I've been talking a lot about this senior thesis project without really
explaining what it is I was doing. As its now officially the 20th, the
day of the big opening where my work will officially be open to the
public (although it has technically been on display for about a week as
its in the main foyer of the school) and
as all of the work is up on the site, I think its rather appropriate to go into some detail for those who may be curious.
Back in November I was reading an issue of Wired magazine and in it was a
feature
that caught my attention. Sometime in the 1920's Ernest Hemingway made
a wager of $10 that he could write a story in only six words. He wrote,
"For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never worn." (winning the bet.) Wired magazine
had asked 33 writers "sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the
realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves." The
stories, as you may already know, were just fantastic and the fact that
they were told in only six words just made the whole project all the
more interesting. In the magazine they were arranged and presented by
five different designers, each taking their own liberties with the
presentation of the text. While I enjoyed the design work, I was
disappointed that the stories didn't get the individual attention I
thought they deserved. Right away I thought it would have been really
interesting if the stories would have been illustrated in some way,
this snowballed into the idea that a little illustrated story book
would be a lot of fun to make and to read.
The idea of challenging myself in this way was really appealing. I received this great little
storyboard notebook
for Christmas and I decided to pick some of my favorite stories from
the feature and fill my little sketchbook with ideas for images. It was
my intent to illustrate as many of the stories as I possibly could in
time for the senior exhibition.
For some stories the pictures came
really easily, others were a challenge and required pages and pages of
sketches to arrive at a place I was happy with. I found a
printer
for the book that was inexpensive and allowed me to print a small
number of the finished books for the show and myself. Which, I might
add, turned out really well.
So
far the project has been really well received. I even mediated a minor dispute between
a rather inebriated couple over what the project was about. If you've scrounged around
the blog you may have noticed that one of the authors, James Patrick
Kelly, found "his" illustration and commented on it.
One professor here has even expressed an interest in turning it into an
assignment for future students. The most gratifying response, however,
has been observing people walk up to the work with a very serious look
on their face and watching their faces slowly crack a smile as they
"get it." For some it takes longer than others, but almost inevitably it
happens.
The work is currently on display in the main foyer of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and on
joshwebbillustration.com.
As of this writing, the opening/reception for the 2007 MIAD Senior
Exhibition show is tonight, from 5PM - 9PM. If you're in the
area, stop by and say hello.
