Introduction
The scooter drawing came about after buying my oldest son his first motorised transport. It may not be much, but to a teenager it's freedom and a step towards responsibility. The drawing started out as a celebration of this, but I couldn't ignore the comic element which would eventually become an Area 5.1 cartoon idea. It meant turning it into a kids space ride, the sort of thing you'd find outside a supermarket for tots to ride.But I wasn't finished with it,...
Reworking The Image
About a week later I decided to revisit the drawing. I'd perhaps been a little cruel in my mockery of the subject and I wanted to put things right. I wanted something positive. It is a fun thing to ride, and for kids my son's age they are briefly very cool.I went through the following thought stages:-
1) Finish drawing the scooter properly.
2) The alien doesn't look right, let's make him a Hells Angel
3) He looks good, maybe I can use him in my cartoon!
4) Let's add a sidecar (cos that's funny on a scooter) and give him a friend.
5) Hey, let's have them investigating UFO sightings!!
It really wasnt a well thought out process, just a series of "what-ifs". I also went with a very saturated full colour image, inspired by posters I'd seen when I was researching the X-File idea.
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| The evolution of the scooter image |
The name X-Fails came about from a typo, I was trying to describe the cartoon's inspiration in an email and I typed "fail" instead of "file". I couldn't ignore the idea of parody on Mulder and Sculley, but it's very much from an amateur angle.
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| The completed poster |
I have no idea if this new direction is the right one, but I really am ready for a change. I think my audience are too. I don't think the little green men are something that people can associate themselves with, so it's time to try something new.
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