Narrative Illustration Artist research. Shaun Tan

Continuing my research into illustrators I wish to discuss the work of Shaun Tan. He is one of the more popular children’s illustrators working today and has a very distinct drawing style. Some of his illustrated books include “The Arrival” and “Eric”. His pencil work is very recognised but he also works in a wide range of traditional media. 

The illustration to the right is from the children’s book "Eric" by Tan. The illustrations for this book were all created using pencil and have the same tones to this example. I think this is a good example of Tan's work because it shows how he can create a detailed image and still create fairly simplistic characters. The shadow cast by Eric across the book adds a great deal of depth to the illustration. There is a good contrast between dark and light in Tan's pencil work which I think adds a lot more interest to his illustrations. 

 

The picture to the left is another good example of Shaun tan’s pencil work. The illustration was for a children’s book called "The Arrival". The book is filled with small panel illustrations which attempts to tell a story without using text. The Arrival is an interesting book as the illustrations are very detailed and life like but show a lot of bazaar animals and architecture. The illustration itself is incredibly detailed and has a striking contrast between light and dark. I really like the lighting in this piece because it adds way more interest to the dark hull of the ship. 

The third illustration is from a book called “Tales from Outer Suburbia”. The illustrations for this book are rendered using colour. I chose the piece because I think the colour choice is very well thought out. The image also appears to have a camera grain effect over the top. I really think the style of using texture complements the colour scheme as it almost looks sun bleached.  

I think Tan’s style works well for children’s illustration as it has a sense of wonder about it. He always shows other worlds with fantastical shots and a very well thought out composition.

Narrative Illustration Artist Research. Robert Gillmor

One Illustrator who takes their interpretation of mid-century to the limit would be Robert Gillmor. He also workd as a natural history illustrator and is most well-known because of his cover illustrations for the “Collins new naturalist” book series. His work tends to be more reserved in colour pallet and doesn’t focus on geometric angels as some mid-century style illustrators do, Instead his work extends on a more organic feel. Most of his work consists of traditional paintings of print work.

The image above shows a cover illustration from a Collins new naturalist edition. This image has an interesting colour use as most of the image is made up of different shades of green. This keeps the image looking natural and also helps the white flowers stand out. The back drop of the piece is particularly interesting as it has similarities to traditional British pattern work. Despite the flat tone of the image there is still a respectable amount of detail within both the grasshopper and the plants. The image still keeps a feel of realism about it which is helped because of this small attention. 

  

The second image shows a print of a starling bird created for a stamp design. This illustration seems a bit more colourful then the last and it also has a much brighter colour palette. There is still a lot of green but the dark contrast of the subject bird helps it to stand out from the light background. On the topic of the background, there is a really simplistic look to the flower bed but it still remains an interesting feature of the image.

The last illustration is from another Collins new naturalist book cover. This image has a nice sense of contrast between its colours. It’s quit a simplistic image in its construction and composition but there clearly has been a lot of thought put into this piece. It’s also worth noting that most of the image is made up of different layers of blue tones. This helps the yellow light to stand out and helps the landmass to tie into the ocean scene. The birds are also the same colour as the Light House which makes them blend in to the illustration.

Narrative Illustration Artist research. Maurice noble

Another artist who’s work helped to define the mid-century was Maurice Noble. The work of Noble is particularly interesting for its varying level of detail. Some examples of his work are incredibly intricate whiles otters are very simple and angular. His work is often recognised as he was a back drop designer for animated cartoons for Warner Bros. 

Image one shows some of the environmental work by Noble. The image is well constructed using geometric angels to make a natural scene. The lighting is interesting in this painting, the cast shadows are depicted with large blocks of dark flat colour. This is very effective as it makes the scene seam mush larger and imposing.

Image two shows a mush les realistic piece compared to the last example. This piece is particularly geometric and has a strange composition as the image seem extremely flat. This is clearly a stylistic chose as I think this piece was used for an animated cartoon. The colours are vibrant but not over powering like some other illustrations from this period. Alto the image is fairly simple it has an appealing chose of lighting, this seems to add a lot more interest to the piece. 

Image three really stands out from the rest because of its strong contrasts. The texture work in this illustration is simple but effective as it gives the stone slabs much more personality. The illustration show some water bleed in serton arise, this leads to the idea that this we a quickly produced image. It’s also unseal to see such dark arias in this style of painting. Dark shadows seem to be a trait of Nobles style but they do seem to b highly effective in creating an interesting image.