To promote Barnes and Noble's "Pirate Week", these were created to go along with a handmade cardboard-and-string pirate ship -- the S.S. PianoForte.
Each pirate was double-sided, and placed among the various parts of the ship. The "poop deck", cabin windows, anchor, port windows, and cannons were applied to the body of the ship.
The pirates were also handed out to visiting children (and enthused patrons), as a set of stickers.
It was so much fun to design these. I especially love how "sketchy" they are -- designed to tickle the imagination!
(I have placed them all on one page, they do not reflect actual sizes.)
Although most were done purposefully "fast and dirty", I really wanted this one to look sharp. If I were a kid looking at this pirate ship, this would be the element I would have been mesmerized by. Kids are morbid.
This guy is not one to be toyed with. As I was sketching him out, I got a little nervous thinking about his disposition. Of all the characters on the SS PianoForte, he is the most dangerous.
These fellows have charisma! Chop off a leg, give them pirate clothes, get em a bit intoxicated , and let them duke it out aboard ship. Everybody wins.
I love the singer/shipmate from Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic". I had to make sure there would be a luscious, if doubtful, soundtrack on deck.
This little fella cracks me up! He sat up in the crow's nest. His poor little T-Rex-ish arms would never permit him to hold a telescope, so, thanks tripod :)
