Illustration Friday-Invention

The wacky scientist have been living in my sketch books for quite a while. This was the perfect topic to get him outta there and into color.

Illustration Friday-Thanksgiving

I have a confession to make. When I first came to the U.S., I didnt know what Thanksgiving was. What was this strange holiday that included eating turkey and cranberry sauce? At school, the teachers and my classmates asked me, did I have a good thanksgiving? Did I have turkey? I always LIED and said yes. But really, it was just like any other day at my house. And we had....chicken. I remember I didnt want anyone to find out like it was some terrible secret. Of course when you are that young, you don't want to be different. I asked my mom to cook turkey and her answer was, "Chinese people dont really eat turkey."

Funny how last year was the first year my mother finally started making turkey for thanksgiving. That took long enough :-)

Happy thanksgiving, everyone! Turkey or no turkey.

Bunnies...and more bunnies

Oddly enough, I've gotten two bunny-related assignments back to back. Guess I could use a break from drawing chickens. I've also been busy with holiday cards/and promotional stuff. This is the first year I'm actually early and prepared in making a nice holiday card for once....and its still November!

I also went to this incredibly inspiring illustration Symposium hosted by Parsons/New School this past weekend. Usually when going to these things it could be a little depressing when you see so much talented people out there. But it was so positive and I got a great creative jolt of energy. I originally wanted to go because children's illustrators/authors Maira Kalman, Peter Sis and Peter de Seve were there, whom I am huge fans of. But I was also very entertained and inspired by the various panels of animators, comic artists, you name it-and especially toy designers Friends with You, who were so funny. It opened up my mind to the possibilities. I stayed the whole day and I was completely exhausted!

Oh and thanks so much for everyone's birthday wishes last week! :-)

Illustration Friday-Smoke

This is a very old piece, about 2-3 years old. It was at a time when I finally was going somewhere with my style and wanted to take illustration more seriously as a career. Its always fun to draw evil strangers having a cigarette in his mouth, although in the world of children's publishing, I won't be able to do that, most likely.

And it my birthday today, wheee!