So when I was 17 I thought I wanted to own a coffee shop. My dad was like, "Well does this shop have a name?" No it didn't. I didn't think that far into it. At the time it was just a random thought. He threw out some ideas. None which were that interesting. Then he said " How 'bout Screaming Bean?" I kinda liked it. So my made up coffee shop now had a name. Typically the next step would be to think about where this shop should be, or what kind of coffee it would have. Nope, my brain doesn't think about the important stuff. I was already creating a mascot. Why the shop needed a mascot? Because that's what a 17 year old thinks apparently when they are going to own a coffee shop one day. So i drew a little figure. It was a coffee bean. He had a round head and a oval body with big eyes and stick arms and legs. And how could I forget the toothy smile. This was the happiest coffee bean in the universe. And because he was a coffee bean he was very hyper, seeing that he had caffeine in his veins. That makes sense to me anyways. And that was it..... until I was very ungodly bored at the One Hour Photo I worked at.
So I started to draw. I mean all I did there was run negatives into a machine and the machine did everything for me. I drew this coffee bean image into a scenario where he would have to battle out "Cancerstick" a lame cigarette with a bad attitude. Anyway the Bean beat out the cancerstick somehow, I really can't remember. Then the quick sketch got torn up and I just threw it away. And that was it. I forgot about the comic for a bit. I mean it was just a rough sketch to get me through work. That's all it was. I make sketches all the time. So why was this little bean image haunting me? Wanting me to draw more of him? Somehow he came to life. And from there I started drawing more scenarios around this bean character. And I promised to never throw him away again. And there it is people. The birth of my comic strip, Screaming Bean came alive with just a pencil and paper.
