Updated Project: Catastrophes
The initial idea was for a book based on the myth that cats have nine lives.
I collected Nine true stories of cats that had survived serious accidents and then twisted the stories so that they had a more Monty Python feel about them. I then planned to do the illustrations for each Cat-astrophe tale.
Updating the idea: I was recently inspired by the animated gif made by Steemit member @artlover, whom I now follow. I have never tried animation before and he encouraged me to have a go and recommended Gif software.
I have no idea if this has been done before as I have not researched the matter, however, what I imagined was ebooks containing gif animations rather than illustrations. It´s the internet right? The Steemit platform seemed the perfect place to try this idea out.
Using the original illustrations I made for the book, I had a go at trying make animations from them. Needles to say this was much more work than I envisioned and I will need to do much more practice.
Here is what I came up with : )
I began with the main logo that I had planned for the front cover of the book.
Story One: A Flaming Tale
Being the owner of many cats sounds like fun. It is, but it mean you will need several pairs of hands and eyes in the back of your head to cope with them.
Miss Donna Donlan, from Leeds, England, was extremely fond of her cats and owned six in all. A psychologist by profession she also loved to paint in her spare time. Perhaps not surprisingly she liked to paint her mischievous cats. Miss Donlan had pretty much painted portraits of all her cats except for one, `Fluffer`. This was somewhat strange because Miss Donal had a particular soft spot for Fluffer. "Fluffer is a dainty little thing and is always well behaved. She is just so quiet and gentle. Perhaps this is why I sometimes forget to keep an eye on her. Often my attention is diverted with having to deal with the cats and so I can also over-look Fluffer too. It was on such a day when one of my cats was particularly naughty that the accident happened" Explained Miss Donlan. Here she goes on to tell of the Cat-astrophe: "If I remember rightly it was close to Guy Fawkes Bonfire Night. I had finally got around to doing a portrait of Fluffer and had planned on trying something new. I would paint by candle light to see if I could get some interesting lighting effects. I closed the curtains and place a candle on the table next to the easel. I then placed Fluffer onto the coffee table where she would pose for me. Now I was all ready to begin. However, just at that point my other cats began with their favourite game. Chase. Joey, probably the naughtiest of all my cats, took hold of one of my paint brushes and began running around with it in his mouth. He was spreading paint everywhere. All over the walls and all over the furniture. I was not amused at all and began chasing after him. The other brats, er I mean cats, thought this was rather funny and were rolling about on the floor in hysterics.
After an exhausting chase around the entire house I eventually managed to retrieve the brush. I came back into the studio and I was greeted with a shocking sight of blazing light. Before my very eyes poor Fluffer was up in flames.
I had left a box of matches next to the candle and she had obviously become curious. God knows how, but somehow she had managed to light one and now her fluffy tail was burning like a firework. Only shear instinct caused me to react. I took hold of the glass of water that contained my paint brushes and threw it over Fluffer's flaming tail. Thankfully the vet said she would be fine but sadly her tail would never grow fur ever again.
Poor Fluffer, I think she thought Guy Fawkes had come early that year"
Let me know what you think ?
What I write is merely my own thoughts from my own life experience.
If you like what I post you are very welcome to follow my blog. You also could give me a friendly upvote to help motivate me. It only costs you a click. Don't forget, every time you vote, part of the money goes back to you. It´s a win win situation. A warm welcome back in advance.
I had a cat that I'm pretty sure had nine lives. The short version of the story is he swallowed a sewing needle that got lodged in his throat and some how broke in half. You could see the two pieces on the x-ray. The vet operated to remove the needle pieces but could only get half because the other half was too close to the brain. So she said to just wait and maybe it would move.
After a couple weeks of me fretting I took the cat back to the vet for another x-ray and the needle was gone! He either spit it out or passed it somehow! A miracle basically.
The cat's name is Yoda. He lives with my brother now and is 14 year old.😺
Hey man that is a fantastic story. I wonder if you would have anything against me using that in this Catastrophes book. I am collecting 9 such stories but at the moment I have done four. They are all true events and then I add my twist to them and do the artwork of the cat.
Your cat story fits perfectly in the concept. I would mention you as the owner as I have done with all the other stories. Have a think and let me know.
