Class #8

Our group began with talking about online publishing.  Aileen brought in some examples of books that she had made using the website Blurb.  Aileen is currently assembling our letters from our Alphabet Primers into a Blurb book.  These types of books are a great way of documenting students' work.  The books could be used as a fundraiser for your school or organization or they could also be used as catalogs for an art exhibition, whether for a class art show or a show of your own.  Aileen showed us an example of a Blurb book exhibition catalog that was made by one of her former students.

Our class went through one last viewing of each Alphabet Primer, complete with sound.  It was interesting to notice the differences and subtleties of each project.  There was one last mention of other artists' Alphabets.  Jim Flora was mentioned for his primer.  Flora was well known for his RCA jazz record album cover designs.

The letter C from Jim Flora's series Primer for Prophets

The letter K from Jim Flora's series Primer for Prophets

Another artist mentioned for his Alphabet Primer was Edward Gorey.  I appreciate his dark side. Whilst his work definitely lives within the realms of doom and gloom, I am not sure whether we would consider Gorey an artist working within the Dystopian model.

Edward Gorey images from his book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Or After the Outing

Gorey provides a great segue into a thought Aileen brought up.  It may seem trivial, but she mentioned asking your students, "Any worries?"  This was something, if I recall correctly, that Aileen's sister used to ask her when they were growing up. But the heart of the matter, is that it is a good idea to check-in with your students, see how they are doing and actually ask what they worry about.

Worried about cataclysmic events?--the unraveling of our civilization as we know it?  Then you must be in a Dystopian state of mind and that was how we ended our class.  We had a bit of an independent work session for our Dystopian graphic novel accordion books, which I personally found to be quite enjoyable and productive.  Aileen usually brings in so many resources/books for our class and I feel I do not always have the time or take the time to get a good look at what has been brought in.  I especially liked the collaged design of this accordion book by Felicia Rice. 

Photos taken of Felicia Rice's book, Codex Espangliensis:  From Columbus to the Border Patrol

  I was also attracted to the book, The Wall, by illustrator Peter Sis. I like his way of drawing and the different viewpoints from which he draws.  I am not sure I would have thought of this book right away as an example of a graphic novel, I might have described it as a picture book memoir for children and adults, but since discussing the format in class, I see where Sis' work could be viewed as such.

Cover of The Wall, Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, Peter Sis

I was curious to see more of Sis' work and found that he is quite a prolific illustrator.  Another image that caught my eye was from his book, Madlenka.

From Madlenka, Peter Sis