https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=fnnew4M1lM0
Rule seven, work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens. I love this, it’s beautiful, it’s so playful, it’s got the feeling of a child’s fairy tale, but one that’s not speaking down to children and there’s real love in it. And it’s very frequently the case that mentoring relationships, apprenticeship relationships, have that love in them. This shoemaker is teaching this young boy to a craft that will enable him to do something productive but also enable him to live, to provide him with a living. And he’s the good father like Geppetto, he’s obviously pleased that his apprentice is showing mastery and that’s the definition of a good father, perhaps a good parent, that you’re pleased when your son or your daughter advances, even when they advance beyond you, which hopefully they will if you’re highly successful. There’s a lot of love in this illustration as far as I’m concerned. Yeah, I’ve tried to appeal to you, if you look at the old guy, he’s a young character. I can’t believe you haven’t noticed. The list of things that I haven’t noticed would fill many, many books. That’s so smart. That’s so smart. He’s a lovely character, this guy. And the room that you’ve portrayed there is, it’s a place of productive activity, it’s inviting. You made it theatrical again with the fabric along the top. And so it’s like we’re looking into a private moment. Exactly. The fact that it’s theatrical. So tell me, you’ve done this with a number of images, what possessed you to do that? My experience, my own experience, I suppose. I’ve had that with my grandmother. Why make it theatrical? Theatrical, yes, and so overtly. It’s perfectly appropriate, especially given the tenor of the book. I’m not sure again. I’m not sure about most of my decisions. I wouldn’t… Yes, well, that’s the problem with, if artists can say what they do, they wouldn’t need to do their art. I suppose so, I don’t know. That’s left to other people often. Some of the worst claptrap ever produced is analysis of art, often by the artists themselves, but often by critics as well. Well, you open up the curtains on a scene, and to open up the curtains on a scene is to indicate that this scene is of importance, because otherwise, why put it on the stage? Why open the curtains? Why say that this is here for your consideration? And so you’re displaying to the viewer something of crucial importance here, is that this relationship exists and it’s healthy and positive. Yes, and it’s possible and it’s intimate. Yes, and it’s intimate as well. Yes, exactly. Yes, lovely. Beautiful. That’s my favourite. Yes, and you manage to imbue this illustration with sentiment without it being maudlin or naive or saccharine or sugar-coated, any of that. And that’s a very tricky thing to do, to make something positive and joyful and loving like that without it degenerating into sentimentality. Yes, with the boy I was struggling because many boys have increased emotions. They’re very emotional. And I needed to show a sense of awe. But every boy I tried, I probably tried 20, didn’t work until I found this picture of my son 10 years ago. He was making bubbles, soap bubbles in the original picture. And he looked at them without overly expressing his joy. And that’s the moment I like, it’s something in between. Right, so he’s contemplating. Yes, happily. He’s not sure if it’s good or not, but the father approves. Great.