Sure I would be happy to have it in your book. There are definitely more details to the story. If you are interested I can send you the longer version with all the details I can remember. Or post it here. Also if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Excellent - yeah just post a more detailed version on this post so I know were to look for it. If you want you could a post yourself of it and earn some upvotes including my own. Just a thought . Look forward to reading.
Yoda the Puss!
Ha ha hes´a cute one alright still going strong on his 9 lives : )
OK so now I know his colour and stripes so I can work on the drawing
I'm going to do a blog post of the Yoda story in the next few days. I'll have another Tiny House post tomorrow and then the Yoda post will be after that. I'm trying to scrounge up some good pictures.
Naturally it's all subjective, but for me animated gifs just look cheesy. I like the original much better then the animated flames. It moves something that requires a thought process to actually take in the art and understand what the artist was getting at to a place of hey my 5 year old would instantly get that the cat caught fire. Maybe I'm just to old school...but those are my thoughts.
But really fun idea of the 9 lives book. Hope you plan to publish it (actual print not just ebook)...that is yet another POD item ;) . Book with original illustrations. You can go 2 directions or both. One towards adult readers and one for a childrens book.
I understand you my friend-
I was also somewhat against Gifs too.
I like to experiment and I have never done one before so I was intrigued.
I have actually completed half the book of which I started over 20 years ago.
I sent it to several publishers who all loved it but said the public would not go for such a concept at that time (20 years ago).
Perhaps if I tried again now I might have a better chance? The world had moved on.
I wondered if books might be dying out and if perhaps the idea might work better as a sort of animated blog. However, II was unsure if git would work.
I guess I was intrigued enough ti try.
Thanks for you honest answer, much appreciated.
I love the animation. But It only works online, I would say. Here you have the gif loving poeple. The original picture above is great but the gif has much more drama too it. Fits the story.
Thanks for your thoughts @sumsum-
At the moment I am learning how to do Gifs and when I am learning something new then I am very happy and motivated. It is a joy to learn new things.
Not sure where I will go with this project but I will just continue and see.
@sumsum for some flair online it does work and I think after seeing a couple times it's growing on me. A few of them on a marketing page for selling the book would work great to grab attention of potential buyers.
OMG this is INCREDIBLE work my good friend @arthuradamson. I'm speechless. Great piece of work indeed. I'm always feeling sorry for you having an outclass talent / Skills in hand but you're not prominent enough. Most of your Blogs deserve at least $150+ and 200+ upvotes and unlimited resteems.
Anyways please keep sharing your best work and I'm in hope that one day you will be FAMOUS. Keep smiling & Stay Blessed!
Thank you my dear friend. I do not blog for money but perhaps one day my posts will be seen more. It takes time for people to find people and I am a patient man. Stay blessed @jawad09
Publishers are no longer needed, you can self publish on the largest book seller in the world Amazon. They actually print the book as it's ordered. They also have the Kindle books which allow you to earn royalties even on free books.
Don't care what any publisher tells you Cat people will buy the book. They have a strong emotional attachment to their cats. There are a couple used books on odd topics like Yoga with your cat that are worth serious money...people (publishers) underestimate the strength of the emotional bond people have with their pets. People don't need another Cat grooming or Cat behavior book, but they want to spend money on a subject they love.
If you finish the book and need someone to help you on the publishing end let me know. Think you have a winner here. It's not a National Best Seller type book, but it's one that will pay you royalties for years to come.
Sounds very encouraging.
The stories are tongue in cheek but based on actual real cat accidents. I have a weird sense of humour but I think the world has caught up with it.
I will put another one with the original illustration as well as a the Gif made from it. Im just having fun learning it at the moment so please forgive me lol
Just look past the gif and see the book -
You are so helpful my good fellow
In norwegian we we say: "Jeg sette høy pris på din venskap" --- which means
"I place a high value on your friendship : )
It's always fun learning new things and GIFs have their place so it's a fun bit of knowledge. Plus I'd guess there is a target audience that would say the GIF is better then static art. Never hurts to evolve and learn new skills.
BTW, No idea how I jumped to the wrong comment and replied there...thinking to little sleep this week is catching up with me. Been on 4 hours a night for about 6 days now.
And it's always been interesting how easy it is to meet new people online that have enough in common with you that it's easy to converse with them. Yet still enough different that the conversations are interesting.
