Penguin Rock and Roll band is the result of a sock design challenge I started a few years ago. (For those of you who don’t know, when I was in a design rut, I decided to take pictures of my socks for the month of February. The idea was I would do a daily design based on the socks I wore that day. Only things didn’t work out that way and here I am a few years later trying to finish it. Oops.)

I wore these socks on Valentine’s Day. As much as I like the penguin hugging a heart idea, I didn’t want to just copy the design. I was working on something and caught a glimpse of Kitty Cat Kawaii Band file and thought to myself, “I have a cat band, a sloth band, a unicorn band and a cthulhu band, so why not a penguin band?”

Thus, Penguin Rock and Roll Band was born. Of course in order to have a penguin band, I had to create Penguin Playing Guitar, Penguin Playing Bass and Penguin Drummer.

The other bands also have art pieces of their individual members for sale.

Musical Penguins
by ValeriesGallery

Penguin Rock and Roll Band, Kitty Cat Kawaii Band, Sloth Rock Band, Unicorn Kawaii Punk Band and Cthulhu Kawai Music Band are available on Zazzle, Red Bubble and Imagekind.

Which band is your favorite? Penguins? Cat? Unicorn? Sloth? Cthulhu? Let us know in the comments!

Octopus Garden Bag by ValeriesGallery

One of the songs on The Beatles Rock Band is Octopus’s Garden. I think it is such a cute song and began to wonder what an Octopus’s Garden would look like. I didn’t put a lot of plant life in it for some reason, so maybe octopi like low maintenance gardens?

Some fun facts:

• I was introduced to the Beatles at young age because my mom would listen the oldies station in the car.
• I made the octopus pink, purple and blue because:
  • blue is currently my favorite color
  • purple use to be my favorite color growing up
  • pink is my sister’s favorite color
• When I was younger, I use to watch reruns of the Beatles Cartoon
• Currently, Octopus Garden is only available on Zazzle
• The first Beatles movie I saw was Yellow Submarine
• When my mom was younger, she had Beatles trading cards until my grandfather threw them out. Oops!

Have you ever been inspired by a musician or song? Tell us in the comments!

Here are some other artists’ works you may enjoy:

Happy Whale Baby Pacifiers by ingasi	Octopus Star Fish and More iPod Touch Case by Butterflysarebloomin	Flora the Pink Seahorse iPhone Cover Cases For iPhone 5 by beecute
Starfish Beach Wallet by lsarmentoart	Ringed Seal Tshirt by Bluestar48	Loch Ness Mousepad by FractalFire
Funny Mermaid Tile by FayeKilday	Vintage Ocean Animals and Seashells Pillows by VintageArtBazaar	Fun Water Theme Birthday Party Invitation by DizzyDebbie
2014 Calendar (Framed) Daring Scuba Diver Poster by TheArtOfPamela	Cartoon Dolphin and Mermaid Wristwatch by pogfrond	River Otter and Fish Coffee Mugs by funnaturephotography
Colorful Octopus Tshirts by Shirtsprint	Fish Pattern. Blue Fish Ghost Fish. Pillow by Animal_Art_By_Ali	reading octopus iPhone 5C cover by greendeer
TEE Better Mermaid by teepossible	Notepad – Seal silhouette with Name by bkmuir	Under Sea Life Submarines Blue Lamp by sharecolors
Crawfish Laptop Bags by Brandless	mermaid and octopus iPhone 5C covers by thatcrazyredhead	Happy Killer Whales Commuter Bag by fstasu58 .
Adorable Squishy Fish Tshirts by LittleDragonDesigns	Seahorse Beach Return Address Label by lsarmentoart	Sea Horses Swimming in Blue Water Custom Invitations by Flissitations

I’m not sure why music seems to be a big theme in my work.  I am a music fan and have been involved in marching bands, jazz bands, concert bands, choirs, etc from elementary school through college.  I’ve learned to play many instruments like the flute, saxophone and trombone. I also enjoy making music for my videos. Maybe music is just ingrained into my subconscience.

