All right gang, this is it. (I will stand my ground and say that my 2 readers formally constitute a gang!) The Totoro Forest Project is now formally being announced and the organizers have created this nifty website that will tell you all about it in more detail. Above is my framed contribution to this great cause.

In quick summary, this will be a charity auction to help save the “Totoro Forest” in Japan which was the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece “My Neighbor Totoro.” The auction will take place at Pixar Animation Studios on September 6th. But please make sure to visit the website for the full details, since there is so much more, including a book cataloging the event and all the art, and an exclusive exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum!

The website is not fully complete as they still need to get some more artwork and artist bios up there, but it should be filling up soon. I learned that, like my own piece, some of the artist’s scans weren’t so great and so they are taking the time to re-photo or scan those paintings for better quality. My big thanks to Yukino Pang of the Asian Art Museum who told me she could arrange to have a higher quality photo taken of mine.

Another big thank you goes to my friend Dice Tsutsumi, art director at Pixar, who invited me to participate. I am truly thankful, and am deeply in awe of all the artists that are participating.

The finished illustration from here. The scan is a bit funky because of a gloss coat over the painting, but ah well. This piece will need to find a happy home with someone at a charity event coming up. The event still has not been officially announced, but I will send out links and info as soon as I am able. And yes, there was a theme… It’s going to be a doozy!

Violetta’s little traveling wagon. Her bear Blue, carts her around with the harness.

A little bit of scribbly ballpoint covered with Photoshop later. Violetta is looking a bit on the “bad girl” side on the bottom. Probably needs to be toned down. She’s a trickster, but she’s not evil. More like a Puck character. And I kind of like the little Hindi woman that appeared.

This is a continuation of the weird and random drawings of bears from before. I think I found him. Will be working on color, too.

No one plans on starting the new year off with getting sick and battling a nasty cough and cold. And yet here I am… Ah well. Until I get myself feeling 100%, here are some bears. And a girl. With some marker seeping through.