We’re counting down the days to WonderCon in San Francisco, CA!  The show starts on Friday, April 1 and runs until Sunday April 3.

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.

It’s been quite a few years…just thought I’d revive Cupid Panda  Here’s the first comic, done way back in 2001 (wow, 10 years ago!):

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

Recently finished the cover for this year’s Animation on Display:

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

Currently working on the cover to Animation on Display’s program guide for 2011.  Here’s what I did for 2010:It was an original watercolor, featuring bits and pieces of the characters that represented all the Guests of Honor in 2010.  The piece was auctioned off for charity at last year’s AOD.

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 ^_^

(Click on the above image to get a larger one for wallpaper use)

Finally saw the musical Wicked this year, before it left the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco.  The hubby and I really enjoy musicals, and it’s been awhile since we’ve seen anything new.  We’re glad to report that it was a very enjoyable show!  Solid story, a wonderful musical score, great performers…Wicked had it all.

I also think there is something to be said about putting a twist on a familiar tale.  We grow up hearing the story of the Wizard of Oz, so having that as an underlying “theme” puts everyone on the same page.  Compare that to something like “Rent,” where, despite a great musical score, the audience may not quite relate as strongly to the theme of the show.

As for Tea Club, it does sadly look like I can’t return to it anytime soon.  I still draw the characters on occasion (and I enjoy it!), but their story is simply on hold for now.

Been a while since I’ve posted…it’s been a busy year!  I suppose it’s always a busy year though.

My energy’s been pretty sapped for the past few months.  A lot has been going on professionally and personally, leaving not too much time to think or create.  Still, all these experiences and stresses contribute to my latest interpretation of artwork.

Tonight is the first time in a while that I’ve had a moment for inspiration.  Hope you enjoy.  I’m not quite sure what brought it on, but I did really enjoy Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo last year.  Also, the idea of a Diving Panda has been kicking around in my sketchbook for a long time, so it was nice to flesh it out a little bit.  I can see myself working this artwork into a t-shirt design for next year, too.

Hopefully I will have time soon to catch up on blogging…I would like to chronicle all my works and conventions that have happened in 2010!

This year, particularly these last few months, has been nothing short of exciting for me.

There were a lot of downs. Granted, I am used to experiencing the bad times with the good, but I had far more downs this year than I’ve experienced within the past 5 years.  These downers really put me to the test, and oftentimes I wondered if I was at my breaking point.  I’m not going to lie, it was very challenging and oftentimes really sucked.

However, through it all, I always had two constants: a great support system from my friends and family, and art.  I could always count on my friends and family to listen to whatever I was going through, and I could always turn to art to more tangibly express whatever I was feeling.  It’s thanks to these two constants that I was able to turn this year around.  I am definitely very grateful to have these things in my life.  I thank my lucky stars every day, and I never take them for granted.

I’m not through with the year yet. Although my past few months have really been on the upswing, these past two weeks have really taken me on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s difficult to say when it will be over. (To make this a bit less cryptic, I am just hoping my aunt can fight through her current situation in the hospital.  It’s always tough seeing someone you care about, lying there in the hospital bed, while you yourself can’t actually do much to help.)

Still, I am doing my best to remain positive and hope for the best. That’s what life is about, isn’t it?

(This post drawn/composed while listening to “Smile“, Charlie Chaplin version, as sung by the cast from the Glee TV show.)

It’s time for our annual community event, the Holiday Anime Faire!

We have a slightly new addition this year.  We’re sponsoring a Bay Area-wide art contest, complete with fabulous prizes donated by Animation on Display, Dark Horse, Manga.About.Com, Sakura of America, and many more.

You get a FREE entry to the event if you participate in the art contest as an added bonus! For more information on the contests, please check out the Official Rules.

Hope to see you at the Holiday Anime Faire!

When I first joined Facebook, I was really enjoying drawing stuff in Graffiti.  It was just something quick, fun and easy to do.

I haven’t looked at my gallery in a while, and decided to do so this morning.  There’s some fun content that I’ll be able to show here on this blog for the future.

Without further ado, let’s start with Fighting Bear

I’ve been really wimpy this past week.  It’s really not THAT cold here in the Bay Area, but I’m complaining about it. Yesterday I was working in my studio, and never warmed up…it was probably 70 degrees outside.  Inside the studio it’s probably a few degrees cooler.  Still, I thought about pulling out the space heater.  (I already have the extra blanket back on the bed.)

Despite my wimpiness with the weather, it has been inspiring me to put my characters in fall scenes.  Yesterday, I couldn’t concentrate on doing a regular Unemployed Pandas update, so did a Fall Ninja Panda picture instead.

Wherever there’s Ninja Panda, Samurai Panda is not far after, so here he is:

Personally, I really like the simplicity of this drawing.  As I sketched it, I didn’t want to add any more colors or render it more thoroughly. In fact, my current artistic exploration is to create things that look simple but say so much more.  (Not a new concept, I know, but it’s what I’m diggin’ right now.)

Also, I think everyone can see my strong influence from Stan Sakai. Samurai Panda is not exactly like Usagi Yojimbo per say, but they definitely do share their similarities. In my mind, Samurai Panda is not as skilled as Usagi, but still pretty skilled.  Psychologically I guess I put Usagi on a pedestal, similar to the way I put Stan Sakai on a pedestal ^_^;

I’d like to turn this into a t-shirt design, but I have so much on my plate right now that we’ll just have to wait and see.  We are trying to update the t-shirt store by Friday…will post when that’s done

Hope everyone’s enjoying Fall, wherever you are.