Happy Birthday to The Rots!

On June 29, 2006, I drew the first page of what later became "The Rots." The scan of that first sketchbook page is over there to the right. You can click on it to see it bigger if you want.

I know, it pretty much sucks. But that's why I drew it in a sketchbook and not on something expensive or important. It wasn't meant to be viewed by the general public. I was just getting my feet wet, and artwork like this was very new to me (see my fine art portfolio here).

The Rots have grown up since then (a lot), and in celebration of their fifth birthday I decided to paint Rodney as I thought he might look today (see below). Rodney was the very first Rot (he's in the upper left corner of the sketchbook page above), and he's changed a bit, hopefully for the better.

Over the past few weeks I've posted some photos of Rodney as I was painting him, so you can scroll down to see in-progress images or click here to see all the updates on the same page.

Boris the Clown & Wiggles

 
This little guy's name is Boris, and he's the freshest Rot in my sketchbook.

I drew him in response to a fellow illustrator who saw my kid's illustration portfolio and told me the pictures would probably scare the children (I guess I deserved that). To get in the right frame of mind, he told me, I should be thinking more along the lines of "clowns and birthday parties."

Clowns.

I've always found clowns to be disturbing. And now I find myself trying to draw them.

And they've all been pretty much disturbing.