May 17, 2010

Illustration Friday: Equipment












Geppetto, Pinocchio and the Unborn Son



Once upon a time, in a small Italian Village called Poledena in Tuscany, lived a poor but kind carpenter named Mastro Geppetto.

Though Mastro Geppetto and his wife had been married for fourteen years, they had never had children.

Gepetto's wife, being a hot blooded Spanish girl, blamed him. She ceaselessly nagged him for being a sterile "good for nothing culo rosso figlio di troiabut with malfunctioning equipment."

Gepetto, with a grim smile, took his wife's swearing stoically - for he himself blamed no one else but God.

Every night for fourteen years Gepetto had prayed and prayed for a son (and sometimes even a daughter), but God had chosen not to give him a child.

What, he asked himself over and over, had he done to deserve such a desolate marriage?

He went to church twice every Sunday, he'd been faithful to his wfe, he never drank, he gambled seldom, and he only smoked on Saturdays while he sat on the porch chinwagging with his good neighbour Master Antonio.

Of course, it was Master Antonio's idea to carve the piece of pine nut wood into the marrionette he now held in his arms.

With God's help - and the piece of wood that Antonio had given him - he, Geppetto, master carver and carpenter had  made a marionette that would dance and sing and flip somersaults - and perhaps entertain his nagging wife.

He had called the marionette Pinocchio - Italian for 'pine nut'.
The work was almost finished - he just had to align the kneejoints, then grease the neck.

Geppetto looked down at his work, feeling an instant of regret, but as he stared into the marionette's blue eyes he swore he felt the wooden body quiver.

Then, in front of his own amazed eyes, the nose of the marionette twitched and began to grow.










39 comments:

  1. A sterile "good for nothing culo rosso figlio di troiabut with malfunctioning equipment."???!!

    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....!!!! It's so YOU to post bad words in foreign language and get away with it!

    Well my friend, this is without a doubt the most 'creative' take on the subject "equipment" I've have seen yet. I've never thought about Geppetto that way, now thanks to you it's going to be stuck in my head forever!! HAHAHAHA....!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heh, thanks Amalia!

    There were all sorts of things with equipment, and I was trying to avoid, you know, 'that' reference.

    So I went for the innocent wood carver and his surrogate son, and the word 'equipment' just sort of fell out of it all, in a manner of speaking. It was supposed to be a reference to his 'mallet' - but I can see that would have been just as bad!

    see you :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ok, I've pulled myself together now. This is my real comment:

    Yes, yes, this is magnificent work, sir. You have created yet another masterpiece. Your attention to details is amazing (tsk, of course!) and the story telling...err...uncommonly unique. Well done! (^______^)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful illustration and you made me laugh with your story!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very nice !!!

    Magnificos trabajos.Felicitaciones.

    Desde Argentina,Liliana

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like the banner a lot too.

    I don't know why these Pinnocchio pictures are creeping me out so much. Maybe it's the wood texture on the soft (human?) roundness, or the wetness of the eyes. I think it's a book I wouldn't have opened as a child.

    I love Geppetto, though, and your pictures are ALWAYS fun to look at.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I finally stopped laughing and then you and Amalia made me laugh again. I'll catch my breath in a moment...

    ...ok, I'm back, too funny, you crack me up, love the illustration too and your usage of the word equipment is hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Is that the text from the original story? Disney cutened it up quite a bit. Great illustration for the story and the prompt.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Thankyou all very much Amariah, Amalia Karen Martine and Liliana

    I'm sorry to drag the content down with my illusion to 'equipment'.

    It's such a vague yet emotive word, and I think it was laid as a trap by illustration friday for those of us who settle on one thing and cannot remove it from our heads :)

    Theresa thanks for that. It was a struggle to make Geppetto look kindly. He's supposed to be cranky in the story.

    Heidi, the text is all made up I am afraid. But I did pinch the names and some of the plot :) Thanks for your kind words :)

    It's mildly amusing that today's Thoreau quote on my start up page is 'Men have become the tools of their tools."

