as you've probably already noticed, my site is absolutely permeated by images of this little blue donkey. i read a lot of ariol cartoons growing up because the library i went to as a child had a large collection of papercutz publications (other nostalgic titles include: dance class, the thea sisters, and sybil and the backpack fairy).
ariol was one of many of the comics that i enjoyed as a kid. it wasn't my favorite, that spot was reserved for calvin & hobbes, a comic i was so devoted to that i split the cost of the $100 anniversary 3-part compilation with my parents and could recite 90% of the strips from memory after that. but ariol was still something i remember pretty vividly. the sentimentality is a potent mixture of love for the library and brightly colored foreign comics.
it's also one of those things that you look back on later in life and realize how much it influenced you. although my brother would certainly insist otherwise, i do think that the silly, loose style of ariol's world probably did leave a subtle impression of my art. it's kind of like how i can read keeper of the lost cities and shudder because there are pieces of the style still present in my writing.
it wasn't ever the plan for ariol to take over my site, i think i was just idly scrolling archive.org looking for it one day and later realized how cute it would look as decoration. i'm kind of happy about it now though; i've always psychologically been kind of weird about growing up and clinging to childhood (i used to cry yearly on my birthday for this reason. i mean, i still do, but it's been 3 years since i've cried for this particular reason). children's books have also had a huge influence on my artstyle and nostalgia in general, so i think it's appropropriate for a site dedicated to publicizing my psyche... lol
i'm now the proud owner of almost every single ariol comic except for one i think.
thank u ariol