The bartender, shocked as he has never encountered a talking duck before, agrees to give the duck a small discount for his daily sandwiches.

The duck takes his sandwich, pays, thanks the bartender and goes out.

The bartender immediately calls his friend who owns a circus:

"Listen, there's a talking duck coming to my bar. Come tomorrow around lunchtime, you gotta see this for yourself!"'

So the next day the circus owner waits in the bar. Sure enough, the duck goes in, jumps on the barstool and orders a sandwich.

The circus manager overcomes his awe and says:

"Hello sir, I'm a circus owner and I want to offer you a job. I can give you whatever money you want, plus a company car, a cell phone, best hotels. Really,  whatever you want!"

The duck considers his offer for a moment and says:

"So you're a circus owner, right?"

"Right."

"And your circus is one of those big tents, right?"

"Right."

"With a sandy arena in the middle?"

"Yes."

"And with rows of seats around?"

"Of course."

"So what the heck do you need a bricklayer for?"

My dad sent me this joke last week. I just couldn't resist illustrating the duck.

A while back Jenni handed me a rusty old tin box and said, "Do something with this." Twist my arm, why dontcha.

I love this kind of project. I get to paint and repurpose some sad, neglected object. I once fastened a headlight onto the hood of an old VW bug and wired it to use as a decorative lamp. It weighed about a million pounds, but it was killer. Thankfully, this little tin box wouldn't crush my work table.

Unless someone who commissions work from me already knows the subject they want, it usually takes me a day or so to come up with the right image for a painting. I'll just sit with the object for a while, stealing glances throughout the day. I try to paint for what the object seems to be asking for. That sounds kinda hippy-dippy, but it's just how it goes.

The Process

Once I have the concept, I sketch on paper, experimenting with layouts and ideas.

This is what the box looked like before painting. Kinda cool, but it needed help.

RED! Sammy Hagar would dig this. But it's not for him.

I decided this needed a Sparky Firepants cloud. I pencilled a rough outline right on the paint.

I used a frisket so I could spray the cloud shape in white as a clean canvas for the rest of the painting.

It's a cloud! Kinda messy in places, but I have plans for the edges.

Roughing in the art with paint pens and fine line markers.

You can see my pencil lines. I regretted doing this, because they didn't erase well. I had to fix those areas later.

The final art. Now I just need to apply a clear coat, which will protect it and make it shiny.

I personalized the back to remove all doubt about who this was designed for. I added those little location words toward the end on a whim. "Montpensier" and "Napoleon" make it even more personal, because those are "our" hotels when we stay in Paris.

When Jenni opened this up, she saw the bottom first. She was thrilled. I had to tell her to turn it over. Then she was triple-thrilled.

There are so many little happy accidents and nuances when I finish art by hand (vs with the computer). This is a style I'll be using a lot more in the coming months. I hope you enjoyed getting a peek at my process.

Questions about my process? Hit me in the comments. I'm happy to answer!

I won't keep you long. I know you want to start celebrating, or maybe you're a recovering Celebrator in your time zone. If you don't read any further, I want to say thank you for being part of what has made 2011 a fantastic year for Sparky Firepants Images. Your comments, Facebook likes, well-wishes, purchases, and enthusiasm for my art keeps this train moving. Thank you.

Was 2011 truly fantastic? Was my year so much better than anyone else's? I think that's really a point of view sort of thing. There were a lot of things this year that I reflect on and think, "Ouch. That was stupid." Or disappointing, stressful, knees-knocking scary, you know the drill. I could very well say good riddance to 2011 for a lot of reasons. I choose not to list them. I choose not to dwell on them as validations of a "bad" year. If I want to find reasons to make it bad, I'm sure I can spin it that way. It's a choice.

Financially, we did not reap untold riches from our efforts in 2011. We are not soaking in a jacuzzi of cash. In fact, we've got a little debt.

So why am I smiling?

I smile at possibilities. Growth makes me happy. Learning from mistakes we make in the mad Firepants laboratory feels good. It's like a tough workout where you can't move your legs the next morning. It's painful, but it's not life-threatening and you know it's making you stronger.

I've learned and accomplished so much in 2011. A few highlights:

• Exhibiting at our first licensing trade shows. Learning what people like about the art and how to make it better.
• Getting our first licensing deal since 1999, only months after deciding to pursue it again. A promising start.
• Working again with the company I left in 2007. Feeling the satisfaction of continually building relationships and finding new ways to help each other.
• Impulsively diving into screen printing and painting skate decks, then realizing that I have a lot to learn. Namely, patience.
• Meeting so many new people and learning how they do what they do and why.
• Getting Pants! into the world, failing at crowd-funding, and discovering that short-term failures don't mean you have to chuck everything. But you do have to chuck what isn't working. Making those discoveries is cause for celebrating. It means you're still in the game.

