Prep Work, Part 4

I met up with James last Friday to discuss, among other things, the cover for the Discarded chapbook. We went over a couple of sketches, but there was nothing he was willing to let me put up on this site until some more finished versions were created. At the very least, I was able to help him envision my idea better with a photo or two I took while down in South Boston on Tuesday, the night before garbage day. I just have to get the technology that allows me to transfer the photos from my cell phone to our PC's, so he doesn't just have to go from memory and my rambling descriptions.

Though James was still too much in the early stages to share his initial drafts on the cover, he was willing to let me to put up one of our earlier efforts that didn't quite make it.

Just last year, I came up with the idea to have James illustrate a few of my "Sarcastic Haiku." This was initiated without me having any real idea where the work would end up. Maybe I was a little too optimistic for my own good, but James was willing, and this led to this first (and so far only) "S.H." piece below.

Though I liked the roughness of the drawing, the editor of an anthology collecting pieces on the subject of war wanted something that looked more finished than what we submitted to him. Plus, the sex and nationality of the child was too much in question for his and his staff's liking. We could both see his point.

After failing to submit this version to The November 3rd Club, James had another go at it. The result is below.

Still rough, but the most realistic drawing I've ever seen James do. It really surprised me. Sadly, we never heard back from the editor.

In all, it was a much needed lesson for both of us in submitting art. Too brief though, If we're lucky, we'll have a chance to learn more in the coming year.

Since then, our schedules have made it hard to collaborate, but it's been fun to just match up the prolific work he does out of pure enjoyment with the poems in Spoonful. This led to our most recent surprise pairing here.

The cover drafts will be coming soon, I hope. Until then, you should check out more of his work here. And say hi to his girlfriend Cindy while you're at it over here.