Meet Derek Benson, the creative genius behind Lunch Bag Art:

I take my Sharpies with me to work. During lunch, I draw on my kids' lunch bags for the next day. My friend Chuck and I were at lunch here, and he wanted to do one for his son.

Batman supervises morning drawing. My daughter loves the Sharpie paint pens; she's working on a unicorn.

This is a water balloon. It was devastating.

Marvin the Martian, in all his power and majesty.

Hi!

I’m Derek Benson, and I have a blog called Lunch Bag Art.  I started it because I draw on my kid’s lunch bags, and felt like it might be a good idea to start taking pictures. 

Let’s talk about the paint pens… they’re perfect in all ways!   If you want to make a striking image,

•  Make a silhouette in black (like Marvin here) 

• Then, take the paint markers to it…

• White works great as an outline. 

• Then you can smear the color over the black.  Just use a fingertip; the color holds up and the colors are excellently opaque. 

• Take a smaller pen to add a little detail and you’re good.

I can do one of these in under twenty minutes -  

Which is good if you’re on a lunch break!

Brophy

Dolls

Dragon

Faye

Gadget

Narwhal

Robo

Sephiroth

Zorak

Benson: My day job, I make art for video games.   

Q: How did you come up with the idea?

Benson: I was setting the kids’ lunches up, I wrote their names on the bags…then things just got fancier and weirder.

Q: Which bag has been your kid’s favorite? What’s yours? 

Benson: So far the kids like “Robot Dinosaurs that Shoot Beams When They Roar.”   I like that one okay, too.

Q: Why are Sharpie products a good fit for this? 

Benson:  I would love to give you a good reason, but it simply never occurred to me to use anything else.  Sharpie markers have been a basic art supply for me since I was a kid.  “Awesomeness” is the reason.

Q:What specific Sharpie tools do you use?

Benson: Markers, pens, etc.  I use the black markers, and also the oil-based paint pens.

Q: So you make these bags during your lunch break? When do you eat lunch? Multi-tasker eh?   

Benson: I make them during my lunch break, I make them at home while helping the kids with homework.  When I make them at home, I tend to get a lot of help.  My kids can’t resist art supplies.

 Q: What do your kids do with the bags once they have eaten lunch? (Save them I hope )

Benson:  Sometimes they bring them back, sometimes they toss them out. Our preschool teacher saves them, too.

Q: What was your reaction after learning that you would be apart of the “Sharpie Squad?”  

Benson:  I wanted a uniform, frankly.  With a cool hat that looks like a giant Sharpie marker.

Q: Is there anything you haven’t drawn on a bag that you are just itching to draw? 

Benson: Ha!  There are things I’d get in trouble for drawing and sending to school.  I try to keep it kid-friendly, unless a grownup relative has a request.  Sometimes people want images of classical art, which usually means naked people.  There are movie monsters I’d like to do, but they’re just too scary.  But other than that I don’t have a lot of filters, and grown-up stuff is never as fun to draw as kid stuff. 

See More Lunchbags http://lunchbagart.tumblr.com/

Contact  Lunchbagart@gmail.com

Q: Tell me a little about your business.