Rapper Cat in Bell Hat Bag by ValeriesGallery

My game system is set up in my living room.  One of my cats, Oreo, likes to hang out  in the living room sometimes while I play.  (And sometimes she decides that I’ve played enough by plopping down right in the area I would be dancing. )

• Rapper Cat in Bell Hat is part of a trio.  Rapper Cat in Track Suit is part of the posse. (For a sneak peek at the third member of the group, scroll down.)
• Two of the three rapping cats are inspired by 80’s rap fashion trends
• Other of my works that include music and cats are: Cat Piper,  Kitty Cat Kawaii Band,and Lounge Singer Cat to name just a few
• Rapper Cat in Bell Hat is available at Valerie’s Gallery at Zazzle, Red Bubble, Imagekind and Skreened

Rapper Cat in Bell Hat and Rapper Cat in Track Suit pose with the third member of their posse

Are you a fan of rap? What’s your favorite genre of music?

Speaking of music, a huge thanks to Cheryl of Cheryl’s Art for featuring my music notes bag on her Squidoo lens, Sheet Music Bags.

Here’s some music and cat inspired art from other artist you may like:

Cat and Mice Game Party Plate by heizfrosch	Adopt Shelter Cat, Love a cat card by Sharon Fernleaf	Pet Memorial Photo Necklace by elizdesigns
acoustic guitar urban collage posters by hutsul	DJ Wedding Reception Thank You Stick Figures card by Sandra Rose Designs	Singer Business Card Templates by AbundanceLoveTrip
Mt lion wallet by Artnmore	Cat Popping Out Of Cake Birthday (Bud & Tony) card by Betty Matsumoto-Schuch	Loving Cats Wedding Stamp by DizzyDebbie
Bag – Musician’s Music by bkmuir	Merry Christmas from Music Teacher, Joyful Song Guitar card by Lisa Crisafi	cat serenade – customizable post cards by greendeer
Caspian and Kimber Birthday Card by ZorroCreations	Funny Black Cat – Dear Santa It was the Dog Christmas Card by Charlyn Woodruff / CWDesigns	Wicked Black Cat T Shirt by JenHoneyDesigns
TEE Cat Nip iPhone 5C Cover by teepossible	Grumpy Cat Mug by thegrumpycat See other Grumpy Mugs	A female African cheetah and her three cubs Postcards by NationalGeographic

Lounge Singer Cat T-Shirt
by ValeriesGallery

 
I am a child of the nineties and once of my favorite cartoons from that time is Rocko’s Modern Life. (For those of you who don’t know, the show is about a wallaby who moves from Australia to a place called O-Town (somewhere in the US) and his adventures with his dog, Spunky and friends, Heffer (a cow) and Filburt (a turtle). Of course I was thrilled when Netflix started to carry it (for a very very short itme) and then Amazon. It’s fun watching the reruns and having a new perspective on them for various reasons.

So what does Lounge Singer Cat have to do with Rocko’s Modern Life? There is an episode called The Lounge Singer. In this episode, it’s revealed that Filburt is a very talented singer and dreams of being a famous lounge singer.

Add in the fact that I had just finished Kitty Kawaii Band not to long before hand and that my cat Oreo enjoys watching television with us, and thus Lounge Singer Cat was born! Totally logical, right?

Did you know?

• I sketched Lounge Singer Cat while enjoying a delicious baked good at a Barnes and Noble’s Starbucks
• Lounge Singer Cat has inspired another musical cat artwork. (It’s sketched, but not completed yet.)
• Even though the official name of this artwork is Lounge Singer Cat, I keep referring to it as Lounge Singer Kitty. Whoops.
• Lounge Singer Cat is available at Valerie’s Gallery at Zazzle, RedBubble and Skreened

Has music or animals inspired you in any way?  Let us know by leaving a comment!

