This was for an article in the Oregonian (Portland, OR) about these new cool bento style lunch boxes. The art director wanted the bento kid to look kind of anime. This was one of my first experiments adding textures to my illustrations.
Nothing like a corn cob pipe smoke while you mow the yard. Here are 2 similar versions of a Father's Day card design I did awhile ago. Both were bought by greeting card companies. But neither were used. So both are available if any greeting card people want it.
When my 4 year old daughter saw this, she said "Why is the cat looking at the bird?" I said, "Because he wants to eat the bird." She says, "Daddy, cats only eat mice." 4 year old wisdom.