Valentines Day Grogu Cupid

Happy Valentines Day 2021

I once drew napkins to gratify my sons’ wishes, now my goal might be to make them cringe. Is this my job as a parent of teens? 

We might all be tired of Baby Yoda, but it seemed like the obvious choice.

Happy New Year 2021

One last incendiary image for the year, badly drawn on an absorbent paper product.

Our most inflammatory napkin was the pairing of Trump and the Star Wars prequels buffoon, Jar Jar Binks, back in the pre-end times of January 2016.  At the time, I wrote something about how my sons, despite knowing little about politics at the time, had an irrational hatred of Donald Trump, which was possibly only exceeded by their irrational hatred of Jar Jar. 

We had just watched “The Revenge of the Sith,” so I was thinking about the fanboy theory that George Lucas had originally intended for Jar Jar to be revealed at the end of the saga to be the top Sith Lord, the ultimate bad guy. My title for the post was “Could Idiocy Mask an Evil Master Plan?”

There’s definitely been enough idiocy and genuine evil to go around this year, (and the four years that preceded it) but I don’t think the two have been conspiring in quite the way I was suggesting back in 2016. 

As I mentioned, it was definitely our most vehemently protested napkin post. Unsurprisingly, no one spoke up to support Jar Jar. I had not considered that we had many followers who would be so offended by this pairing. One irritated commenter memorably suggested that I needed to draw Barack Obama with Satan to even the score.  

Poor Jar Jar. At least he presumably lives long ago in a galaxy far, far away.....

Here’s to hoping that 2021 will not be so frequently described as a container of burning trash.

The Child, Rotta and Ahsoka

Ahsoka with Babies Yoda and Hutt:

(A Last Minute Effort for May the Fourth And the End of The Clone Wars)

Now that the kids are blasé teenagers, I sometimes forget just how intense their affection for things Star Wars was (and still is, under the cool exteriors). 

As he was a fan of the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars shorts from 2003, it took our older son a while to warm up to Ahsoka and the weekly series in 2008.

But now both kids appreciate Ahsoka and are very much looking forward to her promised appearance on The  Mandalorian.

I am told there is fan speculation about her relationship with The Child.

However, as she was the caretaker for the annoying baby Hutt, Rotta, I wonder if she would be excited to have another infant-minding job.

My son also reports that she is going to be really old in the Mandalorian timeline. ....Not quite as old as his mother, of course. 

And I definitely have little interest in minding small children, or 50 year old infants.

Happy Valentines 2020

We Ship Baby Yoda and Pikachu for Valentines Day:

I really aspired to coming up with something less predictable than this, but predictable was the best I could do today.

Our son commented that there might be a lot of romantic fan fic out there about these two. I cannot confirm or deny.

See previous Valentines napkins at this link

A Decade Ago in Napkins

Napkins from 2010 or before:

I have to admit the  exact dates are a bit imprecise before 2011 when I started posting them at dailynapkins.com. 

Before that, used napkins were collected in cardboard boxes and the kids spread them around the house when they waxed nostalgic and wanted to revisit their fixations of years, or months, past. 

I started drawing for the first kid in 2006, and there were maybe three or four years of just Sharpie, mostly black, with some special efforts in Sharpie colors. 

By the time the second child was added to the program in 2009, I had caved in to the pressure for more color.

Then there was the pressure to fill in the whole napkin and have multiple characters.

Napkins with too much white space were perceived as shirking. And god forbid if one kid’s napkin had less white space than the other- that was a blatant case of favoritism. 

While the napkins did return home most often, they were improved by selective crumpling and applications of yogurt and catsup.

Eventually I graduated to more expensive art markers that allowed a wider palette and faster coverage of the surface. 

And eventually the kids stopped using them as, well, napkins.

My younger son looked at the image of the sand person napkin tonight and told me my drawing has improved a lot. While this is true, these truly daily napkins back from the early days with a six year old and a two year old were only drawn at night after the kids were in bed in the midst of multiple other domestic chores including of course, the packing of a nutritious lunch (so nutritious!)

So, my time was rather limited, and the finessing of sand person fingers was not a priority.

But yes, I do draw better after 13 years of napkins, it is true. 

Baby Yoda Breastplate

Cringeworthy Pop Culture Combination:

(which seemed obvious to me... but my son promises we will lose even more followers than usual)

Now that I am more or less liberated from trying to make a small child happy at a school lunch by drawing on a napkin, I can focus on producing napkins that make adolescents cringe. 

