This illustration features a literal parade of characters from Brian Bedard’s short story collection, ranging from the mundane to the fantastic—a simple dairy farmer, a homecoming queen, a giant corn borer, a man being carried by an eagle, etc. The book’s title inspired me to look at some of my favorite parade and character inspired album covers for ideas, including My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade and The Beatle’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The stories are all set in South Dakota, so I was able to draw on travel experience and my own photography as references for the background in the town of Wall Drug (where the title character’s story takes place).
