Pre-Groundhog Day 2024

It's Groundhog Day tomorrow (Feb. 2), so I'll be posting my yearly take in the morning. In the meantime, here are a couple of warm ups.

I Love Challah- My Newest Sticker!

 My newest stickers just hit my Etsy shop! 

If you're anything like me (and my carb-hungry kids), then you already know just how good Challah is. So why not let everyone know, by putting one on your laptop, water bottle, or forehead?

There are certain places whose challahs are perfection, while others don't even seem to be trying. Once you've weeded those out, what you have is delicious challah for french toast, sandwiches, avocado toast, or–my favorite–grilled in olive oil on a pan, and then lightly salted. You can eat it straight, or add a little jam or avocado at this point, but whatever you do, make sure you can still taste the challah!

See below for many of the other stickers I have available, and head over to my ETSY shop to buy a few.

Groundhog Day 2023

 When you only work 1 day a year, you tend to want to go right back to sleep.

The Groundhog saw his shadow today, and that means 6 more weeks of winter. Sorry!

Thanks for looking and sharing- I appreciate it!

There are MANY more Groundhog Day illustrations on this blog.

I have a collection of my favorite Groundhog Day comics on my new comics site: edfrednedcomics.com

The folks at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, PA

Groundhog Day 2022

 Happy Groundhog Day 2022!

Yes, 6 more weeks of Winter.

No, that wasn't a surprise to anyone.

Thanks for looking and sharing- I appreciate it!

There are MANY more Groundhog Day illustrations on this blog.

I have a collection of my favorite Groundhog Day comics on my new comics site: edfrednedcomics.com

Groundhog Day 2021

According to the Groundhog's prediction this morning, we should expect 6 more weeks of winter. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

As you may know, every year I create a Groundhog Day tribute, so here it is for 2021, a year which is so far only slightly better than 2020.

Thanks for looking and sharing- I appreciate it!

There are MANY more Groundhog Day illustrations on this blog.

I have a collection of my favorite Groundhog Day comics on my new comics site: edfrednedcomics.com

Once Upon a Quarantine

The quarantine has created exceptional situations. This is the story of a group of friends meeting up on Zoom one evening.

Toilet Paper Book Cover

I'm doing a series of Facebook Live drawing classes for the JCC of Greater Boston (Tuesdays at 9:30am ET), where I help kids learn to create characters using describing words.

In preparation for one of the classes (and in consideration of the Covid-19 pandemic currently in progress) I drew a TP Man who I liked enough that I wanted to finish the drawing. Well, once I got started I decided to turn the illustration into a book cover.

I hand lettered the title, and then like a high school student pulling a prank, I TPed the word "The".

Update: I turned this into an origin story! You can read the entire origin on my comics website: edfrednedcomics.com

I probably just touched my face

A reminder I hand lettered and then turned into a gif

Tips For Working From Home

As a long-time freelance illustrator and designer, I figured I might have a few tips to help people who are suddenly forced to work from home due to the Corona virus.

So here are just a few ways to keep us productive, awake, and sane.

Feel free to share!

Baby Yoda Animation

"Flush you will. Wash your hands you must." Based on my Baby Yoda illustration for Star Wars bathroom prints on Etsy.

Animation by Yarden Sharon

Pancakes on Groundhog Day

I made pancakes for the kids this morning, and this is what I ended up doing.

Groundhog Day 2020!

It looks like Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow is a no-show this year, which means an early spring is predicted!

Great job Phil- your mom is so proud of you (see below)!

Thanks for looking and sharing- I appreciate it!

There are MANY more Groundhog Day illustrations on this blog.

I have a collection of my favorite Groundhog Day illustrations on Behance.

Crowd photo by Wendy Wei from Pexels.

Super Groundhog Bowl Sunday

It had to happen sometime.

This year, Super Bowl LIV falls on Groundhog Day! That's right, the biggest weather-related holiday of the year, has to share some of the spotlight with the biggest football game of the year. What are the chances??

Fear not, for I am prepared. To get everyone excited for the big day- and also for the football game- I cooked up a drawing to commemorate the mashup.

Tomorrow morning I'll be posting my 2020 Groundhog Day tribute, and I'd love to hear what you think!

Thanks for looking and sharing- I appreciate it!

There are MANY more Groundhog Day illustrations on this blog.

I have a collection of my favorite Groundhog Day illustrations on Behance.

The Wheel- A Short, True Comic Story

I created this comic while working on a graphic novel. It's a true story about how my daughter had to remind me multiple times about a wheel that had broken off the rolling case that holds her legos. By the end of the week, her patience had worn quite thin...

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Star Wars Rules for Your Bathroom

Need to remind your kids to wash with soap? 

Tired of begging your kids to run a comb or brush through their hair before going out into the world?

Do you wish your kids would remember to flush the toilet?

