BREMEN, also "Gerik"

A while ago I was doodling some initial concepts for illustrating the folktale of The Town Musicians of Bremen as recorded by The Brothers Grimm (my favorite story, as a child). I didn't get beyond these initial loose sketches, but I just now found them while looking through old sketchbooks. The donkey plays bass, the rooster sings, the cat is on guitar, and the dog is the drummer :)

I think I'll go through with it now, as it's still interesting to me to interpret the story.
I want to be better about my process for this, so there'll be stuff before the Stuff.
Here's a beginning, with character designs.



The rooster, Gerik, is the last to join the group on their way to the big city. I envision him as the washed up singer. Though not much older than the rest of the band, he is practically burned out on fast living and mild successes at an early age. He still manages to put his voice to work, though it was a sweeter sound long ago. As a veteran rocker, he's the one with the most performing experience and helps round out the group. During the design process, I learned that in German the "cock-a-doodle-doo" sound that roosters make translates to "kikeriki", and that the name "Gerik" (which has a similar feeling to my ear), is a version of the German name "Gerald" (which means "spear").

Notably, despite the title of the tale, the animals in the original story never do arrive to Bremen to make their fortune.