I interviewed Bud Blake back in July 2004, at his lakeside home in Maine. One of the pieces of art that Bud had on his studio wall was a wonderful ink and watercolor drawing by Willard Mullin. Bud had sent Mullin an original
Tiger original, and Mullin reciprocated with this sweet image of his lovable Brooklyn Bum. I visited Bud again in the summer of 2005, admiring this piece once again. Fast forward five years, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be able to add this piece to my collection. I love Willard Mullin's work, and this is just a tremendous example. Having the association to another great like Bud is just icing on an already wonderful cake. The small image of Tiger was collaged onto the illustration paper by Mullin, and has remained in surprisingly nice condition.
I've added a couple of additional photos on this page, from my first trip to Bud's house. You can see the wall that this piece originally hung on, with some of the other artwork that was sent to Bud from other artists. To the lower left of this piece is a frame containing four wonderful Alex Toth sketchbook pages. Toth was a big fan of Bud's work, and they apparently swapped originals.
