Becoming Naomi Leon Essay

The story I chose to embellish is a passage from the book “Becoming Naomi Leon” by Pam Munoz Ryan, while I spent a good part of the week trying to find a poem to illuminate none of them spoke to me the way this exert did. This passage had always held a special place in my heart and has stuck with me years after first reading the book, I believe that embellishing and illustrating the quote gave the poem new and deeper meaning got me. When I had first read the poem I sympathized with the main character who was a shy quiet character but had a loud voice inside and could overcome challenges, however putting thought into the design and illustrations has also given the quote new meaning. The crowd of people surrounding the focus point who in this
case is the blue person is not only shows that you have to stand out from the crowd sometimes to get what you need to say across. However, while I was working on this piece the crowd of people also began to symbolize the “army of worries” that can be managed. You can’t let fear or doubt or worry consume you and you have to stand out. The lions really capture in a symbolic and literal way that you have to be loud sometimes and you have to have a loyal and strong heart like a lion. While I admit the beautiful intricate designs of older more traditional illustrated poems I was much more influenced by modern version I have found that had simpler designs but conveyed the entire message and feeling with only a few drawings, and while my work is simple I believe it gives the poem a deeper meaning at least to me that stands out. Even the font and mediums I used contributed to adding meaning and imagery to the quote.
While some of the design choice such as using pen instead of paint were put in place to compliment my artistic strengths.
I had attempted to paint similar to the older illuminated poems and stories put it ended up being a muddy mess and I felt the message of the lines were lost. Ink is my favorite medium to lose as well is digital art using a computer but I felt that was inappropriate for the assignment. The ink gave stark contrast and helped the crowd both stand out and hide giving you the ability to see all the individuals but the one you notice is the blue character who is meant to stand out as the speaker. The font was influenced by a font used in the art forms text book, while browsing the graphic design chapter there was a font used in the Tobias Frere-Jones work “Three typefaces, Nobel, Armanda, Garage gothic.” The first font “Nobel” really stood out because of how bold it was. Although I did not have that exact font I had a similar one called “Expo M” that I think is bold and conveys the message of the passage just through the design of the words. As I completed the work I thought if many people who could also use the message of passage, I have and will continue to share the message of the quote to those who need to know that they can have a
voice.
After finishing this project I feel that I can better understand why embellishing poems and stories specifically those spatula based was so important. Like my quote their religious based poems and stories held high meaning to them. During the time especially during the Renaissance and medieval there was a rise in the want for spiritual artwork and combining the art of illustrations and the art of words was and still is a wonderful way to convey the meaning that it brought. While researching I found one author stating that religious art was, “situate art at the boundary between the physical and the spiritual worlds.” (Kessler) Art was a way to connect man with god and illustrating the passages that they already knew gave them a brand new link to their spirituality. The importance of illustrated religious works give meaning to the phrase, “A pictures worth a thousand words.” I one drawing an artist could convey the whole message of the poem or story. While word are an amazing thing pictures accompanying them can add a whole new meaning to the work. In our modern world we can see examples of embellishing words all the time a picture to go with an advertisement even an emoji, accompanying a text message can convey things words cant.
Embellishing this passage has shown me the importance of adding art to accompany poems and stories. It can show things that words cant. This assignment has also given me a new way of looking at poems as well as art and I can connect meaning and symbolisms between them.