Greetings Cleveland!

So I'm two weeks into a stint at American Greetings in Cleveland, OH and so far it's been great. Gotta say my preconceived image of a greeting card creative studio being overrun with old ladies painting watercolor flowers and dogs was way off...it's inspiring being surrounded by many talented and contemporary illustrators and designers. I'm working in humor illustration in the creative studio and lovin' it so far. My very first card is a Valentine's Day card that should be out on shelves next year.

American Greetings is in the greater Cleveland area, though I'm staying in the city of North Olmstead west of downtown Cleveland. One of the first things I noticed arriving up north here is how messed up the roads are, surely a result of the harsh winter ice and snow so prevalent here. The best thing though I've discovered about the Cleveland area is the Metroparks, an amazing park reserve system that runs through 7 cities of greater Cleveland. It's not an urban park like NY Central Park...it's pretty much wilderness in the middle of the city the way it once was, set aside for preservation, education, and enjoyment. In my opinion, every city should've done something like this.

So far so good...

1000 Self-Portraits in China and Korea

Outdoor Mural

A while back I started this outdoor mural over a koi pond at our restaurant in Jax, FL. Surprisingly it's held up pretty good but I decided it was time for a drastic retouching.  You can clearly see the difference between the left side, which has been reworked, and the faded right side. The fish make a great audience.

Tiny Painting (4"x5") of a Large Blue Vase

You Can Never Get Enough Practice...

I Heart Language Evolution

Have you noticed that there seems to be a growing number of people who pronounce today Valen-TIMES day? Well, keep your ears open...

Superbowling

Like many I too was shocked to see the Patriots lost to the Giants in easily the most exciting Superbowl game I can remember, but there are a few things that vex me now the day after that I'd like to share:

1. What is with all this post-Superbowl media "I guess the Patriots weren't as good as everyone thought" talk? The amount of focus it must take to go undefeated through a 16 game season in a competitive league is ridiculous. This isn't some college football fluke season where a team - say Ohio State - plays nobody of significance and coasts 11-0 into a championship game under the veil of being "invincible." The Patriots just lost a game that was so close it was basically a coin flip.

2. Why does the NFL call the winner of the Superbowl "World Champions?" Last I checked we weren't competing with teams around the globe.

3. Please let this be the first and last year of this confounded "red carpet Ryan Seacrest" tomfoolery. This is a sporting event! I don't need to see attention starved celebrities walking down a scarlet pathway, getting photographed, plugging their careers, and being asked who they think will win the game.

4. And finally...I like dogs and I like Gatorade, but I did NOT get that Gatorade dog commercial at all. At all.

Bud Selig: Commissioner of Major League Baseball

Instead of watching my usual Sportscenter this morning, I noticed ESPN aired live the congressional hearing regarding Major League Baseball and steroids. This is a sketch I did of commissioner Bud Selig during his segment alongside Donald Fehr.

Personally I think it's a shame when competition is tainted because it completely distorts everything for everyone else involved. But let's be honest, those who profit from the homerun love the homerun by the truckload - including players, trainers, and owners. Besides, if I want to watch juiced up superhumans beating up on regular mortals I'll just turn to NBC's revival of American Gladiators...

Happy New Year 2008

Wow, it's 2008! Is it just me or does Ryan Seacrest look like he can't wait to take over Dick Clark's "Rockin' New Years" gig? And we were supposed to be in flying cars by now...

Anderson Cooper: News for a New Generation

New illustration added today to my website www.chrishsu.net of Anderson Cooper from CNN. I remember watching Anderson since back when I was in high school when he was on Channel One always reporting from hotspots like in Africa and Eastern Europe. I recall always thinking, "Man, this guy is always in the line of fire - literally of bullets - no wonder he's graying so quickly!" If you don't know about Channel One it was (and I suppose still is) a national news program played throughout schools in the mornings to inform teens of world events. For the record, I really liked watching it every morning but some of the other punk kids found it was a convenient time to quickly scrounge together their vocabulary homework and avoiding the wrath of the grade book...