Developing LLC’s Lakota Language Textbooks not only relies on proficient linguists, language and education experts but also on beautiful and thoughtful artwork. Marty Two Bulls, Sr., LLC Illustrator, shows us why in a written interview conducted by LLC Communications Associate, Tomas Beauchamp.
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TB: Marty, you’ve recently started working for us as an illustrator for the Level 3 Lakota Language Textbook. Tell us about your background as an illustrator, and is the work your doing for the Textbook similar?
MTB: I've been a professional freelance illustrator and cartoonist for the past twenty-five years. During that time I have worked in commercial printing as a graphic designer for nearly half those years. Thirteen of which I've been in daily newspapers as Graphics Editor for both The Rapid City Journal and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. I'm a painter, sculptor, web designer and more recently a jeweler. The Lakota Language Textbook is both a challenge and a privilege that I feel is a worthy endeavor for all involved.
TB: What’s the process for creating artwork that matches with language instruction and how do you get inspired?
MTB: My inspiration comes from my children when they were as old as the characters in the textbook. My children of course are in their twenties, but I can still see them as my babies.
TB: I’ve seen several of the illustrations that you’ve made for the Level 3 Textbook and many have a lot of detail. I’m in awe of anyone who can draw well--how long does it take for you to create these illustrations.
MTB: It really depends on the complexity of the assignment. A complicated room view can take a couple of days to get approved and then to render. I've been doing the illustrations in ink and painted them with watercolor; some of the smaller graphical work is done with a little computer-assisted rendering. This is a very fast way to work but it requires a great deal of concentration.
TB: I can remember being in elementary school in Indiana. We learned to read from “Dick and Jane” books. I can’t recall what the stories were about but I can still see the pictures of Dick and Jane in my head. Surely, the images that you make will become cultural icons for Lakota children. Do you agree and, if so, how does this responsibility affect your work?
MTB: Yes, I do agree. That of course depends how widely the textbooks are used. My hope is that children become inspired by the work and perhaps try to sharpen their artistic skills, because I feel that all Indian children have an innate artistic ability that just needs to be nurtured and developed. I foresee that one day an Indian artist will become one of great master artists of the world.
TB: One of my favorite illustrations from the Level 3 Textbook is of a young boy in his room. For me, it’s like a window into someone else’s world. What fascinates me about this illustration is the ease in which you blend traditional and modern images. Why is this dichotomy important in your work?
MTB: The character in this book (Bob) has to have a certain background that must be thought out and explored to make him believable. His room must reflect that all the items pictured were part of a collaboration between the artist and the writer. The writer must give me a list of what is in Bob’s room and I must make these objects believable. That is done through my own observations and research.
For instance the model airplane hanging from the ceiling is an F4U Corsair, an airplane used by the US Marines during World War II and Korea. I reasoned that an uncle or perhaps Bob’s grandfather saw such aircraft during their military service and gifted this model plane to Bob. He, of course being young, failed to put on the airplanes decal markings. A British or German aircraft would have not made sense because of the logical conclusion: one could not connect the airplane to Bob’s character. Attention to such details will probably never see the light of day but it is very important to make the overall character believable. The reader or viewer acknowledges it without knowing why it was there. I want this character (all the characters) to actually become a part of the readers learning experience and maybe even their childhood.
With the growing numbers of Native languages disappearing throughout our country it makes the work we are doing very important to the survival of the Lakota Language. I hope that this Textbook will make a difference.
We as Native Americans live in the dual world of the Native and the dominant society. We must be able to survive in both worlds or we will never be complete human beings. I have seen and known Lakota people who are lost and given to addictions. They often fail after brief successes—never really knowing where they should go or be. We Lakota are part of a great circle and that is our journey. From birth to old age we travel around this circle and if that cycle is interrupted it will stop your personnel growth. I realize this sounds kind of mystical and I must apologize for speaking before my elders. I’m not a holy man or healer; I’m just a common man. But it is said; to be Lakota is to be religious.
TB: Marty, of all your illustrations—what’s your favorite?
MTB: I have always been asked what my favorite color is; I always say that I have no favorites because I love them all equally.
Meet Marty Two Bulls, Sr.
I'm an Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. I am married now for twenty-five years, with three children ages 20, 23 and 24 years old.
I've always stayed true to my calling. I'm an artist first, but in the process of my career I gravitated toward an unexpected media, daily newspapers. In 1982, I attended the Colorado Institute of Art, in Denver Colorado, After two years, I landed my first job with a local NBC affiliate television station working as an assistant to the art director. After a year there I went into commercial screen-printing as a commercial artist. Four years later, I accepted a position as a designer with the University of South Dakota. Several years later The Rapid City Journal, the second largest daily newspaper, recruited me as their new graphics editor, a position I held for seven years.
It was at the Journal that I became an electronic journalist from the need to have graphics directly associated with the news story. This made the artist a reporter, by getting the detailed information directly from the source. It became clear to me that telling stories through a map or chart is just as vital as the written word. This revelation made my artwork and graphics popular with the readership and opened the door to opportunities with the Sioux Falls Argus Leader,the largest daily in South Dakota. After six years with the Argus I felt it was time to move away from the corporate world and try to give something back to my people.
So I started working as a media coordinator for Maza Tiopa a nonprofit that mentors children who have the misfortune of having one or both parents in prison. The organization councils the children through traditional healing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Several years ago after my children were quite grown, my wife and I decided to return to college to finish our respective degrees. To this end I'm here to study at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here to sharpen my skills and learn about the new digital technologies. I can be reached at: m2bulls.com
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