STUDY TASK 2: Inspiring Illustrators (Belanorqua)

Belanorqua

I'm sure I've mentioned Belanorqua's work several times before because I am utterly enchanted by their textile dolls. Belanorqua is a team of two dollmakers from Poland: Norka and Biel. Their social media pages are very popular, which is where they post their images to be seen online.

There's not much information about them available - they are a very mysterious force, calling themselves 'human minks'. This is all part of their artistic presence, an enigmatic signature which involves never crediting their full names or giving much information away. They post pictures, often without captions, so the viewers are left to interpret the photos alone.

Belanorqua's approach to mysterious authorship in their promotion suits the tone of their work, since their art dolls and scenes harbour mystical tones and magical themes.

Their process of dollmaking features embroidery, propmaking and photography.

They do sell their dolls as products but their finished photos involve a lot more than just the dolls - using nature, cats, flowers, etc. to capture eerie and enigmatic shots of the dolls in our world.

Purpose: Their dolls are sold as products, so they are intended as art dolls/objects/collectables. The photos they post online have two purposes, the primary is to promote their doll products, and the secondary purpose is to tell stories with these figures. The photos only tell stories as a by-product of promoting the dolls, to demonstrate the artistry in their construction, but these photos are what interests me most, how the dolls can be posed and interact with environments as physical illustrations/static puppets. The photos and dolls feature themes of nature and magic but it is not immediately obvious whether Belanorqua is making an explicit comment/message.

Audience: Their audience is consumers, users of Etsy. Doll or art collectors. Likely to be female adults aged 25-35. 

Context: Belanorqua's dolls are sold as products online through Etsy. They exist as photos on social media and are sometimes featured in art magazines. I would be interested to see how Belanorqua could extend this practice and apply their illustrations to wider contexts, such as book illustration, greetings cards, tarot cards or as stop-motion puppets for animation.

Inspiration: Belanorqua is inspired by other dollmakers Pantalova and The Pale Rook who also sell dolls online via Etsy. They use found materials from nature, including feathers, bones, rocks, leaves and moss.

STUDY TASK 2: Inspiring Illustrators (Willowynn)

Willowyn (Margeaux Davis)

 

Willowynn's textile dolls are fairytale characters in three dimensions.

She creates soft doll sculptures, complete with clothing and boots using second-hand fabrics in order to imbue more history, character and story to her dolls. I think that this is evident in that the dolls do not look pristine and new, they look slightly antiqued and worn, as if a treasured toy of years gone by. This definitely adds to the value of Willowynn's craft because she demonstrates handmade imperfections, the raw nature of a craftswoman.

The dolls are delicate, elegant and majestic.

I feel aligned to this artist because I also make handcrafted characters, only in a different medium. I would like to learn more about sewing and garment construction in order to fabricate intricate costumes like she does. I will need to do research into the era in which L.M.Montgomery lived in order to make sure that my Emily of New Moon is appropriately dressed to be historically accurate.

Inspiration: Prior to being a dollmaker, Willowynn was a park ranger. This interest and knowledge of nature informed her creative practice, drawing from nature as she began Willowynn by crafting animal sculptures.

Willowynn's characters are inspired by fairy tales and folk-lore, but exist as dolls/sculptures as products on Etsy. They are made for the purpose of selling as ornamental/decorative products.

I'd love to see these in the context of children's books, where the ideas were inspired and born. Her dolls are inspired by words and literature, so could Willowynn combine these two elements? Use text/typography to integrate with the photos?

Does she ever exhibit her dolls in galleries? They are so competently made and look very professional, they should be displayed as works of art too.

Audience: These dolls are aimed at Etsy consumers, craft lovers, girls. Maybe bought as gifts.

She hosts workshops and teaches classes on sewing/doll making so her audience is also amateur or beginner doll makers who want to learn from her.

I think that Willowynn's photographs could be improved through the introduction of props and scenery. Most of her photos are shot against a blank off-white background (again linking back to her rustic, weathered, craft aesthetic by using an off-white/cream and a wooden tabletop rather than crisp white) which does make them look professional as products for Etsy, but I think they could look even more magical and enchanting if they were photographed as though they were in another realm, or as if they are interacting with the environment instead of stood in a studio. Willowynn has a passion for nature and beach-combing so these would prove excellent backdrops for photos using her dolls.

Promotion: Willowynn promotes her work through her website, blog, social media. She is often featured in art magazines and on Instagram collectives like @ dollmakers.

She also has a newsletter subscription.

STUDY TASK 2: Inspiring Illustrators (Julia Sarda)

Julia Sarda

I saw Julia Sarda's debut picture book, The Lizsts in Waterstones during our initial research for this project. She has re-imagined many classic children's stories with her soft, Autumnal palette and gentle brushtrokes. Since I will be re-imagining a classic children's story, I thought that Sarda would be a useful artist to investigate. She hasn't attempted to modernise these stories, to change the stories we are so familiar with, but she has stayed true to the original texts and illustrated drawings that readers will feel enchanted by.

I'm especially interested in how Sarda combines her illustrations with text from the stories she's illustrating. Format and composition is very difficult when you are confined to a space or frame, but Sarda works really well with borders, squeezing entire scenes into one oblong, page-sized box. These are conventional colour-plate formats that aren't used as much since digital printing and lower colour printing costs enabled illustrators to print in colour throughout entire books, but Sarda seems to be bringing this trend back and embracing the traditional aesthetic of books holding just a few precious colour images.

Audience: Sarda's charming and ethereal illustrations are intended for children. Again, they may be also consumed by older audiences, especially book/print enthusiasts, or adults who remember/loved these classic books when they were younger.

