Marc Boutavant- lllustration

Marc Boutavant's character design is distinctive and inventive. There must be at least 5 different components which make it appear unique;  line, colour, distinct shapes, props, composition. Marc uses line to create texture and pattern in areas of his work.  Each time I look at Marc's work I notice something different.  Marc's 'cheerful' autographic language lends itself well to children's book illustration.  Marc draws his characters in human poses and adds props to create a narrative.  He includes all these things to sustain our interest. Marc skillfully  blurs the boundaries between digital and hand-drawn illustration, so that we focus on the narrative of his work.   I need to work at creating a narrative for my characters, and placing them in context.   In terms of the methods I use,  I aim to create work that blurs the boundaries between the digital and hand-drawn aesthetic.     

Key Points from G.A.R.P Mind Map

GARP Project Proposal: What Is The Significance of Children's Book Illustration?

The research I have gathered has really challenged my thinking. Initially, I assumed that all illustrations in general are universally understood, however I now see that the way we understand and interpret certain images depends on our awareness of certain cultural conventions. Understanding images depends on our ability to learn to recognise certain codes and the words these images symbolize.

• I am particularly interested in the work of illustrators who deal with sensitive topics in a sophisticated manner
  
• The non-textual elements of a picture book can help establish mood. In picture books with few words, 'The emotional quality of what is asserted must be conveyed by the pictures, which then inform those who look at them about the tone of voice in which to read the words- the attitude to take toward them.'-Perry Noddleman
  

How are picture books educational?

• Picture books can help raise a childs’ awareness of different cultural perspectives.
  
• ...helps build visual literacy.
  
• Alphabet Books
  
• It would be ignorant to suggest that alphabet picture books aren't educational, as they are the foundations of our understanding of literacy.
• I feel that picture books should enrich a child and add something meaningful to their understanding of the world. 
  
• Some people may argue that children's picture books illustrations are not educational, and therefore insignificant in the educational sense. However through my research I hope to challenge this view
  
• Through symbolic representation, for pre-school children, picture books introduce the idea that words represent things that are around us. 
  
• As Perry Noddleman states in 'Words About Pictures', 'In relation to books for the young, the fact that illustrations inevitably arouse interest causes them to be understood as a means of manipulating children into paying attention to books and consequently the words in them.' 
  
• I’d like to explore the significance of illustrations in picture books, and the relationship between word and image. I feel that the illustrations in picture books are equally significant as the words.
•  Perhaps the most successful picture books are the kinds where the illustrations compliment the words by telling us something that the words do not, the images should work with the words to illuminate our understanding of the story. As Perry Noddleman states words and images ‘come together best and most interestingly not when writers and illustrators attempt to have them mirror and duplicate each other but when writers and illustrators use the different qualities of their different arts to communicate different information.’
  
• 'images drawn by children's book illustrators are interpretations, filled with potential meaning and are anything but uninteresting.'- Perry Noddleman
  

Do picture-books limit or enhance our ability to imagine?

• Furthermore, picture books can help broaden a child’s understanding of emotions. As Susanne Langer states; ‘the art we live with- our picture books and stories and the music we hear- actually form our emotive experience’ (71-72)

Children's Book illustrators I Find Particulary Striking... 

• Illustrator and author Alexis Deacon- picture book 'Beegu' 
  
 
• I particularly like Alexis Deacon's work because his draughtsmanship is traditional although it has a refreshingly contemporary feel. I would like to develop the ability to use traditional methods in a contemporary way. He has the skill of 'breathing-life' into his characters. In 'Beegu' Deacon successfully captures the feeling of loneliness and alienation. The spreads in this picture book are beautiful and really leave a lasting impression on the viewer. His work is a great marriage between the observed and imagined.
  
• Nicoletta Ceccoli- 'The Princess and The White Bear King'
• Ceccoli conveys a great deal of emotion through her characters;her images connect with the viewer on an emotional level. Ceccoli's characters are very convincing. I would like to develop the ability to convey that level of sensitivity and emotion through my own characters There is a beautiful luminous quality to her colour palette.

