Cute New Tee Shirts on RedBubble

Hi everyone!  


It's a rainy evening, and we've got the window open to enjoy the sound of water falling... maybe something about that is inspiring?

Today there are 12 more options for super kawaii tee shirts on RedBubble, as [with the advice of my friend Cahlyn] I drew each of the Zoo'd characters with water color pencils, and then digitally added a description for each one with their name 😸



Here they are...



Loosely based on the goofy and outgoing nature of my husband Rob, Dogosaur is loud and drools a lot, but he's friendly and loves a good time.  He is voiced by Rob.

He is sort of "down" sometimes, and as a person who suffers from anxiety & depression IRL, I created him as a nod to people who suffer from these feelings too.  He's very smart and is a deep thinker. He's also voiced by Rob. 

He's silly too, but more verbally than physically. If you like 'dad jokes', then you'll like Parrofly. He's also voiced by Rob. 

If you enjoy the skater dudes in cartoons, with their chill voice and sleepy eyes, along with their easy-going nature, then you've already "met" Slowan. He's the self-proclaimed hippie of the group, and also voiced by Rob.

Elefox is so relatable because like most of us, he LOVES eating. Like me personally, he's got a sweet tooth, but is not adverse to salty & crunchy snacks! He's also very friendly, and voiced by Rob.

He's extremely gentle, sweet & nurturing - which is why he loves to grow flowers. He even decorates his dam with them. He's voiced by me (Daryl Januszewski). 

Rabbird is a gentle bunny (who flies!) who loves writing heartfelt poetry - sometimes words are hard to say out loud, and her shyness can make her socially awkward.  She's voiced by me.

Froogle quietly observes others, and keeps her judgements *mostly silent, but if someone is doing something harmful, she will speak up for their own good! An assertive friend is a true friend! She's voiced by me. 

She's not a bitch and certainly loves her friends, but you better believe that she lives for attention and sulks when it's not given to her. Sometimes she says something hurtful, but is quick to apologize. She's voiced by me. 

He's friendly, considerate, polite and always willing to listen. He wouldn't mind having an advice column someday... and he's voiced by me.

She is sweet, "sexy", and free-spirited! Zebat loves to laugh and have fun, but she can be serious and helpful when a friend needs support.  She's voiced by me. 

Awww... that's what I always end up saying when I see her, with her big eyes, big ears and pointy wittle nose!  Good thing she's not bad, because with those looks, she'd get away with it.  She's voiced by me. 

So... which one is your favorite character? 

In other news...

Our Patreon page is now offering a $30 tier for those who want to be rewarded with Zoo'd merch! That means, even if you pledge for a couple of months, you'll get any Zoo'd tee shirt or tote bag you like, just to say thanks 😍

Thank you so much!

I Am Not Unikitty!

Hello lovely friends 😍

Today, I'd like to address an elephant in the room (and no, it's not Elefox this time)

There's been some concern that I "ripped off" The Lego Movie by basically using their cute and funny character, Unikitty. You know her.... 

She is delightfully silly, with a temper attached.  However, when I created UniCAT in the Spring of 2017, I hadn't even watched The Lego Movie yet, and didn't even know about Unikitty until later. 

To be honest, my heart sank a little when I first saw her, since I already knew there'd be accusers once they saw my creation's random and unintentional similarity. Sure enough, I've already been blocked on facebook from sharing certain Zoo'd Animal Hybrid Friends content, and that's one of the reasons why - someone's reported me as making "knock off" characters, so today, I'd like to clear that up for everyone 😄

Let's look now at Unicat, and then we will compare features: 

Okay, now looking at my original digital illustration from 2017, let's compare the two girl cats:

• Both are pink, yes. However, Unicat's whole face is pink, while Unikitty has a large white patch. 
• Unicat is more rounded and soft.  Unikitty is all square and pointy, since she is a Lego toy.
• In some images, Unikitty has a tail, which I believe is all blue like her horn. Unicat's tail is a beautiful fluffy rainbow! SQUEEE!
• Unicat's horn is golden and shiny; Unikitty's horn is blue plastic. 
• If you look at their feet, you'll see Unikitty's feet are like that of a unicorn, more like hooves. Unicat's feet are feline ones, complete with toe beans in some images! SQUEE! Toe Beans! 🐾
• Their eyes are different sizes (though both are technically "kawaii").

Anyhow, I've very disheartened that people out there would assume and accuse over something like this, considering that their similar is accidental (and quite frankly, Unicat is more snuggly!) 

So if you know of anyone who has reported this accidental similarity, please let me know so I can take proper legal action where it's required.  

*Legal rights to Unikitty (name, image and reference) belong to Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and legal rights to Unicat belong to Daryl A. DeRoche-Januszewski (name, image and reference). 

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Check out the Limited Edition stickers for new Patrons - a thank you for showing support! 

Their New Video

Hi lovely people 😍


On April 8, this post was shared to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the animals.

And now, they officially have a channel trailer:

And it's filled with some "Easter eggs" which you can read about at this Patreon article here


Enjoy!

Exciting Zoo'd Merch!

Hi lovely friends! 


As you know, the very first-ever Zoo'd Calendar (made for 2019) is now only 99c (Canadian).

Get it here


In addition, you can get BOTH of their coloring books for only $4 with the coupon code ZOODFOR2 


Here are some samples:

From the calendar...

And from one of the coloring books (feel free to print and color this)…

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And in other news, guess who's got new stickers? 

These are from the previous study I did on how big these hybrid animals would be, in comparison to a "hooman" (me in the pictures with them). And as promised, now they're stickers on RedBubble!

🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉

When you buy 4-9 stickers, you get 25% off, and 10+ stickers will get you 50% off  (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

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And speaking of stickers, if you pledge $1 or more at our Patreon page, you will get a limited edition sticker in the mail to say thanks! 

