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- The initial idea
- From concept to image
- Roger Fry (in a 1910 essay, "The Art of the Bushmen", collected in "Vision and design") quotes a child's explanation of how to make drawings: "First I think, and then I draw a line round my think."
- "What can pictures contribute to the development of this concept that words alone couldn't?"
- The first part of "How Picture Books Work", an essay by Perry Nodelman (collected in "Only Connect", 3rd Ed.) does a great job of clearing up misconceptions on the relative merits of text and images as means of communication.
- Nodelman emphasizes that understanding images can be as hard as understanding words, and the latter generally convey meaning more precisely. Illustrating a book does not automatically make the text easier--or more appealing to children.
- Keep in mind, too, that illustration and decoration are two different matters.
- Illustration tells something to the reader. Decoration (or, more in general, the graphic design of the book) encourages readers to pay attention to what the illustrations (and the text) have to tell.
- One is not "better" than the other--some combination of both illustration and decoration is in fact needed in all picture books. But they require different skills, and a good illustrator is not necessarily a good designer. Since you are reading this, we'll assume that you are more interested in illustration--and we'll proceed accordingly.
- From image to concept
- "What do I enjoy drawing?"
- "What kind of images hold the most storytelling/expressive potential for me?"
- "What best showcases my talents?" And, conversely, "what should I avoid because it really reveals my limits?"
- Maurice Sendak, in a talk collected in "World of childhood: the art and craft of writing for children", said that he changed his mind about his project "Where the wild horses are" (and went on to create "Where the wild things are") because, in his estimation, he couldn't draw horses.
- Picture book or story book?
- Telling the story in words, or pictures, or both. Shulevitz's terminology:
- Picture book
- The pictures add essential elements to the story. The text read by itself (as in a radio broadcast), does not convey the full narrative.
- Story book
- The pictures enhance the story. The text by itself is enough to understand the gist of the narrative.
- Relationship between text and images
- Both in unison? harmony? counterpoint?
- "Once Upon a Time"
- The pictures openly contradict the text (the protagonist says that "nothing much happened round here today"--while the images show him immersed in fantastic events). This contradiction is, in fact, the essence of the book.
- The same basic idea drives an earlier book, now out of print, which however differs for its realistic urban setting: "Nothing ever happens on my block"
- "Ella and the Naughty Lion"
- The pictures should contradict the text (to cue young readers to the real meaning of the story--sibling rivalry--and to reassure them that there really isn't a huge lion loose in the house). Instead the pictures simply echo the text, missing an opportunity to rescue the book from being confusing for children (and possibly inappropriate).
- Writer vs. illustrator
- Beware of overbearing writers who insist on 'painting pictures with words'. They step on the illustrator's lines, keeping the latter from becoming fully involved with the project. A bored illustrator, one who's only allowed to follow the directions in the text, will draw boring illustrations.
- Beware of overbearing illustrators who ignore the content and legibility of the text. It is not OK to shrink type--or, worse, cut out lines--to solve layout problems. Pictures should not make the text hard to read. The story told in images should not diverge from the one told in words--unless this is an intended, and mutually agreeable, narrative effect.
- Story framework
- Choice of privileged instants
- This is not an animation. You need to isolate a single moment and have it represent the entire action. Which will you draw a picture of? Which will you leave for the text alone to tell?
- Later in the same essay mentioned above ("How Picture Books Work"), Nodelman discusses contrasting interpretations of 'Snow White'--focusing on the different selection of highlights from the story that different illustrators chose to depict.
- You can repeat this investigation yourself. Take the time to examine a well-known--and often illustrated--story (besides "Snow White", look for "Cinderella" or "Red Riding Hood", all available in many versions). You will see how the raw material in the text is skewed differently as a result of varying emphasis in the images.
- When examining the illustrations, try to look beyond the differences in style and technique--often influenced by when the pictures were made. Focus instead on how each illustrator retells the story.
- Armed with fresh insights, you might want to sketch your own take on the same tale. At the very least, it will be useful as a portfolio piece--giving the viewer a sense of your storytelling talent.
- Choice of setting: place, costume, time of day, weather, secondary characters...
- Different versions of the same fairy tale are instructive in this respect as well. Much is left unsaid by the traditional stories, and the choices that illustrators make--even when the text is left entirely unaltered--yield radically different results.
