House of Illustration Illustrators' Fair: Notes from a Newbie

Heather Chapman gives us an inside look to the House of Illustration's inaugural Illustrators' Fair that took place Sunday 22nd June in London.



As many of you may have heard the House of Illustration have a new home and although it's not completely finished, they've wasted no time celebrating with numerous housewarming events‚ the inaugural Illustrators' Fair being one.

I was lucky enough to be allowed a stand at the fair as an emerging illustrator‚ alongside established illustrators and organisations like the Association of Illustrators and, naturally, our very own SCBWI stand with Anne-Marie Perks. You can imagine my excitement (and relief) when I discovered the SCBWI stand was just behind mine! We were the perfect SCBWI Illustrator tag team with double the postcards to hand out.

The atmosphere was buzzing from the early hours of the day. Each stand was given an arrival time of two hours before the 11am kick-off. The stands were built and ready for us upon arrival, with our backboards in place and table set out in front ready to be covered with goodies. Nestled beneath historic railway warehouses, we were sheltered from any rain but still had the sun shining through the partial glass roof. And was it shining.

Heather's fair stall - A shot of Heather's stand lucky enough to get the sun.

 There was a brilliant display of diversity amongst the stands with illustrators from every walk of genre, theme and background, children, (yay!), graphics, greeting card, fashion and character. I'm pleased to say our SCBWI presence was greeted with enthusiasm. Whilst I was putting on my best saleswoman charm to recruit, Anne-Marie Perks was running out of SCBWI BI postcards and needed to replenish from the ones on my stand more than a few times. In fact, the SCBWI stand was so busy with admirers that I couldn't even get a picture of it!

SCBWI stand image courtesy of Anne-Marie Perks

The fair ran from 11am till 6pm and was filled with not only an impressive display of over 100 illustrators but also a diverse range of workshops, talks and activities for children. More importantly, there were balloons (and balloons popping explosively on occasion)!

 Workshops on the go for children.

A reportage illustration showing the view from Heather's stand.

There was plenty of time to chat with fellow illustrators, network, make new friends and get advice on how to succeed at (aka survive) having a stand at a fair. Although my method of spreading everything across the table and using a toast rack for postcards wasn't too bad, I took notes from the experts around me:

1)    You gotta make it look good: mounts and frames help your prints stand out, and lovely little cotton bags with your characters on them are always a favourite.
2)    Make sure it's easy for people to look through your work: a print display rack is perfect for allowing anyone to flip through prints easily. A basket stuffed with greeting cards is not so easy to flip through.

Another reportage illustration show how not to pack greeting cards into a basket!

3)    Be ready to sell: as unnatural as it sounds for many of us modest members, try to encourage people to keep looking and never let them leave without a business card (or a positive experience of you!)
4)    Love your neighbour, they will watch your stall when you need the loo
5)    Have fun.

Don't forget to read Anne-Marie's brilliant write up of the day from the SCBWI stall on her blog at biglittletale.tumblr.com!

Happy illustrating.
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Heather Chapman is an emerging illustrator and SCBWI member.
See her work at chapman-illustration.co.uk
Twitter: @HAC_illustrated

Quentin who? One illustrator’s late-in-life discovery of the great Quentin Blake

From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Can you imagine going through life and not knowing who Quentin Blake or Roald Dahl is? SCBWI BI member Heather Chapman recalls her discovery of illustrator Quentin Blake at the ripe age of 32 and shares what she’s learned from studying Blake’s work.






“Quentin Blake”
   
“Who?”
   
“Q-u-e-n-t-i-n B-l-a-k-e . . . He illustrates all of Roald Dahl’s books.”
   
“Who’s Roald Dahl?”

It was at that point the person I was speaking with rolled their eyes, walked over to their bookcase, and came back with Matilda.

“Oooooooh I love that film! I didn’t know it was a kid’s book.”

Shame on me, I know. I confess the horror of the situation.

How could an aspiring children’s illustrator not know the work, or even the name of Quentin Blake! It’s not that my mother deprived me of books growing up. She didn’t. Growing up in America, my room was littered with well-worn editions of Dr. Seuss, Babar the Elephant, The Berenstein Bears, Curious George and many more. It was a brilliant selection by anyone’s standards but, sadly, Dahl and Blake never made the cut.

Quentin Blake returned me to a child-like excitement - an “ecstasy of being”

I began flipping through Matilda and other works by Blake and I admit I was confused. Colours strayed outside the line, characters were scratchy ‘things’ thrown across the page and scenes resembled a nasty accident with several bottles of ink. How is this the work of such a great children’s illustrator? I can only blame the art student in me - trapped in anatomical proportions and sophisticated scenery.

Matilda written by Roald Dahl

Not to be overly dismissive, I took a closer look. And another, and another, and another…

Ah. I see.

Movement, action, expression, colour, voice, and style… the list was endless and I fell in love with the playful colours, individual characters and imaginative scenes. Quentin Blake returned me to a child-like excitement  - an “ecstasy of being”.

A scene from Patrick by Quentin Blake

 After this initial discovery of Quentin Blake’s illustrations I began to study his work as a student studies the work of masters, and to see him not as a god in the world of children’s books (which he is) but as an illustrator plain and simple. One who started illustrating for Punch magazine then spent the next 50+ years learning, adapting, succeeding, doubting, discovering. As we all do.

