An Owl, a Hamster, a Fish, and the World's Cutest Vacuum

Yesterday when I was cleaning my room, I came across my Game Boy cartridge for Kirby's Dreamland 2. While looking at it and recalling the hours I spent playing it over the years, I couldn't help but think that the Kirby series has a very children's book-y aesthetic in terms of tone and characters. Naturally, my next thought was, "Hey, why don't I make a children's book-styled Kirby piece?!", so I made some rough sketches...

I would being doing the final in watercolor because I realized I haven't touched any medium aside from ink and markers since graduating. I don't have a particular favorite of the three, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Part of me thinks that they are each different enough that I could make them into a series...if I find the time. I am still working on some commission work, so these would just be a side-project for now.

Update on the Secret 7"/Florence + the Machine project: I am 99% sure I am not a part of the finalists. Since it is supposed to be a "secret", the winners are e-mailed individually as opposed to be announced on their website, and I haven't received an e-mail. I'm not bummed out at all; once I make the last few finishing touches, my entry will make a pretty rad portfolio piece. Oh, hey there silver lining.

Super Post II -- Booktastic Boogaloo

Oh, hello there. As you guys probably know, one of my main focuses post-graduation has been marketing the heck out of my children's book Vesuvius -- The Jet-Pack Bat. In October, I was in a reading festival hosted by the local newspaper and in the few weeks prior to the event, I made a bunch of new stuff to go along with my book.

It began with an attempt to fix the book's interior type since it felt a little thrown-on-at-4-in-the-morning-so-I-could-get-the-book-printed-in-time-for-my-final. I then got it reprinted at this local print shop I found and they did an amazing job...but I'm not posting shots of my new book, so I just made you read this exposition-laden paragraph for nothing. Nyah!

Following that, I figured that kids have walls and probably like to put things on them, so I made posters of each of the characters featured in the book:

Vesuvius! A surprising amount of children asked me why he is wearing his little aviator helmet/goggles since he doesn't have his jet-pack on. Clearly, I fail like a whale with no tail.

Chickadee in all her pink pinky-ness. You can't really tell, but her talons are pink as well. Too much? Nah.

Copernicus, a.k.a. The One That Started It All. Interesting fact: this is the very first time I have drawn him with his mouth shut. Seriously.

Sassy Hydrangea. She's a whole lotta hippo. You didn't hear this from me, but I'm pretty sure when I get around to actually making a follow-up book (which I really want to do), it's gonna be about her. Sorry Drummond.

And finally, Theloniussss. Unfortunately, he is another instance of my no-tail-whale-fail seeing as he is a totally different snake in this image than he is in the book. Don't judge me.

I then thought that maybe it would be cool to hand out character bookmarks with my information printed on the back rather than business cards. I created three different versions:

I will probably make one for both Sassy Hydrangea and Theloniussss at some point in the future, but these three seem to generally be the favorite characters of the group, so I'll stick with them for the time being.

I didn't really feel like posters and bookmarks were quite enough, so in an attempt to create other things to sell at my booth, I picked up a needle and thread. These are what happened:

I think Copernicus came out best, but considering I had never sewn anything before in my life, they all look decently endearing in their crudeness. I made two different Sassy Hydrangeas, but they are both AWFUL, so I shelved her stuffed form for the time being.

Clearly posters, bookmarks, and stuffed animals were still not enough, so I had t-shirts made as well:

With all this shiny new merch in hand, I was ready for the festival and aside from the fact that I was put next to another children's book booth with an overzealous lady who would swoop around and steal costumers from me as I was talking to them, it was a success! I sold stuff, people reacted really positively to the book, and I even have my own mailing list going.

Since then, I was in another show in December, recruited a 'street team' (i.e. four awesometacular high schoolers volunteered themselves), and I have read at two local elementary schools. I have another show coming up in April, and I might apply for two more, so I really need to crank up the production of the stuffed guys. I kinda wish I could make like The Prestige and clone myself endless times, but I think the moral implications would prevent me from actually going through with it.

To break up the monotony of just working on one big thing for an extended period of time, I have been trying to randomly draw and sketch as much as I can, so I will probably upload some of that stuff in the near future.

Brendan, draw more.

Princesses & Puppies (a.k.a. a faux-Christina post)

About a month ago, I replied to a listing on Craigslist in which a woman said she wanted someone to illustrate a book that she was writing. Even though Craigslist is mega-sketch, I decided to reply anyway because I figured, since there was nary a penis to be found in the post, this woman might be for realsies.

Well, she actually replied back saying that she liked my stuff and wanted to give me a 'test run' to see if she liked the ideas I had for her characters (a girl who dresses like a princess and a golden lab puppy). I got really excited that I had actually heard from someone for once, so I replied the next day with what I thought would be the cutest friggin sketches ever.




I think they kinda look like I tried to mix Bill Watterson and Chris Sanders' styles with my own, resulting in something that looks a little like creepy muppet babies. But they're still cute. Right? Sorta? . . . Maybe if you squint.

Anyway, I heard nothing. She couldn't even offer up the courtesy of an "Oh hi, thanks for the sketches but YER STUFF IS RANK, SMELL YA LATERZ POO-BREATH" e-mail. Maybe she thought I had to have been a big ol' weirdo because I said I imagined her character as someone who would watch Eureeka's Castle. Her loss.