8/3/09

Little Black Fish pencils finally finished!!!

I have recently finished the pencils of a comic - what I have mostly been doing this summer -, based on an Iranian children's story, The Little Black Fish by Samad Behrangi. Behrangi wrote this story to inspire children to question Iran's education system and authority. Many of these children became key figures (and leaders) of a communist guerilla group which later contributed to the fall of the shah of Iran.

The point of Behrangi's story was not just to inspire actions like these, but to insure dissent amoung future generations. He was so dedicated to this mission that he traveled from town to town with frostbitten toes to teach in village schools. Due to the radical nature of his teachings and political actions he was considered a threat to the shah.


My original concept:
I was hoping that there would be interest in a compilation of subversive children's stories narrated by a character that is a storyteller. Each comic would be divided with short comics of the narrator running from authorities and introducing each comic. The narrator has acquired tattoos on his skin as a way to remember the stories he has told. The tattoos also serve as a means to evade authorities by disguising the subversive paraphernalia.

Diversity of comic style can be justified because the storyteller is constantly traveling, therefore, different tattoo artists would be illustrating the tattoos.

However, there didn't seem to be much interest in this project. So I plan on doing other stories by Samad Behrangi coupled with stories from leftist students and guerrillas - pre and post '79 revolution in Iran.

Right now I am not very set on anything, but a format proportionate to the size of what I have already illustrated.

Example of the style I am using for "my story."
The style is based on Bizhan Jazani's (one of the guerrillas) paintings.


Pencils from comic.

1 comment:

మంచి పుస్తకం said...

Dear friend,
I just saw your blogspot while searching for illustrations for The Little Black fish. This book was translated and printed more than two decades ago in Telugu, language of Andhra Pradesh state in India. We are reprinting the book on behalf of Manchi Pustakam, which means Good Book. We are a Trust based publishers and promoters of Children's Books in Telugu. I request you for permission to use your illustations in the Telugu version. Please mail your response to kosaraju.suresh@gmail.com
K. Suresh
Trustee, Manchi Pustakam