Excerpt from Lynda Barry’s What It Is, Page 14

In the photo with the woman writing, Barry says that images are made up of memories and imagination. In this sense, images are alive because they exist in our minds; We can recall to them as we please, even if we cannot physically see them. As children, we actively use our imaginations to liven the world around us. Imaginations can transport us to different locations, just as the ocean can, as Barry describes on the bottom left of the page.

I think Barry created the pages and images by hand. The text seems to be written in someone’s handwriting, rather than a font. Each letter is unique. For the graphics, they look like they were sketched with some sort of marker and then colored with watercolor paint. I’m not sure if these images were created on paper first, but the section of yellow lined paper on the right edge of the page makes me think it was.

By choosing this medium, I think it creates a connection to our childhood, since it was the medium we used to create in –markers, paint, paper. We didn’t have the knowledge or access to use programs like Photoshop or Illustrator at young ages. By using a comic book layout with hand drawn text and graphics, we can also remember what it was like to “play” and use our imaginations as kids.