Description
Pretty simple page this time. I'm allowed a two panel page here and there. Also I need more time to keep playing Digimon World Next Order.
More importantly, it has come to my attention (probably very late because I only have a vicarious relationship with Facebook) that one of my idols, a person who has shaped the way I draw in many ways, has died.
For those of you who don't know, Murray Ball was an incredibly talented New Zealander cartoonist (although when I was a little kid, I thought he was Australian like me. Not a huge difference I guess) who was mainly famous for writing a great serial cartoon strip called Footrot Flats.
Ever since I was in primary (elementary) school I've loved those books, and over my early years I collected nearly all of them. Except for book 22 which has forever eluded my grasp. I've put a pic of my collection in here (not pictured are the gigantic book 'The Ballad of Footrot Flats' and the motion picture dvd which aren't here right now.)
Murray's grasp of Australasian landscapes, especially those related to rural areas, was incredible, and in only a few lines he managed to consistantly capture the feel of a dried up field in a heat wave, or a sodden marsh in the rain, or a pine forest, or whatever. His cartoony style was rugged, down-to-earth, dirty and utterly relatable. Beautifully homely I'd say.
If you look at the way I draw grass or trees or just about anything in the wilderness, you're bound to see a lot of influence from this incredible man, and I wouldn't be the same artist if I hadn't so fully absorbed those books.
Below are a couple of pieces of Footrot Flats fanart I've done over the years, such as my 5th grade tote tray label and drawings in my 6th and 7th grade planners. Also here is my Dog plushie that I absolutely loved when I was little. I had a hard time finding that!
Footrot Flats characters were some of my very first attempts at using sculpey modelling clay. Some long-time watchers might have seen some more recent ones of mine. I think these (fairly small) sculpts of Dog and Jess were done when I was in about 9th grade, although I had done some plasticine ones earlier.
I had always envisioned going to New Zealand, to Murray's farm, and meeting the man who defined so much of my childhood and early artistic stylings. I'm left feeling very empty at the knowledge that I can't do that now.
Although the comic strip wasn't always the most hilarious, it had an enormous amount of heart and character, and those are the things that make a series memorable enough to stick with you. I was a kid when I read them, so I didn't understand humour anyway. Bonus.
I'm looking at the last page of book 27 now, at Wal and Dog walking off into the distance for the last time, and I'm welling up inside. Even though the book series ended in 1999 as far as I'm aware, there was never a finality to it in my mind until this very moment. It's over, and we'll never see its like again.
Murry has now gone to join Horse, Major, and all the other real animals who served as the inspiration for his amazing characters.
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MemberThe dialogue between these two is super engaging, very nice 👍
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