Sketchbook: The Power of Bacon Cupcakes

Pencil & Micron Pigma pen on paper

For all that I talk about stories, I've actually drawn very few. Oh, there's a story behind everything I draw, to be sure, but it's one thing to draw a character with an elaborate backstory and quite another to tell that story in pictures. I've dreamed more comics than I can count, but I've rarely overcome the paralysis inflicted by blank paper. There are hundreds of ways to tell any visual story - how do you pick the right ones? Fear of failure often prevents me from even starting. It's why I've been talking about doing comics for years, and am only just now getting my shit together.

But you have to start somewhere, and a silly gag is as good a place as any. I've drawn Alyssa, Ferkus, and the rest of my characters many times, but I need to draw them actually interacting. I need to let them find their voices as well as their shapes. I always knew Ferkus loved cars, women, and junk food, and that he turns into a little wuss when he gets in trouble (which is often). But even in this little doodle-comic, he surprised me. That's when you know your characters are working, when you put them in a situation and watch them react, and laugh. The white page becomes a little less intimidating.

Tee & Cakes, a local coffee-and-baked-goods shop, actually makes bacon cupcakes. I saw them for the first time the other day and it inspired me.

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