In this unpublished novel Morgan discovers that the path in life may not be obvious
Morgan had his genesis in my final year in art school when the brolga boy first appeared in a quick sketch after a dream, he then became a significant companion to me as an every-person who I shamelessly put in difficult metaphorical situations. ‘Morgan’s Wall’ began as a project to clear my head after graduating but developed into a major project. Morgan helped me, but he was not alone. Like all works since, immediate feedback came from my immediate family Shona, Phoebe, Louise and Tom. There were many others but special thanks should to go to Andrew Herpich for his encouragement at the beginning when I was quite lost and to Shirley Callard and Eddie White (now deceased) for their patience when I would bounce the work back to them many times.
This work is integral to everything that comes after it.
Morgan is awkward, flawed and gifted, he’s all of us.
I’ve aimed at 6-8-year-old children but teacher friends tell me its more suitable for 8-10-years. It lends itself to but to be read with a child and to encouraged question and a between child and reader. Morgan’s target audience has always been the child that asks ‘why?’ and the family or friend that enjoys their curiosity. It’s also squarely aimed at the parent, appealing them to kick down their walls at a time and with a child where those walls are the last thing that either needs.
The original pictures are large - ~150x115cm in charcoal on paper but the colouring is done by Photoshop with large slabs of colour to make them more accessible to readers but also to differentiate the colouring from the drawing. The illustrations contain search lines and traces of erasure, that is deliberate and a good part of me would make them even more obvious, to stimulate imagination and a love of drawing.
As I child I did not realise the construction involved in creating a picture, everything seemed so perfect. I thought artists just did it all on first draft, an incorrect and intimidating notion to have, even for a kid who knew they could draw, and maybe this book will help fix that misconception for future artists.
Development of Morgan and his Friends over multiple drafts
Morgans’s Wall pages 1 - 3
Morgan was a kid.
Just a kid.
Just like you.
Just like Morgan’s best friend, Jim.
Just like Morgan’s other best friend, Kali.
They were BFFs, which means best friends forever, but the three friends were very different.
Kali was noisy and the fastest; she could run like the wind.
She could almost run as fast as Morgan’s dog, Piper, who could run faster than the wind. Jim could run forever but was quiet.
Sometimes Morgan couldn’t keep his balance walking across a log, but Jim could do it nearly every time.
Together, Jim and Kali could even dance on a log.
Morgan was not the tallest kid he knew.
A new kid, Angel, was the tallest.
Jim, Kali and Angel were cousins and Angel’s family had just moved into town.
Angel called Jim ‘Big Jim’.
Jim called Angel ‘Little Angel’.