The Birth of 'Woodsboy'
The beginning ideas surrounding Woodsboy started well before my father’s death, but were only shaped and pushed into creation upon the feelings that I succumbed to afterward. Many stories throughout my life, the characters included and moments that made them up, have been broken into this new vision. It is like I have taken all of the tonics that I have created, and popped the corks to begin pouring them into one ideal brew. I have scoured my small poems and drawings and plucked snapshots from the thoroughness of it all, then weaved it into the picture of Woodsboy.
My longtime friend, Adrian LaDelia, had shown me a coat of arms he had drawn, but it was unlike most family crests, as it was designed with his own life in mind. He designed it exactly for what he was and everything that represented him. I started my version of a personal coat of arms, and the first thing I drew was a red barn owl carrying a sword and shield. It was a bold image that started to evoke in my mind a haze of Kaebora Gaebora, the guiding owl that originated in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This narrative-driving owl that started in the most influential piece of my childhood perhaps subliminally crept its way into my own personal narrative. It was then that I started creating the perfect video game in my head from these images that were embedded in my personal crest: large trees, wood cutting axe, dagger, sword, shield, woodland animals, a third eye, and the moon.
When my father was being treated at the National Institute of Health for pancreatic cancer, I would drive every weekend after work, from New York to Maryland to see him. On one of my visits he was recovering from a recent surgery, and they had used staples to seal him back up. The doctor was in the room removing those dark staples from his bruised stomach as they were no longer needed. I sat there and intently watched every movement. When the doctor was finished, he turned to me and said “Are you feeling okay? I know that it can be disturbing to watch.” My father was merrily laying there and perked up to respond on my behalf: “My son has seen animals killed and butchered, fed them and cleaned up after them, as well as lived off the land. This kind of stuff won’t faze him, he is a woodsboy.”
It wasn’t until a few days later that the title of ‘woodsboy’ started to resonate with me. It asserted an inherent preparedness surrounding death, an acute knowledge of nature and adaptability to it, and an overall state of unflinching consciousness when something would naturally have been disturbing . The doctor could instantaneously envision all of these traits just from the one word that my father said. He had never said it before. It came out of nowhere but punctured deeply. It was a title that was understood immediately.
After my father passed away I began using the name ‘woodsboy’ to start painting an almost Link-like character. This adventurous and brave boy would be in a darker setting of survival, faced with themes of inheritance from his father, and forced into a situation of self-discovery. It was then that it became a bit of a self-reflective journey of my own coping and the beginning of something that I could pour myself into.
It moved from a video game to a novel after learning how closed gaming companies are to outside ideas. I envisioned this moment where I would have my sketchbook filled and ready to present, becoming creative director of some Dark Souls meets Zelda creation. After a little investigation into the industry and some common sense, I found that just writing a book should be my first step. It also just seemed like something I could control and be in an entirely recognizable place.
I began writing different scenarios of how to launch a child of the woods into an adventure, looking to The Lord of the Rings and The Legend of Zelda as great references for a ‘humble-beginning-hero-of-the-land’ type story. The chapters and scenes are coming together at a rapid pace the more my mind hones in on the land and what is happening there. Drawing maps, sketching characters, and bouncing ideas off of my friends, is all part of the process of getting Woodsboy to a point of presentation.
The problem with working 50 hours a week and also having the ever-present idea of a book racing around the world you are creating in your head, is finding inspiration to make time to devote to it. I use the lovely music of Fleet Foxes, constant thoughts of The Hobbit, reading books on the 14th century, and camping trips that include long nights with the moon and the cold autumn winds to keep me on track.
My dear friend, Fell Boley, has been doing an unbelievable job at drawing some truly cool pieces off of the ideas I throw at him. He is the artist of his very own independent comic, “Great Battles – American Lore”, which I have been enjoying to a large degree since I first laid eyes on his art style and got a sense of the interesting world he is building. We both get a chance to revel in the characters we dream up and he helps bring my ideas to life with his unique style. Seeing the characters drawn out is something that has really been an exciting moment for me.
My notebook is usually accompanied with sketches and doodles alongside my descriptions as I try to imagine it all in my head. Being a very visual and story driven person, writing has always been an incredibly cinematic presentation for me. Characters start with a scene or a purpose, instances are built around spectacle moments, and it starts to play out like a slideshow in my head or a silent film.
Woodsboy is being made moment after moment, idea after idea, and I am attempting to accomplish a sort of homage to everything and everyone I love and admire.