Frank Wu
August 2, 2001
7:39 a.m.
One of the best things about being at the Writers of the Future was meeting the people who illustrated my work. It was fun to hear them talk about their thoughts, and about how the viewed my work. It was interesting to hear them talk about how they go about their work. Over the course of both weeks, a good-hearted spirit of us vs. them rose, which was fun in itself. My only regret about all that today is that I was unable to participate this past year, because then I would have been able to meet Frank Wu. Until a little bit ago, I had heard of Frank, but wasn't really paying attention to his work. He was, after all, the guy who did the illustration for "The Colors of Pain." Us writers do pay attention to who works on our stories, you know? But I received an e-mail from Frank a short while before going to North Carolina for vacation. He mentioned that he liked the story (note to everyone--this is a marvelous way to start any conversation with a person who writes [grin]), and he mentioned that he was unhappy with the way the art came out on Altair's pages, and that if I would like to see a rendition of this work in better detail that I could run to his site and check it out. So I did. Woah! The thing is truly spectacular. Not only that, but I loved reading his thoughts on the story, and his feedback to a letter that details his inspirations for the illustration. Remember, I live with a freelance copy editor--Lisa and I have this long-running conversation about the symbiotic relationship between a writer and the copye editor. When a copy editor "gets" what the author is trying to do, that's Nirvana. When she doesn't, that's ... not so good. I think the same relationship applies to the writer and his illustrator (or, for you illustrators out there, an illustrator and his writer!). Frank "got" the feel of my work. For that alone, I am impressed (I've had others that ... well ... didn't). So I nosed around a bit more. Let me just say that I thing Frank Wu has it, you know? He works with a dramatic eye to detail, if that makes sense, and I would be delighted to hear that he was working on anything I publish from this point out. The good new for me is that Frank has given me permission to post this version on my site. So, here are a few pertinent links: Frank Wu "The Colors of Pain" The illustration (~130K) Frank's commentary on his work "The Colors of Pain" My commentary   Have a great day.  Oh, come on, Ron. Nobody "gets" your work! Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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"You can't start with how people look and speak and behave and come to know how they feel. You must know exactly what's in their hearts and minds before they ever set visible foot on stage. You must know all, then not tell it all, or not tell too much at once." Eudora Welty |
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