BOOK ILLUSTRATION
I
llustratinga bookmayseema far-fetchedambition
formostofus,yetopportunitiessuchasTheHouse
ofIllustration’sBookIllustrationCompetitionmean
anythingis possible.Eachyear,theopencompetition
challengesartistsacrosstheglobetoimagine,invent
andcreatecharactersandscenesfroma particular
workoffiction.Foritsninthyear,entrantsareinvited
toillustrateLovePoems, selectedandeditedbyImtiaz
Dharker,andcompetefora £5,000cashprizeandthe
opportunitytoillustratea neweditionofthebookto
bepublishedbyTheFolioSociety.
Illustratingfictionis a fantasticwaytoexerciseyour
artisticpractice,bychallengingyoutocapturea scene
dictatedbysomeoneelse,ratherthanoneborneofyour
ownmind’seye.Previouswinnersofthecompetitionhave
workedonneweditionsofclassicbooksincludingAldousHuxley’sBraveNewWorldandJaneAusten’sMansfield
Park, whileMichaelMorpurgowasa judgeforthe 2016
competitionwhentheprizewasa chancetoillustratethe
author’sownclassicnovel,WarHorse.
LastyearsawFrenchartistMarie-AliceHarelcrowned
thewinnerandherprizeincludeda commissionto
illustratethe 1986 novelHowl’sMovingCastlebyDiana
WynneJones.Tocelebratethelaunchofthisyear’s
competition,Marie-Alicesharesherfivetoptipsfor
reimaginingtalesfromthepast.1.READ
It mightsoundobvious,butforMarie-Alicethemostvital
firststepwhenillustratinga bookis reading.Having
undertakena five-yearcourseinFluidMechanicsand
Hydraulics,researchis aninbuiltskillfortheengineer-
turned-artist,whofirstbeganto
drawcreativelyduringherstudies.
“I hada fewmonthsof
unemploymentbetweenmyPhDand
post-doc,duringwhichtimeI went
tolifedrawingclassesasoftenas
I could,”shesays.“Thistaughtmea
lotanddeepenedmyinterestinart
andillustration.SincethenI’vebeen
avidlylearningfrombooks,museums
andblogs,aswellasfromthework
ofotherartists.”
Thekey,accordingtothe
Edinburgh-basedartist,is tobecomeanactivereader.“I rememberreading
TheSwordintheStoneby
THWhiteasI wastakinganevening
illustrationclassin2013.
“I lovedthecharacterofMerlin
inthebookandstartedtodrawhim
andmomentsfromthestory.I had
somuchfundoingthosesketches
andillustrations.”
Whenreadinga workoffictionthat
youwanttoillustrate,trytopickout
keywordsorphrasesthatstandout
orspeaktoyou.Eitherunderline
them,writethemdownseparatelyin
yoursketchbook,orhighlightthem
withPost-itnotes.Thesewillactas
valuablepointsofreferencewhen
youfinallyputpenciltopaper.Pick out key words
or phrases that stand
out or speak to you
BELOW If parts of
a drawing need
reworking, Marie-
Alice often lays bits
of paper over the
areas required
OPPOSITE PAGE
One of Marie-
Alice’s illustrations
for Howl’s Moving
Castle
Artists & Illustrators 67