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About how long will the eventual book be? How far along are you?

Love this drawing of Harry. He seems like an American Totoro to me.

Eric, this is WONDERFUL!!

Wow, Gabe that is SO perfect! When I discuss this book with friends I talk about Harry and Silvio as being spirit animals more than just anthropomorphic animals. And this book is very much taking place in a mostly American mythical place, even in time as it begins in a fantasy version of the Great Depression in Arizona. I think being Canadian haas made the American South seem almost mythical to me.

Thanks so much Stephanie!! I'm such a fan of yours it always means a lot to have your encouragement.

Nice post! Glad I found this blog!

check out mine? I'm a photographer!

www.electricbrandon.com

If you want, follow it and I'll do the same.

Once you get enough of these guys made, you could even do a short, something ala Adam Rex's smekday stuff- http://www.smekday.com/
Very cute! :)

That's a great idea, Erin!

It's génial and I say : Go Stop Motion!

Very nice model. And a great idea for the shading reference. A stop motion film would be really cool too.

OH MY GOSH! Love it!! I'm having a problem with a character that has a very flat face so I may make a model for shading...

Thanks guys! Can I let someone else do the movie??

I like this painting a lot with this teddy...and the moon.

I like the sadness in Silvio's eyes. Or the way the mask hints at it.

My friend and I were recently talking about the ubiquitousness of technology in our daily lives. Reading this post makes me think back to that discussion we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.


I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside... I just hope that as technology further innovates, the possibility of copying our brains onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's one of the things I really wish I could experience in my lifetime.


(Posted on Nintendo DS running [url=http://cryst4lxbands.blog.com/2010/01/31/will-the-r4-or-r4i-work/]R4i Card[/url] DS Ting2)

Hi Eric,To my shame I haven't been doing much 'visiting' lately and just look what I've been missing! The way you've done the clouds is stunning.x

I can only continue to strive for the unattainable, which you have reached with such ease.

Looking great Eric! How long does it take you to do one of those pages? That's a lot of linework.

So - you say you are working with an editor. Does this mean the book is already sold?

Editors are SUCH A GOOD INVENTION. Hooray for the Goldfish, I really think it'll be brilliant... and published, hurrah!

Thanks Jessie! No shame, I'm always glad to have you by. If I could serve coffee here I would.

wow! Thanks so much, Sam! I think we all feel that way about something.

Thanks Tom! What happened is a publisher-the one I felt would be best suited to this book-contacted me and expressed interest. They've been spending time editing and revising it with me but no official papers have been signed though it's looking really good.
And this is a panel, actually. A page takes about 2 days. With parenting and other stuff I have a hard time putting that into hours. I did do a full page spread for this story which took about a week.

Thanks viviane!! I have my fingers and toes crossed.

Excellent, well best of luck in sealing the deal. I'll be in line to grab one for sure.

Thanks so much Tom! Stay tuned.

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Hi Eric. This is looking really good!If an editor is working with you, it must be almost in the bag. I'm sure they don't like to waste they're time. Maybe we'll be seeing it in print before you know it.

Ultimately, all stories are about death, because that's our story. So I guess my favorite themes are the ones involved on this life cycle: birth, coming of age, discovery of sex, learning, overcoming problems, and ultimately, dying. Many of my characters die in the end my movies, because, well, that's what people do in the end of their stories too.

A little Tolkine to spice up the discussion:

"There cannot be any story without a fall – all stories are ultimately about the fall"

The uncanny super-connection that exists between former lovers, old friends who have had no contact for years...

Being one with nature.

Interesting Daniel. I was just listening to an interview with Morrissey and he was saying the same thing. I'm not sure all stories are really about death though, I could see that being a consideration but I think there are other legitimate themes.

Yikes! That's the stuff in life I find more terrifying then death Lydia.Not the nature part...

I should add that the most meaningful themes to me are the complexities of love and family because that's what is really close to me.

Going the hard road alone. Race and feeling different, left out, ugly and walking your path anyway and finding your merits on your own terms, not other's. :)

I hope you'll still go nuts on your silly plots for your little short story publications. I like raw art as much as I like refined art, and you've got the stuff.

Thanks so much Julie! I just read The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead which was an astounding meditation on race. I've never read anything quite like it.I think that's a theme a lot of people approach hesitantly ( and a lot approach eagerly ) because they aren't certain how they should feel.

I almost put "feeling different" or alienation as my favorite theme because I felt on the outside for so long.

The journey with it's messes and misdirections that inevitably ends with love and good prevailing. Just like a Shakespeare comedy, "All's Well that Ends Well".

