Under the Sea

The Land of Le Beef just got a little bit deeper - about two thousand leagues under the sea deeper. Once again the Land of Le Beef has worked with Woodland Pre-School in Hong Kong to create a mural at their newest location on Caine Road, this time with an underwater theme.

Yes it is better down where it's wetter, under the sea.

Another part of the school features a gritty, back alley urban theme to fit with playroom town.

City mice.

A Very Beefy Valentines Day

Love is a funny thing. One moment you might be standing there minding your own business, when all of a sudden you are viciously attacked by a warm and passionate feelings. That's just the way it goes sometimes. Anywho, I would like to dedicate this cartoon to my lovely wife.

Attack of the ninja hearts.

Year of the Horse, 2014

When Chinese New Year's comes around, I like to take a little bit of time and hand-craft a very special illustration to commemorate the occasion. As we all know, 2014 is the year of the horse. I imagine horses all over the world are celebrating intensely and causing all sorts of ruckus, and we should all celebrate with them.

You can check out last year's 'Year of the Snake' illustration here. I think it's actually better than this year's.

Chinese New Year, Year of the Horse 2014

Horsing Around

Sometimes you just need to ask yourself, 'if a real horse were hitting on a carousel horse in a bar, what would it say?'. I posed the question on the Land of Le Beef Facebook page; below are some of the responses I got.

The Italian Stallion in action...

"I've always had a thing for pole dancers. Can you do that thing where you do the splits and slide down?"

"Carousel horse, huh? Can I ride you for a quarter?"

"Hey babe, why the long face?"

"I'm looking for a 'stable' relationship."

"Some guys are into Durex, but I'm more of a Trojan horse."

"I'm hung like a you-know-what..."

"You've been spinning around my head all night."

"I'm feeling studly"

Well, that's it. Thanks to everyone who submitted. If you have any to add, please feel free to write them in the comments section.

Gratitude - Staedtler and Uni-Ball

I believe that one if the most important things that a person can do is express their gratitude and appreciation for the people and things that enrich their lives, and this is something that I would like to start doing more of.
Today I am going to start off by expressing my gratitude to a couple of tools that help make the Land of Le beef: Staedtler Pencils and Uni-Ball Uni Pin pens.

Me hugging my comically oversized and slightly scared looking drawing tools...

I have been using Staedtler pencils (and erasers, lots of them) since art school, and I have never looked back. They have always made a high quality, reliable product. I especially like the HB (although I would never turn down a 2H either). Staedtler pencils provide the foundation of all of the Land of Le Beef sketches.

The pens that I use, Uni Pin by Uni-Ball, are a relatively new find for me. When I started the Beef a couple of years ago, I didn't put too much consideration into which pen I used. Eventually I had bought a bunch of pens just to try them out, and I would just randomly grab one whenever my sketches were ready for ink. Some pens would frustrate me by how fast the ink flowed, or their lack of precision, but I always felt great when I had a Uni Pin in my hand. Now I can't imagine using anything else. They come in different thickness; I typically use 0.2 for the main lines, and 0.1 for small details and shading. If I happen to be doing a larger illustration I might use a 0.3 or even the 0.5.

Anyway, to sum it all up, thanks Staedtler and Uni Pin. You're awesome.

The actual pens and pencils in all their glory...