    Which is a worry

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hola Andrew, you said that i use well the white space and I can see that you use very well lights and shadows, both things are important.
    I was trying to leave acomment to you but i can't. Thanks for your comment in my post.

    ReplyDelete
  11. These are wonderful! Thank you for stopping by. I'm happy to make your acquaintance. I'll be visiting again...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey Mr Finnie,
    Amazing work! I've no idea how you do it, mind blowing and completely original...
    ps. thanks for your comments, they always make me smile :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. not so good, i dont know what to say.
    im speechless, i might say.

    ReplyDelete
  14. i clicked on the image, the first one.
    sighs.
    i can only sigh.

    i dont believe you are an ****** ******

    ReplyDelete
  15. but i do believe you are now off to your 1st **** ******* ******

    sorry for the ************************** thing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wowzers, Mr. Finnie! I think this is one of my favorites by you. It's the tenderness in Geppetto's face, I think, the loving eyes and warm smile. Lots of wonderful story here with the figure peering from the background. And the lighting is sublime.

    Okay, all this talk of tools and Frieder Dick .... is it me, or is it warm in here? I'm going to open a window now.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is excellent, including the story!

    ReplyDelete
  18. HAHAHAHAHA! I forgot what I wanted to say after reading the comments.

    Ah Geppetto's eyes look tender but if I were a little girl, I would be afraid of him. It must be the pencil line mustache. I never trust men with pencil thin mustache. Must be a European thing. However, I like this whole image especially after reading your story. And that figure in the background, that is haunting!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Eh buenos días Roberfto, the rain shines here this morning - well it makes the road glisten. I'm glad I found your site, love the watercolours- and the way you leave the white paper.


    Hello Susan, it was a pleasure to see your work, It has a wonderful glow. I wish I could do that in acrylic.

    Hi Cally Jane, heh, my face cracks with a smile when I see your work, which is good!

    Greetings Mita :) Sorry the comments were turned off for a few days till I sorted out stuff. Now you are talking in *******! I've never seen you speechless. By the way my **** ******* ******* was *********!

    Hello Bella and Ces :) Thankyou for the kindness of your remarks. Ces, of course I moddelled Geppetto's face on mine. But I have less hair and eyebrows like a Russian presidante :) :D

    I know what you mean about pencil moustaches - it means the man spends too much time looking in the mirror - instead of washing up - heh.

    Hello Sketched Soul. Thank you for reading the story. I should have made a reference to Carlo Collodi the original author.


    Did you know in the original version Pinocchio was hanged? Yet the publisher made Carlo change the ending because it wasn't child friendly :0.

    Hence the blue fairy!

    I kind of like that ending though. It's like Red Riding Hood being gobbled up and not rescued by the huntsmen.

    see you

    thanks again for looking at my work.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Jaj, ez kibaszott jó! (Here is the Hungarian swearword I promised - but which one, I am not telling you :D)

    Well, we might be in a totally different business of style but there is some wicked similarity in our way of thinking, that's for sure. My equipment interpretation depicts the similar ...khm... thing, even if you tried to misinterpret it as a big log :D (Well, we can take it as a metaphor, how is that?)

    I agree with one of the comments, your work is always remarkable AND creepy (except when it is not - creepy, I mean), but I love it of course. This one is not an exception either - so I am still a fan of yours, maestro.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Heh, thanks Kinga, so that wasn't a tree trunk? :) see how innocent I am. Thankyou for my new expression. I will try it out on the old lady who lives down the road. I think she is Hungarian? She will be impressed by my grasp of so many languages - Australian, english and now Hungarian :)

    Thanks also for your kind comment. It's greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  22. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOOOOOOODNESSSSSSSSS GRRRRRRRACIOUSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Andrew! Okay this is just over the TOP FABULOUS!!!! I mean......How? What? Who?????? Magnificent isn't even the word. Totally freakin awesome man! It's just so beautiful. I love the banner too. Awesome and brilliant!
    YOU GO BOY!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hey you! Got time? Come by and check out an award I have for you.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Andrew, you always entertain with your words and your art. You amaze me!

