Thursday, April 1, 2010

"Happy" Anniversary












Today is the first of April. April Fool's Day. It also marks the fifth anniversary of my leukemia diagnosis. Usually we don't associate bad news - such as being told that you have a life-threatening health condition - with cause for celebration, but I take a long moment each April 1st to reflect on the many ways that my life has changed since that fateful moment in the doctor's office. Many lessons have been learned, many questions have been raised (a few of them have even been answered), and the current of gratitude coursing through my life has become ever stronger.

It also marks the beginning of a brand new year of The Daily Zoo. Year Four was completed last night and a new sketchbook was pulled from the shelf to begin the journey of Year Five. Yes, a blank page can sometimes be intimidating, but it can also be a vast playground where anything is possible. Let your imagination run wild!
Onward ho!

8 comments:

Adrian Martinez said...

Congrats!! Can't wait to see with what you come up next. Take care.

Kendra Melton said...

Congrats! A blank page can be intimidating, but the first blank page of a New sketchbook can be even more so :P

Lesley Vamos said...

Congrats Chris - your honestly such a great inspiration ^_^

Sarah Huisken said...

I'm very excited to see what this new year will bring for you and your artwork. Have fun!

Chris Ayers said...

Thanks Lesley & Sarah! I definitely intend on having fun. Lots of it!

Karahhh said...

Chris,

I think you might find the work of theo jansen interesting if you haven't already seen it. He's an artist and sculptor from holland and also creates animals and new forms of sort... here's a youtube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b694exl_oZo

All the best,
Kara

g1toons said...

wow book four, cant wait

Chris Ayers said...

Thanks for the link, Kara. Amazing creatures! I can see the next generation of vehicles and automated "workers" there. Very cool.

Leon - yeah, I hope to someday publish book four...after book three (maybe sometime next year?). I checked out your blog. Very prolific - keep it up! I think you'll find figure drawing very, very beneficial to both your drawing and animation. Congrats on graduating Animation Mentor, too.