Words and Pictures ©2013 cover by Quentin Blake

Last week I purchased Blake’s Words and Pictures and of all the reference books I have lying about my house, this is the best. Filled with anecdotes, experiences and words of advice perfectly wrapped within a single cover, it describes perfectly how us illustrators should approach our work – heck, our life.

What have I learned from discovering Quentin Blake? Relax and be yourself - this is fun. I’ve changed my style by closing my eyes and taking a pen to the page. Honest. And it was some of the best work

I leave you with my favourite quotes of wisdom from Words and Pictures :

So that’s how it’s done: “…that mime element which is an important part of illustration, as I understand it – of telling the story by acting it.”

On illustrating for its own sake: “…curiously enough, if you are more relaxed you can concentrate better, you are able to focus your mind on exactly what is happening in front of you, the scene you are imagining in your mind and living through the pen you are holding in your hands.”

Figure drawing classes are good: “Extending my range made me all the more conscious of my lack of experience of life drawing – I just didn’t have the knowledge to draw the things I needed to draw.”

Painting in oil from the 1950’s (taken from Words and Pictures)

Even Quentin Blake self-doubts: “…nothing seems right [and] you wonder if you have finally lost whatever grasp you had of drawing ability.”

On selection of scene:

“…the accuracy and idiosyncrasy of gesture and posture… noting and savouring what is not said in the words.”

“…less a collection of verses to be illustrated than a collection of activities looking for words.”

“The writer and the artist are not always trying to do exactly the same thing.”

Finding your style is down to: “…who you are and how you see things.”

All images © Quentin Blake
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Heather Chapman is an emerging illustrator and SCBWI member.
See her work at chapman-illustration.co.uk
Twitter: @HAC_illustrated

Children's Books and Medieval IIlumination

@HAC_illustrated

As an illustrator and medieval historian (or so my university degree claims) I love all things pictorial and historic. So what better way to make my debut as an SCBWI illustration feature writer than to talk bout the brilliance of medieval illuminated manuscripts. From new contributor Heather Chapman





Some of you may be thinking, ‘A history lesson? Oh how dreary.’ But au contraire, mon cheri! If ever there was an object to make you feel inspired, to teach you a new technique or to lead you towards discovering your next character, illuminated manuscripts are it.

Our illustration ancestors may have been grumpy monks but above all they were marvellous storytellers who knew how to work colour, imagery and page layout to best entertain, educate and delight their audience. From scientific manuals and stellar explorations, to battling beasts and daring knights – including quite a few brave, giant snails in armour – illuminated manuscripts are a valuable resource for us picture book illustrators and writers.

For centuries, our illuminating ancestors have influenced the works of some of the best known and most loved book characters. Usborne's Illustrated Stories for Bedtime series with their gentle, sleepy feel beasts, resemble 14th century illuminations that explore the constellations. Bright yet soft colours are given energy with hints of gold flecks in the stars above and in the fur of the animals that shape those stars. There is a sense of movement using pen and ink or wispy brush strokes where fur ruffles and winds blow in the skies. In both cases, the animals are gentle and inviting because they are what we relate to.   
 

The Wind in the Willows is perhaps the most well-known children’s story that, like many illuminated manuscripts, is built around anthropomorphic animal characters. As writers, we should explore the popular medieval qualities saturated throughout the story. The setting, in a pastoral version of England, combines with a mixture of mysticism, morality and adventure driving plot. As illustrators, we should examine the similarity between E. H. Shepard’s playful sketches and the eccentric animal characters that play on the pages of illuminated manuscripts. The 13th century seemed fond of anthropomorphic dogs, cats, rabbits and snails!   

Even more bizarre than the characters of The Wind in the Willows are those from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. A tale of a girl named Alice who, after chasing a gentlemanly looking hare, falls down the rabbit hole into a world populated by peculiar anthropomorphic creatures. Sound familiar? A playful logic intertwines with the narrative structure and the illustrations by John Tenniel create a perfect reflection of the imagery we see in illuminated manuscript decorations. Humans with abnormally – and humorously - elongated body parts who interact with animated animals.  

Lion playing the violin in the Breviary of Renaud de Bar, France, 1302-1303

There are countless examples I could give but there is a word limit! I’ll end with one of my personal favourites that centres around a theme I wrote my dissertation on - Death. It’s not what you think. When the big bad plague was sweeping across medieval England, manuscripts soon shifted focus away from animals and towards the figure of Death as a welcome friend. The purpose was to make readers feel comfort in their final hours by portraying Death as a guide who would lead one on to the next space.

Duck, Death and the Tulip is a lovely modern day picture book by Wolf Erlbruch that draws on medieval manuscripts to deliver an important - and difficult - message.  In this story, a duck strikes up an unlikely but touching friendship with Death who stays close by the duck to the end. I won’t ruin the elegance and beauty of the story by trying to summarise it here but as the pictures will show, medieval manuscripts can be a splendid resource for inspiration and entertainment. 

       
Visit your local library for books on illuminated manuscripts or check out the British Library. If you aren’t able to visit in person, they have an astounding online catalogue.

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Heather Chapman is a freelance illustrator and medieval enthusiast.