There’s a couple little stories going on in this particular piece. First off, when I first moved back to Dayton in 2006 I figured out a little walking route so I could clear my head when needed and brainstorm for ideas. Part of it comes to a little dead end and at the time the image of that began to really define how I was feeling at the time. I also had really been thinking of wanting to get a dog and had always pictured myself getting a white lab….eventually that stupid Marley and Me movie came out and seeing that type of dog all over the place caused me to throw that idea out the window…but I digress. As for concept, one day while on my route I got these visions in my head of a huge tentacled peach creature emerging from a bank of clouds and either attacking a large suburb or one of the huge water towers I passed while walking. Then I did a little bit of research into peaches and came across some old japanese folklore about Momotaro aka Peach Boy.
“According to the present form of the tale (dating to the Edo Period), Momotarō came to Earth inside a giant peach, which was found floating down a river by an old, childless woman who was washing clothes there. The woman and her husband discovered the child when they tried to open the peach to eat it. The child explained that he had been sent by Heaven to be their son. The couple named him Momotarō, from momo (peach) and tarō (eldest son in the family).”
So basically the concept is that you are seeing Peach Boy’s arrival on earth, kind of like Superman’s spaceship crash landing. Also it should be noted that in the middle of working on this piece I had watched Iron Giant and it’s pretty obvious how it influenced the art style and color palette.