportunity and very fun project to create. Unintentionally the girl turned out looking like my friend Anna Chambers who happens to be a very cute art chick.
Click here If you are interested in ordering a catalog from them.

YO GABBA GABBA "PRINCESS & DRAGON"

2008-11-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

These are some of the paper puppets I made for a Yo Gabba Gabba short that aired recently on Nick Jr. "The Princess and the Dragon" was the story time segment within the "Dress Up" episode. It was written by Matt Fackrell, animated by Chris Staples, storyboarded and art directed by me.

Princess Model Sheet
She was designed to resemble the Matt's cute little daughter Mia.

This is the dragon prior to his blue/green paint job.

VIEW ANIMATION ON MY UPDATED WEBSITE!

2008-11-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

Click here to view the improved MeganBrain.com!

I recently had my multi talented friend/ web master Ariana make improvements to my website. Now, when you go to my Animation section, you can click and watch the animated projects I've worked on (no more going through youtube). The Madagascar 2 End Credits take 3 min to load so please have patience.
She also made some neat improvements to my "About" and "Contact" pages. A "STORE" section is coming soon. I will be selling original art, and possibly prints too.

More Madagascar puppets

2008-11-21T16:29:00.000-08:00

This paper Mort version was created based off of a development design from artist Phillipe Tilikette.

This is the version that made it onto the screen because it resembled the CG version of the character.

This shark was based off of designs created by artist Pete Oswald.

Madagascar 2 End Credits

2008-11-12T13:37:00.000-08:00

I worked with Duck Studios on the end credits of Dreamworks Madagascar 2! Here are some of the paper puppets I made.

Alex the Lion: Profile look ended up in the movie. The front view shown on the right was a trial.

Some rough drawings and explorations of Alex's head design.

Gloria head studies: The ones on top are the final heads, and the bottom row are experiments influenced by African mask art.

Monkeys: Still frame from the credits. The animators did such a cool job lighting this section.

They had to share the body...I only had time to make one.

The lead character designer for the Madagascar films is Craig Kellman! He is one of my all time favorite artist.It was a joy to make paper puppets based off of his designs.

Braced boy

2008-10-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

This is a little project I did for my brother-in-law Dr. Stewart White who is an Orthodontist in Santa Barbara. I did a teen girl with braces a year ago. This is her male counterpart.

Development work from commercial

2008-09-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

United Airlines Commercial for summer Olympics

2008-08-09T16:49:00.001-07:00

The commercial I worked on this spring has aired and it looks beautiful!!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A HIGH RESOLUTION VERSION OF THE COMMERCIAL

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A LOW RESOLUTION VERSION OF THE COMMERCIAL ON YOU TUBE

Here are some stills from the commercial.

This is the director Jamie Caliri and a crew friend Peter working on the construction of the airport scene in the opening shot.

This was a traditional stop motion spot that received a little help from the program After Effects in post. We made movable paper puppets and constructed sets made to scale for the puppets. The commercial was shot using the stop motion program DRAGON. Jamie and his brother Dyami created this program together.

This commercial was produced by DUCK STUDIOS in Los Angeles. For a full list of credits and some more behind the scenes pictures please visit Jamie Caliri.com.

Another dog inspired piece

2008-07-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

I have some images from current projects that I want to post, but can’t yet. The United commercial is going to air in August so I’ll put up some work from that once it's hit the TV screen.

So until then...here is another piece inspired by my dogs.

This is a picture I took of them having their 5th nap of the day. I loved how symmetrical their bodies were, and then how tangled their arms and legs are.

I took the leg and arm chaos away in this piece. I think I will make another one and tackle the arms and legs differently.

Medieval Paper Princess

2008-05-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

Gingerbread House of TERROR

2008-05-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

This was a little paper gingerbread house I created for one of the music videos in an episode of "Class of 3000" on Cartoon Network. It was for a Hansel and Gretel story line.

more Dogs

2008-03-08T22:59:00.000-08:00

The inspiration:

This was my Valentines Day gift to my husband. I made cut outs of our beloved dogs Humphery (a Patch Beagle) and Janie (a Fox Terrier mix).

I'm Shortie

2008-03-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

This is my friend Peter's chiwawa mix Shortie. This dog is a character and so is his owner. I like characters so I made him this little statuette in honor of his "old man like" dog.

His little leg has a hinge in it so he can scratch himself when ever he feels the urge.

Queen Eliza-BEE-th

2008-02-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

Samurai Beetle from "Band Of Bugs" show

2008-02-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

The "Band of Bugs" show opening on Saturday was great! I believe 500 people showed up to check it out. Thank you for coming out to the show and supporting us. The show will be up till March 3rd. Lou, Don, Amanda, Michele, Alex, Chris, and myself have some pieces that are still available to be purchased on the Gallery Nucleus website.

THE INSPIRATION:
I was looking at Rhino Beetles on the internet and got a Samurai book for Christmas. Put them together and what do you have --Samurai Beetles. I plan on making more because this was really fun to make.

"The spider and the ladybug" for bug show

2008-01-30T21:23:00.001-08:00

"Egyptian Scarab" for bug show

2008-01-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

via Wikipedia: "The scarab was linked to Khepri ("he who has come into being"), the god of the rising sun. The ancients believed that the dung beetle was only male in gender, and reproduced by depositing semen into a dung ball. The supposed self-creation of the beetle resembles that of Khepri, who creates himself out of nothing. Moreover, the dung ball rolled by a dung beetle resembles the sun."