Very wisely said @thedarkhorse.
I never ever get offended when people disagree with me or give an opposite view to my own. In my younger days perhaps I did, but I have long since moved on form such childish reactions. These days I cherish different views as it only means my knowledge of the world grows and expands. If only our politicians could learn that : (
this is awesome .perfect writer @arthuradamson.but will like you to check on dogs .resteemed.
ha ha ha that is funny my good friend. For sure I will do something on dogs soon : ) Again thanks for your support.
looking forward to see that friend.
Hey friend @arthuradamson, i try to seen your all post and after that i found that you have natural creativity skills which made you great author,your that article is also wrote very well. the logo you made is wonderful.my support and appreciations for you.....,.
Hey thanks, appreciated : )
I agree with @thedarkhorse there is a maket for the book. I like the first story but I feel like the lady is too clam. I would be much more out of my mind.
ha ha ha yes perhaps you are right @sumsum.
I did talk with the lady herself and she was not emotional at the time. I suppose she had calmed down. I think this influenced me when I wrote the story. At the same time I do not want the reader to become too sad over the stories either.
I will be putting another one out later today of tomorrow : )
Good to hear your thoughts : )
I love everything about this!! I have an outside stray cat that is black and fluffy that I call Fluffers! I give her food every day. She is so sweet but I can't convince anyone to give her a chance. I already have three and my husband is allergic so I will continue to feed her and hope someone will take her in.
Hey thanx @deerjay : )
Honestly who can not fall in love with cats lol
I've always had cats in my life and sure, they have nine lives! Maybe more than 9! Really an awesome story and fantastic animation!!! I admit that sometimes I try to do Gifs, but I don't have enough patience :D
Ah I am sure you have patience - you must have to be married to that husband crazy of yours : )
I admit though, these gifs are more work than I realised lol - well I am having fun learning at the moment but not sure how long I will continue.
See where it goes.
The most part of my patience goes in the support/tolerance of my crazy artist husband! :P (it's a joke ^_^)
Osaaamm post i love it
Follow me back
This is a really interesting project. I love cats, and grew up with one in the house from early childhood. They do have a knack for getting into scrapes - usually their curiosity and drive to explore things.
I think if I'd ever seen my cat on fire, I'd be quite traumatised. Glad the tale (pun intended) had a happy ending in the end.
lol Michelle. I do have a rather strange sense of humour - Monty Python kind of humour I guess. I started with this project over 20 years ago and was inspired by Terry Gilliam who made a book about a girl who collected fairies - only the girl pressed them in between the pages - like you do flowers - lol.
I thought it was hysterical but it did not go down well. The world has moved on now and such humour is more acceptable so it could mean my project could work now. That fairies book is now a rare collectors item I heard.
Because I also have a story about a little girl who wants to capture two fairies, to pin them like butterflies, I found the above interesting and looked it up.
(from Amazon)
Your post above - my favourite is the top cat pic - being darker the texture plays a more important role and if it had no title above it, I would have copied it for my desktop. i can't say why, but there is something about the expression I like - similar to mine, when caught with my fingers in the cookie jar :)
I've never had a cat, so I can't tell you a cat story, but, for 70 years I was allergic to cats and therefore did not feel friendly towards them. They say cats can tell who likes them, so I was puzzled that wherever I visitted and they had a cat, it would come to sit on my lap or up against me, and purr.
A few weeks ago, sitting with a friend who has three adult and two kittens, I noticed the cats don't come near me. That made me realise I do not seme to be allergic to them anymore.
I had not known that cats are sadists!
ha ha ha yes cats can be brutal for sure. They certainly have a dark side.
Ah I see you found the book I spoke of.
I own a copy of that book.
Glad you liked the cat picture my good fellow : )
I thought it was their owners who were brutal, I sort of imagined the scenario, man/woman talking to cat, "Alex is coming, so wait outside until he's settled down and then come in. Don't forget, rub yourself against him so as to leave your scent on him, sit on his lap and once you are purring, dig your claws into his thighs. You got it? Good. Do it right and afterwards I'll open you a tin of tuna."
I understand you : )
I've always had cats in my life and sure, they have nine lives! Maybe more than 9! Really an awesome story and fantastic animation!!! I admit that sometimes I try to do Gifs, but I don't have enough patience :D
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