Artist Research - David Roberts and Valerio Vidali

David Roberts

Whilst researching for artists who have illustrated The Wind in the Willows I came across David Roberts' version, published by Candlewick Press. David Roberts is an British Illustrator from Liverpool. Above is a collection of some of his beautiful illustrations which particularly caught my eye. His interpretation of the characters are so charming, and I especially like his interesting use of perspective and colour.

Valerio Vidali

Valerio Vidali is an Italian illustrator. Someone from my course kindly linked me this artist last night, as some of Vidali's work reminded him of my Hercules collages (the above image reminds me of my hydra collage, ever so slightly). I'm really thankful and happy with this find, as his style of work is perfect for inspiration and artist reference. Below are a few of my favourite illustrations, because i've fallen in love with them. The toad image (at the bottom) is inspiring and relevant to my current research into The Wind in the Willows.

(The above image also reminds me of my collage of the giant holding up the sky)

"The Wind in the Willows"

Whilst reading "The Wind in the Willows" i've been writing very scribbly notes in an A5 sketchbook which are all too embarrassing and messy to upload, so yesterday I decided to start a fresh new A4 sketchbook. I wanted all of my favourite quotes and notes to be in one place so that it was easier to reference and look at. 

So far I have read up to Chapter 7...the book is quite slow...to say the least. I am enjoying it don't get me wrong, but i've already got an idea in my head of how I think I want the final poster to look from the notes I have gathered from the first 7 chapters (I promised myself I wouldn't read the plot summary on wikipedia but today I caved). From what I have read so far, the things that have stood out the most for me are the contrasts between the lives of Mole, Ratty and Badger, compared to Toad's lavish lifestyle. Mole, Ratty and Badger all live comfortable simplistic lives in their natural habitats, where as Toad is anthropomorphised even further and lives in a house with luxuries. I really want to somehow show the two opposing lifestyles, one being Badgers underground burrow/home and the other being Toads mansion with it's beautiful gardens, caravan and cars.

"The Wind in the Willows"

After my FMP proposal tutorial the other day, me and the tutors came to the decision that "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame would be a good book to start with. The story is simple and contains charming imagery that would translate well with my style of collage. "The Wind in the Willows" is a story that creates a sense of nostalgia with many generations, so creating a poster for such a universally loved book will be fun and exciting.

Illustrations of the book by Ernest H. Shepard (see image above) are said to be one of the most well loved editions of the book. According to the world wide web, Kenneth Grahame was happy with Shepard's preliminary sketches, but died before the work was completed.

I have decided that I'm going to try my hardest to fully read all the books I chose, to ensure that my illustrations are well informed (as well as getting the chance to read some classics that i've been meaning to read for years). So far I am on Chapter 5 - DULCE DOMUM. Below are some of my favourite quotes so far;

"First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing."

"Toad sat straight down in the middle of the dusty road, his legs stretched out before him, and stared fixedly in the direction of the disappearing motor-car. He breathed short, his face wore a placid satisfied expression, and at intervals he faintly murmured "Poop-poop!"

"In the middle of the room stood a long table of plain boards placed on trestles, with benches down each side. At one end of it, where an arm-chair stood pushed back, were spread the remains of the Badger's plain but ample supper. Rows of spotless plates winked from the shelves of the dresser at the far end of the room, and from the rafters overhead hung hams, bundles of dried herbs, nets of onions, and baskets of eggs."

Above is A very quick visualisation of the scene I read from Chapter 4, where Mole and Ratty go to stay with Badger after getting stranded in Wild Wood (see the last quote above). I really like the idea of showing both sides of the animal world, for example Badgers underground home with its simple necessities, compared to Toad's overground house, Toad Hall, with all his lavish possessions. 

Research - Penguin

Whilst doing some research into Penguin Classic Books, I stumbled across the Pocket Penguins Boxed set which is described as; 

"The Pocket Penguins series consists of 70 unique titles published to celebrate Penguin's 70th birthday...At 64 pages each, Pocket Penguins are ideal to travel with you wherever you're going and wherever you are, you'll be able to spend an idle moment with great authors ranging from Homer to Hornby. All are superbly designed and highly collectable with each cover created as part of a project undertaken by 70 leading artists and designers."

Creating posters for an anniversary or special edition collection could be a direction I could take. For example they could be posters to go along side 'Ten Books Every Person Should Read', maybe aimed towards children/young adults, as my style of illustration would potentially appeal to a younger audience.

Above are a collection of book covers that were created for Penguin's 70th Anniversary. Although I will be making posters, researching illustrators and artists who have been commissioned by Penguin is helpful and interesting.  

Final Major Project Proposal

After creating narrative posters (based on stories that already exist) for Negotiated Study, I have decided that I would like to continue with this idea, but this time I am going to challenge myself even further. Instead of choosing one story, I have decided to illustrate ten classic/modern classic books. I plan on creating ten posters, either depicting a particular scene or a collection of significant imagery. These books will be part of a collection, '100 Books To Read Before You Die', or posters for Penguin, maybe to encourage new readers. I haven't quite decided on their exact purpose just yet. They will all be in the same style as my Hercules posters, using painted textures to collages with. I hope to experiment more with the types of textures to create more depth. 

On Tuesday I had my proposal meeting with Jonny hannah and Peter Jarvis. Their general feedback was quite positive and they seemed to like the idea of picking ten different books. I explained to them how I wanted to chose ten books from as many different genres to ensure that the imagery was varied and exciting. Jonny proposed the idea that I create my own publishing company which could be a nice edition to the project.

Below is a photo from my sketchbook showing the start of my book list I have compiled from internet research. I plan on having a quick discussions with a few tutors to discuss which books they think would be the most successful to illustrate, as well as help me expand the list to make sure that I have the best selection possible to chose from.

Negotiated Study Project - "The Twelve Labours of Hercules"

For my last studio project, I intended to create a body of work based on themes that are seen throughout traditional Mythology from different cultures. The Negotiated Study Project allowed us to reflect upon previous projects that we have completed over the past two years, and to chose the field we enjoyed working in most. I initially intended to create a reportage style (which later veered towards narrative) body of work based on themes that are seen throughout a variety of traditional Mythology from different cultures, but after a subsequent amount of research, I decided that it would be more beneficial to concentrate solely on Greek Mythology. After reading a variety of Greek traditional stories, the one that appealed to me the most was "The Twelve Labours of Hercules'. I decided to create four large scale collages (using hand-made painted textures) depicting my four favourite labours. Instead of simply illustrating Hercules in Ancient Greece, I wanted to play with the idea of Hercules having to travel the world to different terrains to complete the labours. I chose to apply this theme to the clothes he would wear to suit each destination. I also decided to include a red bicycle in each scene, as this was his (unrealistic) mode of transportation;

"The Nemean Lion"

"The Hydra"

"The Horses of Diomedes"

"The Golden Apples of Hesperides"

This was the first time that I have ever worked to a large scale (all the above images are around A1 and photographed). I really enjoyed working to this size and wish to continue this way of working for my FMP. In my feedback, my Tutors were excited with my use of colour, imagery and scale, but said I could have produced more if I had managed my time better, which I will take into consideration for my next project.