Lounge singing cats not your thing?  Enjoy some artwork by other talented artist:

Halloween cute and funny black vampire cat tshirt by TheHopefulRomantic	Cats Making Valentines (Bud & Tony) card by Betty Matsumoto-Schuch	Tuxedo Cat postage by WestCreek
Mix Tape Personalized iPhone 5 Case by JerryLambert	Mum Humorous Birthday Card – Dog with Headphones Listening to Music card by Natalie Kinnear	Speaker – Blues Cat by bkmuir
Guitarcase Cat Fridge Magnet by JKcoder	Cat Leash Humor Card by Leo Cullum	Singing Cat. Neck Ties by Animal_Art_By_Ali
Mewsician in training mug by Mewsicians	Congratulations for Dance Performance with Ballet Shoes card by Teri Nelson Kuster	Cat Playing Upright Bass Ornament by pogfrond
Sleepy Kitty {Tuxedo} Refrigerator Magnets by heartlocked	Christmas Cat With Decorated Christmas Tree Tail card by Will Davis Studios	green cat face tie by mailboxdisco
Rainbow Sheet Music Binder by UROCKDezineZone	Cat Art: Vintage Art Print: The Kitten’s Recital by VintagePets	Add a name to this birthday card with a violin by Eggznbeenz
Singing cat cards by deemac1	TEE Rocker Girl by teepossible	Retro black cat face with numbers wall clocks by Sideview

But wait a minute, you may say, none of the cats in the Kitty Cat Kawaii Band are black and white!  When I originally started working on the piece, the lead singer was suppose to look more like Oreo.

However, I didn’t like the way it was turning out.  Then I read a book about how to draw Kawaii style and that inspired the direction of the picture.

One of the pieces of advice in the book was to keep it simple and obviously it was simpler to keep the cats a single color.  I’m really happy with how it turned out.

Kitty Cat Kawaii Band Necklace by ValeriesGallery

• This is one of my favorite pieces of art that I’ve done
• I have made a Kitty Cat Kawaii Band animation.  You can see it here.
• The Kitty Cat Kawaii guitar player’s outfit was inspired by Green Day during their American Idiot period.
• Kitty Cat Kawaii band items are available at Valerie’s Gallery on Zazzle, RedBubble, Imagekind and Skreened

Have you been inspired by a pet or video game? Feel free to tell us in the comments!

Kitty Cat Kawaii Band not your style?  That’s okay!  Here’s some cat and music inspired work from other talented artist that you may like:

 

Grumpy Cat Glare iPhone 5 Case by thegrumpycat	Spa Treatments for Your Birthday, Cats Happy Birthday card by Sharon Fernleaf	Mr. Brown Ring Ring! Case-Mate iPhone 4 Cases by BusterNFriends	Grumpy princess cat and the pea colorful posters by LauraDaviesArt
Weapons of Mass Percussion T-shirts by shakeoutfittersmusic	Rainbow Glitter Music Clef Playing Cards by UROCKDezineZone	Rainbow White Music Notes Business Cards by giftsbonanza	Music Is Love Mugs by utachick02
Cute Cats American Mojo Throw Pillow by nyxxie	M is for Music Learn to Spell Shirts by FalconsEye	DJ Wedding Reception Thank You Stick Figures card by Sandra Rose Designs	Cats Sharing Martini Anniversary (Bud & Tony) card by Betty Matsumoto-Schuch

And from our friends at RedBubble:

• Kandy Kit by billyboy is adorable!  Candy and a kitten?  Yes please!
• The coloring in this picture by Christine Purtle is beautiful!

The idea of the color palette came from what I thought might be used in very old story books.

Cat Piper Caseable Case iPad Folio Covers by ValeriesGallery

Have you ever been inspired by something like a television show or a story? What inspires you?

Here’s some work from some other artist that may also inspire you! Enjoy!

Original Grumpy Cat Round Magnet “NOPE” by thegrumpycat	A Christmas Chesire Cat Card by Angela Cater	One More Cup Coffee Mug by randysgrandma	Cute Cats Pattern Pillow by likeit
Blue Notes Jazz Sax Music Hat by UROCKDezineZone	Music Recital Invitation by © Red Rose Digital Art	Jason Mraz – Birdy T-Shirt by ZazzleMraz	Musical Notes Medicine of the Mind Drink Coaster by NotableNotions
The Big Bad Wolf Print by colonelle	Thinking of You – Fairy Tale card by Cartita Design	Cheshire Cat iPhone 5 Covers by disney	Magical Unicorns beside a lake Mousepad / Mousemat by KryfoldSky