 

• Gennady Spirin- 'Tale of the Firebird'- His watercolor illustrations are beautifully delicate and richly detailed.

• Shaun Tan- 'The Red Tree'

• Shaun Tan has painterly approach to children’s book illustration his work could be viewed as fine art. The layer and layers of paint give his work a rich depth of texture. I would really like to see his original artwork up close to appreciate it on a large scale, with its almost three-dimensional paint effect. There is very little text in Tan's book 'The Red Tree' but the illustrations tell most of the story, it's one of the greatest picture books I've ever seen- it's a masterpiece! Tan's work is rich in symbolism and he shows a real understanding of the human condition. As Tan says his picture books ‘…are best described as ‘picture books for older readers’ rather than young children, as they deal with relatively complex visual styles and themes, including colonial imperialism, social apathy, the nature of memory and depression.’
  

• Lisa Evans- 'The Flower'

• Lauren Child- 'Clarice Bean'
  
• I went to Illustrator Lauren Child's Exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery; 'Green Drops and Moonsquirters: The utterly Imaginative World Of Lauren Child'. The exhibition was very lively and interactive.  I had a look at Lauren Child's sketch books; her illustrations are part drawn, part collage, part patchwork she uses pieces of fabric from clothes she had as a little girl. She has a very childlike drawing quality. 

• 
  Some people assume that the children’s picture book is simply a source of enjoyment; however I would like to challenge this view. I believe that certain children’s’ picture books can have a profound impact on the mind, and are not merely a source of entertainment; rather they are educational in a deceptively entertaining way.As illustrator Tony Ross states; ‘‘I don't think illustrations are important as opposed to words rather WITH words. Of course preschoolers cannot read, but are read to. At that age, they can recognize the importance of words, and have ambitions to decipher them one day, yet at the time, gain understanding from the pictures, which should relate and entertain without pomposity.’’

Useful References:

'How Picture Books Work (Children's Literature and Culture) by Maria Nikolajeva

'Art Narrative and Childhood' by Morag Styles

'Off withTheir Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood' by Maria Tatar

'Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children's Picture Books' by Perry Nodelman

• Irony in children's picture-books can be used to create humor, particularly when the images tell a different story than the text. The element of humor is dependent on us reading the text with the image.

Argument Against; Why Children's picture book illustration could be viewed as insignificant :- 

• Some people may argue that fairy-tale illustrations are insignificant when the images in the book simply mirror what is stated in the text. As Brian Alderson remarks in 'Looking at Picture Books'; 'Traditional tales are essentially an oral art-form. They were told before ever they were printed and they carry within themselves all the illustration that they need'' (37). 

However...

• Illustrators such as Lisbeth Zwerger and Nicoletta Ceccoli have illustrated traditional fairy tales; both have illustrated versions of ‘Red Riding hood’. As Joseph Schwarcz states’ it is in the illustrator’s power to shift accents and express opinions by what they draw, how they draw it (and) by what they omit to draw’ (Ways of The Illustrator 100). People may argue that fairy tale illustrations are unnecessary as these stories were originally spoken aloud, as Brian Alderson remarks in Looking at Picture Books, ‘traditional tales are essentially an oral art-form. They were told before ever they were printed and they carry within themselves all the illustration that they need’’ (37).  I strongly disagree with that statement, as I feel that certain illustrator’s in particularly have the skill of bringing something unique to the traditional tales; they look for the gaps in the original story. Their unique interpretations and pacing’s of illustrations give the original story a different feel. Ceccoli’s version brings the traditional tale to the contemporary audience. Furthermore, with regard to whether or not traditional stories should be illustrated as Walter J.Ong remarks, ‘In terms of conventional ideas about, literature, in fact, fairy tales are not good fiction: they lack the detailed visual description, the richly textured ‘reality’ we tend to demand as a quality of good written narrative. Paradoxically, however, the very deficiencies of oral tales as literature make the written texts of fairy tales surprisingly similar to the texts written especially for picture books. Consequently, the addition of pictures is a logical move; it transforms a successful oral text into a successful written one without actually changing the text itself.’

