This year, I was commissioned by the legendary
Rev. Wayne Dean to create a
Mardi Gras poster specifically for the
Marshalls of The Order of Polka Dots, a women's Mystic society in Mobile.
Rev. Dean, a retired minister, is better known as the portrayer of "
Chief Slacabamarinico", the alter-ego persona of
Joe Cain, in numerous
Mobile Mardi Gras functions for decades!
The
OOP theme was "
See You In The Funny Papers", with various historical Comics characters on the floats.
The Reverend wanted something in Comics form, with certain elements representing specific icons or memories of the
Krewe. I suggested a full-page '
Comic', with individual panels.
Below is the original 'rough draft', mainly to show placement and contents for approval:
Initially, I intended to render the entire thing digitally, but thought that it would look more authentic if I drew it by hand. Clean-up & color were then administered after I scanned it into Photoshop.
In the first panel, I wanted to pay homage to the legendary Will Eisner ("The SPIRIT"), and did so by making the title actually a PART of the drawing, incorporating it both into the building AND the beads:
The other requested elements (specific dates, items) were peppered throughout, and I referred to one of my float drawings for the actual 'float panel':
Here is the 'inked' version, and the poster is almost finished:
The completed version, with color, captions, and added elements:
There are only a few Marshalls for The Order of Polka Dots, so very few copies were made. Just thought you'd like to get a glimpse into my 'process'.
Les le Bon Tempes Roule!
