July 8 - Bedtime for Cousin Lee

Cousin Lee is all snuggled up in her nice, soft and comfy bed. The nice cool tradewinds are blowing into her upstairs bedroom through the open windows, where she has a great view of her Pearl City neighborhood and Pearl Harbor. It all makes for one happy hapa. Lee loves living in Hawaii, and she's ready to close her eyes and say aloha o'e to another day in paradise nei. And with her bedroom door locked, no screaming keiki or hyperactive pets can barge in and ruin her mood. :)

May 25 - Mine!

Little baby Robbie just learned a new word, and it's striking terror into his parents Ricki Lee & Tony. He loves innocently showing off his expanded vocabulary and is quite proud of himself. This is the title card of a Flash animation I'm working on.

April 12 - Da Kine Easter Parade

I created this happy Easter cartoon on Easter Sunday, which this year in the United States was on the last day of March. I did a thumbnail sketch in my notebook a few weeks before, then after my church's Easter sunrise service I drew the final edition on the back of an envelope at the Cafe Westminster in Westminster, California and scanned it into my laptop.

The Rogers ohana is dressed in their hau'oli Easter best--pet mongoose included--to celebrate the resurrection of Christ at a local Easter sunrise service. And in doing so they are putting on their own version of Da Kine Easter Parade, yeah? Pictured from left to right are Cousin Lee, her adopted daughter Keisha, Lani Girl the mongoose, and arm-in-arm Lee's parents Della and Pete. Keisha laughs at Tutu's Easter bonnet because she's never seen one before and to her it looks so wonderfully ridiculous. :)

St. Patrick's Day in Hawaii Nei

Do people celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Hawaii? Why faith and begorrah, of course they do, brah--but with an island twist. Ricki Lee, dressed as an Irish folk dancer, is happily swinging on a vine from the big banyan tree with baby Robbie in tow. Her Uncle Pete and Aunt Della mix shakas with shamrocks on the lawn, joining their daughter Lee (who is "Hapa Irish" through her dad), adopted granddaughter Keisha, Ricki's other son Isaac on the other vine, and the ohana pets Xena the Chihuahua and Lani Girl the mongoose.

October 17 - Oktoberfest in Hawaii Nei

The traditional German festival known as Oktoberfest is celebrated in Hawaii, too--often at hotels, tourist traps and Lutheran churches. (At churches, though, it may be with root beer instead of the regular kine.) The Ricki Lee & Tony ohana, Lutherans all, are all in the Deutschlander aloha spirit in lederhosen, peasant Hausfrau dresses, feathers in their hats, and haku lei on their heads. Even Lani Girl the mongoose is in the act, holding up a stein full of root beer with her tail. Alas, little Isaac hasn't been properly brainwashed in the Oktoberfest spirit. They'll get him yet. :)

January 23 - Bad Golf Day

From the joy of New Year's Eve to the frustration of being a pathetic golfer: so much for Lee trying to be like professional golfer Paula Creamer. At least she can look like The Pink Panther, right? It doesn't help, though, when your mom and daughter really rub it in. And it really doesn't help if you have an explosive temper on the course like Lee clearly does.  :)

January 9 - Happy (Achoo!) New Year

Happy New Year! Since 2010 I have created Ricki Lee & Tony-themed New Year's cartoons in addition to my Christmas greeting cards. In this year's version the whole extended ohana in Pearl City welcomes you to 2012. Poor Ricki has come down with a cold, but that doesn't keep her from dressing up in her "Breakfast at Tiffany's" best for New Year's Eve. When her cousin Lee complimented her festive white gloves, Ricki angrily fired back "It's so I can wipe my runny nose with them!"

The cartoon was directly inspired by my own bout with a cold--the second one in a month. I myself was laid up in bed for most of the New Year's weekend, and decided to make lemonade out of lemons by incorporating it into the artwork through Ricki Lee.

The whole family as shown clockwise from left to right: Lee, her adopted daughter Keisha, her parents Della and Pete Rogers, Tony, Ricki Lee with her cold medicine and tissue paper, Xena faithfully watching over her mistress, and Ricki Lee & Tony's sons Isaac and Robert (seated).

May 30, 2011 - Welcome to the Ohana!

As promised, every cartoon posted from now on will now reflect Ricki Lee and Tony's family moving to Hawaii. In this post, everyone celebrates cousin Lee officially adopting little Keisha as her own daughter at the Honolulu children's court, and changing her name to Keisha Kealoha Rogers. Lee's mother Della is crying joyfully not only for having a grandchild, but for seeing the love and care she raised Lee with now being passed on to another generation.

This drawing was designed for an adoption-themed greeting card, which is available for purchase from my Zazzle.com online store.