Mutt Mag: Cover Roughs

People tend to respond strongly whenever I draw a group of kids hanging out on rooftops. It's something I've always drawn and something I feel I am on the border of being known for drawing. As a kid, and even now, I tend to walk around with my head gently tilted towards the rooflines and tree tops and imagine folks clamouring over them. As a contrarian, I've tried to curtail this impulse before it sets in stone. Working professionally has meant that I don't spend nearly as much time in my sketchbook as I used to. I don't get much time to experiment so I find it important to be cognisant of the crutches that I've developed. Some of these things are inherent to who I am as a cartoonist (ie. drawing kids hanging out) but some of them are crutches -- it's not difficult for me to whip out an image that I am fairly confident folks will respond to because it's like what I've done before. People tend to respond to my richly textured and my denser drawings, but I tend to respond quite strongly to simple images.

For Mutt Mag, I wanted it to be eye catching on the shelf and distinct from my other covers. It's interesting to have been doing art for long enough that I've tried on many hats. My work used to be much more preoccupied with bold and dynamic shapes, as opposed to texture and value. For this cover, I wanted to return a bit to that former mode. To make a simple and eyecatching cover; a single interesting drawing, with a strong graphic bend. I was looking at a lot of Garo covers and posters I've had saved on my pinterest account.

I'm not sure I nailed it with all of these but it was a fun exercise. I think, if I were to start over now, I'd maybe choose the first one shared in this post but I am happy with how the cover I chose turned out.

In print, the image will be glossy while the rest of the front will be matte. When it was a Sprocket book, the MUTT part of the title was going to be printed in holo-foil.

Sigh -- c'est la vie!