the sheep keep coming

I'm still working on year-of-the-sheep New Year cards for 2015. Even if I hadn't been born in the year of the sheep, I would still love to draw them. They come in such variety!

etegami throw pillows

Yaaay! See what arrived in the post today: Three throw pillows I ordered from RedBubble, printed with etegami from my sheep series. I'm so very pleased with them.

christmas sheep

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night... (Luke 2:8)

research for the year of the sheep

preparing for the year of the sheep

The November issue of Gekkan Etegami (etegami magazine; published by the Japan Etegami Society) is arguably the best issue of the year. It has thirty to forty pages more than the ordinary issues, and it is always features the Oriental zodiac animal of the coming new year. This month, they have some 50 (50!!) pages like this one, jam-packed with etegami that readers have created to celebrate New Year 2015, the Year of the Sheep/Goat.

This year I will be using the sheep motif for both my 2014 Christmas cards and my 2015 New Year cards. I'm so excited I'm like a small child that can't stop wiggling in his seat during church or at a concert. One reason I'm excited is that the year of the sheep is MY year. I was born in the year of the sheep xx years ago, and that is one of the many reasons why I'm rather fond of the animals. Plus, sheep are a lot easier to draw than horses or dragons, don't you think?