Grappling Graphic Memoir!

        I'm realizing just how exciting memoirs are.

        Rather than absorbing factual information off of wikipedia about Alison Bechdel and her 'unique' (to say the least) relationship with her father, I felt as though I had plunged into that significant time of Bechdel's life surrounding her father's death. I was a fly on the wall during her most intimate moments, an invisible third sibling living through her family's tragic, yet surprisingly understandable story. 

       What made Bechdel's personal account even more compelling were the expounding graphics! Though obviously cartoon, I was given perfect mental images, sounds and even smells of her family (and 'friends') from these detailed drawings. This picture, for example, speaks louder than any combination of words ever could. Her entire childhood is summarized by these telling expressions: her father's unconcealed discontentment, her mother's begrudging eye-roll, Roy's deltoids and Alison's edged-forward, brow-raising curiousity.

       While researching the genre of graphic memoirs, I happened upon this really interesting one-weekend workshop in how to create your own graphic memoir! It is advertised as a crash-course in "preserving the significant moments in your life in a new and exciting way". This to me really captured the essence of what makes graphic memoirs so "exciting": their graphics! Unlike a thick book of personal stories, a graphic memoir is "accessible": since you gain so much information from the pictures alone, you absorb a lot more info a lot more quickly! I think this is why graphic memoirs reach a much wider audience than ordinary ones- they are more accessible. Had this workshop been a little closer to home, I would have loved to go. It is offered by San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum, whose mission is to "preserve, document, and exhibit this unique and accessible art form". Want to learn more about this unique museum? Check out this video tour! Fellow group members- I think you would appreciate this place, especially considering your passion for animation/illustration. :)