Emily Becraft and Professor Robert Barrett, Visual Arts
The idea for this project came about as I, a descendant of Parley P. Pratt, realized I knew very little about him, his life, his family, and only a very small portion of what he contributed to the founding and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I gained an interest in him and his life and looked for available information on him, I realized it is at a high reading level and not easily accessible to descendants or the general church populace. As the ideas for a book to provide information about Parley P. Pratt’s life began to take shape, my major goal was to provide facts in such a way that anyone desiring to learn more about Parley P. Pratt would be able to use it as an easy and interesting reference tool to help this early pioneer and church leader to come alive in the hearts and minds of people of all ages everywhere.
I planned to gather information by reading the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt written by Parley P. Pratt and any other available information the church had. Also by interviewing living members of the Parley P. Pratt family and from the records of the Parley P. Pratt Family Association. After I had found the information I would narrow it down to pertinent dates and events in his life, both within and outside of his church service. Providing information about his ancestors and his family, and descendants would be important. And I especially looked for events and stories that would help to bring him to life through words and illustrations.
With the help of my father, a professional writer, I would then write the manuscript from my research. Finally, I would do illustrations of the key events and people in Parley P. Pratt’s life to be integrated with the manuscript for a book.
As I actually began to ask questions, contact people and read available information, I found there isn’t very much information about Parley P. Pratt’s life beyond his autobiography and gospel teachings. What there is existing is not available or has been greatly edited. So my information came almost exclusively from the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt. The only pictures of him and members of his family also came from this source. Though there is not a great deal of information about his family or his early life, there are many remarkable stories of his life and work in the church. I came to know him and appreciate him as my ancestor. He was a kind, giving man and very talented in many areas. He was chosen for the Lord’s work and fulfilled what he was called to do. He had a love of life and all people and had a sense of humor that I found delightful.
Key events and stories I found interesting and wanted to illustrate I set aside and began to work on the organization of the book. My original intention was to create a children’s book. I soon realized that was a very broad category. As I began to look at biographies already written and illustrated, I found I knew little about the way books are put together. A great deal of research went into learning about all kinds of books and biographies and how they are written for specific age groups. Being more of an artist than a writer, I focused more on the illustrations of books and how they are used for different age groups. Everything from size and placement of text and illustrations on the pages, how many illustrations and how much text, how many pages, to the color and detail and type of text used was carefully analyzed as to what was used for what age group and what I felt was effective. This extensive research was not only beneficial to this project, but opened my eyes to many facets of illustration and writing I had never before seen. This will be very helpful as I am preparing for my Senior project which will be completed in an area of book illustration.
The final decision of what age group to focus on was reached. I decided that ages eight to about twelve would be wise. I felt that this way I could provide more information than a younger child could read and comprehend on their own, but the stories and the language would be simple enough that they could understand if it was read to them. And older children and adults would find it interesting and informative. The illustrations would still be colorful and fun for a child.
What media I would use to complete the illustrations was also a question I spent much time considering and looking at what others before me had done and what I felt would be most effective for my purposes. I experimented with many things and many styles, and found that I liked pen drawings. The nature of the medium emphasized the simplicity of the drawings. I endeavored to create in the drawings a feeling of timelessness. Although Parley P. Pratt lived over a hundred years ago in a different time than we know now, I wanted readers to relate to what they saw in the illustrations. I tried to simplify the detail in things like clothing and furniture and houses and put more detail in the faces and expressions. In trying to do this an interesting style developed that I like very much and can already see my work being influenced by this new approach.
This project has not yet reached the finished stage that I had originally aimed for and isn’t ready for publication yet. But I plan to keep working on it and though I encountered many problems I hadn’t originally foreseen, and the project took a slightly different road than I had intended at the beginning, I learned a great deal by doing it. Not only did I learn about the process of writing and illustrating a book, but I learned a enormous amount about illustration and what areas of illustration I am interested in and what I would like to do after I graduate. Most important of all were the things I learned about my great-great-great grandfather Parley P. Pratt. I enjoyed talking to my grandfather and other relatives and reading the words that Parley P. Pratt wrote of his life and testimony of the gospel. I am honored to be a descendant of such a man and hopefully someday more people can come to learn about him as I have.