Calvin & Hobbes Tribute piece

I don’t normally post pieces before I have them, but obviously we’re living under very unusual circumstances that have an effect on every facet of our lives, including our hobbies. In this case, I purchased this piece on eBay from the Cartoon Art Museum as part of their Calvin and Hobbes exhibit and tribute to Bill Watterson. Although I won the piece way back in December, because of the virus lockdown, the museum has delayed the exhibit, which in turn delays the shipping of the artwork. If you know me, you know I’m not the most patient guy. But again, we are living in very unusual times. So rather than waiting to have it in hand to share with you all (and since I’ve been on this Wayshak roll of late), I figured I’d just go ahead and post it.

Before I even bid on the piece, I contacted Jonathan and told him I was going to win it. Notice that I didn’t say I was going to BID on it, but rather that I was going to WIN IT. As soon as I saw the piece, I basically made up my mind that no one was going to outbid me. After that, I contacted my friend (the OTHER Jonathan) to have him throw up my bid. The good news is that my max bid held up and I didn’t need to get into a bidding war for it. Still, I was confident enough to ask Jonathan (the artist) for a full-size scan even before I won the auction. Good thing I did, or I wouldn’t have an image to post. Of course I would rather have the actual piece in hand, but getting it later will be a nice way of celebrating the end of all this virus madness.

About the piece. The official title is The Struggle of Adolescence. It's done horizontally on a standard 11 x17 Bristol page with blue pencil, ink, acrylic, and gouache. Anyway, as you might expect with a Wayshak piece, it’s the only one of the tribute pieces that veered away from the playful nature of the strip and the characters. I’m sure even Watterson himself never could have imagined his characters presented in such a frightful setting. But of course that’ s exactly what I love about the piece. All the other pieces were just too cute for their own good. I think all of the other artists who contributed artwork pretty much fell in line with the nature of the characters and followed suite. Now what all of you may not know about Jonathan is that he can do cute as well as anyone. I know because I’ve seen him do cute. Really sweet pieces with little kids or warm and fuzzy animals. I’ve actually thought about getting a commission of something cute, but it’s probably not his favorite thing to do. LOL!

Anyway, my thanks to the two Jonathans. Jonathan M for taking care of the eBay bid, and Jonathan W for providing me with a great scan that allowed me to share this piece with you sooner rather than later.

(5/21/20) Last, but not least, huge thanks to Andrew from the Cartoon Art Museum for hand delivering the piece to me personally when he found out I was local. During these very trying times, it wasn't only a matter of convenience, it was also a safety issue. Really appreciated him taking the risk to deliver my artwork during the pandemic. Thanks Andrew!