I think that's really the core of what has been good about 2011. We're still in the game. 

So I don't say good riddance to 2011. I look back with fondness over a year of doubt, confidence, failure, success, being stupid, and learning great lessons. Of course I'm looking for 2012 to be our best year ever. I say that about every year. It always turns out that way, too. So far, 2011 has been our best year ever.

So I wish you the best 2012 you can imagine. And I wish you the best of 2011 to look back on.

What made 2011 fantastic for you?

Uncle Sparky has a new free holiday printable just for you. There's even a color-it-yourself version for added joy.

Instructions are included, just print this PDF.

Looking for last year's Christmas gift tags? You can still get 'em. Mosey on over here.

Do they paint on masonite board, like my surf artist friend Drew Brophy? Or do they wield a Wacom stylus and work on a Mac, like my cartoonist friend George Coghill? Is it a combination of both, like me? Do they ever get peanut butter on their keys or spill coffee on a painting?

It fascinates me.

It occurred to me that you might enjoy seeing how I work, too. For all you know, I could be surrounded by gnawing rats. While it would be fun to leave you with that little mystery, I've decide to let you peek into my world a bit.

To begin, here's me working at my digital desk:

Whatcha workin' on?

You may have seen my pirate dude around the site before. Here's a little glimpse into how he came to life. He began as a weird pirate doodle:

When I'm creating new doodles and drawings, I just let my imagination run through the fields of my mind like a cherry whistling down the highway in a shopping cart. A pirate with a propeller beany? Why? I have no idea. In one version he had octopus legs and a tutu. I didn't know if this pirate would become anything at all. No plans. Just doodling. I may still use the beany idea if the mood strikes me.

Much later, I did a rough yet more finished sketch of an idea for my pirate:

A pirate with a juice box? Possibly as odd as a beany. Maybe that's why he's drinking alone on the island.

Then I take it into the computer to trace it using Adobe Illustrator and my trusty Wacom stylus. Although I stick pretty close to my sketch, I make little changes here and there, like changing his boot to a stripey sock. There are many more changes you don't see. For example, his earring in the sketch came from Claire's. In the final art, it's from Nordstrom.

The final art:

I hope you've enjoyed this tiny virtual visit to my mad laboratory. If you'd like another tour or look at my process, perhaps in video, let me know in the comments. Questions, discussion, and encouragement of this sort of post are all welcome. Or just leave an "Arr!" and I'll know you care. Let me hear from you!

Whether you celebrate holidays or just the end of the year, we've got a fantastic giveaway for you! It's all wrapped up in our pants. Pants! the card game, that is. Check it out.

Enter the drawing to win a $50 Visa gift card!

It's easy to enter and no purchase is necessary.

To enter, do one or more of the following:

1. Tell a friend about Pants! Send them to the website at http://pantscardgame.com. If they preorder, make sure they put your name in a note on checkout, like, "Referred by (your name). You'll be entered as many times as we get preorder referrals with your name!

2. Share this on Facebook (let us know when you do).

3. Like the Sparky Firepants Images fan page on Facebook. Let us know you did by writing, "I entered to win!" on our wall.

4. Don't do Facebook? You don't have to Like or Comment to enter the contest! Sign up on our mailing list between now and January 1, 2012 and you're entered!

You get ONE entry for every step you do, which means more chances to win! And don't forget, every confirmed referral gets you an additional entry!

You must enter on or before December 31, 2011. The winner will be chosen from all entries on a random basis. We will also draw second and third place winners who will receive a Pants! t-shirt!

That’s it! We're totes excited to give away something fabulous this year, our first year of Pants! Celebrate with us and enter now!

Go ahead. Print this. Share it on Facebook. Tweet it. Go crazy.

I'm creating some new designs from my older illustration work. This jazzy dude is called a Trumpephant. I thought it would be fun to pair this up with a short musical-type quote.

Here's how I see this Thanksgiving Day playing out:

• Breakfast at 3:00 AM
• Eat Thanksgiving dinner during the Macy's Parade
• Kick everyone out by noon
• Sleep until 7:00 PM
• Head to Walmart, acquire cheap lamps and Halloween candy
• Quickly celebrate Christmas and/or Hannukah with some Target popcorn and corn dogs
• Go to Best Buy and get the Garfield Movie at 25% off!
• Home by 2:00 AM
• Fourth of July picnic is at 9:00 AM. Don't be late.

Here's some actually true information on the year's Black Thursday switcheroo.

Happy Thanksgiving to Americans and retailers everywhere. And I really mean that. Really. Because I'm thankful that you're here reading this. Really.

Download a printable PDF