Year of the Goat —or Sheep

A bit of levity for the snow day: This isn't a tradition I adhere to religiously, but when Chinese New Year rolls around, I get into doodling rats, dragons and other animals of the Chinese zodiac. This year we say goodbye to the year of the horse and hello to the sheep/goat/ram. 

Chinese New Year coincides with the beginning of Lent this year, so an Ash Wednesday goat seemed apropos.

Cincinnati Bengals cartoon

And here we go again, with Cincinnati Bengals cartoons. This one was kind of a no-brainer. It was actually a real joy studying Schulz's shapes and line work and trying to duplicate it as best I could.

Sketches of Biblical Disproportions

It's hard for me to find work I can share on the blogosphere, but today I've posted a series of sketches on my blog from a ongoing project for a faith-based publisher.

There's some brief text about the challenges of treating Biblical subjects in cartoon form and why studying the Old Masters is not always helpful.

Alphabet Series

I've started an alphabet series that I've wanted to do for a long time. Surprisingly enough, I began with the letter "A". Up next, Bunnipipes.

Happy New Year!

Had a little time for doodling this afternoon. I've always wanted to sketch my own version of a Chinese Dragon. Now I just want to create more.

Tonight ends the year of the rabbit and begins the year of the dragon —the luckiest symbol of the zodiac. In Chinese tradition, dragons are charismatic, aggressive and succeed at everything they do.

almost everything.

---------

Update Jan 23, 15:26

Typically, when I post, I put art up and then move on, but in the spirit of fun, I've decided to make this an ongoing project and continue posting dragon sketches until Chinese New Year ends on Feb 6. —or until I get tired.

Jan. 26

Christina's dragons are sweet and cuddly, Justin's are strong and awesome. Mine are cynical curmudgeons. Hmmmm.

Sleeping Bear

Since I can't show a lot of my recent commercial work, I thought I'd post the latest shirt design for my cousin's Boy Scout Troop. They're camping at Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan.

Here's the composite sketch before going to final:

..and an unused warm-up sketch:

I left more sketches and a bit of added information here.

Happy Chinese New Year!

This is a detail from a two-color interior illustration for the Reader's Digest book, The Smartest, Funniest, Dumbest Things Ever Said. I've posted the full 2-page spread on my blog, along with a bit of backstory and several preliminary sketches.

I hope to post a bit more from this project later.

Existential Eating

Friend and fellow Cincinnati artist Ramsey Ford has been regularly posting 'Esistential Eating' cartoons on Amateur Foodies, a blog devoted to local, sustainable and/or quality food in Cincinnati. Check it out. Feel free to suggest new ideas for future cartoons.

Around the World

This is one of 10 full-page illustrations that I did last summer for the Reader's Digest book, Amazing Quiz Challenge last summer. I hope to post more of these within the next couple of weeks.

Giraffe

This watercolor piece was commissioned to be simply hung on a wall —a real rarity for me. The only stipulation was that it should feature a giraffe, so I snuck the little fella in the background (that's him behind the goose).