I’ll simply start with my sketched ideas and then highlight and talk about the ideas I feel have potential. I had to generate 60 ideas for editorial imagery, using my research on Orwell to make the outcomes. These will eventually result in three final images being: 110 x 110mm 110 x 220mm 220 x 110mm
Continuing my gripe from my holiday sketches, I had another crack at pig caricature. Still didn’t feel that I was doing an effective job, but was determined that I would make something to be proud of.
Causing me to generate these ideas, the first landscape idea came from the closing moments in the story, where Benjamin the donkey looks in on the farm manor, and witnesses all the pigs dressed as humans, conversing with farmers. Orwell explains how “the creatures outside looked from pig to man, from man to pig, but it was impossible to say which was which�. this gave me a strange image of the pigs warping and taking form of the adjacent men (even though this is definitely isn't what Is being explained), I thought that would make a pretty cool image. I think ill create a more detailed version and play with format. The second image harkens back to my Boxer the horse research, with Napoleon sitting on his thinned out body, representing a leader overworking its public and reaping the benefits (a comfy seat I guess), paralleling Stalins rule.
Moving away from animal farm, I thought of a totem pole featuring Hitler and Stalin, decaying from poor care. This was only an initial idea, but once I had finished the idea I felt it didn’t convey the idea quite well enough. The idea that they are carved out, decaying or not, could be misread as a positive image about them leaving an impression and legacy. So if I do tackle this, I would include an Orwell statue, pristine from continued care (continued readership) and overshadowing the destroyed and tarnished remains of the others.
Finally for my favored ideas, I simply wanted to illustrate interesting events from his diary entries. Starting with him realizing the difference between a prostitute getting a bed at night depended on whether or not they were “hired”. He sees a woman who had sex with a man but he had refused to pay, so she was left out on the streets to cry. Then for the portrait idea, there was a fellow homeless man who was quite smart and Orwell would enjoy making conversation with, but then one day he spotted him flashing his penis to passers by behind a news paper. The final event for the square, occurred more than once in the entries. Orwell and his friend would ask farmers for work (every time receiving a no) and upon being spurned, they would steal produce from the farm. Firstly, super glad I wasn’t born during that time, it seemed brutal, second, whilst Id love to work further on these, they don’t feel quite right for editorial, I feel idea driven imagery would work better with a body of text, so possibly leave these for a later part of the project.
Just thought I’d highlight this as a big no no, swastikas are an easy target and way over done, not an effective way of presenting Orwell’s fears of thought control.