 |
Pig in a Wigby Jeff Duckworth Here is a pig.
|
*image from my sketchbook.
Disclaimer added after a realization was made: I just want add that I don’t have a pig obsession! This bog seems to be full of pigs now. This poem just happens to be about a pig. It in no way represents my love for swine. Although they are great animals, I do illustrate and write about other subject matter. Wait, did I just refer to this blog as a “bog?” As in mud bog? Oh boy.
At the ripe age of 15 months, Aubreigh has reached the terrible twos. Her worst habit? Removal of clothes. Were not just talking about one or two socks, but removing everything except her diaper (and sometimes even that). She thinks about it constantly. You can look into her eyes and see the wheels turning. She is thinking, plotting about when and what her next clothes escape attempt will be. Sometimes she is clever about it. One minute she will be fully clothed, the next she has ducked behind a chair made a few grunts to cover the sound clothes being stripped off, pops up and is in nothing but her Huggies. Sometimes she is less obvious. I call this the stop, drop and run method. This entails a sudden stop of activity as the thought enters her head followed by a sudden burst of running while sliding arms out of sleeves, kicking legs free of pants and general shimmying about until sufficient lack of clothes is achieved. This method is not as successful, usually ending in tripping over slippery pants as they fall to her knees or the dreaded “shirt over the eyes” run into the random object disaster (the ottoman or couch being the most common and comical of items to watch her bounce off of.) It does not matter how cold she is. She is going to get out of those clothes.
The reasoning? Well, quite honestly, I think it is because she can. It is a game to her to see what she can get away with. “I’ll show that daddy! He says I can’t play with electrical outlets? Fine, we will see how HE likes it when I show him that if I can’t have what I want then he won’t have a clothed baby.” Or sometimes it is just for comic effect. “I wonder if I can slip out of these pants with no one noticing….yes! I can. Now to be funny, I will pop on on the count of 3. 1…Y…5(she can’t count yet of course)…TA DA! Look Ma! No pants!” This is usually followed by either Keeley or I chasing her down as she squeals. She is the Houdini of baby clothes. She has thwarted every attempt I have made to prevent her removing them. Finally, yesterday I put on a one piece footed pair of pajamas. To further thwart her, I placed a safety pin through one side of the collar, through the zipper and through the other side of the collar. I was feeling confident when I opened the door to get her up from her nap. Of course I was greeted to Aurbeigh smiling, her clothes in a heap on the floor. The safety pin had been easily unfastened, discarded without injury and clothes shed. She proudly greeted me with a “Bye bye, Beeeby.”
Lately she has developed another funny habit. She insists that I wear my hat at all times during the day. If I don’t have it on, she finds it follows me around and yells “DAAAAAA” until I bend over and let her place it clumsily on my head. If I take it off, she quickly puts it back on. This is her way of gaining a little control. It’s her way to let me know that yes, it’s OK for her to strut around the house in her diaper like a banty rooster. But me? I am doomed to have perpetual hat hair. If she could talk, I’m sure she would simply say “Nudity for some, hats for others.”
In other news, here is the most recent sketch for Marmalade. Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Moo-Pig gets laughs, but not a blue ribbon.
As part of my ongoing series, here is part two of ”The Birth of a New Book.”
The beginning stages of a book are like the beginning of a new world. Exciting and fast paced. Where there use to be a blank screen or piece of paper, there is life. Ideas begin to grow and swirl and take shape. Their is a slight glimmer of light that shines brighter and brighter. There is movement. All is fresh and new. But then what? Once that world exists, what is the next step. This can vary depending on the writer and the type of story and I can not say what is right or wrong for someone else. Also, I have never been one to learn strictly through a book. One of the greatest teachers I ever had, the talented and insightful Tim McLaurin said it best when he sat before his fresh faced class of writers, pointed out of the classroom window and told them point blank, “There isn’t anything I can teach you in here. You have to learn it out there.” I keep that in mind at all times. So I follow no set course or set of rules or book of how or why. I let this meandering new world dictate to me what happens next.
Let’s get our feet wet! When I last left this story, I pulled it verbatim of how I wrote it 8 years ago. I have grown a lot since then. No, I don’t mean in the waistline! Grown as a writer and a person. My first step with this story is to edit and fine tune the story. I will make notes as necessar. Also at this stage, I begin to think about page breaks. This isn’t always true for writers, but since I will be doing the illustrations as well it is a consideration I keep in mind. As I read the passage, I visualize an illustration…Is it strong enough to make a compelling image? Does it have movement? Variation? Can the idea stand alone on its own page? If not, that is a sign I need to rewrite or reflow. I can’t stress this enough: Every page must have a purpose. One question I constantly ask myself at this stage is “how does this advance the narrative?” If I can’t answer that question, it is a red flag something isn’t working. This story is also different in that it rhymes. Rhythm and the cadence of sounds must garner attention as well. Saying it out loud as it is edited will help.
