While Benjamin Franklin departed for France on this day, actually having Franklin in France wouldn’t happen until early December. Remember, he was traveling by ship and it took a few weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

What’s more, as Mike mentions, it would take him over a year to secure the support that we needed. In fact, I cheated a little on the artwork, which depicts Franklin presenting himself before Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles. This didn’t happen until March of 1778, after formal diplomatic relations had been established, and Franklin named our ambassador. But the truth is, I didn’t think I was going to find a contemporary image of Franklin embarking on a ship, and there’s something about the use of line and color that has me loving this art style, so an image of Franklin in France already is where we all are now.

Side note: there’s a very similar art style from about 100 years ago, maybe more like 80-90 years, that has a lithographic/woodcut feel and similar use of colors—though just a hair more vivid—and it just speaks to me somehow. I know that there were a few picture books from my childhood that employed that art style, and maybe that’s what I’m responding to. (There’s a sample here and I have no idea what story it’s telling, but you get the general picture [heh] of what I’m talking about, visually.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed