A little while ago, I was lucky enough to win a sketch of my favourite Bug Pudding character, along with a printed version of one of the comic strips suitable for framing. The artwork arrived today and I cannot wait to get it framed, so I can hang it above my drawing desk!
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(I apologise for the photo quality, these were taken quickly on my lunchbreak shortly after they arrived in the mail!)
The story of Bug Pudding revolves around the lives of the animal inhabitants of a swamp in Tuberville, Georgia, and follows their ongoing social and political struggles.
From the author:
“The term “Bug Pudding” comes from a rather graphical description of the stuff you sometimes have to scrape off your windshield. It is the result of a bug not paying attention while traveling down the highway of experience and running into the oncoming automobile of life. There will hopefully be a “splattering” of truth in every Bug Pudding comic.” (About the comic: http://www.bugpudding.com/?page_id=33)
I love the beautifully coloured artwork, and if you follow @BugPudding on Twitter, occasionally he posts photos of the line art and work in progress!
I originally met J.K. on the forums at Flashfilmmaker.com where he was always helpful and wrote many intereting and useful articles on animation. Here is a very short interview that followed after I posted a link on Twitter to a 1956 episode of ‘What’s My Line’ starring Walt Disney on Youtube.
BugPudding: I actually met Walt in person at Disneyland in 1956 when I was 7 years old, the railroad thru the park was his favorite toy.
Squibbleworld: That is quite amazing! Thank you for sharing that, I am hoping to go there some day myself! Was it a chance meeting?
BugPudding: Walt was there helping with some construction on the railroad & my father was a model railroad person helping too.
Squibbleworld: This is why I love Twitter! Did you already want to be an animator at age 7? If so, meeting Walt Disney must have been awesome.
BugPudding: by the time I was 12 I wanted to be a cartoonist like Walt Kelly, when I was 16, I started to want to make animated films. I found a local studio that made TV animated commercials when I was 17 & I offered to work for free to learn the business.
Squibbleworld: So is that why you still enjoy producing a weekly webcomic?
BugPudding: Yes, I always wanted to do a comic strip & Bug Pudding is the evolution of that dream from when I was 12. I’m just a big kid.
Squibbleworld: Have just been reading about Walt Kelly,is Bug Pudding a homage in some way to his Pogo comic?
BugPudding: Not really a homage, it certainly has been influenced by a number comics like Pogo & Shoe but also the Looney Tunes cartoons.
I am looking forward to learning more from J.K. about animation and comics, and can’t wait for the next installment of Bug Pudding!