Here is my first rewrite.My changes will be in pink. My comments in green. Eliminated words will be struck through.
Why Orange Monkey do you live in a tree?
Asked the Purple Fish who lived in the sea.(make this a spread) PF and OM are names, not “the’s” capitalize throughout
Trees are so scary, they reach to the sky! (give emphasis with punctuation, effects how it is read)
And It would hurt very much to fall from that high.(make this a spread)
Trees are hard but my sea is soft.
A sea is a thing you can never fall off. (make this a spread) love the way this lines rolls off of tongue
So why Orange Monkey do you live in that a tree? consistency
Come Jump in the water and live in the sea!(make this a spread) Jump is better call to action than “come.” Should make more compelling image.
Because, said the monkey swinging on who swung from a vine. (more consistent with “who lived in the sea” above”
The sea is not yours but this tree is all mine. (make this a spread) adding “not” gives more meaning here
My tree is hard but your sea is too big. love the directness. “Sea, not “see,” nice catch Stacey!
Compared to your sea my tree is a twig.(make this a spread)
Your tree is so high. High as can be.
My water is low. Come live in the sea.(make this a spread) not completely sold on these two lines, will give further though and revisit.
I love to swing. I love to live life in the sky. “life” is more compelling, more descriptive and appropriate.
I love being a monkey and here is why. (make this a spread)
Up high there is In this tree lives one monkey. That is my wish. Reads with better rhythm.
Because But down deep in the water there are lives many bigger fish. (make this a spread) These sentences now agree and work together better.
And So, said the Orange Monkey that lived in the tree. consistency.
I live up high. Living Down there is for you, up here is for me. (make this a spread) much better.
The Purple Fish just smiled and then swam away. insert “just” for better rhythm.
He loved the water. It is where he would stay. (make this a spread)
And the Orange Monkey was so happy to live up high, smiled back from up in the sky
That he hung Then hanging from his tail, and he waved good-bye.(make this a spread)
The Purple Fish may swim, in his down there in the sea, use “the” instead of “his” to show he doesn’t own sea, use “down” to compliment “up.”
But I’m happy up here. This tree is for me. (make this a spread)
This is just the first rewrite. I am sure there will be many small tweaks here and there. One thing I will be giving a lot of thought to is tense. It is important to make sure past, present and future are all used consistently. In my opinion, this is a weakness of mine so I am careful to watch for it. Page breaks aren’t usually this cut and dry but because of the structure and being a rhyming piece, they are easy to place in this story. As I have the breaks now, there will be 26 pages total. Great! I’m under 32! Plus it will leave room for the title page, cpi data, etc..I will probably add in one more spread to give me 28 pages.
On another note, for people interested self publishing, I have come across a wonderful blog. It is maintained by Stacey Geist and shares her experience as she self publishes her children’s book Stomple and the Super-Huge Temper Tantrum. It contains lots of great insights into her experience. Check it out if you have a moment. Stromple’s Spot.
Finally, it was Moo-Pig’s turn…I have had an over abundance of ideas as of late. So many that I don’t know how to begin to explore them all. I have nimbly jumped from one project to the next, pushing myself creatively. In the process, I have discovered a large part of me that had been lost. I have been bounced around the design world over the years so much that at some point I lost the creative fire that drove me. I began to focus on survival. I never realized this until recently when I began reflecting on my work. Not the kind of work we do because we have to, but the work we do because we want to and need to. Sadly, it dawned on me that my best work was in the past. Not by a few days, nor weeks, nor months, but years past. When was the last time I did something I could pass to my kids or share with my wife? Two months ago, if I told you about my latest book, I would have to go back 5 years. I guess sometimes we get so focused on survival that we forget the things that allowed us to survive in the first place. I began this year hoping to get this spark back…to rekindle my creative fire. I figured it would be a year long process, at least. Who knew it would take only a month? I have a Moo-Pig to thank for this. Speaking of which…
Work is continuing on Moo-Pig. I’m hoping to have it wrapped up by the end of next month. Above is the newest sketch. I can see the finish line at this point and look forward to sprinting towards the end.
