#37: Baubles, basins and books
Hello carolers,
It’s that time of the week. You know what time it is.
This week, an apple tree lot pivots, a shower makes a bold claim, and we take a glimpse into the book publishing world.
Flipping to the next page,
Chris
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Caption: N/A
Times are tough everywhere.
And sometimes, when you need to make ends meet, you need to pivot. To make use of the stock at hand, even if that involves some pretty careful painting and a change in signage.
Because everyone needs apple, I mean Christmas, trees, right?
A little artist’s note: There were so many challenges to this cartoon, but let me hit on the main ones.
The first, and perhaps the most obvious, was the use of colour. I’m always a little reluctant to use colour as it’s a lot of work, and also I don’t consider myself very good at it. But, in this instance, I felt like the visual demanded it. I’m also pondering making this a card for next Christmas, so I wanted to get ahead of that idea by making it full colour now. Maybe you can put in a pre-order?
The second challenge was around the signage. Because this cartoon really only works if the signage works. So I spent a bit of time sketching out exactly how I could show that these were formerly apple trees, while also showing that they are now rebranded as Christmas trees.
And if I can pull off all of that, maybe it works quite nicely.
Caption: “Behold, the dripping tap. Reported to maintenance months ago, and yet still unfixed.”
We’ve all lived in this house.
You know the drill. There’s a problem. It’s a small one so it kind of slips through the cracks. But it’s still a problem. And then, as time drifts by, the problem lingers. Not ruining your day, but definitely causing mild irritation. The drip. The endless drip. The problem that likely would only take 5 minutes to fix.
And then imagine that it’s your shower, wrapped in a shower curtain, recounting the issue to a couple of hair products.
A little artist’s note: You ever have something, a visual, stuck in your head and you just can’t shake it. But then, well then you try to draw it and it just looks weird not matter which way you swing it. So then, then, you decide to meticulously stage a real-life version of it, take a photo, and then draw it in detail. And then, once you’ve done that, you redraw it so many times that it no longer resembles the photograph you took, but it looks kind of right all the same.
Well, if you’ve ever had that exact dilemma, then you already know the story of this cartoon and the challenges it threw in my path.
Caption: “The plot is meandering and the characters are poorly written, but the hype is incredible.”
This one goes out to all my friends in the book industry, may you not have to deal with too many of these books.
I recently finished reading an over-hyped book (I won’t mention the name) that fit this bill perfectly. And it gave me a new appreciation for booksellers having to go out into the wilderness this holiday season and sell books that are just not great, but that have some great hype around them.
And with all that advertising, maybe I want to read ‘Bones and Dust’ too.
P.S. ‘Bones and Dust’, to the best of my research, doesn’t exist. There is something called ‘Dust and Bones’ which is apparently good. But ‘Bones and Dust’ is totally fictional (and totally fiction).
A little artist’s note: You know the best part about book stores? Books. You know the worst part about drawing a book store? Also, books. Because, the shelves are always full and, thus, to make it look like a real bookstore, the shelves in a cartoon of a bookstore need to be too.
Like most cartoons, this is one where I just hope that I’ve pulled off what I had in mind. Because there is a lot to take in and much of it, such as the books on the shelves, are really just there to add context to the scene.
But, one thing I feel certain of, Bones and Dust is sure to be a bestseller and I am certain it will get an equally lacklustre sequel.
Thanks for reading MiddleSquiggle!
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