• Perhaps its significance is a matter of personal opinion; the significance of certain children's picture books could be measured by the emotional impact they have on the viewer and whether they leave a lasting impression. 
  

What Is The Significance of The Contemporary Children's Picture book?

• Picture books can teach empathy and understanding of others.Picture books have a great scope for opening up new ways of imagining.

• In 'Words About Pictures' Perry Noddleman states that, 'In regard to books for the young...pictures are a visual aid, a means of transmitting information to inexperienced listeners and readers that could not be conveyed by words alone.'
  
• Therefore, picture book illustration can be viewed as a significant means of helping people to understand what words mean.
  
• 'If actual objects speak so richly of cultural connotation, then so must the objects depicted in pictures...all objects are signifiacntly meaningful in the context of the network of connotations we attach to them.'- Perry Noddleman
  

• In The Picture Campaign
• The 'In The Picture' Campaign attracted my attention particularly because it encourages illustrators, writers and publishers to embrace diversity by including children with disabilities in mainstream literature.
  

• In 'The Visual image' E.H.Gombrich remarks that 'the visual image is supreme in its capacity for arousal.' Perhaps this suggests that images can have a greater impact on us subconsciously than words.
  

What is the role of the contemporary children’s picture book in society?
What should its role be?

• In my view, the children's picture book has an important role in society; it should help raise a child's awareness of the culturally diverse world we live in, and therefore make children accepting of others. 
  
• 'Picturing Text:The Contemporary Children's Picture Book' By David Lewis
  
• Picture books can be used as a vehicle to teach children about the importance of equality in society. 
  
• Perhaps its significance can be measured by how it influences a child's perceptions
  
• 'Our expectations define our attitudes to the stories books contain; and picture-book artists can therefore use conventional expectations to give the tone and imply the attitude they desire to the words they illustrate.'- Perry Noddleman
  
• 'The varying formats of books and varying uses of predominating colour, line, and shape influence our attitude toward the events a book describes' - Perry Noddleman
  

Graphic Arts Proposal: What is the Significance of the Children’s’ Picture Book?

What is the Significance of Children’s Picture Book Illustration?


I feel that the role of the children’s’ picture book is highly significant; it can be used as a method to raise a child’s awareness of the culturally diverse world we live in. I strongly believe that the picture book can be used as a vehicle to educate and enhance our understanding of the world we live in, as picture books introduce the idea that words represent things around us. Through exploring the work of various children’s’ book illustrator’s I hope to gain a deeper understanding of what makes the picture book significant, successful and aesthetically appealing. Some people assume that children’s picture books are merely a source of entertainment; however I would like to challenge this view. I believe that certain children’s’ picture books can have a profound impact on the mind, and are not merely a source of enjoyment; rather they are educational in a deceptively entertaining way. As illustrator Tony Ross states,

‘‘I don't think illustrations are important as opposed to words rather WITH words. Of course preschoolers cannot read, but are read to. At that age, they can recognize the importance of words, and have ambitions to decipher them one day, yet at the time, gain understanding from the pictures, which should relate and entertain without pomposity.’’

