Oh yes yes! Both Ashley and Donny: thank you for mentioning one of my favorite creatures in sea-faring lore and legend, the amazing and fearsome KRAKEN! A huge squid/octopus/cephalopod that is the bane of pirates and sailors alike. I figured the ones eating all the ships are the baby ones, playing with what they see as little bath toys. Enjoy!

Thank you all for your ideas for more fantasy creatures! Today’s is a Basilisk, a cross between a bird and a lizard. This is the creature that is most commonly depicted as being killed by St. George. Its most famous characteristic it its long, leathery, dangerous tail that can lop a man’s head off in a single swipe. It is supposed to be terrifying, poisonous, and so fearsome that a single look could turn a grown man to STONE! (oh MY!) Oh, and its only 12 inches long. I figured that most things small and poisonous are also quite beautiful. So, I went the “It’s terrifying cause its so PRETTY” route.

News #1
I finally got the title of my Panda story copyrighted! This means I don’t need to use the term “Code Named Panda” anymore on the blogosphere, I can actually tell you all now that officially, my book’s name is “Panda’s Perfect Pocket”.

News #2
This year, I have decided to finish one painting a month for Panda’s Perfect Pocket. I need a total of 13. I have one painting finished, so if I can manage this slightly aggressive timeline I could, technically, have the whole thing illustrated by the end of this year! We shall see how I manage to balance work and illustration. I started off really strong last year, but by July work became so demanding I was lucky if I had a lunch break, or even a weekend for that matter. I need a benefactor. Know anyone?

News #3
The daily sketches, well, no so daily as of late, but anyway my daily sketches that I am turning into my fantasy coloring book for kids have an actual plan now. I will be approaching Dover Publishing with it in April.  That should give me enough time to draw the rest of the pages and ink the whole set. I also know how many I need: 29-30. I have 13 so far, so that means 16-17 more to go! And if Dover doesn’t like it, then self publishing it is for this one!

News #4
You get to offer up ideas for fantasy creatures YOU would like to see! Just leave it in your comments.
The ones I know I will be doing still are:
1. Sea Monster
2. Ki’rin
3. Feathered Serpent

So, folks, what fantasy creatures would YOU like to see in this coloring book?
Comment below!

So, the short version: Weekdays too crazy to paint my book due to work. Weekends are my painting days now. Feeling unproductive, frustrated, and stagnant artistically during the week, so: During week will try to turn some daily sketches into coloring book pages for my nieces. Would like to publish a coloring book from these. This is the first.
Will send to siblings, have them tell me what their kids said, or drooled. Ages 2-6.