Moo-Pig contains mainly spreads. To make things easier, I have counted in spreads rather than pages. This is from spread 12. There will be a total of 15 spreads. As you can see, I have begun adding in color, but very minimally. The idea here is that this is a story of black and white and the illustrations are meant to reflect that. I’m hoping this adds drama for the sparing use of blue.
I am still undecided about what to do with this project in the end. When I started Duck of All Trades, it has always been a goal of mine to self publish. Moo-Pig may be the perfect candidate for that. With it’s use of two colors, it would be inexpensive, at least by children’s book’s standards, to print. I have also thought of making it available through an e-book. I own the site moo-pig.com and could easily set up a site around this book for all to enjoy. If I decide to submit it to publishers, I will keep it updated here.
In other news, I have began to work on yet another secret project. More to come in a few weeks. All I can say for now is it has to do with “Sockets” and their odors.
I have spent an incredible amount of time lately (thanks to my partner in Design Connie sharing with me books by Seth Godin) evaluating my business. What is it? What does it need to be? Where is it going. As a stay at home father, it is crucial for me to be successful. My wife Keeley and I made the decision a year ago with the birth of our daughter that I should try to work from home and be a stay at home father. After spending 6 years working in a graphic design market as a temp, a freelancer and a contractor, it made sense. For once I would be in control of my destiny. My job security would not depend on if the company I was working for at the time had the payroll or the business. My job security would now rely on me. I was free to make of it what I could within a reasonable limit. Not to mention the thousands a year we would save in child care and the piece of mind we would have knowing that our youngest would be well taken care of and our oldest would have the help he needed with his homework.
I’m happy to say that after a year, I haven’t failed. My business has shown progress with slow and steady growth and I have successfully changed 875 diapers, 342 which have been rather unpleasant in the smell department. OK, so that’s an estimate. You don’t seriously think I keep track of diapers, right? However, I now realize that it won’t be enough to not fail. I need to thrive, to find my voice and find an audience. I have put a number of measures in place to allow this. I have been tracking stats more seriously for my site. I have it optimized and streamlined. I have started using Adwords to help promote my site and attract new visitors. Most importantly, I have realized what a SMALL window the web is. Most users I have view my site for less than 30 seconds. Most click off after one page. A quick exit. To me, this is scary. How do you sell a customer in less than 30 seconds and after a one brief glance. This is a question I have struggled with lately. It isn’t an easy thing to do. The tough thing about the web is if a viewer isn’t immediately impressed, they can look elsewhere with the click of a mouse.
My remedy for this is working on making my website more relevant. The website as we know it is dead. The web is no longer an album, such as the Beatles’ “Seargent Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band,” meant to be listened to from beginning to end. It is a streamlined collection of all their greatest hits in MP3 format and the surfer has the power to go to any song, fast forward, rewind and skipping to only the parts they want to hear. Like it or not, google and other search engines have led to this. So what works? Relevancy. Controlling what the viewer sees through that small window by using more specific keywords and giving the mythical search engine crawlers what they need: better site maps. Also, I have tailored my AdWords to point potential clients to the information they want, not to what I think they may want after they give me a chance. That way if they only give me 30 seconds of their time, it is 30 seconds dedicated to something that might interest them. I also plan to add more visuals. You can learn much more about a picture at a moments glance than a grouping of words.
So will it succeed? I can guarantee that it won’t fail, at least not in my mind. You see, I believe the only way to fail is to not learn. If you are walking along and you trip because your shoe laces are untied, have you failed? Not if you get up, realize that if you tie them, you won’t trip again and then keep them tied. When you learn from a mistake, that’s not a failure. That is a growth. Eventually you learn to tie double knots and it is smooth sailing from there. More importantly, have I succeeded? I see that answer everyday when my daughter surprises me with what she has learned in her short time on earth or when I pick my son up from school and find out he has made another 100 on his spelling test. That is all the success I need as a father to inspire the success I will need as a new business owner trying to find his way.
I love to write and illustrate children’s picture books. To me, they present a challenge like no other. It isn’t just about words. It isn’t just about pictures (there are exceptions to this one). It is about the perfect marriage between them both. It is a dance between what is written and what is shown visually. As one gives, the other takes. For myself, it is the most rewarding work process. I can learn more from doing a picture book than from any other type of project. I love the process…the building of the foundation, the first awkward steps, the refinement, the finding of the voice. However, my favorite moment is when the story takes a life of its own. When done properly, when given proper consideration and time, it leaves you. It is out of your hands and becomes what it wants to. It writes itself and tells itself.
