Upon being invited to participate in the show, I realized that I no longer know any young kids. Scrambling to come up with something, I posted to my Twitter and Facebook accounts looking for an imaginative youngster to collab with. My buddy Markham "Shitty Kitten" Maes (One of my favorite local artists) came to my aid.
Meet my new drawing partner Lilly Maes, age 5. With a father like Shitty Kitten, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She's got an amazing imagination, and made me a handful of awesome drawings to choose from. This was so much fun.
This one was my favorite out of the bunch. As Lilly describes the scene, the girl is happy because she wants to eat the ice cream monster. I'm sold. According to Markham, this was one of her first attempts at using Photoshop. I think we've got a future illustrator on our hands.
I toyed with David Devrie's technique of using the child's exact shaping to render a ralistic image, and decided that it wasn't working for me. With just a week to get the piece out, and a full schedule to work around, I decided to take Lilly's scene and reimagine it in my own style. This was the chosen thumbnail.
Fleshing out the thumbnail design, I added a few elements of my own to continue the vintage manga look I've been working with as of late (speedlines-a-go-go!). The Japanese writing dictated the title of the piece "Frozen Fruit Giant Man." This was an intentionally shoddy translation, as Japanese translated into English often makes me laugh. I like to wink back at the Japanese with my work sometimes, all out of love of course.
The final digital file was then transferred onto wood, and the corners roughed up to resemble a tattered manga book cover. I'm happy with the final result.
Lilly putting the finishing touch on "Frozen Fruit Giant Man." Thanks so much to the Maes family for all your help!
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