Images and Colours

A key element in a graphic memoir is the visuals. It usually paired with the written material to give the reader a better understanding of the memoir. Olivier Martini is the one responsible for all the graphics and art in Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Memoir of Mental Illness. It is also important to note that Olivier’s art usually describes a certain moment that he experiences and is followed up with Clem’s more descriptive explanation of the moment. Images and Colours page by Thong Truong

Style
Olivier Martini's art style can be referred to as quick doodles. It is as if he quickly sketched out a certain moment in his sketchbook. There are very little straight lines and he uses scribbles or smudges to add shades to his drawings. At points where there are a collection of drawings to illustrate a certain moment, he frames the drawings in roughly drawn boxes to give it a comic book feeling. The doodles, however, can be quite disturbing with the correct context. During the interlude when they talk about the circles of hell in mental health, Olivier represented the illness as devils in his drawings.

Colour
The drawings in the memoir are almost all in black and white. As if it was drawn with a pencil in a sketchbook. The cover features some colour as the main background is in a dark purple while the writing and drawings are highlighted in white or gold. The portraits of both Clem and Olivier at the end of the memoir is in colour with most of it being in blue. The colour blue in the portraits drawn by Olivier represents the calmness that they both somewhat achieved after being able to find the drug that works best with Olivier's schizophrenia.

The absence of colour throughout the memoir could be associated with Olivier's deteriorating health. At one point, on page 165, there is a side comparison of a portrait of Clem. The line work and style of one of them were poorly done compared to the other. This was due to the symptoms that Olivier had because of his poor health.

Useful Links
https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-blue/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/off-the-shelf-/10-compelling-graphic-mem_b_9938556.html