Rocky & Bullwinkle

Okay... so in my last post, I claimed that "Uncle Wiggily" was probably the greatest single influence on my work (take that Da Vinci!).  While this is largely true... two of my other childhood heroes were of equal (and in some ways, greater) importance:

                                                  Screen Shot, from Rocky & Bullwinkle

Though I enjoy the drawing/animation of Rocky and Bullwinkle, the Uncle Wiggily illustrations are really the gold standard of classic american animal illustration/cartoons.  The influence from Rocky and Bullwinkle on my art is different.

People who look at my images, often ask me how I come up with the crazy ideas that I paint (i.e. "Life on the Double P--A Story of Western Adventure on a Real Life Pet Peeve Ranch").  I have little doubt that the odd sense of humor in Rocky and Bullwinkle, with its cold-war satire and heavy use of irony and dark humor, has influenced my own.

It would be hard not to be moved by great philosophical quotes like:

       "No early worm is going to give me the bird!"

                  -Bullwinkle, Season 3: Episode 6 - Second Installment