The Sign Invitational is still seven and a half months away. It seems like a long time until you take into account that my entry will be up against some very stiff competition. I’ve seen some of the other artist’s concept art. Because I am a defending champion (three times over) I absolutely know there will be some who are determined to take away my title. And that is as it should be. But it doesn’t mean they will get it without a great deal of effort. I too am pulling out all of the stops this year (as always). I’ve even recruited some serious help. The sound effects for my little truck are being created by one of the world’s leading experts at miniature sound, Jim Wells, from Fantasonics. Jim recently sent me ‘rough, preliminary’ samples of the sound tracks he is creating. They are best described as EXACTLY what an antique cartoon truck would sound like. Even though I loved the sound tracks as they were, Jim assured me that what I was hearing was only the first rough sound, much like my first pen sketch. He still had to refine, tweak and tune them to make it right. Today, he sent along a picture of the quick mockup he had built to make sure it sounds right when I install the sound rig into the truck. As he describes it, the top two speaker boxes are live, the one on the left is pointing out of the radiator, while the one one the right is pointing downwards as it will be when mounted in the truck cab. The bottom two boxes stand in for the wheels of my truck. The frame of the truck are the two strips of wood. I’m sure looking forward to hearing the results of his efforts! I appreciate having a friend who is as passionate about what he does and is just as crazy as me to take this fun little project on!
