Friday, February 5, 2010

Boy From a Paper Moon



D'oh! I scanned it without the feet. Well, you can get a pretty good idea of how this painting looks anyway. I am still figuring out my new scanner. I have a lot of this canvas paper, but now I'm thinking I will turn it over and paint on the backs because I'm not sure I like that faux canvas finish. It's irritating. It doesn't scan right.

I have been noodling around with an idea for a childrens story inspired by this painting. I have written several short stories and verses, but they are much too dark to be good childrens stories. I have that problem. Maybe it's because I like scary movies and sideshows and Victorian seances and anatomical dissection theatres and all that. Or because for the last few years I've been exhibiting at the Horror Realm Convention, so naturally, my Halloween themes begin in January and extend until the end of October. It's my work. And I have to admit I like it.

So I have some stories where the protagonist dies, and some stories where everybody dies. But now I am trying to write something different. Wish me luck!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Older children love scary stories (as in the Goosebumps series). My son couldn't get enough of them. Maybe gear yours to the older crowd?

And I love your boy/paper moon painting. Very "fantastical" if there is such a word.

moneythoughts said...

You know, along with what 5thsister just wrote and my thought, you may have something new. What if you wrote a "children's book" but it really was for adults? There are comic books for children, and there are comic books, (in Japan) that are written for adults only. You may have come up with something entirely new in the way of a genre?

What is going to happened with the sheep drawing? After thinking about that drawing for a while, because it caused me to think, those sheep are like a timer switch. They eat and eat until they grow too big to reach the food on the ground, and then they stop eating. That is very clever, and I like it. If we could do that with people, we could solve the nation's obesity problem and lower health care costs.

Mystic Thistle said...

You're cracking me up in this post. I don't know...think Sendak and Gaiman. Those are scary children's stories.

Seriously, Julie, if this were an illustration in a children's book at my house, it would be loved, well cared for, a favorite, prized. Your ability is right up there with the best of illustrators.

ballast photography said...

Well, for better or for worse, "dark" is the new "light" in childrens' literature... But I can envision many creative, engrossing and perhaps even enriching stories that could come from this work. Very intriguing!

Just curious--what do the feet look like? For some reason, I am picturing big, bulbous toes LOL

Dawn Zichko said...

I love the colors! This image alone doesn't seem dark to me ~ more whimsical. It'll be where you go with it that'll be interesting. Besides, the Dark Side isn't so bad.

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

The painting is extraordinary! Whatever story you can sum up for children, it would be just fabulous..Looking at that painting, my mind is running away with a story too..

lissa said...

interesting character and I like the title very much

this has an Alice in wonderland feeling, perhaps it's the girl

prashant said...

I love your boy/paper moon painting. Very "fantastical" if there is such a word.

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