Everybody in the world is truly special in his or her own way. They have their own form of living, thinking, acting, etc. Each individual has different goals in life and distinct experiences they have along the way. However, one of the main things that make everyone unique is dreaming. All people dream differently. Sometimes the dreams are so bazaar they hardly make any sense. What do our dreams mean? What are they trying to tell us?  Regardless of what the purpose of dreams may be, they are still unique to each individual person and therefore they make us all special. The chances of more than one person experiencing the same incredibly odd dream are extremely low.

            These stories I gathered about strange dreams and the illustrations I created to go with them compare to the readings primarily because they are highly based on visual elements. The chapter, “Seeing” by Ann Dillard is one of the most visually descriptive narratives I have ever read. Everything she wrote was included such specific details that I could literally picture it in my mind. I think that is one the key indicators of a good story. The reader must be able to visualize what is happening. That is something I really wanted to focus on as I wrote and illustrated these stories. I wanted to tell them in a way where anybody could imagine the dreams were actually real.

            I think these stories relate to many forms of media, however I believe they correlate most to cinema. Like most films, the tiny stories open up the possibility for anything to happen. They allow people to be put in any location under any circumstance. Movies can also combine fact with fiction while teaching valuable a valuable lesson. With these tiny stories, I was able to apply these principles and create things that couldn’t be done in real life and make them seem believable. I wanted to use distinct shapes and colors for each illustration to provide more of a dream-like feel, but I also wanted to make the pictures look somewhat realistic. Overall, I wanted to images to appear like dreams are, which is a mix between reality and fantasy. I also tried to make them all look different from one another in order to emphasize the idea that each person and their dreams are unique in their own way.

1. The Girl in the Book
A mother loses her daughter. She looks in the attic and finds a book on the floor. She opens it and sees her daughter is a character in the book.

2. The Boy and the Bird 
A six-year-old boy is driving his parents'  car. On the way he sees a bird in the street. The bird picks the boy up and flies him home.

3. The Man with the Metal Mouth
A man is riding a bicycle, when suddenly he falls down. He knocks all of his teeth out. The bike’s chains replace his teeth.

4. Girl Meets Giant Crab

A young woman is running towards her husband through a large field. When she finally reaches her husband, he transforms into a giant crab.

 

5. Polar Coaster 

A group of friends are riding a roller coaster. Then the roller coaster loses control. Eventually it flies off the tracks and lands on a huge pile of snow.