According to the Chinese zodiac, 2021 is the Year of the Ox (although it doesn’t officially start until the Chinese lunar New Year begins on February 12th).

The Ox is known for its diligence, strength and determination. Traits we can certainly use as we recover from 2020 and the Covid 19 pandemic.

Below you can see my initial sketch for the illustration which featured the entire ox. But I quickly decided to concentrate on just the head and neck. I also moved the ear and the horn to better fit the flow of the lines. To illustrate the strength and determination of the ox I used the zigzag lines and I added circles which played off the nose ring and eye. Finally after creating the year I decided to flip the 1 and use it as the scowling brow above the eye to illustrate the ox’s diligence.

For the previous five zodiac illustrations, (all shown below) I also looked for design elements to hold the images together. For the rooster I used both straight and especially the curved lines in its tail. For the dog I used the spots (even incorporating it into the 8 of the year). And for the boar I used the curved tusk and tail design (even using the curve of the tail to form the 9). For the rat, I used the jagged triangles of its claws. 

This year’s illustration was done in Illustrator.

Congratulations for surviving 2020 and I hope 2021 proves to be a good year for us all.