Fushion: Words and Images (shorthand)
by Bennett Holzworth, (0 comments)
I contacted Marshall Arisman about doing a preview of his "Maters Series" session. He was kind enough to forward on his own personal notes for his session. These were written in shorthand and meant just for him. It is fascinating to see a stage of the process that we rarely see. It isn't polished, but it's not supposed to be. I look forward to seeing how this translates in the session itself. Thank you Marshall.
Notes on Fusion: Words and Images
Marshall Arisman
The title of this seminar is Fusion: Words and Imagesl. Before we get started I would like to know how many people here are primarily visual artists interest in writing words? Show of hands. And how many people are word people interested in creating images? Show of hands.
As visual people whether you are a graphic designer, art director or illustrator the words we work with on a daily basis are other people's words. No one has ever given me an illustration assignment without giving me words. Headlines, articles, short stories or words of a song.
It is my job, your job, to create a visual based on those words. We can choose a narrative approach and visualize those words or we can create a visual that attempts to expand on those words, i.e. illustration between or below the lines. An example would be the sentence Äúthe boy has a cat.Äù We can show a boy with a cat tee shirt on or show a boy writing the word CAT on a blackboard. Words can stand in for images in a picture. That is one of Rene Magritte's, The Belgian Surrealists, principles. It is true that when we read a word we visualize it in our head. The opposite is also true. An image can replace a word in a sentence. We all remember those sentences that combined words and images. The boy has a is spelled out in words and in place of the word CAT is a drawing of a CAT.
The focus of today's talk is how, as visual artist do we create our own words and images? It can be a children's book, a graphic novel or your own newspaper.
The first rule, as Paul Theroux, the author says is ÄúAnything that is not auto-biographical is plagiarism.Äù That, I have found, is sound advice. Too many times we start creating words and images for an outside market. I will write a story about a boy and his cat because cats books sell. The fact that you don't know or even like cats should stop you right there.
Autobiographical means that you work from your own knowledge. You have seen things, experienced things and feel for things I have not. That is your subject matter. I was brought up on a dairy farm Äì I know or have knowledge of cows. Better that I write a story about a boy and his cow that a boy and his cat.
The second rule is don't write and make pictures about anything with a goal or end in mind. I am writing and making pictures about a boy and his cow. It may turn out to be children's book, or it may turn out to be a young adult novel or it may turn out to be a piece for Playboy or it may turn out that I have nothing really to say about a boy and his cow.
The third rule is do not try and write the story in a finished form. Keep a journal; it can be a notepad or a bound sketchbook. Whatever it is it is your place to explore your knowledge. Hand write, working on a computer in the early stages is deadly. Every story looks finished. The computer is the second stage, after you really think you have a story in your hand written form. If you cannot write in simple language, what your story is about Äì you don't have a story.
The fourth rule is to read what you have written and not create visuals. That simply duplicates the effort you have made to visualize a scene for the reader. The words will guide you. If you have successfully visualized in words the description of the country lane where the boy and his cow have walked Äì don't rob the reader by your own vision of the lane unless you feel that your words have not done the job. You can however, visually introduce an element in your visual that is not described in words.
An example would be that you visualize the boy with his cow on a country lane walking by a herd of Buffalos that are not described in the text. Assuming that your story takes place where there could be buffalos, your visuals are helping to advance the story.
The fifth rule is to read your story into a tape recorder and then listen to it. If you are stumbling over reading your own words something is wrong. You are writing too Äúself-consciouslyÄù, trying too hard to quote Äúbe a good writer.Äù Simplify. Go back to trying to describe how you feel in more direct, simple terms. If you can't read it, the reader will have the same problem.
The sixth rule. Have faith in that you have something to say and say it both visually and verbally, in the most interesting way you can. Any good story can withstand not being told perfectly. It is your intent that is most important. If you intend to tell me something that you believe in, I will not only listen and look but I, as all readers do, will forgive you your imperfections.
The seventh rule is to understand that the more you write, the more the writing will suggest visuals. The more you visualize, the more words will be suggested. Words and images are not separate activities Äì they are two sides of the same coin.
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