Narrative within my writing can be a strange thing, as a reader, I am constantly finding texts, words, sentences and chunks of literature to read, in a single sitting or several days or weeks. But as a visual artist, it seems like my work lacks a narrative, because it is so caught up in colour and visual language, shapes and geometric, repeated forms and motifs falling into pools of white paint. Or is that a narrative of sorts too?
But I forget how interesting pictures and words together can be and become in front of a reader. Take for instance the classic imagery found within the Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis's childhood classics that have been his legacy to generations of people. Such imagery was penned by the artist Pauline Baynes, she presented them looking up to date at that time, now appearing perfectly vintage.
Pauline Baynes' map of Narnia
A walk through the snow with Mr Tumunous and Lucy
http://www.paulinebaynes.com/?what=artifacts&image_id=573&cat=69
Images captured from a copy of The Chronicles of Narnia:
Images captured from a copy of The Chronicles of Narnia:
Then Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton. Even Brian Jacques, whose animals had the personalities of human beings, of heroes and legends and warlords and mothers, and whose images didn't hide away from emotions that inhabited.
Jacqueline Wilson's books, known by all of kinder kind, are
illustrated by Nick Sharratt, an illustrator with a wicked sense of
humour, whose 2D drawings have movement and life to them that I bet in
3D or CGI, or as photos, they would lack. Like drawings that the very
reader can or might make, making the experience personal, the abundance
of stars and hearts on the covers, in pages beside, on top of and
underneath text are fantastic and full of imagination, of possibilities.
Like her writing.
These
writer's books often have interesting particular visuals that are
iconic for their books and readers. But what about in other fictional worlds?
Fairy tales of course are classic cases of imagery abundance.
Some
scans from my own books of imagery that have really appealed- classical
styled books, from which folklore and stories of ages are written in.
The images feature a wealth of pattern and ideas that are worth looking into for inspiration when facing an art block.
Opposite are a few images that inspired this post, photographic of course. Beautifully
coloured and looking paper cut like too, with hints of winter romance
and the iconic image of red lips repeated upon the ballet dancer's
costume, her tights I think and on her transparent sleeves.
Shadows and projections overlaid upon objects imagery works effectively with pattern and on strange shaped objects.
References:
Dahl, R., (1997) Fantastic Mr Fox. Puffin Books; Middlesex, England.
Dahl, R., (1997) The Twits. Puffin Books; Middlesex, England.Henshall, D. (2008) Pauline Baynes, The Guardian, Wednesday 6th August (online). Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/06/booksforchildrenandteenagers (accessed: 23rd June 2015).
Lewis, C.S., (2001) The Chronicles of Narnia. HarperCollins Publishing; Great Britain, pp.11 and 139.
Marie Claire (2011), January 2011, pp unknown.
