SB1 - Study Task 4 - Books

Books appear to be the most conventional or most popular outlet for illustration, with illustrations being used to explain science, teach the alphabet, tell stories, show characters and reveal what things mean. Books however, fall into different contexts and I am interested in how these contexts can influence the illustrations applied to them.

    FICTION

OLIVER JEFFERS - THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT

The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, is a lovely example of a fiction book. Seemingly aimed at children, its main theme is to characterise crayons and there roles in childrens' drawings. The illustrations foster a very juvenile, playful aesthetic, immediately connecting with the target audience. Humanising the crayons by giving them feelings and a voice enables Drew Daywalt to create a narrative that is ironic in line with the aesthetic of the illustrations, creating a sort of dialogue between narrative and subject. The comical narrative works successfully with the illustrations to achieve a fun and playful story that is familiar and engaging. The humour in the narrative seems to suit an adult audience also through nostalgia. Jeffers' clever application of juvenile image making, illustrates the narrative and the very subject of the book, creating a real relationship between text and image. 

NON-FICTION

ANNA KOVECSES - ONE THOUSAND THINGS 

A lovely example of a non-fiction book is from Anna Kovecses. Her book One Thousand Things uses illustration to teach young children about the first things they will become familiar with. Covering various subject matter, Kovecses uses cut outs and bold colours to create simple, shape based images that are familiar and recognisable. A common function of non-fiction is to educate and this book successfully collates a body of images to form a child's first outlook on the world. I am particularly interested in the way Kovecses applies block colours to her images to enhance the simplicity. This approach to image making seems to also compliment advertising and campaign based work through its immediacy and ability to reveal information in a familiar way. 

PICTUREBOOK

CORALIE BICKFORD-SMITH - THE FOX AND THE STAR

While picturebooks often are without text, this story from Coralie Bickford-Smith, for me, constitutes a picturebook. The use of full page spreads creates really evocative illustrations and the consistent use of a really reduced colour palette seems to give the images huge prominence. Bickford-Smith's integration of text into the illustrations and patterns also enhances the prominence of the illustrations, creating a book that really celebrates the power of the image. Mark making and textures enhance the flow of the pages through a maintained sense of familiarity, despite some illustrations being very closely cropped, and others showing wider scenes. The illustrator's exploration of the place and necessity of text demonstrates the power of the images and narratives that arise from pictures. 

SELF-PUBLISHING

CHARLOTTE VALLANCE - DOWN YOUR STREET

I saw this self-published concertina book at the Tetley Artist's Book Fair just a few months ago and was really interested in the concertina form and the interplay this had with the imagery. The concept of illustrating a street works so well in this format as the motion of expanding the book gives that sense of walking down the street. As a self published book, the book was screen printed and hand folded, with letter press detailing, celebrating numerous handmade qualities that are lost in mass produced books. The small scale book enables the artist to create a book that is an object of art, documenting a place but inviting a narrative and it is this personal feel that self publishing upholds. Within the context of an artist's book, the media are complimentary to the outcome, but within a more commercial arena, this book may need to be mechanically or digitally rendered.

ANORAK #39 - Barbara Wurszt

IMAGE/ IDEA

I picked up this lovely issue of Anorak mag on a visit to Colours May Vary. The issue, entitled 'The Happy Museum', connects a wide range of illustrators and different styles of illustrations through the theme of museums and collections. The images that caught my attention most were those of illustrator Barbara Wurszt. Her illustrations seem to achieve an aesthetic similar to that of Louise Lockhart, through their use of cut shapes and textures, echoing print-making qualities. The textures in Wurszt's work suggest a re-appropriation of mono-print textures through the imperfections and sense of a resist.

Across the images is a playful and comical tone of voice. Wurszt seems to employ very tiny faces to her characters, making them appear silly and clumsy, something which is paralleled in the consideration of proportion and shape. Wurszt's work seems characterised by wonky and exaggerated shapes. 

IDEA/CONTEXT

The narrative in across these pages is humorous yet informative, playing to the interest of a child audience, whilst offering an educational tool for parents, allowing children to engage with culturally informed illustrations and engaging pictures. Working within a restricted colour palette, Wurszt achieves a consistency across the varying subject matter, suitable to the issue of collections. 

