Sama Zama

This summer, I was painting a wall in Westport, Kansas City, when a woman came out of her restaurant and started calling to me across the small field between us. She waved me over and told me she loved the cartoon character I was working on. "Have you ever painted pugs?" she asked. I laughed and replied, "Sort of—I've painted French bulldogs!"

We chatted for a bit about her vision, and she had three specific requests for the back of her building: she wanted her two pugs, Marco and Polo, traditional Japanese flowers and Daruma dolls, all in a graphic style. This is the fun design we came up with! Apologies for the photos—the wall is surrounded by a lot of trees, which made it tricky to get a clear shot.