Omphaloskepsis

A FUZZY NAVEL Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a little guy who came to be known as Wally. Wally actually started out as a drink coaster, brainchild of Jean Page at SVP. They came to me and asked me to be a part of this great summer campaign for Yupo; I was sent a list of drinks I could illustrate. By the time I responded, most of the good choices were gone. Fuzzy Navel was still open, so I did the normal fifty thumbnail ideas and the one that struck me right away was this cute little guy in deep Omphaloskepsis, (contemplating ones navel.) I thought it would be funny to have him hairy everywhere but his head. As I am not a hairy guy, someone had once sent me a chest wig as a joke . So, I scanned the chest wig in and made a brush out of it so I could paint anything hairy. The folks at Yupo fell in love with him, and for years they had some happy fun together. the original "Fuzzy Navel" drink coaster © Bill Mayer 2010 THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS Wally lives on in Yupo's "Wally Awards;" (A contest for the best use of Yupo Paper) in a special award I designed for Yupo; a snow globe. It was supposed to have hair floating around inside of it, but the folks at Yupo decided that it should be Yupo pellets instead. Now, Wally is taking a long needed break. (Although it is rumored he may make a comeback early 2011...) Stay tuned for breaking news on this development. Wally Award being modeled. These were some in process photos of the plasticine scupture getting it ready and approved before casting.They got a little nervous about the naked butt so we added a cape around his neck....