Sunday, March 14, 2021

Pandemic doodles, the Royal Family, and a Passover preview.

We hit a grim date this week — the one-year anniversary of when most cities, including NYC, essentially shut down and workers were sent home. I quarantined with family, I found new hobbies, and I even got COVID-19 myself. I'm looking back with some of my old doodles I made before I started the newseltter.

But, in some exciting news, my Haggadah is ready! It was a LOT of work but so many people came together to make it happen — my drawing partner and collaborator, Alice Blanc, a copy editor I worked with in my previous jobs, friends who looked it over, etc. 

Below, I have some previews of the amazing and hilarious drawings we've done. You haven't seen Passover told this way before, I promise. Oh, and I'm hosting a seder on the second night with an amazing singer and comedian. I can't wait to see how people respond to my Passover Program! 

I didn't have time for any other work this week — BUT — a coworker asked me to do a doodle on the Royals, so I had to. And of course I included her in it. 

Enjoy!

Hagaddah preview!

This is a NYC-themed Haggadah for anybody! I drew the cover below.

Matzah ball soup — if you can still smell — drawn by my collaborator, Alice Blanc.

The Jews are enslaved in Manhattan and erecting buildings, statues, and bodegas.

Moses leads the Jews to the George Washington Bridge out of Manhattan.

I want this year’s Passover to bring back fun, be inclusive but safe, and even funny. Plus, I'm in New York City, so this Haggadah is, too. It puts a modern, pandemic, urban spin on the story we all know while keeping the order and tradition of the evening in an easy-to- follow format. And it has beautiful, original, colorful artwork.

I thoroughly enjoyed working on this and am so excited to share it. I've always wanted to be an author, so putting this together actually made me emotional! You can buy it here! 

And, you can join us for a live reading with performances on the second night. Register here. 

I filled a page with all the ways I filled my newfound time when the pandemic started

I made this in July, which feels SO long ago. Updates: I'm over wanting a dog and a chicken coop. Although, baby Archie made me rethink that (you'll see in the Royals doodle). And, I started putting metal straws in the dishwasher. 

I'm not ready for "real life" to return

[Video & Doodle] My royal reaction to the Meghan Markle tell-all interview

I find the Royal Family endlessly interesting. So Oprah's interview with Meghan Markle and Harry had everything I was looking for — answers, honesty, just tea, some more questions, and of course, Oprah herself. 

I actually made a video parody of "Megxit" when it happened, not knowing the truth. A lot of us didn't know what was going on and I'm glad the couple had the chance to speak. Hopefully it brings changes to the institution (or the firm?) and the family.

Danielle in Doodles updates

Project Passover is ago and came together FAST! I'm hoping this is just the start of this model — events, books, etc. I still have a small following but I have so much support that it feels like I have a lot of potential. Things are happening organically. I just added e-commerce to my website and got a Danielle in Doodles inbox. I'm getting better at digital drawing with my new tablet, but still hand-drawing. (I might need to change the header of this newsletter!) Anyway, I'm excited about it all! 

Thanks for reading! I hope to see you at Passover!

xo

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