Me describing this process isn’t enough to properly share the joy it brings me. That is why I have decided to share this experience with the world. From the start to finish, I plan to develop a new picture book and bring you along every step via this blog. As many of you may know, I am deep in the trenches with my latest effort “Moo-Pig.” However, it has began to reach the point I mentioned earlier. The one where it is out of my hands. “Moo-Pig” has life and I’m very proud of this and ready to start anew.
A few notes about this story. It was written originally in 2001. I also did a few quick mock-ups of what the illustrations might look like. I will include those at the bottom of the poem. Remember, this a very rough draft. So here it is, laid out bare and real. The first step. The idea and original story. My first few steps will include refining this. A little polish will do it wonders. The story is called “This Tree is for Me.” It is a simple poem. In the end, it will be 32 pages:
This Tree is for me
By Jeff Duckworth
Why Orange Monkey do you live in a tree?
Asked the purple fish who lived in the sea.
Trees are quite scary, they reach to the sky,
And it would hurt very much to fall from that high.
Trees are hard but my sea is soft.
A sea is a thing you can never fall off.
So why Orange Monkey do you live in that tree?
Come in the water and live in the sea.
Because, said the monkey swinging on a vine.
The sea is yours but this tree is all mine.
My tree is hard but your see is too big.
Compared to your sea my tree is a twig.
Your tree is so high. High as can be.
My water is low. Come live in the sea.
I love to swing. I love to live in the sky.
I love being a monkey and here is why.
Up high there is one monkey. That is my wish.
Because in the water there are many bigger fish.
And so said the Orange Monkey that lived in the tree.
I live up high. Living up here is for me.
The purple fish smiled and then swam away.
He loved the water. It is where he would stay.
And the monkey was so happy to live up high,
That he hung from his tail and waved good-bye.
The purple fish may swim in his sea,
But I’m happy up here. This tree is for me.
This Tree is for Me original sketch. Click to enlarge.
[/caption]
I use a shop vac to clean the house. The fact I’m using a garage “tool” totally outweighs any noncoolnes in doing housework. Seriously. And I’m not talking about your run of the mill shop vac, I’m talking a big beefy, suck a size 2T sock up in a heart beat piece of machinery. Not only does it clean the floor, but it will suck off any couch, any mini blind, any crevice, etc. Ceiling fan blades cringe at the thought of being touched by such an awesome force that is a shop vac. Not to mention that it will clean a hardwood floor without slinging debris and other small objects everywhere. Nothing escapes one. Plus if you get bored you can play a fun game. It is called “What is the biggest object I can suck with a shop vac?” You would be surprised. Need a good laugh? They also make great hairstyling tools for the little ones. You know, give them that nice ice cream cone shaped hair they so desire.
I’m still trying to find a manly alternative to a mop but have had little luck. The pressure washer was fun, but the results were mixed. Good thing we have flood insurance.
In other news, here is a picture of a new creation. I call him “Chalupa.” He has given me an idea for a catchy new website. I will keep you updated as this site progresses. Right now, it is top secret.
Chalupa the puppet hogging the camera.
I received great news this week. My wife and I are expecting our third child this June and we found out this week that it is a boy! Needless to say, our whole family is elated. Not just because of the fact we are having another baby, but for the fact that a boy is somewhat of a rarity to our family. I am the youngest of four boys and out of those brothers, most our kids are girls. My parents have 10 grandchildren total and out of that, only two are boys, the rest have been girls. My parents were convinced that any other grandchildren they have would be girls. They were wrong.
My wife and I have already been out buying clothes for our new addition. We both feel blessed to be expecting another. I personally can’t wait until June. I am already counting down the days. Hopefully our house construction will be done and we will have a new bedroom for all of our children. We currently have our youngest in the bedroom with us. We love our children’ but desperately look forward to getting our bedroom back! There is nothing quite like sneaking in a bedroom late at night so as not to disturb a sleeping child only to have them sit up and forcefully demand “DAAAA.” Especially when you are dead tired and want nothing but to climb into bed.
On another note, I am going to stay fairly busy this week. In addition to illustrating my new book, I am beginning layout on a new book for Bright Works Press, doing illustrations for another small book press and doing some volunteer poster design for the local community theatre, Foothills Community Theatre.
