The Imaginaries

Their view of the night sky is somewhat adjacent to ours, but the names are a little different.

The Shopping Trolley (or Shopping Cart, depending on your region of dialect), is located in what we know as the constellation of Canis Major.

(A handy reference guide to its location. ;) )

Once upon a time two young ladies encountered their Mum's best friend and discovered that she drew a personal character called The V.S.G. (Very Smaul Gitt).

One day out of the blue, I received a charming interpretation of the V.S.G. as made by the eldest!

A little while later, I sent an illustration back to say thanks.

This resulted in another heartfelt request, with illustrations from both.

This year I finally got around to making it so!

Now to send them... :D

Hard to believe that this May 16th marks 31 years since Jim Henson died. Also hard to believe it, but the weekend that I have just spent fiercely attempting to craft not one, but TWO ‘muppety style’ puppets was done while entirely unaware of the significance of the final day of the creative challenge! (Which was also… May 16th!)

Although I have made puppets before, I have never tried making one of these foam/felt/fleece types, prior to this weekend. So I am doubly pleased with the result, it was definitely a learning experience! :D Adam Kreutinger and Adam Savage, thank you also for the inspiration in your “how to” and “One Day” builds respectively. ❤️

The impact of the kindness, compassion and creativity of Jim Henson on my mentalscape just had to be acknowledged. All that remains to do are the hands. Meanwhile here is little Opti Popkins, and his amazing human musician/friend from twitch.tv/veryhandsomebilly

;)

Corner of Fish Street, Fishtown.

On the West Coast of the main body of Caberworld, just a little up from the centre line, there is a delightful little town. Known for its varied restaurants (predominantly catering to those with a palate for all things piscine!), Fishtown is also popular with those who seek a little break from the main city further down the coast. It’s beaches are peaceful and sunny, good for a bit of a paddle and a splosh. There are several small hotels that take in the fresh salt air, good for a relaxing snooze. (Even slightly taller hotels for those of a more human persuasion!) A bit of a boardwalk rounds out the rest of the sea breeze benefits, with a winding pier attached. In the winter months it is somewhat less active, but the fish dishes are good all year round!

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I enjoyed the challenge of constructing this urban perspective! I am quite fond of double vanishing-points, but haven’t really tried it in pen and ink before. This marks the second illustration in a larger scale with numerous Cabers. :) (The starting point of this image stems from a challenge to be inspired by a somewhat maligned band.. (reasons only known to Rob himself!) I was stumped, until I looked at some of their album covers! :D)

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Precarious

- The mood of a small kitchen space. (Mine!) I do not know who was responsible for the congregation of cups and saucers, or exactly when it happened, but the stacking indicates that a Caber or two (or several!) may have been involved!

(For some reason, when this image came to mind, so too did the flip side view. :) I tried very hard to keep the stacks accurate!)

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Stuff & Things

Not a Caber this time, but a different character of mine, The VSG (Very Smaul Gitt!). Am posting this 2013 illustration as a precursor to the next post, as both relate to clutter. ;) (It is also one of my favourites from the 2013 “100 days” challenge I took part in!)

Traversing the Square.

With the challenge of 5 hours to make it, this piece finally got done, with the target being a bunch of Cabers walking back and forth across the page - and some on wheels - or not-wheels as the case may be!

I enjoy the challenge of drawing all those feet and matching them to their bodies!

So yes. Cabers, traversing!

A card for my Father.

He turns 70 soon, but as my parents are in Australia, I will be unable to see them. He is a musician, so I have ordered him a recording device from a local supplier over there. And I sent this card to him, to encourage him to use it when it gets there. :D

Cabers are not known for their musical abilities. But I imagine that they would get pleasure from trying. They certainly appreciate many kinds of human music!

This stringed instrument has three primary strings, with two finer strings of a higher octave pitch, flanking the outer pair. The middle string is the lowest. It is good for twiddling, twanging, strumming, plunking, and ‘wauling to. (At least, that’s what I was considering at the time. ;) )

Night of the Glamorous Hats. (a.k.a. The Bobbing Occasion.)

The closest thing that Caber society has to a gala event, is this Grand Occasion of stately dancing, in which elaborately decorated hats are worn, to move in an appealing fashion with the gentle bob and weave of old ‘stepping’ dances.

Traditionally their headwear is festooned with feathers, plant life, beads and/or little bells.

Some prefer to wear a single elegant plume, others believe there is no such thing as too many. The main criteria is that the hat should offer some pleasing form of movement, without risking facial injury to others.

Much as some Smalls would dearly love to wear the longer plumed fancy hats, their diminutive stature and propensity for darting about in unpredictable fashion means they are usually bestowed headgear of a more appropriate scale. . . . . .

Here is a snippet of the Cabergame in motion! (a.k.a. “Happy Funtime Pop Balloon.” :D)

(edit - I see that the little films from Instagram don't cross-post so well - a pity!)

One of the highlights for me, from 2020, was being able to bring the Cabers to life in not only animated form and illustrated storytelling, but also in an interactive style as well!

One of the last weekly challenges of the year had the theme of “Collaboration.” I teamed up with caLLowCreation, (a delightful coder/programmer - and poet! - who streams on Twitch), who generously pitched in his Unity coding skills which we combined with my artwork/audio contributions, to make a little clicking game.

(The original inspiration for this, comes from the illustration “A Demise Most Imminent.” :) )

It is now available to play at https://callowcreation.itch.io/cabergame

Note - not quite phone-friendly just yet (although doable!), but fine on most computers and iPads. :)

🦆Also, thank you all for the support you have given me through this past year! I hope this little sandbox game provides a happy moment of distraction and balloon-popping joy. :) May you have a year of happiness from unexpected places! _ K.j. Wright, aka TheCaberworld. :)

❤️❤️❤️🦆🦆🦆🎈🎈🎈❤️❤️❤️

A glittery detail from the Caber Discotheque illustration. :)

Caber Discotheque. a.k.a. Caber! At the Disco, a.k.a. Caber! Caber! High Voltage!

In the more urban places of the Caberworld, sometimes you may hear a faint pulsing beat, and see a little ramp leading down to an underground space where the floors are lit, and the mirror-balls BIG.

Cabers may not be known for their musical skills, or even their musical taste, but they certainly appreciate the efforts of others. It is probably music that is the greatest thing they appreciate from our own world.

Humans are welcome to partake in the dancing at such places, but it is advised to be mindful of one’s head clearance, especially near the giant mirror ball.

There are two main styles of dance among the Caber people - the vigorously head nodding & booty shaking type as illustrated above; and the elegant step-bob-&-weave numbers that are generally a slower and more classical form of dance, reserved for more stately occasions. (The latter may also be accompanied by the wearing of elaborately crafted headpieces!) . . (This piece was definitely heavy on the colouration overload, and also so.many.feet!!! I would love to revisit the dance styles in an animation, someday. :) ) . . .

The Assorted Ties of Dappy Squanks.

A small entrepreneurial caber, with a passion for brightly coloured silk ties, Dappy deals in the organisation of boxes of stuff, and occasional things. Buttons, scratch blocks, bathtubs, vinyl records, duck-feed - if it needs sourcing, Dappy is the tastefully attired Caber-of-Business for you! :)

The Mallard.

It walked into the Science Building one day, and never left. The unofficial mascot of the Caber Scientists, it is the bane of many experiments, especially the ones involving the Large Bathtub Collider, where it sometimes makes its home. None of them have been able to chase it out as it can be quite threatening.

Accidentally Cake.

- The Caber Smalls strike again! Never leave a plate overhanging a bench…