Going through some old files recently - I came across the original picture that was used as the base for DCB, so I thought I'd share his origin...
I originally came up with the idea of DCB a few years ago as a companion for Mr. Frothy. Mr. Frothy is the moniker of my friend/biz partner. He had used this character for many years for all his promotional needs and signatures. I wanted my own character for the same purpose.
I decided right off the bat that I wanted my character to play hoop & stick. Not sure why - but hoop & stick was stuck in my head that day. Googling "Hoop & Stick" led me to the vintage picture of the French boy you see above. I really enjoyed his outfit and decided that it would work quite well for my character. I then had to figure out what sort of critter he was going to be. I toyed with all sorts of ideas... a human, different animals, different household objects, etc. until I finally decided a grasshopper would be pleasant. I'm not sure why I picked a grasshopper - but I'm glad I did. I printed out a bunch of grasshopper pictures and the French boy and gave them to Mr. Frothy to see what he could come up with. The result is the picture below - the very first incarnation of DCB:
He was PERFECT! Next was to come up with a name for him. That was tricky. Again - I tried all sorts of ideas in my head - but nothing really worked. Then it was suggested that I just call him by my "online name" of Dustin Crops Boy. I already used that name for all my online activity - posting on forums n' such. It was a perfect name for a grasshopper! I really enjoyed the idea of a grasshopper also being a crop duster - since crop dusting is usually done to kill pesky insects - like grasshoppers. It also had the Star Wars thing going on with it (why I had originally picked the name so long before) - so that was cool.
Frothy is a much better drawer than I am. In fact, I hadn't drawn by hand for years and years. I was convinced that the computer had ruined my drawing skills for ever. So, over the next few years, Frothy continued to draw DCB and Mr. Frothy in various situations for promotional items for the T-shirt business. These drawings usually involved DCB doing something malicious to Frothy - like attempting to get him with a firecracker or hitting him in the head with his hoop. Frothy just took it without any sort of retaliation.
As it was decided a few months ago that Frothy was not going to be involved as much in the T-shirt business - I took it upon myself to figure out how to draw DCB for myself. This has been quite a challenge - as I mentioned, I didn't draw at all anymore and hadn't for 100 years or thereabouts. I went out and bought some good pens and paper and forced myself to do it. The results are so-so thus far, but I think I am showing an improvement. Looking at the 'original' DCB picture above - I can see that I really stretched him out... but he had been stretched by Frothy a few times along the way as well - it all depended on the situation he was in. It's much easier to have him do stuff when he's not so squat.
So, be sure to check out my progress in learning to draw as I attempt to continue my comic strip "Lemon Firecrackers". I'm trying to do at least one of these a week. Lately I have been doing more than that - but it all really depends on my schedule and if I have any good ideas. Oh, and if you ever see Mr. Frothy making a cameo in one of the strips - that's "code" that means that Mr. Frothy was involved in the idea of that particular strip.
~enjoy~
dcb
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