Friday, July 1, 2011

Reading, Imagining, Creating


I have such happy memories of pouring over books as a child. I would look at the pictures as often as I would read the stories, and seeing an illustration from an old book can bring back the memory of a quiet afternoon spent lying on the floor in my room, flipping pages, as easily as a hearing those lines that began so many wonderful journeys. "In an old house in Paris, all covered with vines, lived 12 little girls in two straight lines," or, "Once upon a time there was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it, " or "'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,' said Jo."

As a child, my favorite books were often influenced by the illustrations they contained. Like the Madeline books. They were always checked out at the library (so frustrating!), and I didn't own any. I have wanted them for years, but I just now got the complete set, bound in one large volume, for Davy, my little girl. Everyone in the Madeline books is drawn like they are all leaning into the wind, or in the middle of gliding along quickly. So simple, but I love looking at them!


One of my enduring favorites was any of the books in the Little House series. Garth Williams' illustrations had just enough detail to engross me for a few pages (I'd keep making Mom turn back so I could look at them again, if she was reading aloud) and just simple enough that I got to imagine some of the details on my own. Like colors.



I have my original set of Little House books, and most of the illustrations feature my color-job, like the one above.

Even books that weren't really picture books; even when I was much too old to read books that were true picture books, I remember scrutinizing the details in the increasingly rare illustrations that I came across. Encyclopedia Brown was one of my favorite series at that time, and helped to convince me that I was a secret child-genius if I ever solved the case without turning to the back of the book.

After I have forgotten all but the most insignificant details to some books, I can remember the illustrations clearly. I spent forever online one day trying to find the title to a book that I remembered reading over and over as a child. I couldn't remember the name, the author, or the plot. Only that there was a man who could turn into a swarm of bees and a man who could turn into fire, and a redheaded king with a pointy beard and green clothing leading a group through treacherous mountain paths. I could tell you what color the mountains were, but that didn't help the google search. Finally I found it. It is called, "The King with Six Friends". This was one of the few illustrations from that book that I could find online, and I need to buy it so I can look through it again.

I like that this princess is a brunette, and that her crown and collar are so different than most princesses'. It was unique and captivating. I'd like my little girl to have this to look at when she's old enough to flip through paper books (without devouring them).


This illustration is by Gordon Laite, and I first saw it in an Anthology of Children's Literature that I had when I was small (and have still). I like his unusual version of the fairy godmother, and the colors that he chose, i.e., not pink.

Of course, I had to save one of the most influential for last. Pauline Baynes, illustrator of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia is a lovely artist and I can't imagine Lewis' stories finding a better expression than her drawings.


The only other illustrator who I've seen do justice to the Chronicles is Christian Birmingham, and he is fantastic. He works in pastels, which I've also used a lot. I rarely see chalk pastel illustrations that I'm drawn to, but his contain everything wonderful about the medium. They are light, soft, and rich. He has illustrated a shorter picture-version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe which I own and love. The faces of his children are so innocent and joyful and, in that sense, realistic. Here is one of the White Witch and Aslan. Isn't it perfect?


Here is an illustration from the story 'The Princess and the Pea', illustrated by Christian Birmingham. All the greens are gorgeous!



This picture is form a version of Oliver Twist that Birmingham also illustrated. I like how bright the whites are (you know they're rich because they can get their linens so clean!) and all the homey and rich tones of brown, and how it really looks like a cozy, sunlight morning.


I imagine that my own style is a mixture of my own personality and the influence of artist and styles that I love and grew up with. I tend to be light-handed with pastels, watercolors and graphite. I have never had any success with oils and never used acrylics. This small water color is one of the few I've done in that medium that I liked.


I have taken so many art classes in my life, and the best were the private lessons I had when I was 15, and the one class that I took when I was at Baylor University. Every other class has just been 'practice' time, really. I would finish up whatever (usually lame) set-up we were assigned to draw and then goof around for the last hour or so. The following picture is one of those goofing around times, and turned out much more cartoony than any charcoal drawing I've ever done, but I like it. That's my had in the the mirror there. I doubt my wrist is really that small.


This next picture is much more true to my natural style, and was also done one class when I finished the assignment and was looking for something else to do. I just threw this sheet over the chair and leaned my portfolio against it. I'm really happy with how it turned out, but unfortunately its done on newsprint.


I drew these next three pictures one afternoon for my little girl when she was a few months old. I had been reading that babies like to look at faces, or pictures of faces, and that they are drawn to black and white things, and didn't have either to offer her. I drew them from photos of her, and did them pretty fast with a Sharpie. I never use ink unless I'm doodling - it makes me nervous that I can't erase it. She wasn't super interested in them (she was about 2 months old probably?), but I saved them because I think she will get a kick out of them when she's older. Its a style that kind of reminds me of the illustrations from Encyclopedia Brown, or even the ones that you'd find in a Nancy Drew book.

This last one was done from a photo of my brother when he was little, and it is also very characteristic of my style when drawing people. I think it must be very Garth Williams inspired.


One of my favorite things is finding a book that I haven't looked at since I was small and flipping through it, remembering my intrigue with the illustrations and seeing pictures that I once scrutinized. I like remembering, "Oh, that's right, that picture where she has the pink dress I always wanted!" or, "I had totally forgotten how perfectly he is standing in this picture, just like he really is afraid and working up courage." It's like tasting a kind of ice cream you used to love as a child, or smelling something that your grandmother would cook every Sunday. I try and stock my library with books that will give my own children this experience. I'm mindful that the picture as well as the story can create a lasting bond with books.


1 comment:

  1. I love this. I love your work. I still have that letter you sent with all the different drawings of me! I collect illustrated fairy tale books, and I keep them (along with my favorite artists' books) in my nightstand, so I can grab something pretty to look at on lazy mornings.

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