New Year Flower Fair 02/14/2015

恭喜發財, everybody! This past weekend, I joined Laurie Wigham and the SF Sketchers meetup group on an excursion to San Francisco's Chinatown for the opening festivities of the Year of the Ram.

I arrived too late for the opening mini-parade, but I got a good look at the awesome lion dancers.

The lion dancers did a bunch of acrobatic routines on the main stage as well. Apparently this is a traditional job for kung fu students.

More action on the main stage. One of the lion dancers climbed a pole and spewed lucky confetti to welcome the new year.

A panoramic view of the crowd in front of the stage, with an inset of the opera singers who were performing as I was finishing up the drawing.

Odds and ends from the start of the festival. I never really got a good look at the dragon, boo hoo.

2013 Holiday Cards

Here's this year's holiday greeting card from yours truly and Julie Davis. We hope you had a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, a kickin' Kwanzaa, a spectacular Solstice, and/or a satisfying Saturnalia... and most of all, that you'll have a great New Year!

Why yes, that is indeed a carrot-eared snow pony to commemorate the upcoming Year of the Horse. You're welcome.

I also did custom cards for a couple of relatives. This is for the brother- and sister-in-law...

And one for my parents-in-law, featuring the ever-adorable Tucker.

ThanksGreetings!

Since three of my favorite people in the whole world have birthdays in October and November, this is the time of year when I get to do custom paintings for them. Here's this year's batch!

 For dad, his beloved bunny rabbits in a Baja California cave-painting style.

 My nephew requested a bat-like eagle, an eagle-like bat, and the aurora borealis. And there's those bunnies again!

In his capacity as art director, Kendric also commissioned this for his sister (my niece).

And while I had the watercolor paints out, I doodled a silly something for myself...

This Year's Cards

Here's this year's traditional holiday greeting from me and Julie, for those of you who aren't on our e-mail list. Yes, there is an explanation for the trans-polar crossover; the polar bear is delivering his own message to Santa, and made the mistake of following us.

I also did some custom cards for relatives. Here's one for my in-laws John and Chris...

...and a birthday card for my nephew, featuring the ever-popular bunny rabbits.

Space Krampus

It's way too early for Christmas greetings, but this idea came up in a discussion of Prometheus and I couldn't resist drawing it. Enjoy your space terror, naughty children of Earth!

Happy New Year!

It's been a pretty hectic year, and Julie and I are really late sending out our holiday cards this time. But on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, here's a virtual greeting from us to you. Gung Hay Fat Choy, everybody!

Bunny Cards for Everyone

I've really been looking forward to Thanksgiving these last few years. Several of my favorite family members have birthdays over the previous weeks, so when we get together for the holiday, I can gift them with a bunch of personalized artwork.

This year, there was a common theme among all these birthday paintings. My parents just took in a trio of adorable bunny rabbits, and we're all totally smitten with them. Here's my dad, in a slight reversal of the usual daily routine.



Dad's constructed an amazing multi-story hutch/pen complex for the little guys. For my nephew, I visualized an alternative origin for the mega-hutch. The scan is a little blown-out, but you get the idea.



And for my niece, something sweet and sentimental.



May friendly bunnies fly you all away to snuggly dreamland!

Holiday Cheers

It's time for this year's seasonal greeting! As usual, Julie and I are sending out two flavors of card this year, and here are both of them for your amusement. If you didn't get one by e-mail, dear friend, consider yourself hereby greeted.

Birthday Cards

Here at last are a few birthday cards that I did for relatives over Thanksgiving vacation. First, something for the nephew...



And something for the niece, combining a couple of her current favorite subjects. :-)



Finally, here's one I did for my dad, featuring characters from some of the stories I've done over the last year or so. I've knocked out the background on this one, and I have a notion to use it for a special project in the near future...



Many thanks to wife Julie for helping piece together the fragmentary scans I made with our wonky travel scanner!

Tooth Theory

Here's another birthday card, this one for my six-year-old niece. Since she's just started losing her baby teeth, this illustration reflects a couple of rival theories about the nature of the Tooth Fairy, including my wife Julie's hypothesis based on pack rats and their habit of trading random objects (i.e. teeth) for other random objects (i.e. coins).

Dino Rally!

Welcome back, and here's hoping your 2010 is off to a good start!

From the tail end of last year (no pun intended), here's a birthday card I did for my two-year-old nephew. Sounds like an occasion for dinosaurs, and soapbox derby racing...



The wily Deinonychus, of course, gets the win. But who's minding the eggs?

Happy Holidays!

I'll be signing off for the moment as I concentrate on holiday stuff (and impending deadlines), but before I go, here are this year's virtual greeting cards. As per last year, I did two versions, one of which has a Chinese New Year theme to welcome in the Year of the Tiger. If you didn't get one via post or e-mail, Julie and I hereby wish you all the best!




And for more holiday cheer, don't forget to check out ArtOrder's Krampus Challenge!

Season's Greetings!

Perhaps, dear reader, you've received one of these in your e-mail already. But for the sake of posterity, here's this year's selection of virtual greeting cards. Consider yourself well-wished!

Apple Princess

A birthday card for my five-year-old niece. Naturally, she's mad about fairy princesses, and we're trying to encourage her nascent fascination with guinea pigs.