Zac Smith likes bananas too.
by maggiewong ~ October 17th, 2010. Filed under: Uncategorized.I took some time to skim through the illustrations from the Zac Smith link and I hope I’m not the only one that think so, but most of them look like scribbles done by a 7 year old. Smith said that he mostly “tried to make a series of pictures as dense, intricate, and rich as the prose in the book.” I agree that his drawings are as dense as the book itself, but intricate and rich? I’m really not seeing those qualities from this.
One of the drawings I did like, however, is the one Smith did for page 10 about the bananas.
…banana omelets, banana sandwiches…tall cruets of pale banana syrup to pour oozing over banana waffles…
I didn’t get a chance to go through all the links, but from what I saw this is one of the only illustrations done in color. It looks like Smith put a lot of thought and time into this one because he even included the characters’ faces and their different features. I thought it was interesting that the focus of this drawing is on the food and not the characters.
To tie this back to Simona’s post, I can’t help but ask…what is this fascination with bananas? Maybe Smith understands what Pynchon is trying to convey with this banana mead. Or maybe he also really likes bananas.
Did you guys like any of Smith’s illustrations?
October 17th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Well just to comment first one the color things, another one done in color is 118. What I like most of 118 is seeing all these deadly weapons colored so brightly as if they were mere toys and stuffed into a jar…kind of makes them look a lot less threatening.
The one of the bananas that you have chosen is very eye catching. Perhaps Smith placed so much emphasis on the food as opposed to the men, since in the story for that brief section we so much placed on the bananas; they become almost the focal point…so maybe that’s why?
Another one of his paintings that I enjoyed was 140. I like how the character in it just seems so innocent and he’s just tucked away in the little corner. This one drawing is so simple and there’s not a lot going one, which is different from the ones I had seen so far. And the line 140 represents is discussing a coldness which I think is perfectly conveyed.
October 18th, 2010 at 12:09 am
I agree with you that a lot of the illustrations seem crudely drawn, but as I look at each one, I wouldn’t think that they were drawn by a 7 year old. Most of them are pretty graphic (like 49) and I seem to get a dark, creepy vibe from a lot of them. However, I still think they’re good and I enjoy randomly going through his illustrations.
My favorite is 61, which ironically does seem like it could be drawn by a 7 year old. But that’s the only exception I’ve seen so far.
Page 10 looks like it could be the cover of a band’s album! Thanks for pointing out 118 too, Lizbeth. I originally thought 10 was the only colorful one. I wonder how many of them are in color?
October 20th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Yess!! That is a perfect description of the banana breakfast on page 10. I feel thats the talent that Pynchon has when he writes, he could honestly overdue something and totally kill the moment or seize it. This page especially he captures the energy of Pirate Prentice and the comrades getting together for the most important time of the day, banana breakfast. The members are colored in black in white because whats mostly being described on that page is specifically the bananas, the spreads basically anything you can make out of a banana.
I like page 39 when roger mexico meets a young Jessica. She is described as an attractive female and i felt that the picture besides being in black and white (which is totally depressing in an undepressing page) really captures what Pynchon described. After seeing that painting i would help her fix the bike too…just saying