Five children's illustrators nominate their favourite living artist in their field
An illustration from Brian Wildsmith’s Animal Gallery
Five children's illustrators nominate their favourite living artist in their field
Kerr keeps the text very simple, and the illustrations give you clues as to how you should read it. In her Mog books, you can look at Mog's face to see how shocked or dramatic the action is. He is just a funny cat, with a woebegone expression.
If you mention Mog or The Tiger Who Came to Tea to someone under 40, they just smile – and that's the reaction a children's book should give: it should provoke a gut feeling.
I can think of other illustrators who are technically better, but there's something about the simplicity and the whole package – the way the text and images fit together. It's charming.
Emily Gravett's books include Wolves and Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears.
What I like about his work is his wonderful use of white space; there are raggedy edges and extraordinary detail. He uses a mixture of media: watercolour, wash, then he works on top with chalk or pen. There is a lot of movement there.
My work is more spiky, but I love trying to create a fantasy world and to stylise it. Children's books allow artists of all kinds to explore their own vision, how they see the world, and that's what Wildsmith achieves so well. Exposing children to that teaches them that there are all sorts of ways of viewing the world.
Korky Paul has created illustrations for books including the Winnie the Witch series.
Read the rest at The Guardian.
Emily Gravett on Judith Kerr
I read The Tiger Who Came to Tea when I was a child and loved it. I remember being obsessed with the bit where the tiger came and drank all the water in the tap. I think it was the domesticity of it, that this person was at home and that this could actually happen. It was so matter-of-fact. Nothing really happens but it's still somehow magical.Kerr keeps the text very simple, and the illustrations give you clues as to how you should read it. In her Mog books, you can look at Mog's face to see how shocked or dramatic the action is. He is just a funny cat, with a woebegone expression.
If you mention Mog or The Tiger Who Came to Tea to someone under 40, they just smile – and that's the reaction a children's book should give: it should provoke a gut feeling.
I can think of other illustrators who are technically better, but there's something about the simplicity and the whole package – the way the text and images fit together. It's charming.
Emily Gravett's books include Wolves and Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears.
Korky Paul on Brian Wildsmith
Brian Wildsmith's work came out in the 1960s and he changed picture books. It was revolutionary stuff. One of his best books is The Hare and the Tortoise. He uses his own colours. He plays with scale, and his animals have characters: roosters strut their stuff, chickens are always eating, cats always sleeping.What I like about his work is his wonderful use of white space; there are raggedy edges and extraordinary detail. He uses a mixture of media: watercolour, wash, then he works on top with chalk or pen. There is a lot of movement there.
My work is more spiky, but I love trying to create a fantasy world and to stylise it. Children's books allow artists of all kinds to explore their own vision, how they see the world, and that's what Wildsmith achieves so well. Exposing children to that teaches them that there are all sorts of ways of viewing the world.
Korky Paul has created illustrations for books including the Winnie the Witch series.
Read the rest at The Guardian.
No comments:
Post a Comment