The 2011 calendar marked the beginning of a twelve year series of calendars depicting the Chinese Zodiac. Each year beginning with the Year of the Rabbit in 2011, I would research an ancient Chinese legend about the particular Zodiac animal for that year. Each animal in the Zodiac cycle had a rich fantasy -filled tale. I began with an ancient Chinese tale of the Rabbit on the moon which featured a female character. The following year, the tale featured the Dragon alone. Afterwards I alternated illustrating a single animal followed by a tale featuring the animal and a female character. I broke my self imposed rule with the Year of the Rat which featured the Buddha behind the Rat. I had to include the Buddha because his tale is responsible for the order of the Zodiac cycle. The order of animals is based on their arrival to the celebration of the Buddha’s last day on Earth. The last year of my series, 2022, featured the first time two Zodiac animals shared the drawing.
Having scanned in the original artwork to my computer, I colored the image in Photoshop. Finally, I assembled the calendar itself in Illustrator. These full-color calendars marked the first time I offered my calendars for sale to the public. I repurposed the images as individual prints and magnets which can be purchased at my shows. At the 2016 Landis Woods Outdoor Fine Art Show, I was honored to have my original pen and ink drawing of the Year of the Monkey receive the Judge’s Choice Award.
Next time: Calendar 2023: SEASON HERALDS PART 2
