Inbetween Projects 2: Bud the Bulldog

Published on May 24, 2010

My girlfriend’s sister and brother-in-law have a sweet, quirky bulldog named Bud (technically Bud, Jr., after his papa’s nickname). Like my parents’ dog, Suzie, I’ve found myself doodling him incessantly. There’s just something so endearing about dogs with hopelessly distinctive personalities.

Two Christmases ago, I decided to make Bud’s owners, Lyndsey and Keith, matching t-shirts celebrating their pride and joy. Using a reference photo, I thought a thick-lined, vector representation might be most amusing.

The shirts came in on time, but ended up being a pinch too small due to American Apparel’s sizing strangeness. Nevertheless, they elicited the laughter I was hoping for, so all was not lost.

Later, I helped Lyndsey re-purpose the artwork for their first human child’s room, but in a ginchy new infant-Warhol color scheme.

Animals are way more fun to caricature than people. Dogs and cats are intellectually incapable of comprehending abstracted images of themselves, which means they can’t complain about or take offense to them (which is why I avoid caricaturing friends and family).