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!

Here is is, finally, the first of 13 paintings to make the story for Panda! This is only half – the main half, but still only half. Those who are on my mailing list get to download the entire scan! If you don’t want to miss out on future freebies, click here to sign up for my rare and hopefully not annoying emails.

I could not paint this weekend. This makes me feel better tho, AND it has a panda!

I thought I could finish this Panda Painting this weekend – I’m almost done but tis time for bed. I still need to be ready and able for work tomorrow. I’d like to share what Panda looks like so far. Maybe next weekend will be the magical day I finish my first of 13 paintings for this great project. I’m really glad I moved to acrylics. Even though I miss the effects of watercolor, the relationship of the brush with the paper, and all the tricks I know for neat water-dop effects, acrylic is definitely friendlier for the “paint as much as quick as I can” project. Also, the colors are turning out really rich, which is always a pleasure for me to work with.

So here are some photos of my weekend underpainting and progress.

To see more click below

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Hiya! Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!
I wanted to give you guys a preview of the redone first page of “Panda”. I’m going to be painting this in acrylic. Forgive the giant watermark.