This was fun to draw and I’m glad (with the magical powers of Procreate––ugh––on the iPad) I’m able to share that process!
The video mostly talks about the idea behind the card and how it came to be. One thing that you’ll see is that a sketch for the drawing appears fully formed at the beginning; so, it’s not a full look at my process behind the drawing. What had happened is that I started the drawing in a different file, but I realized it was a template that was low resolution and not appropriate for printing. So, I took that sketch before it went too far and dropped it into the print-ready file and started from there. However, the actual final drawing––the characters, their poses, and the final background––all start and end in this video.
Due to my general fear as an artist, I often worry myself into delay, which takes forever for non-comic stuff to get drawn. Because of that, we alternated our New Year’s card for years between one that I drew versus one that had photographs of us and our animals. I figured a two-year cycle would be enough lead time take the stress off and allow me to get something drawn. However, last year’s card was a hit, and I really enjoyed drawing it, so ideas for a new card intruded despite 2025 being a “photo montage” year.
Again, it was really fun to draw caricatures of my wife and I and our pets doing the things that we love to do: there’s me vibing and playing guitar, my wife camping, my dog staring at food, and the cats getting into situations caused by their curiosity. The entire image was inspired by the maniacal expression my wife often gets when immolating marshmallows for s’mores (especially while camping). While initial sketches really captured that pyromania, I feel the expression softened a bit during the drawing process, though there is no doubt she is loving watching that marshmallow suffer.
We’ll see if this trend of always drawing a New Year’s card continues, but with it being very fun two years in a row, I’m actually excited to see what I’ll come with for next year’s card.
I’m back (for a minute) in the video-making grind since I made a few recent drawings using the (terribly-named) app, Procreate, on the iPad, which allows me to export a time-lapse video of the drawings I make.
2024’s Official Holiday Drawing
That being said, I’ve attempted to drawsomething for the holidays over the years (and one for the New Year), missing the occasion more than a few times. It’s tough because I don’t want them to be overtly specific to a holiday if only because I’m not particularly religious nor is the comic. If anything, these drawings are just meant to celebrate the season that embodies the idea of reflection, contentedness, and repose. Also, the idea of Long John tearing open a gift in his pajamas next to a Christmas tree is a bit too astray from the canon than I’m willing to go.
This year’s drawing all started with a photo I took of a dead tree a few years ago at Green Lake, a lake up in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. It was a hike to get up there, but it was one of the most serene places I’ve ever experienced (and very cold). Looking for inspiration to draw a holiday image, I set to scrolling through the photos on my phone of our many trips to the Sierra Nevada and, obviously, this tree stood out to me.
The photo that inspired the drawing––a dead tree on the shore of Green Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.
From there, I quickly drew a quick sketch of the tree which I took a picture of and used as the foundation to draw the rest on the iPad in Procreate.
The tiny sketch I made in my sketchbook that I used as the starting point for the rest of the drawing.
I’ll admit that Long John doesn’t have many moments of levity––everybody is very serious all the time. So, it’s fun to drawthesecharacters just, you know, enjoying a moment, no holiday needed (though it’s a good excuse).
