Tuesday, December 13, 2005

SURPRISE... the idea

If you are looking for my Illustration Friday entry scroll on down... then come back here.

People are always curious about where ideas come from, so I thought I woud recreate how I got the idea for this week's word.

> SocMo is fun to play around with. I have a mental list of some situations it would be fun to stick him in or different styles I could draw him in. I have always liked the Wizard of Oz and the flying monkeys. SocMo as one of the monkeys was one idea in the back of my mind.

> I saw that the new Illustration Friday word was SURPRISE... I have the usual blank mind. Nothing springs to mind, but I file this word away and continue to ponder it.

> At some point I begin some serious cogitation of a SURPRISE idea. (I had to throw that word in... are you impressed?) This is also the Christmas season with all of the images that brings to mind. I think of Santa Claus... and the sleigh... then I remember a Christmas card I made many years ago. I had Santa in the sleigh but instead of reindeer pulling him, I had several famous flying characters... Peter Pan, Dumbo, Mary Poppins, the flying nun and Snoopy on his doghouse.

> Well, if SocMo could fly, he could join the group pulling the sleigh. The Oz monkeys came back to mind... and SocMo in a jacket with wings would make it all possible. Hmmm... But SocMo has to be out front since he is the star... that would mean he would replace Rudolph. Hey, it would be a SURPRISE if SocMo replaced Rudolph for the big Christmas Eve run! BINGO... I have my idea!

> To keep it all simple, (I don't have lots of time to devote to these things) I decided to focus on SocMo and a few reindeer to get the point across and not bother with drawing up Santa and the sleigh and all that stuff.

...and THAT is how it all came about. I hope you found this interesting. It seems that the more things I can put in the bowl and stir around with the word of the week, the better chances I have of some of them coming together and turning into an idea.

1 comment:

Todd DeWolf said...

I'm glad you went with him flying with Santa-although the flying nun would be quite hilarious as well. Great that you shared your thoughts. Cheers!