Hi! I’m Cathy Hamilton and my interest in art and computers spans decades. After completing a few years of computer stuff, art courses, and a Multimedia Productions course at the local community college, I combined my two loves and authored/illustrated/animated The Itsy Bitsy Spider On The Farm.
My Humorous Side
Embedded within the multimedia book’s whimsical style of animation is my own off-beat, dry sense of humor. The simple, yet realistic illustrations attempt to maintain the view of the world through the eyes of children.
Catching the Sounds
Seeking out and creating the myriad of sound effects used in the multimedia version was an enjoyable part of the creation process. My significant other and I went on bike rides to local trails and parks to find many of the sounds. We captured the “oink” at the county fair outside the pen of an vociferous pig! Also, the chickens at the petting zoo needed no encouragement for their clucking ovation! The birds along the trail seemed to know we were coming to capture their song and provided a fine audition.
Although, finding and capturing all the sounds needed for the book was not an easy task, capturing the bee was probably the most difficult and the most funny. Bees can’t be chased long before you fall into a ditch or a thicket of weeds. Also, to alleviate the threat of getting stung by said annoyed bee, it was necessary to retreat from the chase several times. They say “timing is everything” and that was definitely the case in capturing the thunder roll. Capturing the book’s sounds was an incredible experience that I must repeat someday. Mother nature provides food for the soul.
The Ultimate Test
The Itsy Bitsy Spider On The Farm was not a success until it was given the golden seal of approval by a child. Alas, my glory day came when I witnessed my grandson of four years, who is extremely curious, mobile, and intelligent, watch the .mp4 version, sitting still as a statue and quiet as a mouse in church, four times in succession, without blinking an eye. Hence, I figured that if he would sit through the animation and ask to “See it again, Grandma!”, (pardon my ADD, but where DOES that last set of quotation marks belong . . . before or after the comma???!!) others like him would enjoy it, too!