Furthermore, I believe that picture books are significant especially because they communicate with us on two levels, stretching our imagination verbally and visually. Picture books can act as springboards to a child’s imagination and ability to conceive new ideas and think in new ways. The picture book can encourage debate and open-up our mind to new possibilities and unexplored solutions. However, should picture books avoid stereotyping or is stereotyping essential for a child to understand his/her role in society?
I want to explore the ways that picture book illustrator’s effectively use positive and negative space to create striking compositions. I’d like to investigate the work of illustrators who successfully convey emotion through their illustrations. I particularly admire the work of Italian Illustrator Nicoletta Ceccoli, she has a great sense of three-dimensional space, and she skilfully draws the viewer in to the world of her characters. Ceccoli has a beautiful painterly approach to children’s book illustration; her work has an exquisite luminous quality. Ceccoli skilfully conveys several layers of emotion through her characters, which enable us to understand their feelings of loneliness, sadness and happiness.
I also admire the work of illustrator Alexis Deacon, his work is a great marriage between the observed and imagined. Deacon has the gift of ‘breathing life’ into his characters - his characters such as ‘Beegu’ are convincing. Deacon conveys a depth of emotion through his characters that moves the viewer and encourages us to feel empathy for his characters. Deacon employs traditional techniques during draughtsmanship, although his work has a refreshingly contemporary feel. I would like to develop the ability to use traditional methods in a contemporary way. Furthermore, picture books can help broaden a child’s understanding of emotions. As Susanne Langer states; ‘the art we live with- our picture books and stories and the music we hear- actually form our emotive experience’ (71-72)
I’d like to explore the significance of illustrations in picture books, and the relationship between word and image. I feel that the illustrations in picture books are equally significant as the words. Perhaps the most successful picture books are the kinds where the illustrations compliment the words by telling us something that the words do not, the images should work with the words to illuminate our understanding of the story. As Perry Noddleman states words and images ‘come together best and most interestingly not when writers and illustrators attempt to have them mirror and duplicate each other but when writers and illustrators use the different qualities of their different arts to communicate different information.’
I feel that the picture book has immense cultural significance, which can inform, entertain, or influence our perception of society. The still illustrations of a picture book give children the time to think about what they are looking at in greater detail than a moving image; children can fully absorb those images and messages in their memory and therefore build their visual literacy.

As Bruno Bettelheim states in ‘The Uses of Enchantment the Meanings and Importance of Fairytales’;

‘For a story truly to hold a child’s attention, it must entertain him and arouse his curiosity. But to enrich his life it must stimulate his imagination; help him to develop his intellect and clarify his emotions; be attuned to his anxieties and aspirations; give full recognition to his difficulties, while at the same time suggesting solutions to the problems that perturbed him.’

I strongly feel that successful children’s book illustration combined with words, is the perfect recipe for capturing a child’s interest; the images can ‘stimulate the imagination’ and bring another level of meaning to words, in a way that ‘enriches’ a child’s emotional development. Furthermore, young children much more so than adults, live in the present, so therefore their minds need to be kept well engaged and stimulated in order for them to actively enjoy learning and absorbing new information. As Bruno Bettelheim reinforces, ‘The acquisition of skills including the ability to read, becomes devalued when what one learns to read adds nothing of importance to one’s life.’

As William Moebius states, an illustrator has the power to ‘represent points of view other than those of the main character…by depicting their witnesses on the fringes or in the foreground or background of the picture’ (148).

Some stories in picture books could not work in isolation from their illustrations. For example, the contemporary children’s pictures book ‘The Flower’ written by John Light and illustrated by Lisa Evans; it has a very simple text accompanied by Evan’s richly detailed illustrations. As Lisa says: ‘It’s a beautiful text written by John Light. It’s about a boy on a mission to restore soul in the world. It explores personal courage, determination and hope.’ In terms of her work as Lisa says- ‘Details influence me. Journeys and processes subtle narratives and subplots. I like the merging of fact and fiction and the endless possibilities an image provides.’ The story would not be as complete and as convincing without Evan’s illustrations - they give gravity to the message of the story and that makes it memorable in the mind of the child. The limited use of colour initially gives the story a bleak mood, however as the reader progresses through the book the addition of colour in her illustrations gives the story a more optimistic tone.

As Perry Noddleman states;

‘All kinds of pictures can convey visual information and create moods; all illustrations can amplify the meaning of text. But it is the unique rhythm of pictures and words working together that distinguishes picture books from all other forms of both visual and verbal art.’

For me it is both the aesthetic quality and the meticulous sequencing of illustrations in picture books, which make this kind of art captivating.

Some people would argue that children’s’ picture book illustrations is ‘insignificant, as it is not educational’, however I feel that there is a vast amount of evidence to challenge this view. Moreover, some people would say that the images are merely a ‘distraction’ from a child actually getting to grips with learning the words. In contrast, as Perry Noddleman states; ‘This does not mean, however, that the interpretation of pictures should not play a part in the reading process, only that it should not replace the process altogether. In fact the pictures are counterproductive only for those who have not been made conscious of how to use them.’
Therefore, the ‘distraction’ of illustrations in a picture book isn’t necessarily a negative thing, as the detailed visual symbols are intended to provide clues and therefore aid the child in their understanding of the words.

