Happy Easter to every one!  Here's some Easter photos + some from Rider University's Easter petting zoo.  There was also a little mini golf course and a huge egg hunt.  I had a really fun time!

  I love illustrations just as much as I love traditional painting.  My illustrations are really influenced by the watercolor manga of Hayao Miyazaki, who's also one of my favorite artists.  This illustration is about my pet hamster, named Bougie, who I imagined having his own hotel called "Casa De Bougie".  It's fun to draw these little illustrations because it makes me flex a different creative muscle.  I also love having my drawings show a narrative because I love writing stories also.
 If anyone is wondering about the shower part of the illustration: Bougie goes under his water bottle and rubs his head on the spout when he's cleaning himself, so it's like he's taking a little shower.  Hamsters are also nocturnal, which explains the first panel of the illustration.  They also love broccoli!

  I wanted to share some recent painting projects that I've done to hopefully encourage everyone to try and make something.  The first thing I made was a Valentine's Day unicorn card for my girlfriend.  I used blank paper, my poster paints, some gold ribbon for it.  This got me thinking also about what's my definition of art.  And I realized that my definition of art is pretty simple: Art is whatever I want to make.  I also like my art to serve a purpose and also to have some kind of storytelling element.  I don't like creating anything with rules, so my definition is pretty broad.  I just like anything creative.
  I had another fun project for my fish's bowl.  I got the idea because I saw my girlfriend's roommate made one and thought I'd make one myself.  I decided to do a panorama painting that can circle around my fishes bowl so he can look at something fun and colorful.  I also used poster paint for it and just had a ton of fun.
  I encourage everyone to try little painting projects like these because it's so fun to make something and all you need are really basic supplies!

  I had a great time painting this portrait of a dog with a pumpkin hat!  Too bad it's not Halloween haha.