Cringing is a term that is definitely compelling to the contemporary adolescent mind, compelling in a way that I can’t quite grasp. 

One of our sons eagerly follows “make me suffer” on reddit, which is definitely a cringe fest.

But nothing makes one suffer more than the embarrassing behavior of one’s parents during one’s adolescence. 

But, beyond tormenting my sons: let me be honest, when I saw the promotional materials for the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, featuring this fetishized, neon, 80’s style, close-up of the breastplate of her “Eagle Armor,” the universe whispered “Baby Yoda” in my ear. 

My apologies. Unfollow at will.

Mandalorian Menorah

Happy 8th Night of Hanukkah 

(Somehow I forgot to post this on the actual night)

There were a couple Baby Yoda Christmas themed napkins, so I thought we ought to represent other holidays. 

Babies Groot and Yoda Celebrate 2020

Happy New Year:

One last Baby Yoda, with his predecessor, Baby Groot.

Not my best effort, but look at those cool glasses! It’s a good year for New Year’s eyewear.

Here’s to better drawing in 2020.

Santa Yoda

Merry Christmas 2019

I promised Baby Yoda wearing a ugly Hanukkah sweater this week, but Christmas was today, and we still have a few more days of Hanukkah to work with.

Happy Ugly Christmas Sweater Day

The Season To Be Jolly ‘Tis 

And apparently nothing cannot be improved by Baby Yoda

Next week: ‘The Child” wearing unattractive Hanukkah sweaters? 

Faux Furries in December

Some Faux Fur is More Faux Than Others:

It’s Faux Fur Friday

(The first Friday in December, according to the National Day Calendar)

I was thinking that we should have a napkin about upcoming December movies...the latest and much anticipate Star Wars saga finale is looming.... And then there is “Cats.” On the way to school in the morning, we squint in the glow of giant screens in the Union Square subway station,  playing clips from the Cats trailer.

When I suggested a furry team up of a Star Wars character and a Cats character, our younger son warned me that we would surely lose a lot of followers on Instagram.

That sounded like a challenge to me.

I picked Ian McKellen’s character, Gus, “the theater cat,” because Mr. McKellen has appeared in other movies the kids have seen. And his cat personage was perhaps not quite as disturbing as some of the others.

I always though Chewbacca’s lips were troubling.

But in this context, maybe not so much. 

(And, National “Kiss a Wookiee Day” is June 15th)

Baby Yoda Thanksgiving Parade Ballon

Baby Yoda Crushes it as Thanksgiving Balloon:

(There wasn’t one in the parade as far as I know...but certainly it is only a matter of time before the internet demands representation.)

To be completely honest, we did not even watch the broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade on TV. Our kids have always been rather uninterested in this New York tradition. 

However, it was really, really windy this morning, so I did spend a good bit of time reading online about the various giant character balloon accidents that have happened over the many decades of the parade’s history.  While there was only one incident serious enough to put someone into a coma- the Cat In The Hat was the offender- there have been many more mishaps that resulted in damage to streetlights, lost bystander teeth, damaged character dignity, and general panic and distress. 

The parade proceeded today despite the winds, but I heard that they held the balloons very close to the ground, practically on top of their armies of handlers. 

Certainly Baby Yoda would never hurt the rope holders or specatators, would he?

Late and very hurried napkin, (had to spend much of the day making the whole kitchen sticky with sweet potatoes) but Happy Thanksgiving  nonetheless!

And, last but certainly not least, our younger son deserves the concept credit- I was just going to draw baby Yoda riding a wild turkey....much less appropriate!

Aftermath of Area 51 Raid

What One Does to Relax After the Area 51 Raid:

I rely on my sons to keep me up to date on upcoming important cultural events like the “plan” to storm Area 51.... to liberate the aliens the government is hiding therein. 

I don’t think we will be attending, back to school and all, and so hear all the flights and hotels are already booked solid....but it was entertaining to think about what aliens we might be interested in bringing home:

Stitch from Lilo and Stitch, an Ewok, and the later day Ewok- a Porg, Gizmo from Gremlins, and one of the childlike but deadly aliens from Galaxy Quest....and a red panda, just because my son would really like to have one as a pet.

And what would you do once you brought all those cool aliens (and panda) home? 

Watch youtube on your iPad on the couch while wearing your skeleton onesie, of course. 

Our son was quite concerned that the Daily Napkins followers would not be familiar with Galaxy Quest or Gremlins, released in 1999, and 1984 respectively (ouch)

But he had seen both long ago, so I am going to assume some of the rest of our audience might have also.

