Orange Orca is a composition inspired off a dream by bandleader Sam Dechenne. It tells the tale of a traveler, an orange-colored orca whale and a mysterious stranger in a magical dream world.

Each month in 2018 Cocek! Brass Band is releasing a new song with different artist and musician collaborations. For May's release they worked with cartoonist Molly Dechenne. Molly is a Portland, OR - based cartoonist and musician. She created a 25 panel cartoon depicting the tale to accompany the music.

Music Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Ul91ySzIQ
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Artist Statement:
I've never attempted to illustrate a dream before Orange Orca. The comics I draw tend to be more literal so when I sat down to draw Orange Orca I wasn't sure exactly where to begin. The dreamscape is ever-changing, from the settings to the size of the characters in the dream and what they represent. That dreams are so surreal is what makes them such a fun comic project. Like dreams, cartoons can do anything, so it was fun playing with the genre's advantages that way. To me, the orca represents new and exciting opportunity, a passion almost too big to every really catch even as you do everything in your power to help it survive. The giant man in the cowboy hat, uncertainty. The young man stands up to a literal giant with the power to destroy, because of his love for the orca.

The character design of The Young Man was one I gave quite a bit of thought to. He is no one race, and from no time period. He wears simple clothes and no shoes. The landscape is magic, and I wanted to show that also in the colors. The drawings were penciled and inked by hand, and colored later. I wanted to keep the freehand looseness of hand-drawn lines while adding the intense computerized artificial color to give it more of an unearthly surrealism. I wanted the bright complimentary colors of the orca flipping joyfully in the water to thematically match the playful and carefree movement of the song and I had a great time collaborating on the project.

Molly Dechenne Biography:

Molly Dechenne is the Portland-based cartoonist known for her ongoing webcomic, "Unpopular Before It Was Cool", a comic diary which finds the humor in the day-to-day life of an artist with a day job. Her band Fat Kitten is currently in the studio with their new single, "Goodbye To Something".

New comics appear every Thursday:

www.unpopularbeforeitwascool.com