Loriot, the greatest German humorist that ever lived, died yesterday.

His sketches and cartoons are still as relevant and funny as they were decades ago when they were first aired/published. I doubt I will live long enough to see another comedian who’s able to match the standard he set. Loriot was a keen observer of the German nature, the petty bourgeois was the main target, but not victim, of his humor. In his sketches, seemingly ordinary situations featuring ordinary people subtly escalated into absurdity.

The following sketch doesn’t require proficiency in German except for his last sentence: “The picture is crooked.”

Within the scope of our feature “commissioned artwork of our characters drawn by other talented artists”, the Philippine artist Jericho (Serathus) drew the picture you can see above. It is, for obvious reasons, titled “The Flamethrower”.

Supporters can download the image in its original size (1800 x 2500) and as a wallpaper on the special page for donators.

I’m open for suggestions for subjects that you’d like to see drawn in color. A new picture will be posted every second Saturday.

There are six new polls that appear randomly in the voting box on the right sidebar of the webpage. They’re mostly about topics that advertisers find interesting about the visitors of a website. It would be good if I could provide our advertisers some solid facts about the composition of our readership.

I’m happy to announce a new feature on Sandra and Woo: Commissioned artwork featuring our characters drawn by other talented artists. You can expect a wide range of different styles and subjects and one or two new images per month.

The first painting is titled “The Flower” and was drawn by the Bulgarian artist Denny (Exarrdian). She has a DeviantArt gallery and a fantasy webcomic called FanFyria. Exarrdian is already working on a second image and I hope she will become a regular contributor to the feature.

Supporters can download the image in its original size (3300 x 2500 pixel) and as a wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixel) on the special page for donators.

I’m open for suggestions for topics that you’d like to see drawn in color.

We are grateful for every reader. But if you support Sandra and Woo by

• not blocking the advertising banners and maybe even checking them out once in a while,
• and/or by linking to Sandra and Woo on your Facebook page, blog or website,
• and/or by writing witty or funny comments,
• and/or by even making a donation,

or in another special way, I want to particularly thank you for your support. Without people like you, even less independent artists would be able to find an audience on the internet and to earn some money with their art.

I’m currently saving money to ensure future updates of Sandra and Woo and Gaia until at least the end of 2012.