Rancor and Godzilla for May The Fourth

Lovable Monsters:

The Rancor has his fans, though perhaps not as many as Godzilla. 

There are certainly other creatures in the Star Wars universe who are closer in size to the ever enlarging Kaiju....and I considered drawing them... 

But maybe I just wanted to draw a Rancor holding claws with Godzilla.

Sweet Frosted Sixteen

Sweet Frosted Sixteen:

We have a long history of silly frosted birthday cakes....but perhaps, like the napkins, we are dwindling down to the end times.

The sixteen years-ancient birthday celebrant was flummoxed as to what to select for his cake image this year. 

(His recently turned twelve year old brother was too cool for the whole enterprise. To be clear: not too cool for colored frosting...just too cool for pictures made of colored frosting.)

Somehow at the very last minute, we arrived at the cute-beheld-spectacled cat image for the Sixteenth. 

I can’t explain it’s significance, but I can only observe that it says something to him. 

He’s not much into cats, real or imaginary, so that’s definitely not the answer to the mystery.

At any rate, it was an easier frosting project than, say a particular Dark Souls character wearing a certain kind of armor, sitting in front of a bonfire, or three characters from Skylanders, or the Predator riding on Godzilla, just to name a few.

I have included the original image for reference. I did change the glasses from black to acid green because, while looking cool, black frosting can be a bummer to eat and to clean off the couch after the 14 teenagers have left.

I apologize that the original cat image is uncredited. We don’t know where it came from, and Google has been unforthcoming. If you know, please do share.

Someone once contacted me to ask if they could reproduce our napkin of Princess Leia riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the frosting of a birthday cake for their four year old daughter...to which of course I said: absolutely! 

So certainly we like to give credit where credit is due... though of course I don’t feel the need to be credited for the birthday cakes of small children. But it was amusing to be asked for permission. Sorry, again, I do not have an image of the cake handy.

Chewy and Rocket

You can never go wrong with a furry sidekick: 

Chewie (or is it Chewy?) and Rocket affirm how much they have in common

...though the raccoon looks a bit concerned about the situation.

Probably what my sons really like most about these two is their weapons, not their furry charm.

This one was for Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you) ...but it did not get finished or posted then as dinner has to get made, even on Star Wars Day.

Sith Plague Doctor

Plague Doctor Mask modeled by our soon to be 11 year old son.

Mask mostly fabricated by his glue gun incompetent mother from a patten by lostwaxoz.com.

Sith light saber courtesy of the Star Wars universe.

Ewok Outnumbered by Porgs

This napkin actually came before the New Years Porg with Ewok skull image, but the winter break from school has gotten the better of me.

Yes. We saw the Star Wars movie. (Was there a choice?) 

And yes, the Porgs were either delightful or annoying, depending on whose opinion you would like to hear. 

But at least the Porgs were not shown lactating.

This was also true for the Ewoks in “The Return of the Jedi” 

Something we did not even know that we should be thankful for back in 1983.

Happy New Year Porg with Ewok Skull

Happy New Year from Ahch-To:

Who is the most popular Star Wars charismatic microfauna now?

I feel pretty much the same way about the Porgs from “The Last Jedi” as I did about the Ewoks.

The Ewoks appeared to be dangerous predators as well as insipid furry eyesores. (They were planning to eat Harrison Ford, remember?) 

It is amusing to imagine that the Porgs might also be threatening. 

No, I don’t dislike Ewoks that much.

I just wanted an opportunity to draw a skull.

Star Wars Poker Game

‪"The fear of loss (in poker) leads to the dark side." 

...or don't try to cheat Yoda...unless, perhaps, you are a poker playing dog.

I thought about updating the "Dogs Playing Poker" background to something more spaceship appropriate...or maybe Tatooine-appropriate... But decided to go with the classic red and green pseudo club-decor.

The "Dogs Playing Poker" painting was actually a whole series of paintings produced by one artist over a period of years around 1894-1907 for an advertising campaign for a cigar company. Or so says Wikipedia. This image is a bit of a combination of three of them. 

My younger son was the one who suggested the poker game. He now tells me that the drawing did not live up to his expectations. He thought that R2D2 and "Chopper" the contrary droid from "Star Wars Rebels," should have been the ones passing cards in the foreground, as they both have extendible arms. 

Oh well. Another missed opportunity.


a couple of the paintings: