Class Assignment 1
This is an illustration by Ted Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. This illustration was in the book The Lorax. It is a book about deforestation. The book is aimed at the youth of the future. It shows in vivid details the effects of deforestation. The images Dr. Seuss used is to shock the reader into understanding the point the book is trying to get across.
Dr. Seuss was artist who lived in the US and Paris around the time of the Surrealist Movement. He illustrated his own books, political comics, and paintings. Some of his illustrations showed up in the U.S. News under a Seuss Segment called The Birth of a Famous Feline (referring to The Cat in the Hat).
I chose this illustration because Dr. Seuss had the ability to make a striking image that emphasized what the book was trying to portray. His illustrations were so unique and had such a clear meaning that they became used as tools to teach children. I chose this one specifically because, through all the context of this book, it leads the reader to feel the horrible shock of the last tree being cut down. In subtle hints through the whole story you can see through his images that the story teller is ashamed for cutting down all the trees and Dr. Seuss shows that grief by hiding the storytellers entire being besides his arms through the whole book. Subtle clues like that are what makes even a small image like this an example of good illustrating technique.