It could use a little more work in finishing the rendering, but I’m calling it “done” because it’s more like an exercise. I think the more I do these kinds of painting exercises, the more my rendering style will develop.

(For those of you not familiar with Tea Club, these are my main characters Hana Neko and Mr. Bear.)

Trying out a new character, and some new Painter brushes.  Usually I work with the Pencil and Digital Watercolor tools in Painter Essentials, but wanted to try out the Oil brushes for a “rougher” look, kind of more child-like.  This is a part of a working idea for a new comic concept.

I know, I know, I need to do a WonderCon 2011 write-up. Will try to find some time in the next few weeks for the recap!

Yeap, none other than Big Butt Panda!!  He is one of my flagship characters who has been around P.M.B.Q. Studios for the last 10 years…hard to believe.

Big Butt Panda is a character who is very shy and humble, but is also quietly confident in that he doesn’t apologize for who he is or what he does.  He’s got a big caboose and knows it…and is even a little bit proud of it.  Life is good for him, and it gets even better when you bring him a healthy serving a bamboo.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  Could he be the people’s champ?  He is definitely a champ at P.M.B.Q. Studios, that’s for sure.

As for the design, my personal art exploration these past few years is to work with a more organic look.  I’ve roughed up my usual clean edges for a more “brushy” effect on this latest iteration of BBP. This exploration mirrors my preference in the traditional art world, which is to work with a brush. It’s such a versatile tool, allowing you to create many different line widths by simply varying the pressure.  It also takes a lot of time to learn how to harness brush techniques.  Personally, I enjoy the challenge of working with whatever comes out of a brush…if only I didn’t dislike scanning so much, I might do more traditional works with a brush.

BBP will be available in guy and girl-style t-shirts. If you can’t make it to WonderCon, these shirts will be available for sale in a few weeks on the Pandaline T-shirt Shop.

Continuing the “classic” trend, I’m bringing back another old favorite from 2007, Rocketbear:

Rocketbear is actually Mr. Bear, co-star of the Tea Club webcomic. He’s blasting off into parts unknown, boldly going where no bear has gone before. I always loved the action on this illustration. This design will be available on both guy- and girl-style t-shirts.

If you can’t make it to WonderCon, these shirts will be available for sale in a few weeks on the Pandaline T-shirt Shop.

This year I’m revisiting a lot of classic artwork, and I thought it was time to bring back KFU Panda:

The first iteration of this character and design showed up in my 2005 line of t-shirts, and the second iteration came in 2007.  I always liked the impact of a gold t-shirt, even though it is not really a mainstream color ^_^;  Well, I decided to bring back the gold in 2011 in guy/unisex shirt sizes.  This is also available in fitted ladies’ shirts in a nice light grey color.

If you can’t make it to WonderCon, these shirts will be available for sale in a few weeks on the Pandaline T-shirt Shop.

Here’s the first of our t-shirt designs (for guys and girls) to unveil at the show, featuring the Two Bears:

I’m trying to spend a little more time telling the story of my characters/designs these days.  This is my third design featuring the “Two Bears,” a boyfriend/girlfriend set of bears that depict various relationship stages. I’ll have to go back and tell the stories of the first two designs, but this illustration is basically all about the “joy” of domestic chores. Sometimes getting your significant other to do chores is like pulling teeth, so when they finally do it is a moment to capture on film.  It really is a win-win, because the cleaner can say “Don’t say I never clean the toilet” and the observer can take joy in directing the task…right?  Right.

If you can’t make it to WonderCon, these shirts will be available for sale in a few weeks on the Pandaline T-shirt Shop.

In 2006, I did a follow-up Tea Club comic:

The saga last left off in 2008 here:

I revamped the original story into a simpler t-shirt design in 2010:

Hope everyone enjoys Valentine’s Day, and be sure to watch out for the Cupid Panda flying our friendly skies

Similar to the piece I did for last year, I decided to incorporate things that represented each Guest of Honor:

- Optimus Prime from Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Neil Kaplan, voice actor)
- Jim Raynor/Starcraft 2 mech (Robert Clotworthy, voice actor)
- Mio Akiyama from the anime K-ON (Cristina Vee, voice actor)
- Lynn Minmay from Macross/Robotech (Tommy Yune, creative director)
- Arthur the Aardvark (Ken Pontac, writer)
- Ian McConville (artist) & Matthew Boyd (writer) from MacHall/Three Panel Soul

And of course there’s a Ninja Panda to represent myself, lurking in the background

The characters are wearing uniforms remniscent of the ones worn by the middle school kids from the manga/anime series Bakuman. That’s my current favorite manga, as I find it both educational (it gives us a glimpse in to how the Japanese manga industry works as a business) and entertaining.  (Thanks to my husband Marcial for suggesting I shout out to Bakuman somehow…I was struggling for a few days on how this piece was going to come together!)  I also wanted to incorporate a regional feel to this piece, hence putting the characters in San Francisco Japantown and including the “Pagoda Tower” in the background.

There were a few other Guests of Honor who joined at the last-minute, and unfortunately I couldn’t include them in the cover since the deadline had passed. However the last few guests did work relating to Starcraft 2 and Robotech, so in a sense they are covered.

Animation on Display usually invites me to be a Guest Artist, and they did so again for 2011, but declined to keep my own schedule clear for baby duty. (Those little ones really keep your hands full!! My son is a bundle of joy though ^_^)  Still, I’m honored to contribute this illustration to them for their 2011 Program Guide.

Just for kicks I’ll close with a pic my son Griffith with his first red envelope for the Lunar New Year XD

Not sure what I will do this year, but thinking it will be a similar mash-up of character’s.  I think I’ll be going back to digital though.  Let’s see how things pan out

In other news, here’s the newest addition to P.M.B.Q. Studios, Griffith:

It’s amazing how such a small being can keep two grown adults so busy and exhausted!!! Totally worth it though ^_^