Double Hangover

Here are two old illustrations for the same topic. I found the files sitting together in a folder, side by side.

Does the guy on the right look kinda KGB?

I can't find a bigger copy of the first drawing. This is all I've got. There isn't a hard copy in my collection of tear sheets, although I'm pretty sure it was printed. I was happy with the retro-cartoon style and was sort of proud of it for a day or so.

I vaguely remember the story was about a Russian black market trade on pills that supposedly could cure a hangover... or something like that. My memory sees a story about spies and Russian mafia and shady American doctors passing the pills along to unsuspecting patients; but I might just be making that up. Sort of fits the picture, doesn't it? (If you don't know the truth, sometimes it's okay to make something up, as long as you're not deliberately lying. I'm okay with that.)

The fabric was scanned from one of my satchels.

The second drawing is a puzzle. Here's my guess, and I'm also making this up but not purposefully lying: I was just goofing around.

I LOVE the later works of Picasso, and I like to do improvisational riffs in that style. That's not to say my efforts looks like his work -- more likely, it appears I'm trying to rip him off -- but I like the freedom and the surprise I feel when working that way. It's fun!

It took a long time to gain enough confidence in that approach to try to push one past the editors. I'd bet that I was working on both drawings at the same time, and when it came time to turn them in I chickened out and played it 'safe' by opting to go with the cartoon. Or maybe I just thought the first drawing was better suited to the story.

I kinda like them both, but I lean toward the second just because it's weirder.

The End