Heroes Of The Blues

Growing up I loved to draw. Fortunately for me I’ve had the opportunity to work most of my adult life as a professional artist. Last year I started doing Blues themed artwork to express my passion for the music form. The culture, the history, the performers old and new- I love it all!

As a younger artist I had a great number of artists I admired. One of which I’ve always felt a special affinity toward because of our mutual passion for drawing and the blues. R. Crumb is an iconic figure in the world of popular culture- he’s probably best know for his “Keep on Truckin’” character in the 70’s and as the pioneer of the whole “underground” comic movement.

He’s also an accomplished musician and collector of vintage 78 rpm records. His love for blues has manifested itself in many of his works. He’s created graphic novels, books, and even a comic book biography of Charlie Patton based on a biography by Stephen Calt and Gayle Wardlow.

Heroes Of The Blues Trading Cards stands out as my favourite of Crumb’s forays into the Blues motif. The set of 36 cards depict the legends of early blues history: Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Memphis Minnie, Charley Patton, Jaybird Coleman, Big Bill Broonzy, Barbecue Bob, to name a few. Not only does each card feature Crumb’s fantastic artwork, flip it over and you get a brief bio of the musician on the back of each card. Brilliant!

I found this video of what is a basically a slide show of some of these great drawings. Words of caution- try not to slip into a seizure from the psychedelic transitions.

Enjoy the genius that is R. Crumb!