Hello Blue Tits,
After the eleventy-billion days of January, I seem to have blinked and missed February. For certain, at least half of the days were sucked into the black hole of school holidays and Covid isolation. So here I find myself, sliding the February newsletter into your inboxes one day over, but that’s okay, because with a Leapling in the family, we’ve a been regularly stealing it from March for 43 years.
Like the month, life has been ploughing on. Ankles are poking out of school trousers, fringes are getting in eyes, and everyone’s hungry, all of the time. I’ve started on two new commissions, which I’m ever grateful for. Both are for social research projects, like Covid Realities and Changing Realities (my previous projects), and I find the collaborations really rewarding. This week I’m illustrating audio clips of parents sharing their experience of life on a low income, and it’s an honour to draw their voices.
I also managed to squeeze in some personal work, finishing up my worm composition. It was a task set for us in the foundation week of my Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme, and whilst we didn’t have to finish it, in doing so I discovered a lot about the elements of image construction I have an affinity for, the parts of the process I really enjoy, and what I need to practice. I wonder if you can tell?
I’ll hopefully have a final illustration before my next newsletter, but we have our first assignment briefing next week which may steal my attention. We don’t know which publisher is setting it yet, but it’s a really exciting opportunity to get my work critiqued by them.
I made good use of my Covid isolation and fell down several rabbit holes for you, all in the name of work of course. 😉
Throw yourself down and join me:
Skip this one if art theory isn’t your thing, but these short videos exploring the seven elements of visual art are really helpful in understanding why and how an image works.
Back to my love of medieval illustration with this 13th century ‘sketchbook’ by Villard de Honnecourt.
A multi-layered animation on originality and homage, made with borrowed words and traced images.
Unless you’re a picture book nerd like me, you’ve probably not thought much (or at all) about how advances in colour processing and printing impacted picture book making, nor about the influence selling in global markets has on illustrations. I’ve been pondering it a lot this month, mostly in regard to my own process (I favour the colour-separation of pre-CYMK printing), and in researching Pat Hutchins of Rosie’s Walk fame, for a future blog post. I came across this article in an old 1980 copy of Books For Keeps.
Another future blog post feature is Tove Jansson (I wanted to call our first-born Tove…) - but until then enjoy this short video about the story behind the first Moomin picture book.
If I asked you how old you feel what would you say? Would you know straight away? What is your subjective age? I’m somewhere between 16 and 24 btw.
I have an awful memory for important events and people, but I do remember places really well. I can remember, and quite clearly hold a picture in my mind of every single library I’ve ever been in. Libraries deserve all the love letters in the world, this one and this one to begin with.
Libraries definitely form part of my sense-scape, as do the warmth of greenhouses, the sound of church bells, and blade sharpened pencils. But what happens when war destroys the childhood sense-scape we call home?
In love with Gomatsu’s grainy illustrations of our feline friends.
One somewhat less productive discovery during isolation was Stardew Valley. It’s an open-ended, country life RPG which I have fallen in love with for its calming, repetitive, job-completing, ordered, and rhythmic game-play. If that appeals I can’t recommend it enough. If however, your brain leans towards mild panic at having to organise, prioritise, and do the same thing over and over - then may be give it a miss. Cementing their true Gen Alpha credentials, my children’s opinion was simply, “Why’s it all squarey?”
So, how old do you feel? And what makes up your sense-scape? Can you remember your first library? Let me know in the comments, and if you play Stardew Valley - want to set up a co-op?
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Stealing Time
I really enjoyed reading this. I love all the links in your newsletters. My first library was on one floor and always seemed to be closed when we got there. I can remember pretending my pen was a library scanner and issuing books to my sister and toys!
Love receiving this - gives me enough to reflect on for days. Like the look of the game - just my wave length, I’ll have to have a go. Yes I remember the children’s library in Leicester - Grandpops took me every Saturday morning. I can still smell the polish of the wooden shelves, the smell and feel of the books (no paper backs back then!) and the excitement of so many books to choose from. By the way I’m 38 and whilst Tove is a nice name, I think the one she has suits her better. xx