Ink Smudges:
When it came time to do a picture for The Da Vinci Code, a neat little thought entered my head: the fabled "Konami Code".
The Konami Code was a series of buttons when entered would unlock neat effects in videogames during the NES/SNES era. The most famous result was if the player entered the code properly, the user would be granted 30 lives in the game Contra (which most videogame players will admit is the only way you can manage to finish the game). Anyone who plays videogames now or even then knows the mantra: "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A Start". It's ingrained in our heads like the Pledge of Allegiance.
So, knowing the plot of "The Da Vinci Code" dealt with art, I casually suggested to Jake he should draw Erik and Daryl sitting in an art gallery looking at a "modern art" painting of the Konami Code. Simple yet posing a challenge for my friend. Somehow, he misunderstood me and decided the code would be 'hidden' in the Mona Lisa. So yeah, he handed me a penciled pic and challenged me to paint the Mona Lisa; one of the most famous paintings in the world. Et tu, Jake. Et tu.
As a side note, coloring Daryl is always a task. His head isn't really supposed to be on fire, it's more of an electrical thing (or at least is it was last time Jake explained it to me), but neither of us can never get it looking "just right". I guess that's the reason there's always an inconsistency from picture to picture. One day we'll it right. - Tony
Pencil Marks:
Misunderstanding aside (or was it?) it's not every day I find myself having to draw the Mona Lisa. Given I knew the joke was going to be the 'Konami Code', it would have made more sense, not to mention more room, if I had gone with my original thought: depicting 'The Last Supper'. But for simplicity, I opted for the former.
All things considered, the picture didn't come out bad. If I have had the foresight, I might have drawn the characters separate from the background to allow Tony more flexibility accomplishing the idea I had set out to do. Unfortunately, what I handed him was everything penciled on the page and an almost impossible special effect for him to pull off. So, in that aspect, I believe Tony did well.
I drew the Mona Lisa. Who would have imagined? - Jake