- A recent retelling of "Snow White", illustrated by Angela Barrett, achieves much of its striking effect by transporting the action, from the 'generic middle ages' of previous versions, to the time of the Brothers Grimm themselves.
- Overall strategy: descriptive clarity vs. exciting surprises.
- Reinforce a straightforward truline: you don't want to create arbitrarily confusing tangles that hinder the beginner reader.
- Layer multiple meanings: one of the distinguishing characteristics of picture books (as opposed to, say, comic strips) is, supposedly, their 'reuse value'. Children will keep going back to a book if looking at its illustrations yields new discoveries each time.
- Often, a good balance is struck by offering the reader an easy 'entry point'--some straightforward payoff that encourages (possibly on subsequent readings) further exploration.
- In his Caldecott-winning "Black and white", David Macauley tosses four such stories--each easily grasped--at the reader. A quarter of the page spread is set aside for each story, and the stories can be read separately--or in any sequence desired. But a prominent 'WARNING' notice on the title page suggests that the stories may, or may not, intersect--and recommends "careful inspection of both words and pictures".
- Viewpoint: visual and narrative
- Distinctive narrative viewpoint
- "The true story of the three little pigs"--a familiar tale retold from the villain's perspective.
- the narrator is trying to appear less knowledgeable than he really is, hiding the real motives and events.
- "Earth tigerlets"--a familiar place and its occupants, described by an outsider (and a particularly clueless one to boot)
- the narrator is trying to appear more knowledgeable than he (she? it?) really is, mis-construing the real motives and events.
- In both books, the text is written from a first-person viewpoint ('I did... I saw...'). The visuals do not attempt to replicate this viewpoint, and mostly use staid compositions. In this respect, the illustrator is letting the writer work unhindered on the surprise effect, while adding to the story in other ways (e.g., just what kind of ingredients does 'wolf cake' call for?)
- Distinctive visual viewpoint:
- "Rome Antics"
- Birds-eye view--literally. Note that while the visuals are as first-person as pictures can get, the text is a standard third-person narrative.
- Picture sequence
- Repetition
- "Titch", by Pat Hutchins: 'and Titch...' repeated both verbally and visually
- The dressing-room sequence in "Max's Dragon Shirt" (pp.10-14) is entirely dependent on the exact repetition of the background: it emphasizes Ruby flitting in and out, and Max slowly sagging... then waking up suddenly, startled and alone.
- Targeting an audience
- Who is the real audience for a children's author?
- in "Writing books for children", Jane Yolen has a section (pp. 37-8) on the real target audience of children's books. Adults (editors, librarians, techers, parents) are an essential part of it--and not just because they actually make purchasing decisions. Since reading these books is a shared experience of child and adult, the latter's interest must be sustained as well. She quotes C.S. Lewis: "...a children's story which is only enjoyed by children is a bad children's story."
- 'The Rules'--widespread industry expectations
- These are some of the admonitions one often hears at conferences, or reads in how-to books. You can probably think of any number of exceptions that made it into print--but for a budding author, it may be wiser to conform on the first try.
- No talking animals
- In fact, anything non-human is suspect, if it talks. Anthropomorphic objects are supposedly despised even more than anthropomorphic animals--but note exceptions such as "Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel", still in print after 60 years.
- No rhyme
- For starters, most amateur rhyme doesn't. It nudges the writer into using stilted language inappropriate to beginner readers. There is just plain too much of it being sent in.
- If you ever become an international success, consider too that rhyme is harder to translate. That goes double for rhyming puns.
- No writer-illustrator teams
- Publishers will match illustrators and writers on each project based on their own inscrutable marketing reasons. Trying to come up with a partner in advance is, at best, a waste of your time. At worst, it creates the appearance of usurping the editor's job.
- Of course, if you're a writer-illustrator, you can't just cut off one hyphenated half of yourself. Still, you may want to prepare yourself for the possibility that a publisher may like your art but not your writing (or vice-versa).
- In fact, at least one conference speaker (an art director) felt very strongly that beginners are only hurting their chances by submitting works they both wrote and illustrated.
- Picture books are for children 7 and younger
- Older kids allegedly will feel that they are being treated like babies if a picture book is handed to them.
- The story should have a protagonist the child can identify with
- This should be a child, or child-like figure--preferrably slightly older than the intended reader.
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