Monster Mania Artist Commentary - Brain

Over a decade ago, I was a freelance illustrator for Grantland, a now-defunct sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. Working for Grantland was fun because I got paid to draw Kenny Powers, Walter White and Johnny Utah. The downside to working for Grantland was the extremely tight deadlines. It was common to receive an assignment on a Thursday afternoon that was due Friday morning.    

When you are working under a super tight deadline, you don’t have time to brainstorm or incubate ideas. You don’t have time to explore or experiment. You don’t have time to make refinements or fix mistakes. You do the best you can with the time you are given. 

When It comes to the Monster Mania series, I serve no master, and I have no deadlines. I’m not in a rush to finish a drawing. I’m allowed to enjoy the process. I’m allowed to play and experiment. I’m allowed to explore multiple paths. I’m allowed to have a deeper conversation with the drawing. I can redraw something as many times as I please. I can let things marinate. 

This drawing of an anthropomorphic brain is a perfect example. I redrew the brain, and nerve tentacles multiple times. The original drawing was overly busy. The brain was covered with slime, and it had more folds, crevices, blemishes, and veins. Redrawing the brain, and omitting those unnecessary details made the drawing better. If I was facing the pressure of a deadline, I would have stuck with the original drawing. I would have said “good enough” and moved on to the next thing. 






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