I wrote a book, and I'd love for you to read it!

36 points by irren_echo 10 days ago on tildes | 12 comments

[OP] irren_echo | 10 days ago

Hi all!

I've spent the past few years writing and illustrating an historical fiction short story collection about dictators, and I wanted to share it with you.

All the images are hand-cut collage set in multiple layers of resin, and the stories vary in tone and perspective; I had a lot of fun experimenting with writing styles, and I think it came out really well.

Read it for free at the main link, and if you want more information about the process go here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/irrenecho/abcdictators?ref=discovery&term=abcdictators%20&total_hits=409&category_id=45

Feel free to ask questions if you have them! This project is very much a special-interest-infodump-but-art, and I love talking about the wild details of these regimes as much as about the various processes and materials I used in making it.

I really hope you enjoy! :)

Pistos | 10 days ago

Very creative! Thanks for sharing. I'll admit that i didn't read it cover to cover (yet?), but more for lack of time than lack of interest. Here's to us creatives. May we not get bulldozed out of the world by (the consumption of) AI.

[OP] irren_echo | 9 days ago

No worries! If you come back to it, great! If not, that's perfectly ok too. Thanks for looking in any case :)

chocobean | 10 days ago

I started reading the first few, and definitely find the collages very enjoyable to look through. Is there a text only version by any chance?

[OP] irren_echo | 9 days ago

Thank you!

There is not a text-only version atm, but it wouldn't be hard to make one. I am curious about the reasoning though.... Are the images too distracting? Is it the honking size of the file? Just personal preference?

Regardless, I'll give it some thought, it's not a bad idea.

chocobean | 9 days ago

The font appears slightly fuzzy? Not high enough contrast? Kind of like it was a scanned in fanzine, just a little hard to read for me

Pistos | 9 days ago

I assumed that was a deliberate artistic choice.

chocobean | 9 days ago

I think so, and it looks very cool that way but I really want to be able to read the rest of it so I thought I might ask if there is already a text only available. I'll go back and read the rest when I have a bigger screen might help.

[OP] irren_echo | 9 days ago

Ohh yeah, that's an artifact of the text on some pages being printed on clear paper. It gives a nice drop shadow on the original plates (there are a couple layers of resin underneath), but in the photos it's not as obvious that that's what's happening. So, mostly an artistic choice, but also a bit of a learning experience with how light refracts through resin.

Fun fact: you cannot digitize a resin piece with a normal scanner without losing a crazy amount of clarity. A photographer friend helped me so much with the digitizing part, I don't know what I'd have done without him.

That's good feedback though, thank you! I'll be sure to let you know when I have a text-only version available. :)

chocobean | 9 days ago

Yeah I thought it was crazy stylish too and like I said, like a kind of fanzine, the kind you can airdrop to a population that starts a revolution! But my eyes are old haha -- you know what I'll print it out and might resolve the issue that, to be completely fair, is only on my side, please don't do any additional work on my behalf :)

R3qn65 | 9 days ago

Pretty cool project.

[OP] irren_echo | 9 days ago

Thank you!