Illustrators such as Lisbeth Zwerger and Nicoletta Ceccoli have illustrated traditional fairy tales; both have illustrated versions of ‘Red Riding hood’. As Joseph Schwarcz states ‘it is in the illustrator’s power to shift accents and express opinions by what they draw, how they draw it (and) by what they omit to draw’ (Ways of The Illustrator 100). People may argue that fairy tale illustrations are unnecessary as these stories were originally spoken aloud, as Brian Alderson remarks in Looking at Picture Books, ‘traditional tales are essentially an oral art-form. They were told before ever they were printed and they carry within themselves all the illustration that they need’’ (37).
I strongly disagree with that statement, as I feel that certain llustrator’s in particularly have the skill of bringing something unique to the traditional tales; they look for the gaps in the original story. Their unique interpretations and pacing’s of illustrations, give the original story a different feel. Ceccoli’s version brings the traditional tale to the contemporary audience. Furthermore, with regard to whether or not traditional stories should be illustrated as Walter J.Ong remarks, ‘In terms of conventional ideas about, literature, in fact, fairy tales are not good fiction: they lack the detailed visual description, the richly textured ‘reality’ we tend to demand as a quality of good written narrative. Paradoxically, however, the very deficiencies of oral tales as literature make the written texts of fairy tales surprisingly similar to the texts written especially for picture books. Consequently, the addition of pictures is a logical move; it transforms a successful oral text into a successful written one without actually changing the text itself.’

From childhood, if we learn what words mean through symbolic representation, then we can successfully communicate with other human beings.

As Herbert Read says, ‘What we call art, and too curiously treat as an ornament of civilisation, is really a vital activity, an energy of senses that must continually convert the dead rain of matter into the radiant images of life’ ( Icon and Idea). Would we rationally choose a colourless world over a ‘radiant’ one? I very much doubt that.

‘If the reader is stimulated to go beyond the surface in his own way, he will extract ever more varied personal meaning from these stories, which will then become more meaningful to the children he may tell them to.’- Bruno Bettelheim

Perhaps as Bettelheim states ‘fairy tales enrich the child’s life and give it an enchanted quality just because he does not quite know how the stories have worked their wonder on him.’
‘Good picture books, then, offer us what all good art offers us: greater consciousness- the opportunity, in other words, to be more human. That means to be less innocent, wiser.’ Perry Noddleman.

‘Put in another way, a work of art corresponds to our expectations, but goes a little beyond into what is forbidden and unexpected’ (227).

‘Visual images cannot directly assert attitudes; they can only imply them by creating images that evoke contexts that suggest the attitudes to those who view them in terms of different contexts.’ - Perry Noddleman

Shaun Tan has painterly approach to children’s book illustration his work could be viewed as fine art. The layer and layers of paint give his work a rich depth of texture. I would really like to see his original artwork up close to appreciate it on a large scale, with its almost three-dimensional paint effect. As Tan says his picture books ‘…are best described as ‘picture books for older readers’ rather than young children, as they deal with relatively complex visual styles and themes, including colonial imperialism, social apathy, the nature of memory and depression.’
I particularly felt moved by Tan’s picture book ‘The Red Tree’- it is terrifying and brilliant. There is a beautiful twist to the tale, the sequencing of larger illustrations in the middle spreads, increase the suspense as the reader turns the page; I regard this picture book as significant because I see how it could help the older reader to deal with his/her anxieties- Tan gives acknowledgment to the anxieties that all human beings inevitably face and restores the reader with hope. Clearly, Tan has a deep understanding of the human condition; perhaps this enabled him to produce a picture book that people could strongly identify with. The square frames on the first and last page of ‘The Red Tree’, are employed to open and close the plot, whereas the full-page middle spreads involve the reader in the story. I feel that picture books should enrich a child an add something meaningful to their understanding of the world.