Bad Bad Bunny, Part II

Co-author and co-artist of Kalicorp Art Mysteries, Susan Shulman, talks about the development of her Blues Bunny character.  First appearance was Issue #8.


I have had a long friendship with the blues. They are the sparks of magic that ignite my artistic flame. The blues is an intoxicating, seamless backdrop of familiar notes, and rhythms that make me feel I am home and springboards my imagination to unravel on canvas.” 

I started developing the “Blues Bunny character in July” when my mom ended up in the hospital. I originally started these drawings as a way to deal with the daily grind of sitting in the hospital with my 97 year old mom who had suffered heart failure and developed pneumonia. I brought pencils, conté and a sketchpad and drew a different figure daily. Was the only way I could deal with the long hours of worry in the hospital.

I was trying to find some humour in this dire situation. I thought of the wonderful collection of Beatrix Potter books I have shared with my daughter and as a joke imagined a Blues Bunny version. My mother was in the hospital for nearly a month, so I amassed quite a few. I would show her the musical bunnies and make her laugh as well as amuse and shock the birage of attending medical staff that frequent her room daily. 





I loved the process of drawing these figures so I continued to develop them. I was liberated, sketching for the shear pleasure of the process. I was paying homage to music, blues, musicians, groupies and the interaction that develops between them. I wanted to create a sexy bunny with attitude.

Usually it’s all about the musician, the music and the desire to be the musician and idolizing that person or group. The spectator/audience wants to morph with the performer and be one with the band. Grab a part of that glamour and glory. But the more I thought about it, I realize it was about inspiration and creativity and the Muse. So Blues Bunny is I as the muse to others and visa versa. It’s that woman inspiring that musician or artist and creating that tension to perform more. And, it’s my muse from that music and performer mirroring back to me, inspiring my art and attitude. I continued to expand this theme to various forms of my art: paintings, drawing and printmaking.

Which brings me back to the comic. When we left the last issue, we had decided to put more traditional art into our comic spreads. Give it a more hands on feel as opposed to manipulation of our photography and imagery through Photoshop.






We brought in our alter egos, Blues Bunny for me and Samurai for Bill. In William’s woodcuts, he is depicted as the Samurai fighter and this seemed to contrast well with Blues Bunny.

Link to Susan Shulman's website and more Blues Bunny.

Next blog post - William Evertson on the influence of woodblock prints on his samurai character development.