I just found the lost, first-ever Achewood painting, 2004 (Patreon)

In the little house on Holly Street, before the baby and the book tours and the Oregon move and the rest of that rise and spectacular grind of a fall, I went to Michael’s Arts and Crafts and bought a couple tubes of cheap acrylic paint.

“I should learn how to paint. I’m an artist, after all, and I’ve seen that other artists do this.”

Today, as I cleaned a couple dusty old IKEA cabinets out of attic crawl spaces in the old house I’m getting ready to sell, I opened a drawer, saw this thing face-down on some old tax forms, and immediately knew what it was. I hadn’t seen it in maybe ten years, but optimistically assumed we’d cross paths again someday.

I hadn’t intended it, but it has a “The Little Prince” feel. I wish I’d added a couple tiny volcanoes. But then it would, I suppose, have been derivative. This is just Philippe, standing on it.