Project Description

INKTOBER 2025 Day #5: DEER.

“All right, I’m aware this one is going to require an explanation, but it is based on a true story.
No, I don’t do, nor have I ever done, any drugs.
Back in 2003ish, I worked for one of the major package delivery companies that is fond of the color brown. I worked the 4 am shift unloading trailers into the facility, where parcels were then segregated out by address to wind up in their corresponding delivery trucks. I had to get up at 3 am to get ready and get out the door. 2003 is also the year I got married, and we had the wedding at our house, on our 10-acre property. To prepare for that, we had a lot of renovations and repairs to get done before we hosted guests, which meant I was often up until midnight swinging a hammer, painting, cutting wood, etc.
Ah, youth.
Anyway, as our wedding drew closer, I was sleeping less and less. We live in the woods on a mountain, so my drive to work each morning was very dark and wooded. I’m accustomed to seeing all kinds of wildlife in the area: bear, porcupine, racoons, and of course, lots of deer. The week before our wedding, on a drive into work on almost no sleep for the umpteenth day in a row, I had to slam on the breaks to avoid a cartoon deer made of large, vivid-colored, abstract brush strokes with a bright red nose that scampered across the road in almost a stop-motions style of animation.
I know what real deer look like (and how brightly colored they are not), and what I saw was not a real deer. I was pretty awake for the remaining 40-minute drive to work.”

Do you enjoy these silly pen and ink illustrations starring Plunger Monkey? Wish you had a whole book full of them to gaze at lovingly whenever you wanted? You’re in luck! Get a copy of Inklings to satisfy that need: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733734716/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AO28074KOTGC&keywords=inklings+by+toby+gray&qid=1689026488&s=books&sprefix=inklings+by+toby+gray%2Cstripbooks%2C103&sr=1-1