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.