Eric Carle

This will not the be the only Eric Carle Post. Just like with all of the greats I put it off and put it off to get the perfect idea for a post... but enough with that. I will simply start anywhere and write this short but not unimportant one here. I recently made a new picture book friend and he is wanting to create a meaningful picture book. The kind that will stay with you for longer than just the time you read it. The kind that will continue to occupy your thinking and might become a part of you eventually. 

I am almost done reading Eric Carle's fantastic autobiography (autobiography and so much more) "The Art of Eric Carle" and there is a part I have come across that I find to be really simple and graceful and most of all true on the subject of 'How to make a Picture book'.

Here are a few lines from the book:

"If a recipe on How To Make a Picture Book were possible, it would go something like this: Take thirty-two pages (most picture books are thirty two pages). Confine your story within these limitations. These limitations are of a technical nature. Your creative possibilities are endless. It helps to have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Here are some very basic ingredients to a few of my books:

In The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I started with the holes - accidentally, playfully. The holes were the given. Now the caterpillar needed to be invented. 

In the Very Busy Spider, the spider was the given. Now all I needed was the raised web. 

In The Grouchy Ladybug, I wanted to deal with the concept of size. Now all I needed was an interesting story. 

To these basic ingredients the following are added: Your love for animals, big and small.
Your appreciation of Nature. 

Your father's love and his sense of passing on existing knowledge.
[sic]

You include your likes and dislikes, your view of the world, your feelings." 

Hans Christian Andersen's Paper Cuttings

The other day I picked up a book titled "The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen" and it totally blew my mind. I had never thought to research Andersen in detail up to now and I have to say that I think I am subconsciously savoring it until I resume my schooling. I have been giving 'doing my Masters in Children's Literature' quite a bit of thought in the past year and think that once time permits it, it might be an inevitability... However, when I saw this book I had to cheat a bit and immerse myself in the super magical world that was Andersen's life.

Growing up poor he really made his own luck by sticking his foot into all sorts of noble and elite doors, mastering his art of verbal and written storytelling and ...as I have now discovered... Paper Cuttings.
According to the book and it's sources, Andersen would perform his fabulous fairy tales to an enrapt audience whilst seemingly randomly cutting away at a piece of paper with a gigantic pair of scissors. At the end of the story he would unfold the paper to reveal all sorts of absolutely amazing and original works of art. They did not have to coincide with the story he was telling but did feature a steady repertoire of his established character favorites that inhabited his stories such as bakers, dancers, 4 armed - windmill type men, as well as more macabre images like men hanging on gallows, and Andersen's favorite and perhaps his symbol for himself, ... swans.

Andersen never made any drawn plans for these cuttings, they are so to say, spontaneous cutting, like you would create a drawing without prior planning. A doodle-cut so to speak. Because of this and because of their imagery they were quite different from the many other paper cuttings from this time. Paper cuttings in general were quite popular in the 1800's when Andersen was alive and many people would commission a paper cut like you'd commission a portrait so that one's image would be remembered for the next generation of one's family. Camera's were still new, very expensive and not commonly used until later.

Here is an excellent and super fun podcast on Andersen and his life by 'How Stuff Works' Podcast that my good friend Rebecca turned me onto, after having told her about my new discovery.

I am sure there will be at least one more entry on Andersen in the future here somewhere. I am quite fittingly enchanted by his own fairy tale.


Here are some sites on Andersen and his work.

one

two

And here is a small blog post on him by a very beautiful blog that I just discovered and one one the daddytypes blog here.

In Memory Of Maurice Sendak

Well, today was a big day in the land of Picture Book Illustration. Maurice Sendak passed away at 83. How sad to loose such an inspiring, strange and rebellious talent.

His book Where The Wild Things are was an integral part of so many of our childhoods and though he will be sorely missed, his stories and pictures will never be forgotten.

Here is a link to a previous post I did on Maurice Sendak along with some very interesting video clip interviews with him.
I also posted a commemorative drawing in his honor today on my sketchblog.

Here are just a very few of Sendak's great works. If you only know Where the Wild Things Are, go and buy some other gems of his. An all time favorite of mine is the complete Nutshell library which features mini versions of Chicken Soup with Rice and Alligator Alphabet. So great! Good bye Maurice Sendak, you were so amazing!

Oliver Jeffers is soooooo Greaaaaat

I pitty the fooo' who hasn't watched this video yet. ;)
Watch it for an awesome glimpse into the working process of the guy behind so many amazing picture books!



I use Jeffer's book "The Great Paper Caper" in my class all the time as a fantastic example of the intricate and fun relationship between Words and Pictures at it's finest. Get inspired by Jeffers!

Art History with BARBAR

In the last few months especially I've been finding myself going back to those Art History Books of mine and looking at some of the great classics. Because of this I was even more excited when I found this. There are 70 versions of classic paintings and drawings that Barbar creator Laurent de Brunhoff made. Of course they all featuring characters from Barbar instead of boring people. How great is that?

Here is a couple of them along with the originals they're based on.

I wish that this show would come to Vancouver or Seattle sometime so that I could go and see it. That would be a seriously fun and funny show! In the meantime though I'm pretty excited to go see Matisse at the VAG soon though. Haven't been to the Vancouver Art Gallery for a while. I think it's time again. ;)

Robert Hunter

Images via: www.rob-hunter.co.uk

I got a gift certificate for Lucky's Comics for my birthday some time ago and finally had the chance to cash in on it a while ago. Amongst other things I picked up a copy of "The New Ghost" by Robert Hunter. No it's not for kids, of course, but man is it ever amazing.

I was drawn to it right away because of it's elegant and beautiful design and illustration. It really stood out like a little glowing gem on the shelves. I was excited right away about having found it, because I really haven't seen anything similar to Hunter's style and layout combination before. At first I was worried that it might be one of those comics that let the design aspect override the narrative and story as a whole, but turns out it's not. The images are so soft and beautiful but also dark and haunting at the same time. So perfect to complement the short bits of text that Hunter inserts to tell the story perfectly and strangely matter-of-fact. The overall story of a new ghost's first day on the job is all, beautiful and strange and sad.

Also interesting was checking out the artist's amazing website and finding out that "The New Ghost" was printed with only 4 spot colours. Great palette, and great idea. This comic of Hunter's is published by the fantastic Nobrow Press. Check out all their other publications too. So great! I pretty much love everything they publish!

Blake on The Crocodile

Can you ever get enough of this man?

NOOOO!

Here Blake talks about the making of his book Crocodile. Once again so insightful and really hits home in terms of using the right mark making tools for just the right story. He -as he also mentions briefly in his amazing book "Words and Pictures" - specifically used a harder reed pen to ink the Crocodile than for other work. Also I love what he says about leaving room for the imagination when it comes to creating an illustration. We don't want to make it too detailed and realistic so that the reader can image the story along and it can truly come alive...