Return to Work!

The last couple of months have proven to be a lot tougher than I would have thought. Graduating from FSU, getting a “real” job, teaching part-time, moving, and everything else have really put a crimper on my creative output. For the past couple weeks though, I have made it a habit to sit down every Wednesday night with a friend of mine to talk ideas.

For some time now, I’ve had the desire to tell one of those sad and weepy tales of unrequited love. Something that could pull at heart strings with endearing emotion, yet allow me to incorporate elements that have significance for me. I wanted to write a story that dealt with Bluegrass music. I wanted it to take place in Western North Carolina. Most importantly, I wanted to write and draw something that would show my friends and family alike, that I could produce something that wasn’t grounded in LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) or absurdism.

I’ve always heard that to be a great writer you have to write about what you know. Using that, I reflected on my life and some of the relationships I’ve had. I also know that audiences love tragedy, train-wrecks and soap-opera.

I took all of that and pitched it to my good friend, and former neighbor, Chris Klotschkow. We free associated with my thoughts and focused on salient points. I want to have a hand in the writing, but wish to free myself from it enough to concentrate on the art. Chris has a background in literature and writing and was interested in becoming involved in a project like this. We’re still trying to find a rhythm as far as collaborating is concerned but the fruits so far have been pretty sweet. Example: Character Design-at one of our first meetings I spoke about my desire to incorporate a sage-like character. Someone who has vast wisdom, not unlike the “Stranger” from “The Big Lebowski”, and gives cryptic or veiled information to the main character. Not a “Principal” character himself, not at least in featuring directly throughout the story, but someone who drifts in and out to provide key sentiments where needed. The last time I lived in Western North Carolina, I had good fortune to meet just such a man. He was a Bluegrass Picker who “did his tradin’” at my place of employment. A super nice guy, and one hellacious picker (I bought two of his albums)- I chose this man to model my sage after. Now, the resulting image looks more like Richard Petty and Hank Williams, Jr. had an illegitimate child, but I could feel the spirit of this man in my drawing. AND-I didn’t have to anguish over the initial drawing! It came fairly easily to me while we discussed this characters role in our story. I initially scanned the inked draft into my computer to post as-is, but server issues forced me to wait. It is said that Necessity is the Mother of invention, But I think Procrastination can serve as a competent surrogate. The result is the “overblown” character design included with this post. Lord knows, I love me some Photoshop! 🙂