January 14, 2015 at 4:56 p.m.
Hodag to be featured in local cartoonist's new children's book
Hodag to be featured in local cartoonist's new children's book
What Barnett didn't expect to find was inspiration for his next professional ambition waiting here among the trees.
"We haven't been here that long yet," Barnett said. "We just moved up in September. The school principal at (Northwoods Community Elementary School) caught wind of what I do for a living and asked me to paint a Hodag mural on a wall they had. They had a Hodag penciled onto the wall for something like two or three years, but no one ever did anything with it. He asked me if I wanted to erase it and start over myself."
It was an opportunity to interact with his son's new school and show off his talent to the community, so the decision came easy.
"I thought long and hard about it, and considered the age groups at the school," he said. "Because it was at an elementary school, I decided maybe I shouldn't draw a ferocious looking Hodag, but more of a kid-friendly Hodag. I came up with the one that's on the wall there now. As I was finishing it up, one of the fifth graders came by. She looked at it and just nodded her head and said, 'I'm going to name him Bob.' It just kind of stuck. I just thought OK, yeah, that's Bob. Now everyone just knows him as Bob the Hodag."
Bob the Hodag has all the familiar features of Rhinelander's favorite mythical beast, but softer. He has a wide smile and judging from some of Barnett's early illustrations, enjoys making snowmen and ice fishing with his tail. He even has his own Facebook page.
After many hours of work, Barnett finished the painted Hodag, but over the course of the project, he realized there may be a future for his new character.
"After working on (it) for a few weeks and getting to know it, I fell in love with the character," he said. "He's so friendly looking and lovable. I decided to write a children's book on Bob the Hodag and just see how it goes. There seems to be a lot of interest in it and people really like what I've done with the Hodag, so I shot for broke and decided to do it."
Traces of Barnett's vision for the book can already be seen on the creature's Facebook page. He's happy, friendly and kind of a goof. Barnett said that's what will to appeal to children.
"I'm trying to bring the Hodag into a child-friendly environment," he said. "This version of the Hodag is going to be a much more lovable, big lug kind of character. The working title for the first book is 'I Brought a Hodag to School.'"
"The kid is going to find the Hodag in the forest and bring him to school for show and tell, then all the hijinks ensue after that," he added. "It's set to a rhyming type style. It's not a long form story. I think kids are really going to get a kick out of it."
Nestled in the basement of his new Rhinelander home, is a small corner desk where Barnett creates his Hodag illustrations. At one station, he sketches the scenes in pencil. Then when he's happy with the way they look, he scans the drawings into his computer for the inking and coloring. It's meticulous process, but Barnett operates like a well-oiled machine.
That's to be expected given his level of experience. He's been drawing practically his entire life.
"I've been drawing ever since I was a little kid," he said. "I used to work nine to five jobs. I used to be a warehouse manager and things like that. None of those ever seemed to work out. Every time I did art though, it worked out. It made sense to say goodbye to the nine-to-five jobs and put my effort into doing art, and it's paid off ever since."
He also illustrates a daily online comic strip called "The Lil' Miesters," which focuses on an eccentric bunch of children. It's that work that's earned him serious validation as a cartoonist.
"The daily comic strip that I do became known by the National Cartoonist's Society, which is the most elite society for cartoonists," he said. "Jim Davis, who draws Garfield, and Charles Schulz from The Peanuts belonged to it. They caught wind of what I did, so I submitted my forms. There's a whole collection of things you have to pass to get in. It's like the Freemasons of cartooning, basically. It's a high honor, and I got in on my first shot. Everything has been taking off for me since."
The Lil' Miesters comic strip will continue every day, even while Barnett continues work on Bob the Hodag. If things go as planned, Barnett is hoping to release the book in just a few months.
"The writing is pretty close to being done," he said. "I have maybe a few paragraphs left to go, and then the illustrations start, which is of course my favorite part. I'm looking for a release at the absolute latest mid-2015 or earlier."
Updates on Bob the Hodag can be found at facebook.com/BobtheHodag, and Barnett's daily come strip, The Lil' Miesters, can be found at lilmiesters.com.
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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