Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-01)

68 Artists&Illustrators

BOOK ILLUSTRATION

WhenillustratingHowl’sMovingCastle, Marie-Alice

soughtinspirationfromtheblack-and-whitedesignsof

HarryClarke,theearly20th-centuryIrishArts& Crafts

illustrator,whoseuseoftextureandstrongsilhouettesshe

feltwouldlenditselfnicelytohersubject.Thekeyhereis

nottocopyelementswholesale,butratherabsorbthese

keyinfluences.Marie-AliceincludedClarke’sworksinher

referencematerials,playingaroundwithsimilarstyles

untilinspirationstruckandherowndesignsdeveloped.

Don’tbeafraidtodrawuponthestylesandtechniques

ofotherartistsif youfindyourselfata creativestandstill.

If youhavea styleinmindforyourillustration,lookup

artistswhoworkina similarway.Thesecouldbeworking

artistsorOldMasters.Researchtheirtechniquesandsee

if certainelementscanbeincorporatedintoyourdesigns.

2. COLLECT
   Once Marie-Alice has fully absorbed
   herself in reading, she starts searching
   for visual reference materials to
   accompany her key words.
   “While I’m working on a specific
   project, everything I see or experience
   in my life becomes potential material
   or inspiration for that project,” she says.
   “For instance, I was waiting at the Post
   Office one day at the beginning of my
   collaboration with the Folio Society on
   Howl’s Moving Castle.
   I noticed the lady waiting in line in front
   of me and thought she would make
   a perfect Sophie [one of the main
   characters in the book]. Her facial
   expression, hairstyle and posture
   felt just right. Sometimes I find the
   characters that way, from direct
   references or ideas. It’s always a
   process though: playing with sketches, adding
   a bit of this, removing a bit of that.”
   To inspire your illustrations, spend a dayoutandabout
   with your text in mind. Be on the lookout foropportunities
   to gather reference materials. It might bea photograph
   or a sketch of a person or location, inspiringimagesfrom
   a magazine, even colour swatches or cutsoffabric–
   anything that feels of a piece with your takeonthetext.


3. RESEARCH
   Marie-Alice describes the characters she designedforher
   first illustration project, The Sword and theStone, asbeing
   “so full of life and mischief that they almostwanttojump
   on the page on their own”. Despite her obviousaffinityfor
   the medium, however, she isn’t above lookingtoothersfor
   ideas – and neither should you be.

ABOVE One of

Marie-Alice’s

illustrations for

Howl’s Moving

Castle

INSET, TOP LEFT

The original

sketch shows how

masking fluid was

used to reserve

the highlights

ILLUSTRATION © MARIE-ALICE HAREL 2019 FROM THE FOLIO SOCIETY EDITION OF

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE