Wednesday, June 8, 2011

in the shadow a bridge






Yesterday I went for a nice long run, everything went well until the sun hit. Holy smokes, it was like running inside of a frying pan. Days like that force you to slow down, get off the stopwatch and listen to your body, or else you die.

My usual routine for a long run is to walk to the Little Red Lighthouse that sits under the George Washington bridge, and run from there. The lighthouse was made famous by a kids book, and has a very interesting story in its own right. I start at the lighthouse which is about 181st in Manhattan and from that point I can run almost to the end of Manhattan with almost no street lights and just the danger of getting hit by a bike or a rollerblader. It is a great run, parts of it shrouded in green with the Hudson river to your right as you head South. Clears the cobwebs of the mind.

Yesterday it was brutal. So I cut off the long run and headed back home in a big circle, with a total of seven miles, back to the Little Red Lighthouse.
I sat under the shadow of the GW bridge, looking up at its humming and cranking steel underbelly as the folks whizzed back and forth in the daily grind. My eye hit on two little floating things in the water, they were ducks, swimming Northward. Two little ducks with that giant bridge over them, and the giant swells of passing boats lifting their bodies up and down in that cold Hudson water.
Made me think about fear. Those ducks have no idea what is happening around them, they just swim because they have to. No choice you know. Sort of like artists.
I wondered if they had no fear because they were together. I guess being with another duck in that water would help. It's hard to swim alone in the Hudson. Nice to know another little ball of feathers has your back.

Anyway it all brings me to today's post on John Carter of Mars. Which has nothing to do with ducks or running, but it has to do with some sketches I did while I was at MIT after a lecture on John Carter of Mars. I guess I should talk a bit about that lecture of J.C but when I do I will post illustrations of ducks.

Be well all of ya.
Frank.

8 comments:

  1. Frank: Wish you were working on either comic adaptation. Your work on Rocketo captures the feel of ERB so beautifully... I hope we get to see more than sketches, as awesome as they are. Godspeed on your creative journey, sir...

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  2. Hey Wayne! Good to hear from you again! Hope all is well. Thank you for taking the time to comment. John Carter and Doc Savage are the only two characters that I would drop working on Rocketo for.
    Take care and thank you, Wayne.

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  3. 2 posts in one week! a treat indeed!!

    these sketches are crackling with energy, and as ever, your work is refreshing and inspirational.

    welcome back!

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  4. In the words of Green Lantern " I know RIGHT!"
    Sad that Hal Jordan talks like a thirteen year old. But that is another tale.
    Thank you Shane!

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  5. Keep on truckin' Frank, we're with you!

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  6. Hey Frank: Glad to hear from you! Do you have Doc Savage sketches in the files to post? Love to see them. Grew up with Doc Savage Bantam paperbacks with James Bama covers in the 70s, and buying the DC book hoping, but not expecting much. Surprised, again, that DC didn't contact you to do covers for their Doc series.

    Would love to hear more about the JC lecture, and what you'd do creatively with him, particularly in light of the Pixar movie coming next year...

    Have an ETA on when we may see more Rocketo?

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  7. Wayne. I think I will post a blog just on Doc. I grew up reading those books, I devoured them. I think I have almost every single Doc Savage story. I wish someone had contacted me about doing some Doc covers. So I will look through the bin and see any Doc Savage sketches come up. If you look closely there some influence of Doc Savage aids, in the post I did a couple of days ago.
    I will also make a Rocketo post soon to update everyone on the status and again I am sorry for the big delay but there is a new book coming and also two big journeys after that.
    Thanks Wayne.

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  8. Frank!Your drawings always have such a great rough power!

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