Creepin' & Peepin' Vector Icon

Crooks be Creepin' & Peepin'. 👀 Beware ya’ll.

This fat fingered bandit was inspired by the "Kilroy Was Here" graffiti popularized in World War II. My co-worker reminded me about it while discussing some of the things we would draw back in the day. The Kilroy image was especially fun to draw because you could use the lines in your notebook to suggest the appearance of a wall and the character’s fingers and exaggerated nose would dip below that top line. It’s a great way to teach a kid how to use negative space.

For those that are curious about the original Kilroy reference, I did some data diggin’ on the interwebs. The exact origin of the phrase is widely debated but it was most definitely associated with GIs during the 1940s. The accompanying doodle is said to have originated from a British cartoonist named George Chatterton. George's character was called Mr. Chad.

James Kilroy was a shipyard inspector. He would inspect the work of others working on the tanks and hulls of warships. At some point he was accused by team leaders for not doing his job. The check marks he left on the walls where he surveyed were simply being rubbed away. Out of frustration he decided to sign his inspections with “Kilroy was here.” Other service men took notice but never knew what it meant. At some point American Soldiers borrowed the visual of Mr. Chad and married it to the Kilroy Was Here phrase. And the rest was history!

Hope you enjoyed that snippet of art history!