I am really into Wurszt's use of texture and humour, elements I would like to focus on in my developing practice. It could be useful to do more research into Wurszt'z practice and the approaches she uses to inform such aesthetics. 

SB1 - Study Task 3 - Applied Illustration

Application and use of Illustration

Illustration as an applied art is practicle and purposeful, employing a decorative, universal language to objects and visual media. The differentiation it has from Fine art is its orientation to a brief, rather than art for arts sake. It is a bridge between an idea and the understanding of that idea. Illustration relies on multiple people working together, with or for each other, and as such, communication and function defines the application of that illustration. 

Examples of Applied Illustration

ROB HODGSON - CARDS & WRAP

In collaboration with U Studio, Rob Hodgson's illustrations have been developed and applied to greetings cards and wrapping paper. The regular shapes Hodgson has applied to his illustrations make them flexible for pattern making, and as such, his smaller pieces become part of greater patterns and grids. I am interested in Hodgson's use of shape and colour as his simplistic shapes and minimal colours create rather simple individual images, but these seem to work successfully when applied to wrapping paper as the colours and shapes do not become over powering. Hodgson's work applies a fun feel and playful aesthetic to the rather mundane and everyday objects of card and wrap.

BELLE & BOO - PARTY WARE

Children's party wares from Belle & Boo also demonstrate applied illustration through their use of characters and motifs. A selection of images are used and manipulated across products to create these party motifs which work so charmingly on party ware and decorations. I am interested in the connection between children and illustration and how illustration seems to be more prominent in children's wares. Perhaps characters and images are more engaging and exciting to children, making these products more appealing and therefore more saleable. Using characters on cupcake cases and paper plates introduces a narrative to these objects, further enhancing their interest to a child audience. 

LAURA CARLIN - CERAMICS

Laura Carlin's work explores the medium of ceramic as a means to materialise and display illustrations. The medium of ceramic enhances Carlin's already sensitive and delicate aesthetic and her use of shape and delicate details compliments the fragility of the medium. Carlin has used ceramic as a material on which she can apply her illustrations, for example, on crockery, but also applies illustration to it by creating 3D characters and scenes. This applied approach to illustration explores the effect of media on the aesthetic of an illustration and the message it portrays. The medium seems to interplay with the mood and character of her illustrations.

LOUISE LOCKHART - TOYS AND GAMES

The application of illustration to toys is a key part of  Louise Lockhart's practice. Her production of paper doll's houses and toy circuses uses illustration to create engaging characters and scenes that can be cut out and moved. Louise's delicate approach to image making, through paper cut outs, creates charming, sensitive images that achieve a beauty that seems to elevate the paper medium, giving these paper toys more worth and therefore using illustration to enhance the value of an object.

TOM FROST - WOODEN TOYS

Tom Frost applies his printmaking practice onto 3D products, creating screen printed illustrations and then realising these in 3D formats to produce nostalgic wooden toys. Frost's vintage aesthetic gives a nod to old toys and advertising, so his application of illustration to old style pull along and wind up toys works very successfully through the complimentary aesthetics and sensitivity to the materials and function. 

SB1 - Study Task 2 - Practice - Louise Lockhart

                   

Louise Lockhart is wonderful...

Louise Lockhart's illustrations have such unique charm and playful imagery. Working from paper cut outs as a starting point, all of Lockhart's illustrations foster a jaunty aesthetic and capture a lovely hand made feel. This process of cutting shapes out on different layers enables the work to maintain a transient state until rendered on photoshop, meaning the illustrator can re-use, repeat and manipulate layers to explore multiple outcomes from single shapes. A consistent approach across Louise's work is the application of restricted colour palettes, primarily made of just 3 or 4 colours. This interests me as she seems to be able to manipulate these through tone and layering to achieve a wealth of colours in her images. This restricted approach to colour is effective as the colours created through layering are guaranteed to tone with their purer forms alongside. Lockhart's reduced palettes and simple cut out shapes work towards simplified images that communicate on a level that is clear and direct. It is through texture that Louise issues aesthetic curiosities. Scanning in found textures and patterns, Louise embeds information in her cut-outs on Photoshop to merge details and through misalignment and layering, a screen print effect is achieved. 

