BOOK ILLUSTRATION
- EXPAND
One of the diffi culties when illustrating a book is the
balance and interaction between the text and the
images. “The illustration should not just represent
what the words describe,” says Marie-Alice.
“It should go further than that, but not too far as
to become irrelevant. Ideally, they complete each
other, and take you even further into the story.”
It is important to avoid the trap of being too
literal with your interpretations of the text from
the start, without stemming so far into abstraction
as to make them nonsensical. Unusual reference
materials such as fabrics and magazine cuttings
can go some way to helping you achieve this, by
consideringtheleadingthemesofthetextoutof
theiroriginalcontext.
If thestoryis wellknownorhasalreadybeen
portrayedinfilmorbooks,findinga freshand
personalanglecanbeallthemorechallenging,but
don’tbeputoff.“Allthesecanbechallenging,but
that’swhatmakestheworkinterestingaswell,”
Marie-Aliceexplains.“Andtheyhelpyoutokeep
onlearningandimprovingwitheverynewproject.”
5. REPEAT
Unlike other forms of art, consistency is
important across a book illustration project.
“A few things are especially tricky,” says Marie-Alice
“Drawing the same character, a number of times, from
different angles, and with various expressions, all while
keeping its likeness is one.”
Overcome this challenge by testing your ideas and
characters in a series of thumbnails. These small
illustrations in pencil allow you to try lots of different ideas
quickly, repeating scenes while varying the composition
with each sketch by changing the lighting or point of view.
For Marie-Alice, if she reaches a brick wall, she will look
back to her annotations and references, which can be
anything from random images collected for the project,
to compositions saved from fi lms, art and illustrations.
“Sometimes the fi rst idea is the best,” she tells me.
“Other times it takes a lot of iterations to get the
composition right.”
After fi nalising her thumbnail designs for Howl’s Moving
Castle, Marie-Alice did a colour study to plan the fi nal
illustration before transferring the drawing onto
watercolour paper using a lightbox, stretching it on a
drawing board and leaving it to dry overnight. She began
painting the next day, starting with watercolour fi rst before
fi nishing with coloured pencils for details.
When piecing together your fi nal illustrations, play
around with your character design using quick thumbnail
drawings and adjusting the composition. Keep reimagining
until you fi nd something and combine with elements from
your favourite drawings to craft your fi nal image.
The deadline for entering the Book Illustration Competition
2020 is 17 January 2020. http://www.houseofi llustration.org.uk
BELOW The cover
design for Howl’s
Moving Castle
RIGHT Marie-Alice’s
illustrations on the
edition’s hardback
and slipcase
Artists & Illustrators 69