Sunday, March 09, 2008

Tranquility Road


(Click the image for a bigger one)

Here's my take on a concept started by Sally Cruikshank and expanded on by others:

I'm on Tranquility Road if I can steer clear of nagging traps: thoughts, concerns and issues that drive me batty. My top five crazy makers?

La Morte (death)- My inner nag says, Don't take growing old for granted! People your age and younger have kicked the bucket! People you knew! Beware! Oh yeah, you know you'll probably outlive your folks, right?

Swamp O' Jerks-
Bullies, liars, pests, monsters, and idiots fester here. If you read this blog (or if you've spoken to me within the last week or so), fear not. You are not from the Swamp O' Jerks.

L'amour (love)- Almost left this one off. I've shied away from romance for years, telling myself my career was my first priority. Could have been a mistake. I'll never know.


Me, The Big Dummy- I'm not stupid, but I do stupid things. The ol' foot in the mouth is my specialty. Many's the day I skulk away thinking, I said what?! My biggest blooper occurred a few years back. A friend (who was being treated for cancer*) came home exhausted after working late. I greeted him with "What're they trying to do? Kill you?" Such tact.

Career - I'd like to lob a water balloon at everyone who told me I'd get ahead by working hard and playing by the rules.

So there it is. I'd originally planned to make this animated or interactive, but time's tight.
After reading these gripes I'm thinking I should re tittle this post "The Long and Whining Road"

*he survived, but at the time no one was sure how the cancer would respond to the treatment.



7 comments:

Linda Davick said...

I like this picture a lot. The colors, and the light brown outline on the duck. (Why do I always think the outline has to be black?)

Death and Swamp o jerks, yes!! But I don't believe for one moment that you need to watch out for: L'amour or You, the big dummy or Career. (Not the point, I'm sure, for me to say what I do & don't believe.)

Funny!! (long and whining road).

Anonymous said...

Inspiring! I need to work on my cartoon sometime soon. Linda's right: don't fear! You're great and your work is, too. I always come home from a party embarrassed over everything I said.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Linda,
Thanks for the nice comments about the picture. I spent many a lunch break putting the thing together. Thanks too for your vote of confidence on some of the "swamps" too!
Sal,
Inspiring? Aw, shucks, thanks! *blush*
Glad I'm not the only one in the I said what?!club.
I'm looking forward to this cartoon you speak of...!

Sally said...

Long and whining road is so funny, but: I think duck needs to wear boots instead of an umbrella! Even though the bad things are everywhere the picture is very upbeat and charming. And I agree with you about the black line, Linda.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Sally,
I bet this is one of the few illustrations including skulls and smoldering wreckage to be described as "upbeat and charming."
Still, I'm glad it had that effect. I try to keep things whimsical and fun.

BillGoat said...

I personally agree that this is such a chipper illustration for a somber message. I like the duality of it! However, come on, you are a rockstar!

I do agree that everyone who bullies kids into believing that they should follow all rules, color inside the lines, and to fear speaking up for themselves should get a little more than water balloons lobbed at them.

Keep you the great work!!

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Hi Bilsey,
Thanks for dropping by! "Rockstar" is it? You're too kind. :)
p.s. Let's go toss some water balloons at some "you should conform or you're bad types." sometime.