Eric von Leafingden, paladin of the garden, Knight of the Order of the Silver Spade, had met his greatest challenge. The kudzubeast was not very bright, but it was incredibly persistent, and very very hungry.

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Been gardening a lot lately, and I was in a drawing mood, and the two paths sort of crossed. Anyone who's lived in the south has probably seen the kudzu forests--huge swaths of dead trees that are now serving as a framework for kudzu vines. It's hard to describe the sheer voraciousness--it's not like looking at a plant, it's like a landscape. Trees become hills under the kuzu, with plummeting valleys between them.

The result is almost architectural--great hanging walls and towers of the stuff. It's terrifying. If you're a gardener, kudzu is one of the great enemies (along with wisteria and bindweed and a few others) and you fight it back as if it were out of the D&D manual--sword and fire, poison and sweat.

Times like these, you find yourself wishing for a garden paladin to help out, turn weeds, maybe do a little Laying on of Mulch, and from that vague thought, the drawing arrived. He doesn't look terribly bright, but then, of course, he's a paladin.

11 x 14, pencil on bristol, original is for sale, prints available for $10 plus shipping. Send a note or visit [link] for ordering info!