I love that too Madeline. In fact i actively search those books out.

@Daniel reading a Cormac McCarthy interview recently, I'd say he agrees with you.

Hard to choose 1, but I am particularly interested in issues of national / cultural identity. So Tigana was a pretty cool book for me to read!

themes that arise out of the Canadian character also appeal to me. the Canadian hero who sort of bumbles his way through things and who ends up neither ahead nor behind, but sort of sideways from where he thought he wanted to get to is my favorite. (In contrast to the American hero who wins by dint of his strength and character and timely action). The hero as observer rather than actor. E.g., Canadian hero is the guy who repairs the Canadarm rather than the handsome captain hero. North by 2000 is a great example of those types of stories.

Alienation is the great theme of 20th century literature, but I like the Canadian version best: The alienated outsider who decides being outside looking in is actually better.

Multiculturalism. Diversity. Karma.

Lots of other stuff. Indeed, I often seek out books precisely because they explore new themes, different areas than I've considered before.

Thanks for the thoughtful answer Robert! I have to laugh when you describe the Canadian hero. It's so true and familiar to me. I love what you said about exploring new themes. I hadn't thought of that but it is wonderful when you find a new theme or a new approach to a theme.

Parenting. Being a good one, being a bad one and your responsibility on the next generation. That's why Finding Nemo get's me as much as The Road.
Going to work on a comic next year on this theme.

Learning that much of the world is running on dreams. The reality of ghosts and monsters created thus, and finding the reason and courage to face them.

Good one, Paul. I can totally relate to that as well. It becomes an obsession after you have kids. Right now I'm reading Michael Chabon's book on parenting and manhood and it's full of resonant ideas for me.

Viviane, that's such a beautiful concept. I want to print it and crochet it and frame it for the studio. It's very close to how I see things, maybe even exactly how I see things.

I don't quite relate to this form of writing, though I can see how it works for some. It's important especially in allegory. but I find that theme evolves naturally from character and situations.

Sometimes spelling out the subtext or overanalyzing the story can make you see it too literally, and ends up sucking all the magic out of it. If the author had a didactic purpose they would write an essay not a story.

I don't subscribe to the idea that's often sold to you in English lit classes, that there are deliberate symbols and subtext in all great literature, as if each author has a theme or point to get across that is preconceived.

With my own strip, The Blue Kid, people tend to read a lot into it because it has an unconventional structure, but I'm always trying to tell them that what they see on the surface is really what it's about. That any subtext is unconscious, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a subtext. I just wouldn't search too hard for it. Better to just absorb it and enjoy it.

Thanks Jed, I don't think anyone's suggesting that people write with the theme considered before the story. In fact I think it's irrelevant when you realize what the theme is.When I say theme I mean a unifying element,idea etc.(paraphrasing Wikipedia here) suggested by the text. Nothing directly to do with symbols but more to do with what interests or obsessions of the writer.I actually don't think people would read books if there were no themes, I don't think you can write without them.I think all stories have a subtext whether we know it or not. Even the most abstract, surreal stories are concerned with something.

it always boils down to love & life for me. life is struggle pain hardship death, but within that its incredible, the small moments of kindness, or love, of living. I need a story to affirm, that no matter what, love & life prevails.

Thanks Vickie~I find those things some of the most moving as well. I love the way you put it "small moments of kindness" It's really wonderful that big,universal themes can be expressed in the smallest, gentlest moments.

Hmmm... I don't know if it counts as a theme, but often the stories that tend to resonate with me are those that create a sense of nostalgia, bittersweet or otherwise.

The ones that manage to capture the exhilaration and terror of first love, the frustrations and strange joys of childhood; the ones that feel like they are a window into your dreams, or nightmares. The stories that are as evocative as the smell of your grandfather's jacket.

Even if it's about something you've never experienced, these stories feel like tales told about the memories you've lost.




... but like I said, I don't think this really qualifies as a theme per se.

Thanks Thornae! I'm sure that a theme of that nature could be articulated.Perhaps our relationship to the past.

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Thinking about it, yes, our relationship with the past, but also our relationship with dreams, and the way they impinge on our waking life.

I rather think those two things (dreams and the past) are more intertwined in our memories than we sometimes realise.


Anyway, best of luck with finding a theme. You've definitely got plenty to work with!

That's an interesting question. I like inspiration themes of triumphing over odds. The reward doesn't have to be huge but a self recognition of worth and being accepted despite being different is another theme I enjoy. There are a few more themes I enjoy to do with life and death and finding that inner peace. I also love a good comedy that shows you can laugh inspite of what's going on around you.