There is a site, and I will name it by name, it is called “Illustration Friday” (http://www.illustrationfriday.com/). Every week they post a new word onto their web-site, and artists can post links to illustrations which they have done based on that word. Its a fun way for artists to stay in practice, and to make contacts and get their work out and about.
Illustration Friday has categories for different styles of artwork. They have a category for colored pencils, they have a category for watercolor, they even have a category for silk screens. They do not have a category for writing. I have not spoken with the people who run the site, but my guess — and I stress that it is just a guess — is that just because writing is not a form of “illustration,” they feel that it doesn’t belong on a site called “Illustration Friday.” I feel that this is a shamefully narrowminded position to take. I can’t draw worth a damn, but I’m a pretty decent writer, should I be discriminated against?
The last time I looked, we were living in America, and living in America means being FREE! Right before Patrick Henry was killed during the Revolutionary War, he had just burst in upon the British Colonial Congress which was meeting that day in Virginia. To show his disdain for his colonial overlords, he leapt up upon the conference table, dropped his pants and began reciting the pledge of allegiance. He did this to ensure that future generations would be entitled to the freedoms which he was denied. That is why, I am proud to say that any man, woman or child can enter the Capital building at any time of the day or night, drop their pants, and recite the pledge of allegiance! Actually, a quick search on Wikipedia has revealed that you can’t do this, and if you did, it would qualify as a Federal Offense and you would go to prison. Furthermore. apparently, Patrick Henry wasn’t killed during the Revolutionary War and never dropped his pants at the British. It sounds like something he might have done, though, and that’s what Freedom really means to me!
So, I for one am bucking this whiny narrow-minded “we only want illustrations for our illustration web site” attitude of the Illustration Friday people. When they pulbish their word of the week, instead of doing an illustration, I am going to do a short piece of writing based on the word. I am going to post it here. If the Illustration Friday people won’t post a link to it, then my wife, who is actually an illustrator and participates in Illustration Friday, will post a link to my writing on her web site. Take that you British upstarts!
Or, in the words of Patrick Henry, “Neener! Neener! Neener!”
Watch this space…