In the spirit of exploration and growth I have here a couple more ‘honest copies’ of work I consider to be masterful and visually distinct.
The first image below is from Goodbye Chunky Rice (1999) by Craig Thompson; this is his first graphic novel, winning him a Harvey Award for Best New Talent. His art here brings two words to mind- clean and smooth; there is little of the textual brushwork so thoroughly used in Blankets. Thompson uses anthropomorphic design for two of his main characters, however, the rest of the characters are represented as (albeit highly stylized) humanoids. They are presented as archetypes of particular personalities, none of them are shown to be completely two dimensional. Anyway, enough about the story for now. I will post a full investigation shortly in the Text Analysis category. In terms of strictly the visual style, Thompson delivers an easy to read narrative; all the elements on the page are clearly delineated, leaving no confusion. Blacks and whites are used according to readability instead of reality, keeping in line with the entire book. This is not photo-realistic art, it is carefully thought out, simple and effective representation.
The following image is from Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis (2000), the story of her upbringing in a turbulent and oppressive Iran. This book has received much acclaim and thorough analysis makes it easy to see why. She tells at once the story of her country, her neighborhood, her family, and her self. The style is sparse; she veers away entirely from ‘truthful’ visuals and manipulates the drawn elements to support the narrative as she sees fit. Panels are devoid of unnecessary details and contain only the key elements required, displaying only the occasional piece of background patterning. However even the patterns are an intrinsic part of the Iranian culture, and therefore a rudimentary aspect of the atmosphere she creates. Marjane weaves an engaging narrative and the basic visuals allow it to flow at speed. Her eye for composition and ability to balance the panels as an individual part as well as the meta-page make up for any shortcomings in drafting ability. Here we are reminded that there are two tracks, the visual track and the textual track, and they must work together in harmony at all times.
