Happy New Year! According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2018 will be the Year of the Dog.

Last year I had created a rooster, which you can see below. I used both designs as my annual holiday card. First I did a search on Google for dogs jumping into the air. I wanted that to both give the piece energy and also to fill up the space better than a dog would if he was standing on all four legs or lying down. Once I decided on the shape of the dog I tried using repeated lines as I had in last year’s rooster. But the lines just didn’t work. I had already positioned the purple-rimmed circle behind the dog, so I thought I’d try adding circles to the dog. Call him “Spot” if you like.

Repeating elements in a design was something I first learned from the woodblock prints of Hokusai back when I was in high school. Those prints were small, black and white pictures in a book but they were enough to make me see how using repeated shapes could hold a composition together. It was a revelation to me at the time.

Something I didn’t notice until I had added the circles to the dog’s body was that they mimicked the 8 in the 2018 design below the dog. I guess at this point I do this sort of thing subconsciously. But those overlapping circles do hold everything together, don’t they? Finally I added a blue ball to help fill up the space near the top and because it gives the dog a reason to be jumping.

I did this in Illustrator, by the way.

Anyway, have a great New Year and I hope it’s a great one for you.

(Click on the rooster to view it at a larger size.)