Letters from Carl Barks - part 2 (last, for now)

Daniel van Eijmeren dve at kabelfoon.nl
Sat Aug 11 08:18:49 CEST 2001


A b/w xerox of below typewritten letter was sent to me on November 8, 2000.

Transcription is made by me. I hope it's free of errors. I will make a 
scan of the xerox available. As far as I know this letter is unpublished. 
If it isn't, please let me know.


Some notes about the contents of the letter:

A temporary scan of a photo of "Utah Color" can be found at
"http://www.seriesam.com/barks/ndp_utah_color-temp_scan.jpg"

Temporary, because I think there are some spots which do not appear 
on the photo. (Not counting the flash light.) I briefly reconnected 
my flawsy scanner in order to illustrate this letter's contents. 
Otherwise it would have had to wait until I have searched and bought 
a new one. (Hopefully with a longer lifetime! Snort! Snort!)

The poem is "Ode to the Disney Ducks". A transcription of this poem 
can be found at "http://www.barksbase.de/english/", by following the 
link "About Carl Barks". The poem is at the bottom of the biography.

Also notice Barks' comment on the possibilities of internet.

BTW. This is be the last part, for now. 

-- Daniel


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May 11, 1999 

Markku Kivekas 

Dear Markku: 

    Many thanks for the birthday presents. Those books of duck stories 
make a big impression on people here. 

    Thanks, too, for sending the color photo of the little landscape 
Marko Leppala bought at a Christie auction. I haven't much record of 
the painting. My sales book says I sold it to Bill Grandey in 1988 for 
600 dollars. It is one of a few subjects that I used for experiments in 
composition and color in the 1950's and 60's. 

    Some were watercolors and gouache, some acrylics, and some oils. 
This subject, "Utah Color", was one I did over and over with mountains 
of different shapes and colors. The buildings were adapted from a 
lesson sketch in an old time watercolor instruction book. I invented 
the sheep and foreground field. 

    I can't remember if this painting started as a watercolor on heavy 
paper stock and then was finished with heavy opaque gouache, or if it 
was finished with oil colors. It is a good example of how I slowly 
changed from a black and white ink cartoonist into an "artist". 

    Am glad you like the short poem I wrote about the Disney ducks. 
I was inspired by letters I often receive from fans saying they like 
the way I taught little lessons in human decency and sensible behavior 
in my stories. Believe me, my first aim in constructing scripts was to 
make the situations funny. The little lessons crept in as part of the fun. 

    I am pleased to see so much interest in the duck stories and paintings.

It proves that Duckburg and its citizens are part of the whole world's 
culture and lifestyle. In spite of the present shutdown of duck comics in 
America, they will make a comeback even here. 

    I think it will be in a form that readers download from the Internet 
instead of in flimsy books that sell on Newsstands. 

    Good luck to you and all the folks at Aku Ankka. I continue to live on 
in fairly good health at 98. My eyesight is growing dim, but otherwise I'm 
enjoying good luck, too. 

Sincerely, 

Carl

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