Context: Children's books, including Mary Poppins and The Secret Garden. 

Also exist as prints (the format works perfectly for this and would be great for libraries, bedrooms, offices, schools, etc). Sarda sells her images as high res digital files so that they can be printed by the customer, which I think loses some of the value and authorship of the print. It's not been printed by Sarda, or even shipped by her - it's come out of your own printer.

Purpose: To illustrate the discourse of the stories. Her illustrations are lively and full of action for entertaining her intended audience. She is primarily a storyteller and she tries to visualise the discourse through her characters.

Promotion: A lot of the promotion of Sarda's books is done by the publishers she works with or the booksellers she she stocks her books within. Bookstores have made displays to celebrate the release of books she has worked on and her publishers will regularly promote these books in an attempt to sell more. She has a website and social media pages where she posts snippets of her creative process and latest projects.

http://followtheyellow.co.uk/category/the-mystery-of-the-clockwork-sparrow/page/4/

These are cakes with Sarda's characters on made for the release of The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow. A very inventive and playful promotion.

Inspiration: fairy tales and folk art have inspired Sarda's dream-like stories and images. She is also informed by vintage illustration and packaging (especially for typography and colour schemes). She travels a lot (India and Tibet), which inspires her work culturally.

STUDY TASK 2: Inspiring Illustrators (Carson Ellis)

Carson Ellis

Carson Ellis is a contemporary illustrator working in a similar context to that which I am working towards. Carson Ellis and Colin Meloy (The Decemberists) created the Wildwood Chronicles books together, a series of middle-grade fantasy stories.
They have a close relationship as author and illustrator, and the books are really a collaborative partnership. The close tenor between words and text shines through in the synthesis of visual and written style.

How can I achieve a relationship with an author who is no longer alive? I need to learn as much as I can about Lucy Maud Montgomery in order to make my illustrations harmonise with her words. I need to understand Montgomery's mind so that the book does not feel disjointed or random.

Although Carson Ellis illustrates books that are intended for an audience of children aged 7-11, lots of adult readers appreciate the books for their nostalgia, magic and beautiful illustrations. The books are also available as special editions (box sets/hard backs), so they may be pursued as valuable gifts/collectables.

How does she promote herself?
'I’ve made a couple of promotional postcards,' 'Really, The Decemberists have turned out to be a better promotional tool than anything else imaginable.'
'Most art editors and book people found me through the stuff I’d done for The Decemberists, I don’t think I was ready to work as a book illustrator five years ago, and I’ve learned a lot doing all that stuff—album art, T-shirt designs, Web site illustration, stage backdrops and photo shoot sets—it’s been way more work than I did in my five years of college.'
http://blog.artistsmarketonline.com/uncategorized/carson-ellis-interview
Ellis is a popular artist figure on social media, with 38.9k likes on her Instagram account. By keeping these updated and interesting, Carson Ellis promotes herself as an artist and showcases her illustrations.
'It’s pretty fascinating to be able to post something on Instagram and find out immediately whether or not people like it.'

What inspires her?
Similarly to Montgomery and Demidova, Carson Ellis says that her work is informed by her surroundings and scenery. She draws inspiration from the forests and nature around her home in Portland, Oregon. The Wildwood books were set in this same town, much like how Montgomery's books were set on PEI.
'I strive to make art that feels mystical—I think that informs my illustration style a lot'
http://www.designsponge.com/2014/02/a-day-in-the-life-of-carson-ellis.html

STUDY TASK 2: Inspiring Illustrators (Olga Demidova)

Olga Demidova

 

Lucy Maud Montgomery's fascination with Prince Edward Island is woven into almost all of her stories. The island was her home and the home of some of her most famous characters, so I would like to make reference to the nature and landscapes of PEI in my illustrations for Emily of New Moon too. These scenes and settings were important to Lucy Maud, so this is something I want to pay attention to myself.

I stumbled across these paintings by Olga Demidova and found them really immersive in their depiction of wilderness and scenery. The artist has illustrated the depth of these detailed worlds through layering (mountains behind trees behind bushes behind flowers), altering scale (rules of perspective - assets farthest away being the smallest and closest to the viewer being the largest). 

I would like to recreate PEI by layering illustrations of nature and houses like Demidova has, capturing the tone of the landscape and Emily's adventures within these landscapes.

I also admire Demidova's use of mark-making to suggest currents, winds and atmosphere. 

I was surprised to learn that these paintings were actually made on Photoshop as I thought that they were gouache paintings so I am quite impressed by the realistic textures she has achieved. I wouldn't have actively searched for 'digital art' as I didn't think it was 'my thing', but this may be something I could experiment with to add more texture and movement in my work.

Demidova's audience is very similar to my intended audience for this project. Her illustrations are aimed at children and exist within the context of children's books and children's magazines. She's also applied her characters and stories to animation.

How does she promote herself?

Olga Demidova is a Russian artist, but captions her artwork in both Russian and English language on social media, making her posts more globally accessible.

What is she inspired by?

She takes inspiration from the Russian landscapes she grew up in.

Her intention is to 'share a moment of happiness with her audience'.

STUDY TASK 2: Inspiring Illustrators (Puppet Story Books)

Living Story Books / Puppet Story Books

These are beautiful but also really weird. 'Puppet story books' or 'living story books' are books where all of the images are actually puppets set up in scenes with the text over the top... This could be one way of approaching children's illustration through 3D media.

They're quite dated and I'm not sure if modern children would find them appealing or just be freaked out by them.