I printed up these tiny minis because I used one of my final projects for school as an excuse to get started on Baby Otto Zeplin. They cover the first week of his life, and I gave one to everyone in my class. I think I should’ve made them even smaller.

For those of you who have no idea what The Life and Times of Baby Otto Zeplin is all about, here’s the back story: “Baby” Otto Zeplin was a real child, in fact he’s buried in the cemetary across the street from my house. He was born on May 9th, 1900 and died just over eight months later on or around January 13th, 1901. (In my research I’ve found that in the early 1900s, death certificates would often list the date of death as the day the certificate was filed and not necessarily the actual date of death, hence the “on or around.”) His gravestone sits on the edge of the cemetary, near the fence, and I noticed it on one of my first days living in Portland. The stone simply says “Baby Otto Zeplin” and then lists his birth and death dates. There was something about the name Otto Zeplin that really struck me, especially in conjunction with the term “baby” before it. In the past 15 months, I’ve grown increasingly obsessed with the idea of this child and what his incredibly short life must’ve actually been like at the turn of the century in Portland. I cannot find any record of siblings or possible living relatives, so in a way, I feel like I have taken him in and accepted him as part of my family. I plan on illustrating all 250 days of Baby Otto’s life, but also give him a chance to do all of the things that he in no way would have been able to do in his short time on this earth, or even in the time period in which he was alive. It seems like the least I can do.

Eventually, the text will be a typeface based on a handwritten alphabet I made, but I didn’t have the time to finish that before the due date for school.

MAY 9TH, 1900: In Portland, Oregon, a child is born to Peter and Emma Zeplin. They have yet to decide on a name for the child however.

(I absolutely hate the nurse’s face. I neeed to fix that.)

MAY 10TH, 1900: Peter and Emma finally decide on the name of Frank for their newborn. Everyone agrees that it quite suits the little fellow.

MAY 11TH, 1900: Everyone except little Frank, that is. He visits the courthouse and has his name legally changed to the more regal, Otto.

(My first celebrity cameo! That’s President William McKinley in that portrait!)

MAY 12TH, 1900: The freshly-named Otto is swiftly grounded for his first act of defiance.

MAY 13TH, 1900: While stuck in his room, Otto finds a sousaphone in the closet and teaches himself to play.

MAY 14TH, 1900: The next evening, Otto receives a standing ovation during his first sousaphone recital. People rave about it for weeks.

MAY 15TH, 1900: Exhausted from all the excitement of the night before, Otto takes a nap.

Tags :: BOZ