QUENTIN BLAKE

http://www.quentinblake.com/about/Illustrating.html

How do you actually produce a drawing?
I do a free-wheeling sort of drawing that looks as if it has been done on the spur of the moment, although in reality it's not quite like that. I start with lots of roughs - some of which turn out to be quite close to the finished drawing, and some of which are discarded. For a book there's lots of planning. What goes on which page? Do the actions carry on from one picture to another? Do the characters still look the same on each page?

For about twenty years I've used a lightbox, which I find really useful. On the light box I put the rough drawing I'm going to work from, and on top of that, a sheet of watercolour paperÉ. Ready to hand is a bottle of waterproof black ink and a lot of scruffy looking dip pens. What happens next is not tracing; in fact it's important that I can't see the rough drawing underneath too clearly, because when I draw I try to draw as if for the first time; but I can do it with increased concentration, because the drawing underneath lets me know all the elements that have to appear and exactly where they have to be placed.'

Of all the books you've illustrated, which is your favourite?
This is a very hard question because I don't think I have one favourite book. Perhaps it is easier to explain if you think of all the books as a sort of range of hills, all different shapes, and some taller than others. How Tom Beat Captain Najork was exciting because it was the first book I illustrated by Russell Hoban and it was something I couldn't possibly have imagined; though I love Russell Hoban's The Raindoor, although I don't think it is so well known. (It ought to be!)

I like The BFG, and that is partly because in various ways it was quite difficult to do and I was pleased when I got there in the end; and partly because the relationship between the BFG and Sophie is very interesting and obviously was very important to Roald Dahl.

Of my own books I perhaps like Clown best, because somehow I feel close to the main character, and partly because it was a very interesting task to tell a story entirely in pictures without any words. I was pleased to do a book about city life without (I hope) it being dull and boring.


Do you prefer illustrating books written by other people, or the ones you write yourself?
I like them both, and I'm glad I don't have to give up one or the other, because they are each interesting in their own way. Illustrating a book by someone else is exciting, because when you start reading that typescript you really have no idea what you are going to find there, and it may be something that you would never have thought of. And it's very interesting to try and draw in just the way that matches the book. Is it very fantastic? Or very realistic? Or outrageously funny? Or sad?

The interesting thing about drawing my own books is that it's really a story in pictures, with the necessary words underneath. These books give me the opportunity to draw something that I realise I want to draw.

DECORATIVE ILLUSTRATION

"‘decorative’ illustration can punctuate, alleviate or illuminate a
text. It can take the form of an arrangement or composition, act as a frame or rule,
break‐up an area and provide ‘light relief’ to texts or typography."

To me decorative illustration, decorates a page and emphasizes the meaning. I automatically thought of children's book. I have a number of children's books so I will be bringing these books into University for the discussion. I will be bringing Roald Dahl - The Twits. Flower Fairies - Cicely Mary Barker. The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter. These are books from my childhood which got me interested in Illustration.

INFORMATIVE ILLUSTRATION

"Informative illustration, is to explain something, or define something literally.
Informative or explanatory illustration can be seen within diagrams and has a
capacity to show places, activities or things that we are unable to see directly
from one fixed viewpoint in the real world or display material of a factual
nature."

COMMENTABLE ILLUSTRATION

http://kymbalthazar.com/blog/category/political-illustration/

"illustration can be used to ‘comment’ on a particular subject,
and to therefore, be expressive and in turn, form an opinion.
The most effective method being, where you the illustrator,
begin to express your own feeling, or,
discover truths about a subject and pass it on,
thereby creating an opinion to a wider audience.
It is one of the most interesting and complex aspects of illustration,
where illustrators start to express their own feelings on a subject."

I believe political illustration falls into this category, found in newspapers such as The Times and The Observer.

Final Images - Word and Image

Word and Image Text

Word and Image
Listening to the word and image talk I instantly wanted to create an installation piece as some of the found imagery in the talk inspired me. I have never created an installation before and wanted to create something different for this project, I was pleased that my group also wanted to create an installation focusing on Bob Marley. Working in group gave me confidence to create an installation as we could work as a team and solve any problems as a team effort.

As a group we decided that we did want our project to be an obvious Bob Marley homage. We decided against using any drug references or using the obvious colours of Jamaica; Red, green and yellow. From the beginning we assigned roles to one another which was helpful and a great starting point. I was assigned Marley’s family/home life. At first I explored many avenues of Marley’s home life and family. I collected various objects from the beach and coastline. I found some family photographs from an internet based source and drew them in the style of a child. I also drew the outline of Jamaica and incorporated text of the island into the shape. For the last image I collected some scenery photographs from Marley’s childhood areas and altered them using Photoshop. I then added text upon the images, which were some of Marley’s most famous quotes. I feel that the illustrations work well with the other images and three dimensional pieces in our installation.

I wanted to create my own text for the project so I posed with my body creating the alphabet. I was unhappy with the flat image therefore I transferred the images into Photoshop and enhanced the photographs into silhouettes which make the images stand out and stand clear of what they are showing. I wanted my images to hand rendered as my previous work has all been computer generated. Also for the project of Bob Marley, a hand rendered approach I felt was best.

Overall we worked well as group and our visions were realised without may problems. Our installation has a very definite style with the work of all four artists working as one. Our piece stands alone, and as you look into the piece you realise that it is about Bob Marley and his life, which is something we set out to do at the start of this project.