DVD Set

This is the front and back of The Mug Club Season One DVD boxset. I'm going to be printing a mock-up for the senior show.

Interestingly, the characters on the front that I want to talk about are also the ones based on real people, so here are some detail shots.

This is Benny MahGarretty. He's really angry all the time about everything.


This is Cook. She dates first State and then Toby.

This is Audrey, a socially awkward and friendless girl who is more enthusiastic about the Mug Club than even Toby. She's really the reason the Mug Club exists, but neither Toby or State can stand her. It raises the question of how to be friends with someone you don't care for, and Audrey becomes the first real test of Toby's way of thinking about The Mug Club.

DVD Cover first pass

I'm still trying to figure out the typography on this one. Thoughts?

Maybe We Are

Here are the series regulars sitting out on the dock. This turned out much more painterly than I thought it would have.

So Toby is being lit by his memento, a bright yellow, and State is being lit by the moon. Toby's symbol being an everlasting, dependable source of light, and State's being an erratic source of light that only appears in darkness is just another example of their dichotomy. There's something really interesting to me about two best friends who are polar opposites.

I haven't written it yet, but this image will have text at some point and read something like "Every time we did something big, something daring, we were asked 'Do you think you're invincible?'

Maybe we are. Maybe we always were."

Since Toby's memento does make him invincible, this is litterally true, but it also hints at the theme of the first season of The Mug Club. When we're kids, it really does feel like we're invincible, and with all the safety nets we have have set up, it's kind of true. The first part of our lives are spent being protected from the bad things in the world, from anything that could potentially be harmful.

I think we start growing up when we realize how restricting that is. But before we can do that, we have to realize those shackles exist, and have all along. This entire time, our whole lives, we've been living an innocent, sheltered, and unadventerous life. And that's a pretty scary thing.

Claire Ormsbee

This is Claire's illustration. Claire is acutely aware of her circumstances at every moment, and really, society as a whole. Hence her peering over a city. She takes everything in stride, however, so I decided to keep her pose playful, and to hint at Claire's ironic nature, I have her smirking at the entire city.

The Sky's the Limit. For REAL.

This is the real image from the "Sky's the Limit" episode of The Mug Club. Joel challenges Toby to a SPACE RACE, and he of course brings State and Claire along. While Joel's gotten a hold of a hot air balloon, Toby uses a rocket propelled hang glider. Neither are space worthy, really.

The Memento Series

These five images are the people throughout history who have held onto the memento. They are...

Theodore Roosevelt

Grigori Rasputin

Poon Lim

Cale Yarborough

and Toby Mears.

Theodore Roosevelt

This is Theodore Roosevelt. He has the memento around his neck. Have I mentioned the memento yet? It makes you invincible.

So, Theodore Roosevelt was giving a speech in Milwaukee Wisconsin on October 14, 1912. And then some saloonkeeper decides to shoot him point blank in the chest. And what does Roosevelt do? He says "Bump that, I've got a speech to give." And he gives it. And it's ninety minutes long. And when he goes to the hospital, he tells them to just leave the bullet in there. 

So there's no way Theodore Roosevelt was not secretly invincible, at least for a time in October 1912.

Finished!

I think this is it. So this is State, the number two character in The Mug Club. He's an empiricist and is the innocence side of the argument. He values science, logic, and an objective truth, so I drew him conducting some sort of catapult physics project.

Also, in terms of appreciation of art, he's a classicist, and believes in beauty and mastery of craft, so there is a little more attention paid to the environment and details. The classicist believes in beausty, so there's more of a focus on his environment and the naturalistic setting than the figure and the narrative being told by him.

Continnued Progress

This is still in progress, but this time, with more progress.

IN PROG

This is in progress.

Joel doin' a little filmmakin.'

This one took far too long. I think I like it?

Because I Promised

Here are some reference photos I took last night. I hope illustrations of these will pop up in the next day or so. There's Chris Jopp/ Ned Hurley as Toby, Ooter as Joel, Phong Tran as State and Rachel Jenkins as Claire.

Walking like it's the West Wing.

Hang glidin.'

Having a reflective moment.

Why Not Monster?

This is a cereal box design I'm doing for my storyboarding class. It features main Mug Cub member Joel, but this can't actually be used in the official senior project. Joel, you see, is a monster, but this is never actually mentioned in the show. Joel serves as a comment on the universe these characters exist in. There are weird, sci-fi things going on here, but some of them are just normal. It's up to me to spell out what's normal and what isn't.

Getting There

Now with color mock-up?

The Sky's the Limit

I'm putting up this sketch so I am forced to finish the illustration tonight. It's from the second episode of The Mug Club, "The Sky's the Limit," and it features Toby, State, and Claire as they rocket towards the sky in Toby's ridiculous hang glider. It takes place at Checkerboard Field, which may have an important part in The Mug Club mythology.

Feelin' Fine

Okay, it's done. Toby is STOKED.


I think it's done now. It looks like a Fran illustration.

Not sure if this one is done or not. The colors may change. But this is the main character in The Mug Club, Toby Mears. He loves carnivals.

Welcome to The Mug Club blog! Here I'll be posting info on my upcoming senior project, as well as complete and in-progress illustrations. Here's the first finished illustration now!