We’re excited to partner with local artist, Kevin Cannon, to bring you an adorably cozy and quintessential Minnesotan new scratch game that features our state bird all bundled up and ready to embrace the cooler temps—and offers a chance to win up to $100,000 instantly.
Kevin is a Twin Cities-based cartoonist and illustrator who is best known for his graphic novels, detailed puzzles and cartoon maps in the Star Tribune. Kevin recently illustrated the children’s book, The Right Thing To Do, written by KSTP’s Joe Schmit about baseball fall-of-famer Joe Mauer’s childhood.
Now Kevin has a lottery ticket to add to his portfolio with the new Cozy Cash scratch game that’s available at 3,000 Minnesota Lottery retailers throughout the state.
When Kevin got the email about designing the Cozy Cash artwork last winter, he was so excited for the opportunity to work with the Minnesota Lottery. “I have a friend [and fellow artist] Brent Schoonover who designed artwork for a lottery ticket a couple of years ago, and I always thought, ‘I’d love to do that someday.’ Then for me to get an email out of the blue, it was really amazing.”
Kevin was excited to get to work. The assignment? Design a fall and winter scene for the new Cozy Cash scratch ticket.
“My whole goal was to show coziness,” explained Kevin. “I like starting out with a broad umbrella idea so I went back in to “my cave” to see what happens. I have a sketch book where I thought about all the coziest things I could find — big sweaters, quilts, layers, bonfires, smores’, animals. I started the assignment in February when it was cold so there was a lot of cozy things on my mind.”
The ideas were flowing for Kevin. Having a loon as a main character reminded him of cozy cabin weekends with his family growing up. But since loons aren’t exactly cozy, he wanted to add in a snuggly rabbit as a side kick. “These two help to balance out the coziness,” said Kevin.
His favorite aspect of the project was the brainstorming process. “I loved just sitting down and going to any and every cozy place imaginable.”
Kevin shows the process from concept to digital which begins with loose sketches in pencil before he moves on to ink and then finally with the computer/digital output.
His busy style includes a tremendous amount of detail, which is reflected in Cozy Cash. “That’s part of surrounding myself in art and getting lost in a Where’s Waldo style canvas.”
Even the detail down to the lettering embodies coziness. The fall scene, which is on sale now, includes furry lettering. The winter scene, which will be available in time for the holidays, will remind you of a puffy winter jacket. “It was fun to go behind the scenes and create a ticket,” he added.
Kevin wanted to design something that will “pop” at retailers. “I know people’s attention spans are short and sometimes you have to catch people in the blink of an eye so that’s what I tried to focus on in my design.”
With Minnesota’s colorful foliage and cooler temperatures, bundle up this season and accessorize with our new Cozy Cash scratch game — and enjoy the great outdoors!