...interesting

African Mask Butterfly

2008-01-27T18:39:00.000-08:00

"African Mask Bugs" for upcoming art show

2008-01-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

These are my African Mask bugs that I've made for the upcoming art show at Gallery Nucleus Feb.9th. One is based off of a ladybug and the other one is based off of a picture of a real insect I found on the internet. Unfortunately, I forgot to write down what kind bug it was. It looked cool so I made it.

Here it is out in nature.

"THE BUG SHOW" FEBRUARY 9TH AT GALLERY NUCLEUS!

2008-01-10T20:21:00.001-08:00

This is LOU RAMANO'S piece that we used for the show flyer

Local Californian Wasp: 5 1/2 X 5 1/2

This is one of my pieces that is in "The Bug Show" at Gallery Nucleus on February 9th at 7pm. Other artists in the show include:
Lou Romano
Anna Chambers
Chris Rabilwongse
Don Shank
Amanda Visell
Michelle Valigura
Alex Kirwan

For more information, please click on the Gallery Nucleus link listed under "Gallery links".

Rodeo Kids

2007-11-27T15:54:00.001-08:00

A logo for an elementry school fund raiser.

Our Wedding Cake

2007-11-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of our wedding cake that I mentioned a few post back. I made all the butterflies from paper and poked them into the cake with wire. Unfortunately, I had a window of 10 minutes to place them on the cake at the baker's home the day before the wedding. It was pretty stressful and they almost didn't make it on there. I'm so glad I did it, and the end product is ALMOST what I envisioned it to be. It's always more grandiose in the mind.

I'm getting hitched

2007-09-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

I decided that planning a wedding is not enough work so I gave myself art projects just for the event. One of them is this flower girl basket. I'm also making my cake topper. I'll post that picture if it turns out the way I want it to.

Kunoichi - female Ninja

2007-08-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

She just assassinated her target and is returning her weapon to her hair where it will be disguised as a hair ornament.

I read about the Kunoichi and it inspired me to create this piece for the Ninja Show at Gallery Nucleus.

Yo Gabba Gabba

2007-07-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

Yo Gabba Gabba is a brand new children’s program that will be airing on Nick Jr. and Noggin in August. You can watch a sample of the show on you tube or visit their site at http://www.yogabbagabba.com. I'm really excited about this show and very honored that I got the opportunity to be apart of their first season!

Some bugs

2007-05-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I did for the "Power in Numbers" show coming up this weekend at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra.
The show runs from May 19 - May 28, 2007

150 artists were requested to create pieces that fit within a 5X7 dimension. All work will be priced at $50 or $100. They will be donating 20% of the profits to charity. The charity affiliated with this years Power In Numbers will be Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization to help with the fight against breast cancer. Please visit their sight (linked in the right margin) for more information.

Marie Antoinette

2007-04-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

Stills from Paper Cutout Video for Class of 3000

2007-03-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

Last month I collaborated with the talented Mr. Chris Staples and Joe Horn to create a paper cutout music video for the Cartoon Network series Class of 3000! André Benjamin wrote the song, Joe boarded the video, I created the puppets and Chris animated, filmed, and edited the video. This music video is imbedded in the episode called "Prank Yankers" which aired on Friday February 23rd.

"Mekka-lekka hi mekka hiney ho!"

2007-02-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

Jambi from Pee Wee's Playhouse! This was done for the "After These Messages Show" that is up at the Gallery Nucleus till March 6.

The Water Queen

2007-01-21T23:15:00.000-08:00

This is a piece I created for the Nucleus Gallery Show "After These Messages". The piece was inspired by the Rankin Bass movie "The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause". My paper lady is based off of the "Water Queen Immortal" puppet from that movie.

Hypothetical record cover

2007-01-17T16:29:00.000-08:00

This was one of my pieces for “The Cover Art” show at the Nucleus gallery. I thought it would be fun to do an old Indian dude playing a sitar as a cover image for an East Indian music album.

White Elephant Show (3 1/2in X 3in)

2006-12-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

This is the piece I created and donated to the WHITE ELEPHANT show
being presented by ISM quarterly.

Red Fox

2006-11-20T20:08:00.000-08:00

This little fox is a work in progress. I do this sometimes. I'll make one part of the sculpture and put it aside until I get an idea for the environment to put it in. I'm leaning towards a forest. I'd better start cutting some trees.

Thank you Amid!!!

2006-11-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

Thank you Amid for the write up in Cartoon Brew! It is the ultimate animation blog. Thank you for informing us about the future of animation, and keeping us in touch with it's inspiring past!

More Ikebana

2006-10-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

White Fish

2006-10-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

White Moth

2006-09-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

Ikebana

2006-09-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ikebana is the art of Japanese floral arrangement.

Japanese Fruit Girl

2006-09-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong Junk Ship

2006-09-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

For my brother in law..the Orthodontist

2006-08-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Dr. Stewart White
Helping keep Santa Barbara beautiful.

"Arabian Nights"

2006-08-15T00:35:00.000-07:00

Just Hatched

2006-08-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Kali

2006-07-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

Paper Polish Chickens

2006-07-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

Toucan

2006-07-05T23:38:00.000-07:00

Cuckoo Clock

2006-06-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

I made this as a gift for my friends little baby girl Scarlet . It is inspired by Bavarian cuckoo clocks and Mary Blair. I put their Boston terrier Jinx and myself looking out the windows to personalize it bit.

Brazilan

2006-05-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

Medieval Tapestry

2006-03-31T21:43:00.000-08:00

Three Painted Ladies

2006-01-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

Silly Mona

2006-01-22T22:29:00.000-08:00

Geisha

2006-01-22T20:51:00.000-08:00