Liz's Thesis Mumbles

Hey everybody!

First off, how weird is it that we're not all in class together every week? I miss that.

Anyway... just like all you guys, school/work/life has delayed the blogging of my thesis idea. It took me forever to decide what to do... but I ended up going with my gut reaction. Let's be serious - the two things my life revolves around are music and art, so my thesis is going to be a series of three to five posters illustrating the evolution of early rock 'n roll (50s-70s). I've been researching like crazy to gather information on social, political, and cultural aspects of each era that influenced the style of music. Once I've got all this info organized - articles, ads, song lyrics, album covers, imagery, etc, I'm hoping to have a more concrete idea of what these posters are actually going to entail.

I've been sketching certain types of imagery that just come to mind when I think of rock n' roll - universal ideas that everyone can identify with. I stumbled across an interesting thought while doing some reading - quite a few classic rock bands are named after birds and cars, which are symbols of freedom. Rock n' roll was a response to people's frustration with the world around them - it was music about late nights, the open highway, and free action. I'm going to chase this idea and incorporate imagery as such into my thesis.

The style in which I plan on drawing and illustrating these posters is going to be a mix of vintage and modern style. Fairey is a huge influence of mine, but I also love old-school rock posters by artists like Stanley Mouse and Wes Wilson. We'll find out who influences me more once I get down with that pencil.

By next week I hope to have completed/organized the greater part of my research and thus start my sketches so I have something concrete to develop. Right now I'm still torn between the idea of focusing on quintessential bands of each era or composing a narrative that just communicates an idea. Ideas/opinions are appreciated!

Kthxbye.