    ReplyDelete
  25. however your drawn Mastro Geppetto is a bit far from the one that's between your lines, i think your figures are nicely done and i even spotted you in the background looking a bit sulky or upset or angry or it is not you

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow... I love this... especially the way you've portrayed Geppetto! Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Andrew, thank you for the exercise suggestions. I have been doing those exercises for a long time. In fact I used to teach tongue , mouth, lip and swallowing exercises since I was 21 years old. I was a speech therapist and my clients were children afflicted by cerebral palsy. :)

    The word verification is "twingtho" . It sounds like a "thing or two"

    ReplyDelete
  28. Heeheehee! Whew I'm exhausted! Wow, what a take, I love it! Poor pine 'nuts' daddy, yes?

    I love the light streaming in on them and that figure in the background, that's not the nagging wifey is it? If not, I'd LOVE to see you rendition of her! Most clever of cleverers Senor Andrew...

    Thanks for your visit, that's fine you can sound evangelical, you've tried all the other angles, so why not?!

    I think it'd be great if we could all of us in chidren's illo convene at some international conference, wouldn't that be grand!

    cya soon around cyberspace!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Nice textures in all your digital illos. I love how you don't over due the tools and make the piece seem more natural even though you are using a digital art medium! Great work!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Whooaaaa....it's crowded in here!! See? I was right about 'that', wasn't I?? Like a moth to a flame.... Heehehehehee... (^_____________^)

    ReplyDelete
  31. OK, I had it all worked out what I was going to say, (because I'm always a little stumped as to what I can possibly SAY about your amazing work)and then I read all the comments and totally forgot! It is indeed awesome!

    I probably missed it somewhere along the way-- do you create 3D figures in an animation program first and then arrange them? Whatever the case, you must be a workaholic, you are so prolific! (Oh, yikes, sorry, I shouldn't have said that with all the innuendo flying around!)

    And, can I resist? Did Gepetto find that "with God all things are possible..."?? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Wow Andrew you have developed quite a following! Well deserved your work is beautiful and entertaining as always. I love the almost introspective look on Gepetto's face. And yes, I did "go there" this week. I haven't sen all the entries yet , but so far I think I may be the only one. ack! The high school art teacher has too much exposure to teenage boys! Nothing is shocking to me anymore. :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. ooops please forgive the typos. "Seen" not "sen". Spell check didn't save me this time.

    ReplyDelete
  34. well I have been trying to get online, but I recently got a job as the ex Russian prime minister's haird dresser (no names) and I have spent one week cutting just his left eyebrow.

    But seriously, things got away from me.
    Firstly thankyou so much for your comments.
    I got behind didn't I.

    Sally, now you hade better be careful of those teenage boys. I was once one. They are not so innocent as they look!

    Krista! Thankyou very much. And what innuendo was that, I wonder? How I work, I get some ready made meshes usually (like models) and then rework their faces (like working in clay) then paint them and dress them up (then paint the clothes), then arrange them, then light them. The lighting takes most of the time! Ah yes Geppetto did get what he wanted in the end. He sent his DNA away on the internet and some lovely twins came by return post :)

    Gee thanks Amalia for my reward --- err I mean my award. I am just in the motion of making up some lies about myself. But my nose just got bigger.

    Thankyou Ramel and Susan. It's going to be good seeing more work when things settle down. I hope everything is fine Susan. Ahh, that's not the nagging wife. :) It's the child Gepetto never had I think - his ghost?

    Thanks Roberta and Ces! No problems with the tongue exercises Ces! They are the ones I do every night, just after I practice the piano for two hours, do the washing up and .... :)

    Hey Mita, I hope you are well!!!

    Elizabeth and Vanessa , thankyou very much. Thankyou for your encouragement.

    LiLi. Aha, for a young lady you are very astute. I must admit the boy in the background is not me. I am one of the other two figures!!

    Apologies again for being so slack. I haven't even had a chance to post my IF illustration this week.!!

    see you soon.

    :)

    ReplyDelete

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