How hard can it be to squeeze some toothpaste on a brush and clean the candy out of their teeth?

I can help.

I created these 5" x 7" prints for your kids' bathroom to keep you from pulling the hair out of your head. You can frame them*, tape them to the wall, or just lean them against the mirror and go back to sipping your coffee in the morning.

They're fun. They're cheap. They're in my Etsy Store.

*Easy to frame: Buy frames with 5" x 7" (13 cm x 18 cm) opening, pop them in. None of the art will get cut off.

 

In case your kids just don't get it, it's written out in plain english on the back.

Illustrated by me, with art direction from my wife who has been BEGGING me for something like this for years.

My Etsy Store

Stickers for Your Business!

Camp Avoda has been a client of mine since 2014, entrusting me with the design of their brochure, ads, signage, and whatever else that comes down the pike.

They've begun putting together a prospective camper package and wanted to add stickers to the outside to get the recipient excited about the contents. 

I created a number of concepts, and the following are the first two that they went for. 

Once the designs were approved, I had them printed at about 4" x 4" (10cm x 10 cm). They were printed on vinyl and die cut because I find squares and circles boring ; )

Doesn't the die cutting make them look so much better?

I absolutely loved how they turned out, and my clients were very happy!

The designs were hand-lettered in Adobe Illustrator, and I even hand-drew the Camp Avoda logo so the whole piece would be matchy-matchy.

OH! And I printed the second one as a magnet, which came out great!

Where Lively Minds Go to Grow

Here's another sticker I designed. It's for a preschool, and we also did postcards and t-shirts.

Need stickers for your business? Talk to me!

Phone Addiction Vinyl Sticker- available on Etsy

Do you love your phone or tablet a little bit too much? OWN IT.

My new stickers just dropped- they're made of heavy duty vinyl and fit on the back of your phone, tablet, backpack or wherever.

Available on ETSY.

Robot at Night Book Illustration

The Salad Promoting Cucumber

More fruit bowl silliness. This time with a vegetable!

The Last Banana

Here's the next in my comics series. Again with a cocky banana...

The Noble Banana

So I've been making some comics lately. Here's the first in a new batch. 

More to come, or follow me on Instagram to see them sooner.

Groundhog Day 2019!

It's Groundhog Day 2019, and for this installment, I decided to create a comic. Why- because I'm working on a graphic novel, and I wanted to keep the momentum going!

This one's for all the optimists as well as the pessimists. There's something for everyone!

Thanks for looking and sharing- I appreciate it!

There are MANY more Groundhog Day illustrations on this blog.

I have a collection of my favorite Groundhog Day illustrations on Behance.

Speaking at RISD

This coming Saturday I'll be speaking at RISD's Art of Business Bootcamp with Justin Perricone. Our topic: Pricing Work as a Freelancer.

This is a new presentation that we've been putting together for the last few months and we're incredibly excited to pass on our experience to the attendees.

Along with the sharing the writing for our talk with Justin, I've been illustrating and hand lettering images and phrases to help convey some of our messages, and because I'm excited about how they came out, I decided to print up stickers to give away on Saturday.

The event is open to the public, and full of helpful information for those starting out or needing a little help with their freelance careers.

You can register here: Art of Business Bootcamp

Stickers are below: 

Cards for Kenya- A Mitzvah Project to support Health and Education in Kenya

For my son, Leo's Mitzvah project ahead of his upcoming Bar Mitzvah, he has decided to help raise money to support health and education in the Maasai Mara and Lewa, Kenya.

Leo, with the help of his mother and me, has created a deck of playing cards illustrated by him to sell, with the net proceeds going to two places.

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy Main Clinic
The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a non-profit organization that supports sustainable biodiversity and conservation in Lewa, Kenya. As part of their mission, they offer subsidized medical clinics that are the only source of healthcare for tens of thousands of Lewans. You can find out more about them at lewa.org/impact/communities/healthcare.

Proceeds from my Mitzvah Project will help fund medicines, medical equipment, and outreach efforts of the clinics, contributing to the health and wellness of the people of Lewa.

The Africa Foundation in Maasai Mara
The Africa Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports sustainable socio-economic development in local communities near conservation areas. The foundation worked with &Beyond, owners of Bateleur Camp where we stayed, to build a school in the nearby Maasai village. They are now working to open boarding facilities there, so children won’t have to travel long distances every day for their education. You can learn more about The Africa Foundation at africafoundation.org/projects/education.


Proceeds from my Mitzvah Project will help fund the village school, contributing to education and socio-economic development for the Maasai people.

If you would like to support Leo's project and purchase a deck of cards, or if you would like more information, please send an email to leosbarmitzvah (at) bernat.net or you can pick them up on ETSY.

In the Maasai Mara:

At the Lewa clinic:

Thank you for your support!

Corporate Editorial Work for a Presentation

Illustrations and hand lettering for a presentation by the TriNetX CEO.