When I close my eyes, this is what I see

The past month I have been working non-stop to finish illustrating "The World According to Toddlers" (to be published early 2011). Thinking about toddlers, drawing toddlers, coloring toddlers. Coloring more toddlers.

Everything is *finally* done, as of yesterday. Eighty seven cartoons total.

Spending this much time drawing cartoons messes with my head. I love it, of course. But it messes with my head. Every time I close my eyes at night, I see a montage of all the art I've been working on.

Kind of like this:

There are many more cartoons, but you get the idea.

So now that the book is done, I can finally get back to REAL BUSINESS. Yes, that's right: Posting new stories on my blog.

Next up: a little story we'll call "Do Not Answer That!"

Stay tuned...

Wrapped up in love and other matters

I got an e-mail from one of my friends yesterday asking, "Are you on vacation or just slacking?" He then pointed out to me that my last blog post was on June 18.

Well, the answer is I haven't been on vacation OR slacking. Instead, I've been wrapped up in:

A. Finishing the "World According to Toddlers" book. (More on that soon.)
B. Pretending it's Valentine's Day.

Yes, that's right: Valentine's Day. You know how I like to create greeting cards? Well, the card company works WAY ahead of schedule. Valentine's Day ideas were due today and if they get selected they will appear on shelves in... February 2012!

That's not a typo. The cards that the company likes will be *tested* in a few stores next year, then the best performers will go on sale in 2012. The lead times are crazy, but I've gotten used to them. I have a card coming out this Halloween that I created in... I don't know... 1983?

Anyway, in case you're curious, here's what I submitted this morning. Now I wait to see if the card company likes them enough to test them in stores... Meanwhile, to be safe, make yourself a note to check the shelves in 2012. Put that note somewhere where it will be highly visible for the next 1.5 years.

FRONT OF CARD:

INSIDE THE CARD:

CARD #2 FRONT:

INSIDE THE CARD:

p.s. I like that last little drawing there. This guy is a serious musician--no doubt--but he also knows when to stop playing and just strike a dramatic pose.