Also, on March the 5th some of my puppets will be on display as part of the McDowell County Chamber of Commerce annual dinner event. They will act as a backdrop to the very talented ventriloquist Peggy Miller
Moo-Pig
I am currently working on illustrating and writing a children’s picture book named Moo-Pig. This is a story that I have been working on for over 10 years. I first came up with the concept in 1997. In 1998, I made my first attempt at illustrating it and making it a book. I was in high school at the time and the illustrations were primitive at best. This was the first book I ever wrote/illustrated and is the basis of all my interest and work in children’s literature. Back then it was known as “Marmalade, the Happiest Little Moo-Pig”
The following year, I re-illustrated with a little progress, but still it was no where near where I envisioned it. I just didn’t have the skills necessary to produce this book. Not to mention the writing, which was too wordy for the project. It retained the name.
Marmalade sat dormant until 2002. I blew off the dust, opened the project up as a college assignment, and jumped in head first with the new title of “Marmalade the Moo-pig”. The results were much better. I applied full color, a reworked story based on what I had learned as a member of SCBWI, and fully re-imagined the whole book. I was very happy with my results. It was the first story I had wrote and illustrated that I felt proud of.
However, I felt it was finally time to do it, again. This story has become a measuring stick for my progress. It helps me to see how much I have grown and changed. How much my skills have improved and is a means to advance my abilities. The story is streamlined, eliminating most of the text. It uses only three colors, black/white(of the paper) and blue. I felt that this is a story of black/white and so the color needed to match it. The characters are different, the focus different, the story different, the “lesson” different. The name has been changed as well to just “Moo-Pig.” I won’t give away too much of the story but wanted to introduce the it and give a little history as I will be talking about it as work progresses. So far I’m about halfway through the page sketches, no color. This will be the last time I revisit this story and look forward to sharing it with the world. I consider this to be the most honest work I have ever done. It is a reflection of who I am and what I believe.
Pig Out Contest
The Wild Thing
A man and his Volkswagen is a complicated relationship not easily understood. Mine started when I was very young, still in elementary school. While my brothers were into larger, faster modes of transportation, such as Jeeps with enormous tires and Camaros that would drain the color from your face with a tap on the accelerator, I fell in love with the german engineered air-cooled car that could. I counted the days when I would own one, never losing that dream. As I grew older, that love never went away. When I was 13, I bought my first VW, which was actually just an engine lid. I claimed it was my first piece, and I would build the rest of the car around it. High School came and went with no Beetle. I had to have something more reliable, something safer, something to get me from point A to point B and eventually college. College came, still no Volkswagen. But the dream lived on.
After college in 2002, my dream became a reality. I came home from work one day to find a little red, 1971 Super Beetle in the back yard. My dad and mom had bought it for me as a graduation gift. My dad had even risked his safety and clean driving record by driving it home illegally and in need of a few repairs just to surprise me. I immediately took up with the car. It was loud (rusted out muffler) and dirty, the seats were filled with holes, it was covered in years of VW grime from bumper to bumper, which it was missing along with a other few parts and it sported a paint job fresh out of a spray can. In other words, it was perfect. I painted murals on it, stuck in a new muffler, made a few minor adjustments and never looked back.
7 Years later, a new engine later and hours of work later, here we are. A man and his Volkswagen. My life has changed so much. With two kids and another on the way, it’s not practical for the family to pile in on a family trip. However, with so many memories, so many years in anticipation and so much work, this car will forever be a part of me because so much of me is in it. It may only get used for late night runs to the store, or early morning runs to pick up breakfast, but it will always be my car. It proves that even though my life has changed, I haven’t
However, The Wild Thing (that is its name because, simply, I painted a mural of “Where the Wild Things Are” on the side) has been out of commission for a few months. The battery has died numerous times. Last week, the “idiot” light came on . I wasted no time in diagnosing the problem, a burnt out generator. I immediately went to work and 2 hours later, my hands covered in VW Grease, I had a new generator installed. Voila! Problem solved. It is at that point, my relationship with this particular Volkswagen became clear. It’s not just a car, it is more than that. This is my hopes, my dreams. This is all the things I wanted and all the things I have. This is something I can fix. It’s a perfect gift from proud parents and a shared ride with my four legged best friend. It’s stuffing socks in the air vents on a cold winter morning and the smell of gas fumes on a hot summer day. This Volkswagen isn’t just a car, it is me. And sometimes all it takes is a simple repair and its new again. A little work and the lights shine bright again.
That is the secret to the relationship between this man and his Volkswagen.
Wild Thing's Engine Bay
© 2010 - The Life and Adventures of Jeff Duckworth is proudly powered by WordPress