In an interview with Boden, Louise explained the importance of handmade drawings too; "I use sketchbooks to experiment with pattern and colour, which I use a lot in my work. I do use the computer to compile my illustrations, but you can’t mimic the quality of line that you get from hand drawing and painting. When I’m happy with the design, I scan it in and apply it to a part of my illustration, such as to jazz up a tablecloth or get a rippling effect on water."

I am interested in the way Louise practices pattern making and line drawings to create a bank of textures that can be applied to her illustrations at a later stage, suggesting that not all pieces of work need a decided outcome but can be used to create new pieces.

  

The playful issues addressed by Lockhart's work engage children and adult audiences through their reference and re-imagination of vintage games and toys. The paper doll and dolls house shown above show a modern interpretation of older, more basic toys, re-imagined through colour and visual clues to create toys that connect with modern childhoods. I love the way Louise's work visually echos traditional illustration methods and also echos traditional values and past societies. It is noted on The Printed Peanut Website that Louise works with the aim of "keeping traditional toys and games alive with a creative and modern twist". Her concern with nostalgia and social history makes Louise's work compatible with both editorial and commercial outlets through it's accessibility to a wider audience and appeal to nostalgia. 

Having listened to Louise's account of her practice and methods, I am interested to explore the idea of translating existing imagery and re-establishing old things by making them the subject of pieces of illustration or wider narratives. The cut-out process seems to be something I could explore within my own practice to experiment with shape and scene building as this is something I tend to avoid in place of more simplistic compositions. 

SB1 - Level 5 and 6 Summer Sketchbooks - Image, Idea, Context

PEER REVIEW

I was so excited to see all the level 5 and 6 sketchbooks on Monday, and they did not disappoint. I found this lovely picture of a lady by Madeleine Richardson. Her use of muted colour pencil creates such a gentle, delicate image with the minimal colour palette reflecting this. Soft pencil work shows texture but tone is limited, seeming to create a sense of tranquility in the picture. The lady's face and hands gesture a happiness that compliments the sensitive drawing style. I particularly love the way Madeleine has varied the line directions to add a young, playful aesthetic to the illustration. The character seems to speak of independence and glamour, perhaps suiting an editorial outlet in a women's magazine.

COLLAGE

Madeline Richardson's work again captured my interest. This collaged piece exhibits such a varied sense of shape and pattern. While Madeleine has again used a minimal colour palette, the textures and line work create a much busier image. The pink and green shapes seem to pop against the rather mundane graph paper and parcel paper, showing a lovely consideration of pattern and colour. To me, this collage seems a perfect starting point for an exploration in character and how pattern and colour reveals elements of personality. 

CHARACTER DESIGN

I also loved this picture, unfortunately the sketchbook didn't have a name on it though. The faces just seem to capture such a wealth of expression and personality. The consistent use of beige paper across the faces allows the expression of the characters to be the central focus of the image, exhibiting a powerful sense of personality and humour. The silly jumpers do not go unnoticed however, these add so much fun to the picture and the way the illustrator has worked on top of these textures and the heads in soft colour pencil, adds to the sense of layering and allows fun and humour to remain the tone of this image.

SB1 - Study Task 1 - Image, Idea, Context

IMAGE

This charming illustration from Chloe Perarnau captures such a lovely sense of family life. The relatable imagery conveys multiple ideas, making the image universal yet personal in the idea each viewer can perceive. Perarnau employs a restricted yet well manipulated primary colour palette, complimenting the juvenile style of the work. Simplistic shapes and varying textures create a playful aesthetic, with a sense of awkwardness noted in the body language and expression of the characters.  

IDEA

I particularly love the confused, snobbish expression on the face of the man in glasses as this reveals a great sense of humour and Perarnau's sensitivity to the issues presented.
The image appears satirical through the awkward, restricted expressions of the characters, perhaps suggesting the incompatibility of generations, or the chaos of meal times.  Perarnau's image seems commercial in the sense that it encourages the relationships and family values promoted by meal times, yet also appearing comical through the mischief notable under the table.

CONTEXT

As an illustration from a children's book, the image does appear informative and almost educational, serving as a children's guide to family culture. The image does however seem to suit an editorial background with the illustration perhaps complimenting an article on food traditions in a cookery or lifestyle magazine. Then does the image also become persuasive for children to engage more with food. 

Chloe Perarnau's illustration creates a comical, silly image, encompassing textures and colours familiar to a child audience.