Throwback Thursday 9/23 - Zoom'd In

This weeks Throwback Thursday drags us back to the early days of the pandemic. A rather bleak time but if there's any consolation its got something to do with fat boys! Zoom calls became such a dominant part of our lives. For our own safety so much of our communication with people was locked to just a tiny square on a computer screen. Beyond our own face and upper torso, other people could not see us. The circumstance led to the memification of showing up to meetings in underwear because "no one will see it after all". Naturally, as we became more sedentary in Covid times the talk of gaining weight also became a recurring concern (for normies). Those two things floating around and being discussed birthed this idea: The absolute comedy of having gained significant weight and your coworkers who you'd normally spend so much time with in person I have 0 idea about this massive transformation.

Here we have a character of mine named, Donnie. He's a member of a group of characters I call the 'office trio' -a group of 3 friends who all work in the same office and are at varying stages of fat. The office trio were largely based on the characters in this story by OwenW: https://wgswell.com/2019/08/28/not-quite-professional/ (a lovely short story if you have the time to read it). Donnie is the fattest among the office trio and not having to go into the office everyday would have incalculable consequences on his waistline. 

Part of the fun and challenge of this drawing was drawing someone so large but not a complete blob. Sometimes I draw very fat men who are basically blobs, but that was not what I had planned for Donnie. So, I had to balance a level of fat that is clearly absurdly large(he's taking up the entire couch after all) but still "small" enough to where he is just not rolls of fat. Maintaining a round and prominent belly was tricky but I think I did a good job. Naturally this drawing is somewhat old at this point but I still think it holds up. There's something both absolutely comedic and incredibly hot that here's Donnie who's belly is hanging down to the damn floor and yet the folks on the call can't even see it. From their point of view Donnie hasn't changed at all. It's like the elephant in the room that they can't see. The convenient placement of his laptop on his now shelf like belly providing cover for the gains over his time in lockdown. The conversation of Covid gains comes up and he can answer that question with no scrutiny placed on a several hundred lbs lie. Of course, Donnie is more than pleased with his gains, but who has time to deal with people's shock when you just want to be fat and order some more takeout from UberEats? 

One of the amusing aspects of this drawing was that while I liked it, I didn't think it was especially amazing or anything. However, at its time of release originally it quickly became my most popular drawing to date. That was definitely a nice feeling, albeit funny how often it's the works you never anticipate to do well that people love the most. I think Donnie's situation really resonated with many gainers who found themselves stuck at home with suddenly much more time to put on weight. Sure the circumstances were (and still are in many respects) depressing, but when life hands you lemonade you make lemon squares and stuff them down your face. I think that's how the saying goes anyway?