Monsters and myth have always been a great source of inspiration for me. Since my childhood years doodling Ninja Turtles and reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, weird happenings and freaky monsters have kept residence in my head and influenced the type of work I produce.
In this case, I was approached by the great Mark Todd to join the annual Post-It Show. Theming is up to the artist for this show, so I decided to deep dive into my love of monsters for it, with a twist. As I’ve gotten older and grown into my career, my love of myth has expanded to include regional folklore as well. This lead me to produce regional urban legends and monsters for this project.
Having marinated in the subject matter so long eased the research phase of this project. I got to revisit some monsters from my past like the Mothman and the Piasa Bird (something I learned about during my time working in St. Louis). I also got to discover new creatures, like the Loveland Frogs and the Flatwoods Monster. Getting to draw these folks was fantastic- I got to focus on flattened spaces and simplified color schemes while using exciting subject matter. Once again, I reached back to my childhood obsessions here- hours spent reading Dr. Seuss and drawing from Ed Emberley books pays off!
I plan on returning to these sources of inspiration again soon- folks seem to enjoy the little creatures and they’re too much fun not to spend time drawing them.
