Illustration Notes for Episode Sixty-One
Perhaps the biggest challenge that this week’s episode image presented was deciding WHAT to depict.
I initially planned to depict the Vinyl Vineyard’s storefront with its mural art (and still hope to for a future episode). I was also very intrigued by a ‘twilight-through-the-windows’ view of Lita’s fascinating rental room—or maybe an image of Matt all curled up in his blanket on the hardwood floor at the foot of her bed. But in the end, I chose to create an image of Matt celebrating his new body—and life—by running ‘just because he could’ down the Avenue. Finally sufficiently free of immediate crises and mind-blowing revelations to stop and think about/enjoy the fact of his physical transformation. For me, this image was all about trying to capture his facial expression of blissful enjoyment. The one I ended up with was…far less rambunctious than I’d been imagining, but it seemed to capture what I imagined it might feel like to wake up tomorrow in a light, agile body with boundless energy and NO PAIN anywhere. And, yeah, he’s running with his eyes closed—in the middle of a city street! But I promise you, it’s just for a second—as his attention is momentarily consumed by what this run feels like to him inside. He will open those eyes again in just another step. I actually like the recklessness of this moment of running with eyes closed—in the street—as the act itself seems to capture something important—for me at least—and usually soon lost about the mindset of youth: the forgetfulness of fear. …At least, in youth’s better moments. :]
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Below, as always, find an uncropped and uncluttered version of this week’s episode image. Hope to see you again next week! :]
