Julie's Pseudo Birthday Gift

We all have tough months. Mine was February. The aftermath of the holidays, some unexpected expenses and a dip in freelance work left my wallet thinner than usual. I can handle living on a shoestring. However, my fiancée's birthday just happened to coincide with this perfect storm of financial wallops, leaving me empty handed in the gift department. Not good. So this year, in lieu of an actual gift, I designed her this five panel, vertical accordion folding card and she loved it.

Studying Schwab

Back in school we used to get away with replicating other artists' signature styles by deeming the work a "study". This practice was often encouraged, but as we became upperclassmen with unique visual styles of our own, it died out.

For this year's holiday card Julie and I decided to revisit this activity and borrow the charming and timeless look of Michael Schwab's illustrations. While I will refrain from posting the finished card design, here are the studies:

Baby mooner update

I just received word that the little hellions are on their way. My brother Josh and sister in law Trish are snapping on the shackles of parenthood today and I couldn't be happier for them. All I can say is be warned—the cycle of deviance is coming full circle. Anyone who's known my brother Josh since his formative years knows that up until his twenties he had a close relationship with trouble. All signs point to him as the genetic origin of the mooning incident explained in the previous post. As the very soon-to-be uncle, I'm tickled by the idea that the brother who used to pin me down and dangle loogies mere inches from my face will soon have to endure the fruit of his own loins. Go buy yourself some Advil right now brother. I'll reimburse you for it.

Josh and Trish, I know that you will be incredible parents. Don't worry, Ethan and Hailey won't be the deviants that I've painted them to be. I love you and will see you and the little angels soon.

Baby mooner

My brother Josh, and his lovely wife Trish are having twins. The whole family is waiting with bated breath for the arrival of our newest family members, Ethan and Hailey. From the looks of the latest sonogram, at least one of them is going to be a hell-raiser.

This image, taken January 19, revealed one of the babies in the taboo act of mooning the camera. Not just a quick shot of the rear, this flagrant disrespect for authority was done with gusto. Pictured below are both ass-cheeks clearly stripped bare and pressed to the camera lens. The identity of the delinquent can't be verified due to image distortion common to sonograms, but it is safe to say that both babies will be taken into custody and interrogated shortly after their birth.