Keeping My Day Job

Now see, if I was really a native rather than yet another Eastern transplant (by way of California, natch,) I would probably have tried to do something with a blue tarp, as pictured here, aka the unofficial flag of the Great Northwest. Just thought of it tonight, and maybe just as well, considering the rather limited visual appeal of the thing, to be honest. Wet camping enthusiasts aside, there's not much there there, is there? Nonetheless, it is a handy symbol.

That's what I was trying to think in terms of, symbols, when I signed on to do the occasional whatsit for the relaunch of NW Book Lovers. I was invited, don't you know, to contribute. They even expressed an ungrudging willingness to pay. Imagine that. The idea was I might do a doodle, or a caricature, or cartoon, or what have you, once or twice a month. Me among many, mind, with my little squibs no doubt the least of these. Lovely. I'd done a few sketches before, at the PNBA breakfast, at the generous request of our hosts, and a couple of those had been used on the previous incarnation of the website. A few of the things I'd done here had likewise found their way via links to the site as well. I'm known, in a very small way, in such places. Huff puff. Anyway, it was all extremely flattering and one doesn't mind an extra paycheck here and there, do one? So... off we go.

I sent in the most recent self portrait in pencil in place of a contributors photo, wrote up a short, somewhat silly bio. to go along with it, and then had to think of something to send. Somewhere along the way, either I or our beloved and lovely editor at the website, dear J., named my column "Doodles," and what else, frankly, could we have called the thing? The obvious first go then should be some kind of scribbly bit, yes? A bookstore doodle or two, or a caricature of some NW author, something anyway that I knew how to do, was already doing, hadn't yet used here, but might. You get the picture. Dear J. wanted "books." Really, she was more helpful than that, though it took me an embarrassingly long time to finally trip to what she was asking me for and draw her a simple picture of books between bookends. I gave them all rather moist titles. That was the joke. The picture was used, I got a handsome reward, and off we went.

The first thing I thought of however, was not the picture that was eventually used. Somewhere along the way, well before the actual relaunch of the site, the word "mascot" came up, and not in reference to my own adorable harmlessness and profoundly cuddly aspect. The idea -- and I really can't claim it as my own because I honestly don't think I suggested it first -- was for the site to have a "look" to which I was somehow to contribute, and maybe the best way for that to happen was I should maybe create... a mascot? See? I didn't of course. I can be a bit thick. Eventually I realized what was being proposed was not some San Diego Chicken suit, but our very own Eustace Tilly, the iconic gent from many great New Yorker magazine covers, including, I believe, their first.

Eustace in mind, and things both north and west being fished from my rather shallow understanding of regional signifiers, I fired off a few proposals, sensibly assuming their eventual rejection, right in the title of each, as a joke and to preclude any need to run any of them at all.

(I will share these separately, hereafter.)

None of these quite suited, though I don't find the drawings unfunny. I still rather like them. They simply proved not to be much to the purpose. No loss, as instead I will now post them here. Waste not, etc. In fact, I still had the one more silly Idea, so I'll add that one last.

I did try a spot of color on the first three, most unusually for me, as I haven't much eye for it. (Even my socks are usually just white. Says too much about me, that does.) I also inked my lines, which is another thing I don't much do unless I haven't access to a pencil when I set to drawing. One of the wonders of the sophistication of personal technology nowadays is that all but my wispiest pencil lines can now be read by even my own humble scanner/printer and reproduced here and elsewhere without any great loss of definition. I think of drawing as an activity best done with a stubby #2, (I have, relatedly, rather stubby mitts,) so I can't tell what a pleasure it has been not having to ink anything after. These mascot sketches though, I did ink, for fear they might require a slightly stronger line, depending on how they were to be reproduced. (Unnecessary worry, as that's turned out.)

Since all this, I've written up two other columns, with pictures, and those have proved to be successful enough. I'm glad to say I'll keep at it. The relationship, particularly with the charming J., has proved a happy thing. Meanwhile, I don't think I would have actually been able to make much, even with colored pencils, out of that blue tarp. I also think I'd better keep my day job, if I can.