This feature appears in Ottawa Magazine’s April 2014 issue. Click here to subscribe to the print or digital versions.

All Systems Go 2

The Backstory: This 2013 illustration was conceived as a companion piece to a computer-animated film I’m making with a team in Norway. I was toying with a million different variations on the boy/girl pairing. Finally I came upon this ass earmuffs concept. It’s not exactly breaking new ground — R. Crumb, the American cartoonist, has beaten a beautiful path ahead of me — but it felt really authentic to me. And I laugh every time I see Eddy hanging there so happily. This is a lighthearted image from what will ultimately be quite a dark eight-minute short. — Dave Cooper