 

That's all for now!  Have a lovely day and happy Spring ~ xoxo

We Have a Channel on YouTube!

Hi everyone! 😍 We're celebrating at the Zoo'd Animal Hybrid Friends franchise, because we now have a YouTube channel 🎥

The animals started out as illustrations, and then this blog began in 2017 upon the finish-up of the #Kawaii365 project.  As I developed the characters, they became very diverse and complex - and eventually, this led to doing a Buzzfeed quiz (with 12 possible answers), and I took a cartooning course at Red Deer College in 2018, so I could improve my skills enough to start their web comic.

In the middle, I've drawn TWO coloring books of them and a calendar of them for Etsy. They are just so darn fun to draw ❤

In the meantime, these characters also appear on several items available on RedBubble, and have a Patreon page as well (for those who support the arts). For Christmas 2018, my husband Rob & I voiced them singing their own unique(ly specific) rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"...


...And that's what eventually led us to developing a YouTube channel for these 12 zany animals - we'll be doing some more voicing videos soon 😎

Enjoy!

How Big Are They?

Hi everyone! 😍

A valid question has recently been brought to my attention; "how big would they be compared to you (or, to a person in general)?" 


Hmmmm….. all this time, I'd been drawing them to be in relation to one another, and to various things and places on their home, planet Zurbpod. After all, they won't technically be interacting with people at all in their web comic series.

Still, I like this question, enough to do a little 'photo shoot' around our condo, to show the approximate size each animal would be if I were hanging out with them in real time (as their 'mother', I wish!).

Dogosaur is the biggest - although he's a big playful puppy at heart, there's no denying his dinosaur side is nothing short of intimidating!

Pandaroo is quiet and thoughtful, and a fun buddy to just hang out with - maybe watch some TV?

Parrofly is playful and silly - so I showed us goofing around here!

Ahh, Slowan - one of my favorite hippie guys (or, do they prefer to be called "slackers"?) Anyway, here he is chilling in our bath tub :) 

Elefox is very friendly, and that can only be a good thing! If he were not friendly, I'd be in danger from his size! Still, he'd be fun to hang out with. 

Beever may look intimidating at first, but he'd never sting you - literally, since he has a beaver tail where a bee's stinger would be! He's very friendly and sweet.

Rabbird is a bit on the shy side, so we don't exchange words here :)

Awww, my fluffy froggy, Froogle! After all, she is part poodle. 

Here, I hang out with Unicat in the bedroom, where I also keep my Hello Kitty collection (which she loves, BTW). 

I imagine Penguana being about the size of a large penguin, but of course with his iguana features. I really enjoy how he is so polar opposite within himself. 

Zebat is one of my favorites, both to create and to voice! She's ultra-feminine and has a French accent, and a playful spirit. 

Octomouse was another one who is just as fun to voice as she is to draw, though it does strain my vocal cords a bit to talk that high! 

So there you have it, friends 😍  This was a really fun project to do, since it was fun to hone my acting skills by posing with them as if though they're in reality with me (like I said, I wish!)

And, being a digital artist as well, I really enjoyed making this overlay, and adding speech bubbles. I am thinking of making these into stickers just for the heck of it....

Oh - and did you notice the Tee shirts in each picture?  The Kawaii365 one, I drew myself with fabric markers a couple of years ago when I began my year-long art project.  The other 3 are all available on my RedBubble shop, in addition to each Zoo'd character - enjoy!




Thank you so much for your support and helping us grow - consider becoming a Patron (link along the side of this blog) and help us grow even more. 
xoxo,
Daryl J. and the animals!

My Bag Went to Cancun

Hi everyone! 

In mid-January, Rob & I went on a big family trip with his mother & her gentleman partner, and mixed family members totaling 21 people! It was a busy but very fun week, at a fantastic resort in Cancun (Mexico) called The Grand at Moon Palace. There is no resort in the world quite like this one: It not only had several pools - one of which had world-renowned waterslides and an indoor playground on site - the beach was clean, the rooms were truly incredible (complete with jetted tubs and patio daybeds), and the resort itself had so much entertainment, I'm describing it in the next paragraph!

Combining the 3 parts of the resort, there were seemingly endless buffets (top notch food), a la carte restaurants, 2 arcades, 2 night clubs, incredible evening shows in a comfortable enclosed theatre, a bowling alley (yes), a 24-hour snack shoppe with delicious ice cream, an incredible AWE*SPA (the best couples' massage Rob & I have ever had!) and the resort lobbies themselves were so grand they're all something you'd typically see in Las Vegas. The only sad part was having to leave that royal palace and come back to Canada - boo! I wanna go baaacccckkk!!! 

Anyway, my self-pity aside, when we were sitting in the Cancun airport waiting for the flight back to YYC, I glanced at the tote bag I'd been using for carrying my coat (as well as a beach bag during the amazing week), and it dawned on me: This is the furthest this specific bag has travelled thus far (aside from ones ordered online by people in Europe and the UK)!  So I snapped a quick picture of it in the airport ^_^ 

Just look at how happy they are! Parrofly and Elefox had a great time in Cancun for sure! I think their favorite part may have been the calming spa pool (complete with blue lights) in the AWE*SPA. 

Anyway, wish I'd thought to photograph this bag at other points in the trip as well, but it wasn't on my mind until last-minute. Guess I was just having too much fun...

My husband snapped this pic of me after I pulled pectoral muscles from lifting myself high up onto this ledge. Anyway, if you look at the bag on my right, that's the beloved Zoo'd Animal Hybrid Friends - closest I could get to photographing them around the resort ^_^ 



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Get your own copy of the bag here