FACA4

Some illustration buddies and I just participated in FACA4, Sam Hiti's battling illustration blog. It's great fun, and tons of amazing illustrators participate, in addition to many great artists that I've admired for years.

Here's a shot of our team, The Brothers McKillstaine:
(From left to right) Old pal Brandon Dawley drew the great Sir Wallace Burns, I drew Rockets Erickson and new pal Jeremy Gregory(Here There Be Robots) is responsible for The Lochness Mobster.

We had a loose theme of "British Isles". Sir Wallace Burns is a leathery old pub hound. His flaming sideburns were intended as a pun on the Smak Talk aspect of FACA. (As in, he would really BURN his opponents in a FLAME war.) Rockets Erickson is a ridiculous spoof on the name of underground rocker Roky Erickson, hence the psychedelic rocket trails. (Read this Wiki article on Roky. He's lived a wild life.) The Lochness Mobster, perhaps much to his credit, is simply that. The Lochness Monster combined with an Irish mobster.

Jeremy is a busy guy, so he handed his character off to us and left the rest of the match in our hands. Brandon and I had a blast coming up with our team and characters. If given twenty minutes on the phone together we can come up with some pretty wild and entertaining ideas.

Here's the Smak Talk we turned in. Brandon drew it, and I colored:
We got spanked.

As interestingly matched as the teams were thematically (lightness vs. darkness), they were totally different in execution. Our characters were complex in depiction and thematically. The Twilight Terrors were one simple idea, illustrated quickly and efficiently (and cutely) which appeals more to the internet crowd, and the especially the FACA crowd. I can't say that it wasn't frustrating for us to get our hard work smacked down so quickly and effortlessly by that little purple booger, but we had a blast playing for the short amount of time that we got to play. See you next round, suckers!