At the Library - Music

This week brings another Last Triumph Collective artist named JR and his band Sine Circle.  I tried to figure out what kind of music goes with a story that takes place in a library?  I couldn't find any songs that talked about a library.  Then I tried to find songs about friendship, like the one that is deepening between Bartholomew and Topping.  That didn't work either.  Then I thought "what kind of music would I listen to if I was studying?"  Sine Circle!  It is smooth but has complex rhythms.  It makes you want to move your body, yet it doesn't swallow you up, so you can still think.  It has a way of sneaking up on you, letting you groove, and then letting you go back to what you're doing.  It is repetitive yet inventive enough, playing off of musical motifs, that it never becomes boring.

JR and crew walk a fine line and do it right.

At The Library - Illustrations

I had a lot of fun creating the illustrations for At the Library. The cover is a book shelf.  I always struggle making lines straight when there are a lot of them that are parallel. They always seem to start slanting one way or the other. But here the uneveness works fine.  I created the book shelf with watercolor. I purposely left it a neutral color so it would sit behind the title and then also become a neutral backdrop for the main illustration for the story.  The car and veggies on the bottom shelf refer to the topics of conversation in the story: gardening and cars.

This is the second illustration of Bartholomew's car, the 1974 Peugeot. The first was in Bartholomew and a Carload of Trouble. I enjoyed researching photos of this car. My favorite, that I used for this illustration, had a large grill on the front. I never realized there were so many different models of Peugeot's from 1974. Either people miss-labeled them or Peugeot was prolific in 1974. While looking for photos, I also found a video some guy created where he parked his Peugeot by the shore and then filmed a tour of the car inside and out. It was kinda dreamy and I think it is so funny that someone loved their car enough to make a short film about it. Awesome!

I digress. My illustration is of a car with painted flames on a background of vegetables. Being a botanical artist the veggies were a snap and fun to capture in a simple style. I ended up also using them as the background image for a different website I created.

Many years ago, I bought a book on how to paint flames on cars. I had an old worthless Ford Escort wagon that was in pretty bad shape. I thought it would be fun to spruce her up for her final days and bought the book. I also bought a spray gun and tools for painting her. I was all set to begin and then she threw a piston. I never have painted flames on a car yet, but hope to some day. Here I get to imagine it a bit. I hope you enjoy it.

At The Library - Story

This weeks story to be published is At the Library.  I wrote the story as a way to introduce what is going on in different story lines.  I wanted to write several stories that were all very short and very descriptive of what was going on with Ned and Claire, Bartholomew and The Nanny, Topping and Bartholomew, etc.  I finally settled on one story where Topping and Bartholomew have a conversation that encompasses all of these developments.  I also tried to show more friendship between Bartholomew and Topping than what had previously been seen.  I am happy overall with the results, I especially enjoyed having a chance to start pursuing a new paint job on Bartholomew's car, courtesy of Topping.  Next entry will include the illustrations of the car.  But for now, here is an excerpt from At the Library.

“I knew you’d be here,” said Topping to Bartholomew who was tucked in behind stacks of gardening books.

“Aren’t I always here? I assume you’re looking up jobs,” said Bartholomew happy to see his friend.

“Actually, I’m looking at books about painting cars.”

“So, you’re working for Uncle Cy again?” asked Bartholomew as he closed a book on garden design.

Topping looked down, picked up a book and ran his fingers over the spine. “No, he hasn’t had me back, yet. Well, just one day a couple of weeks ago, but now it’s almost March and I don’t know when he’ll call.”

Bartholomew smiled at Topping. “I’m sure his work will pick up soon. It’s getting warmer out and people will want to show off their cars.”

Topping squinted at Bartholomew and shrugged, “Yeah, maybe.”

Bartholomew wondered what he could do to help Topping. He hated seeing him so down. Then he said it without even thinking, “Do you want to paint my car?”

Topping looked at him. He wasn’t sure if it was a joke or just a bad attempt to make him feel better. Bartholomew couldn’t believe he had said it. But then he thought to himself, “Why not?”

“Topping, I want you to paint my car,” said Bartholomew.

“No…no, I couldn’t. It’s expensive to do and it’s a nice car just like it is.”

“No it’s not. My car is white with a big pink stripe down each side. That is not nice, or pretty or anything but ugly,” said Bartholomew realizing that he never really had liked the color of that car.

“But Bartholomew, painting a car isn’t easy and the paint is expensive…and there’s no place to paint it…and, and … it’s expensive,” said Topping.

“Geez, you make it sound like painting a car is expensive,” joked Bartholomew. “Paint it at Uncle Cy’s place after-hours and I will pay you.”

“No, you can’t pay me, I’m your friend!” protested Topping. Other people in the library started to stare disapprovingly at the two of them.

Firmly but more quietly, Bartholomew looked straight at Topping and said, “Design a new paint job for my car and I will pay for the paint and five hundred dollars for you. Don’t worry, Uncle Jeffrey submitted my taxes in early February and I just got my return. I can cover this.”

Topping didn’t know what to say. He stood quietly for a while but then leaned forward and whispered to Bartholomew, “It’s going to have flames. I hope you don’t mind a 1974 Peugeot with flames.”

At the Library will be published this Friday, March 15, 2013, here and at: bookofbartholomew.blogspot.com