Scribbles & Scribings

Chinese Zodiac Calendar 2010: The Year of the Tiger

I hope that everyone has had/is having a wonderful holiday season! I’m still recovering from all of the festivities (and the preparation for the festivities) but I’ve been eager to get back to my beloved drawing board. My “New Year’s Resolution” this year is to post more new art to this blog, so starting this week there will be at least one brand-new piece of artwork every week. More ambitious plans are in the work, but logistics still need to be worked out.

This week’s post doesn’t count, by the way, although it is a little something new to celebrate the new year with. I’ve re-worked my Chinese Zodiac series into a handy calendar, available for sale on both my RedBubble gallery and my Zazzle store. 2010 is the Year of the Tiger so that big cat graces the cover of the calendar. The Zazzle calendars have more options, but the RedBubble calendars are gorgeous (and you get free shipping if you order 3 or more, from me or from any of the other fine artists there) so if you’re still looking for something to fill that bare spot on your wall now is your chance.

I’m adding new products to my Zazzle store and my CafePress store featuring the original versions of the artwork as well as these recolored versions, including special limited-edition gifts for Chinese New Year (February 15 this year)  so check back regularly… and if there’s something in particular you’re looking for, ask!

I’ll be back later this week with some more art to share… Happy New Year!

All twelve of the zodiac animals can now be seen — and purchased — at my RedBubble portfolio.  Here’s an extra close-up detail of the Dragon.

 I’ve already added ornaments of all the zodiac animals to my CafePress store, and started adding items to my Zazzle store. I’ll add the rest as soon as I can, so if you’re waiting for one in particular let me know and it’ll move to the front of the line!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone out there (whether or not you live in the US where it’s being formally and nationalistically observed) has a moment this week to spend with their family and/or friends and reflect on all of the good things in their life. I have quite a long list myself, including my wonderful extended family, all of my dear friends (both online and offline) and my dear husband and the life we’ve been building together. I love that I have the freedom to pursue my art and maintain a comfortable life at the same time, and am grateful for all of the blessings, large and small, that have filled my life. I just finished making pies for tomorrow’s dinner with my husband watching goofy old movie serials on our little kitchen TV and you know what? It’s a pretty good way to end the day. Especially taking into account that the rest of the day was spent cleaning the whole house because we’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

I don’t have any more thematic artwork to post at the moment (we’ll see if I get a chance tomorrow, but it seems unlikely) but I thought that regular visitors to my blog would appreciate seeing a little work-in-progress. Yes, I have finished ALL of the ink drawings for my Chinese Zodiac series: The Ox, The Pig, The Dragon, and The Monkey. The Ox is actually a re-drawing of the Ox I did way back at the beginning this year, the first of the series (since this IS the year of the Ox) but I decided it just didn’t hold up to the rest of the drawings I did since then. Two of these are partially colored, and the only one that should take an exceptionally long time is The Dragon — I just can’t help throwing all the bells and whistles into a Dragon, after all.

I don’t know about anyone else, but as much fun as I’ve had doing these (and they have been very fun) I will be happy when they’re done. I’m a bit eager to start in on the next project. I’ll be posting shiny new color versions of the whole series everywhere as soon as they’re done… with any luck in the next couple of weeks!

Have a great holiday, those that are having one!

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The latest in my Chinese Zodiac series, The Year of the Dog is now available for sale at my RedBubble page, as notecards, prints, and T-shirts.

This image was drawn in ink with a brush pen and colored digitally; in the foreground is the Chinese character for the Dog. Here’s a closeup:

Who’s a good little puppy? YOU are!

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The latest in my Chinese Zodiac series, The Year of the Rooster is now available for sale at my RedBubble page, as notecards, prints, and T-shirts.

This image was drawn in ink with a brush pen and colored digitally; in the background is the Chinese character for the Rooster. He deserves a closeup, don’t you think?

This colorful fellow took quite a while, but I can’t help myself. I love all the crazy details birds have. There’s another complex drawing on my drawing board right now, but I think one of the “simpler” animals will be the next one finished.

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The latest in my Chinese Zodiac series, The Year of the Sheep is now available for sale at my RedBubble page, as notecards, prints, and T-shirts.

This image was drawn in ink with a brush pen and colored digitally; in the background is the Chinese character for the Sheep.

Sometimes, The Goat is used instead of The Sheep, but I felt the sheep matched better with the characteristics associated with the sign. Sheep people are said to be sincere, gentle, empathetic, artistic, and creative. I based my drawing on a wild sheep from Asia, the Markhour, a relative of the Bighorn sheep who looks more like his goat cousins than the fluffy domesticated sheep.

I hope you like it… I’m coloring a bunch more right now!

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The latest in my Chinese Zodiac series, The Year of the Snake is now available for sale at my RedBubble page, as notecards, prints, and T-shirts.

As an added bonus, this week through August 27 RedBubble is having an awesome 15% sale on all framed and canvas prints, so take a look around and see if there’s anything you like!

This image was drawn in ink with a brush pen and colored digitally; in the background is the Chinese character for the Snake.

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The latest in my Chinese Zodiac series, The Year of the Tiger is now available for sale at my RedBubble page, as notecards, prints, and T-shirts. I’ve ordered one of the T-shirts — being a Tiger myself — and I can’t wait to show it to you! The rest of the zodiac are in progress, I’ve scanned in all the inked ones and a couple are partly colored already. This image was drawn in ink with a brush pen and colored digitally; in the background is the Chinese character for the Tiger.

(I thought I’d posted this last week, but I guess it didn’t “take”…)

 In addition to finishing the Zodiac, I have plans afoot for this blog. Soon, very soon…

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The latest in my Chinese Zodiac series, The Year of the Rat is now available for sale at my RedBubble page, as notecards, prints, and T-shirts. The rest of the zodiac are in progress and coming soon! This image was drawn in ink with a brush pen and colored digitally; in the foreground is the Chinese character for the Rat.

You are probably a Rat if you were born in 2008, 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, 1948, 1936, or 1924, but double-check the exact dates if your birthday is in mid-January to mid-February because the Lunar New Year is on a different date each year. Wikipedia’s Chinese Zodiac page is a good starting point for more information about all of the signs and their meanings.

I have the next three animals scanned in, they just need to be colored, I hope to have one or two done by next week.

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Now, in full color! The Year of the Rabbit, from the Chinese zodiac, is now available for sale at my RedBubble page, as notecards, prints, and even T-shirts! I’ll be making more products available when the whole series is complete. Check out the details in this closeup:

I have over half the zodiac inked so far, with three that are still in the pencil-drawing stage and two that I’m still mucking about with sketches for. That mischievious monkey just refuses to cooperate! I’m still playing around a bit with the colors, that’s the thing about a personal project: there’s really nothing to stop you from tweaking it forever and ever and ever. But the plan is to finish this series by the end of September at the latest, and that’s including my vacation. And I already have my next project lined up….