you know, in the long run it may be better to just buy them a barbie doll or something... you gotta do 18 by christmas?! better start on Christmas 2008 as soon as new years is over! :-P

Thanks guys! Yeah, Raffi, I think this goal might be the death of me. I won't be doing it next year... maybe just birthday paintings, or focus on putting together work for myself for gallery shows. Iggy, cel vinyl acrylics come in normal colors and a few radiant colors (basically flourescent) which are very bright. On average the colors are pretty vibrant right out of the bottle, so I do a lot of mixing to tone them down a little. I mixed these hastily, so they came out slightly brighter than I wanted, and the pic is off a little too. Jack, this entry was imported from my blogger account, so it's probably their issue. Displaying fine for me right now.

Thanks, Kiwi. I've drawn since I was young (I come from an artistic family) and graduated college in fine art, but what I've found to be most helpful lately is jumping around to other art blogs (mostly animators') which inspired me to get a sketchbook and draw again regularly. The end goal is to get better at painting, since I've been more focused on pen and ink in the past. I've been trying to study and practice some of the techniques from old Hanna Barbera and Samurai Jack cartoon background paintings. These artists employed amazing design, color and texture in their work. I'm trying to learn some of their techniques to use in my own work, which has gotten pretty cartoony lately. Was that a long enough answer? :)

maybe you can just do color copies, stick them in a frame and give the same few paintings out to all the cousins and nephews and nieces who won't ever meet.... they'll never be the wiser.

Thanks, Boon, JRS and AC100! Raffi, I appreciate you trying to help me cut corners, but 3 of the 5 live with my brother and the other 2 live with Tracy's sister. They also see each other a few times a year... so I think they'd be the wiser. :) Anyway, I'm stressing a little, but having fun with the designs and paintings. Speaking of, gotta go finish one now. Thanks for the encouraging comments, everyone!

i'm always looking for the most efficient solution... the answer is obvious - stop letting them meet each other. :-D