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.
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