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As a child I was obsessed with fairytales and as you can tell from the title of today’s blog, the 1986 movie Labyrinth.
Fantasy is escapism, from our world to another. It lets imagination thrive and the idea of wondrous possibility. So I ask myself, if something could be possible is it therefore achievable, graspable? Say to find those fairies down by the bog!?
This is something I love about story telling. You have the opportunity to create worlds, to inspire, to help children (and adults!) ask questions and learn about the world they live in.
Furthermore, this is why I simply love art. Whether it is music, film or architecture, art enables this inert sensibility we all have to connect with our world, our memories and the time we live in.
I recently had an idea for my very own children's book. It will probably be a good year in the making but to aid the creative process I recently undertook a course in children's book illustration.
This week will be my final class at Nanyang Academy of Fine Art with tutor Patrick Yee, so I thought it best to document this inspiring experience with a few snippets!
Creating characters
From day one I decided to forget everything I had been told at art school and life drawing class and just absorb.
Having no story line to feed from, cats of the larger variety became a frequent inspiration.
That being said, for most of the course you are constantly feeding from your own personal memory, much like writing, you imagine your character/s and try and map them onto paper.
We often focused on creating two characters, one human and one animal. An interesting way to make your characters connected on paper is to give them similar facial expressions; including shapes of eyes, nose and mouth. You can also do this using colour; for example, both characters could have rosy red cheeks or the same colour neck tie.
Bright colours are also a way of captivating your ever learning viewer. Materials can range from, poster colour to food colouring to Chinese ink. Experimentation is key! In no time you may find your leading man, lady, cat, dog, alien...or mouse in a top hat.
Crayon & Poster Paint
Poster Paint & Chinese Ink
Finding your own personal style of drawing is very important and although I enjoyed drawing Mr Mouse (above) for technique’s sake, I feel I'm drawn towards more detailed studies. I can however see this style working perfectly in a Julia Donaldson book and ofcourse for a certain age group.
I'm inspired by Illustrators such as the contemporary artist Victo Ngai and also Arthur Rackman's beautiful fairy tales illustrations. I identify with their use of fine line, as this is where my heart lies when it comes to drawing. However it is good to come out of your comfort zone and try new things. The next Landscape series was one of the most enjoyable.
Landscape: Starlight
The pictures above are mixed media night scenes, the trees and the buildings carved out by a handcut stencil. Food colouring or Batik Ink can be used to create your evening sky. Additionally hand drawn elements can be incorporated to the scene for added depth.
Landscape: Seasons
Summer
It really amazed me at the speed in which you could create a colourful landscape using ye olde poster paint. I haven't used this stuff since school but loved every minute and it's cheaper than most.
Autumn
Winter at sea
I love winter so I missed out spring
Over the duration of the course we covered many techniques. I would like to experiment more with detailed ink works for my characters. Perhaps etching/engraving may be a possibility. I love the engraving work of French artist Gustave Dore. His dark, inky works are completely exquisite.
It felt good to have an experimental period of study. It’s almost like stretching before a workout.
Be sure to keep an eye out for further art work and illustrations.
Thank you for reading.
BLH
Posted August 12, 2014 05:24