Feb 13, 2010

Illustration Friday: "Adrift"








Marty and Christine Geraldson saw Tim  wade out into Lime Creek at about 10.30 pm. The thirteen year old boy was fully dressed except for his shoes. Clutched in his hands were three strange dolls; one dressed as Santa, another as a medieval squire, the last as a well dressed explorer - Stanley Livingstone in turned out later. 

"Oh.... and he had something else ... a small wooden boat," Christine told the girl from the big city newspaper the next day. " Tim waded out into the creek till the water was waist height. We watched him put the toys in the boat and then he just stood there, staring into the darkness, not even shivering, but humming this strange song, like a dirge...  My husband Marty wanted to call the sheriff, but I .... I don't know why but I stopped him. There was always something odd about Tim, something adrift, as we say up at the hospital. But I never thought this would happen...."



18 comments:

  1. Incredible piece! Magical and brilliant work!

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  2. Very cool Andrew! Tim is a bit "adrift" Great work as usual. Your illustrations always mesmerize me Andrew! I keep looking at them and seeing amazing details.

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  3. I so enjoy all your little stories that come with your pictures. They send my imagination sailing :-)
    And as always: a magical illustration.

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  4. Wow! What a great image! I'm curious about your process and how a transition from traditional media to digital media feels.

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  5. What a tease!! I wish, I wish to know more of the story... the illo makes me want to know what happened. Something dreadful I fear.
    A delight to visit here, you always have a bit of magic in the pot simmering away.

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  6. HI Andrew! Love the "knowing" expression in that boy's eyes as he casts his 3 little friends adrift. Nice reflection in the water too!

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  7. Incredible textures and colors. The atmosphere is great!

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  8. Hya everyone, thanks for all the kind replies. This one was fun, especially getting Tim's eyes to look so strange! And getting a bit of a story into it. Maybe those lights coming down from the sky have something to do with the story? :) :)

    Daniel, in answer to your question I made this a while ago.

    http://artistadvice.blogspot.com/

    I'm in the process of typing up a longwinded ezine interview which deals with some questions, so I'll post it up when it get's published,

    In the meantime - digital is a dead untactile medium - and for an artist who is as good as yourself in traditional media I think it would be a shame to start on the digital path.

    Mind you' it's the way of the future?

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  9. Oh no, more trouble for poor Tim! It almost seems like he's playing with them like 'voodoo' dolls, although you'd have to be pretty sick to cast a voodoo spell on Santa! Amazing details Andrew, as Justin said, those eyes......

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  10. Thanks Susan, yep those eyes are creepy, almost as if he is alive.... hmm .... :)

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  11. What a fantastic imagination you have! I love the surreal quality of this.

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  12. Beautiful work, Andrew! The eyes really got me. Perfect match for the story.

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  13. Love your imaginative world!..Amazing work..:-)

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  14. Andrew this is a great illustration! The boy's expression is so intense!

    Ooh I have to follow your blog. I really love your style.

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  15. Stephen King would love this one! Your artwork is as always an amazing adventure and combined with your imaginative stories it creates a world apart.

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  16. Brilliant image, what a compelling story. So eerie... love the lights and reflections. Wonderful work.

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  17. Thanks for all the comments on this one. I'm really very glad that you liked it.

    I've got to admit though, he's a weird kid. Tim just came alive by himself. Who else would go wading out into Lime Creek in the middle of the night but Tim? Just makes me shudder.

    I think maybe I should get the priest in and check my wacom for Poltergeists..... There's a church down the road. Maybe it's time I took a wander down there and knocked on the door.

    It's a nice night tonight. There's a bit of moonlight poking through the clouds and casting interesting shadows across the road.

    No traffic though, which is strange.
    In fact, not a soul around.

    :)

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Hya! Thank you so much for leaving a comment. I appreciate your time and thoughts.