And so it begins…er, began. A quick sketch—one line basically—and this little bird was “born.” He was immediately appealing. He seemed happy, even cheerful…cheerful, yes! Cheerful became his name: Cheerful Chirpy his full name. 

I put a circle around him, added the musical note, and I liked the result so much that I decided to do a whole series of similar drawings in circles and little Chirpy would be a sort of trademark within the circles.

These designs are simple for the fact they are intended to be submitted to print-on-demand online companies for printing on T-shirts, mugs, tote bags, phone cases, pillows, beach towels…all kinds of things.

So here I present Chirpy and his friends—my menagerie:

First, and next to be created was a “singing” cat, keeping the musical note theme in mind. She sings opera. You can read her full bio below.

No one gets her name right. This is a constant frustration to this diva of the operatic world (in her own eyes). Her name is pronounced Feleen, she likes to remind everyone. Has she made it big? Well, she does sing at the Met...that is, right behind that Hall by the trash dumpsters and at all hours of the morning, nearby residents complain. Undeterred, Feline practices her scales and arpeggios until, like all cats, it's time for a nap—one of many throughout the day.

Next up is a gentleman rhinoceros, emphasis on the gentle.

Say hello to Big Moe

the "mellow rhino."

He's a big guy, but fast on his feet, 

and he's a likable fellow 

his friends all agree. 

He has no enemies;  

who would dare to affront or attempt an attack 

on such a large beast?

(not to mention those horns!) 

He's gentle and kind, 

but at times hard to find. 

He likes his privacy to meditate and rest; 

he oft feels the need 

to take the load off his feet.

Have you ever come across a Koala with an attitude? Meet Cranky Koala 

Cute and cuddly they may be, but this guy is a Koala with an attitude. He has been called a Koala "bear" too many times to count, and he has had enough! He is a Koala—period!—and proud of it!
I saw a photo of a Koala with its tongue out just like my drawing but I don't think it was being sassy. Cute and cuddly, however, definitely!

I pay a kind of tribute to my late dad with the two graceful waterfowl pictured here that I call Swanderful Love.

Can you see it? You may miss it at first but  the title gives you the clue: See it now? It’s a little tricky. Some people see it right away; others need another clue or two. The graceful necks of the swans form a heart!

This drawing is a tribute to my late dad who once took a photo of 2 swans in this same pose. He sent off the film for processing and was waiting excitedly to see what he thought would be a prize-winning photograph, only to be dismayed when he got the photo back from the developer; the heads of the birds had been “cut off!” Poor dad. He was so upset that he ripped up the picture and tossed it away.

Okay, now for something completely silly:

There’s really not much to say about this. It’s self-explanatory. I’ll just add that I had a lot of fun making it.

Now I want you to meet Brother Chipmonk. Yes, more silly stuff (well, I like silly. Maybe you do too?).

Brother chipmonk is a devout chip…er, chap. He not only never fails to give thanks before cracking open his daily bread…er, acorn, he is kind to all the chipmunks in the woods nearby and willingly shares his winter hoard with all who may lack. He is known to share even with squirrels who are in need, often rudely competitive with his chipmunk brothers and sisters. He is a credit to his order, the order of the Sacred Oak.

What do you think dragons do on their days off when they’re not blasting daring knights with fiery breath or guarding their hoard of gold? Possibly this?

Now, what you see here is, admittedly, an unlikely or extremely rare sight. Yet, who’s to say this isn’t one of the ways dragons let off steam, so to speak? Well, we’ll let this dragon in his wagon roll on. It’s better he does this than go around snatching fair maidens and imprisoning them in towers. Besides, brave knights have better things to do than get roasted during their encounters with such fearsome beasts.

Last (for now), I came up with a terrible pun for the Irish or the Irish at heart. Just in time for St. Patricks day…well, about four months too early as of this writing…may I present— um, maybe first you’d like to guess the pun from the picture. If so, don’t peek at the answer below too soon.

“Top o’ the mornin’,” says the Leopardchaun. 

Did you get it? The best wrong guess I’ve gotten is St. Pat’s Cat. I might even draw this pet of his. It’s said that St. Patrick rid Ireland of snakes, but history doesn’t mention rats on the Island. Maybe he kept a cat around to handle that problem. 

Anyway, it is also said that a leopard can’t change its spots. As you’ll note above, this Leopardchaun can’t change its shamrocks. If you find one of these green-hatted fellows about, don’t bother trying to catch him. He won’t have any gold. He has no use for it.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the show. I plan to make more “circles” but I’ll make them in a new project—Part 2.

God bless you abundantly and even more!