I found this article by Gabrielle Emanuel talking about cultural differences that change the meaning of stories and illustrations. Simple things like references to plants and animals that are not native to the culture can have unintended effects on the audience. She talks about children in mali not knowing whether blueberries or bears where real or just existed in fantasy. Perhaps more importantly ideas of what is appropriate change massively and it is important to understand the beliefs and moral codes of different cultures, for example in West Africa knees are considered to be a private part of the body and should be covered up.
"Why is she showing her knees? Everyone in this West African country knows knees are a private body part. We fixed the illustrations.
But, of course, these children's books weren't written with any of Mali's millions of children in mind."
While in Mali Gabrielle Emanuel decided they needed a children's book that was familiar to them. She wrote a story based on photographs she took and illustrations she made by tracing the photos. A year later when she was back in America she was introduced to E B Lewis, an award winning illustrator who was going to illustrate her book. He taught her a lot about illustration and the connection between writer and illustrator.
Both E B Lewis' quotes and the conclusions Gabrielle Emanuel draws from her interactions with him are both informative and inspiring. E B Lewis' understanding of his role in the storytelling process and the importance of that role are demonstrated by the way he talks about his work.
"Almost as soon as I scooted into the booth, he told me there was one theme that connected all the books he illustrates, "and it's emotion."
Enter E.B. Lewis.
"His arrival promptly ripped apart my long-held perception that a book's illustrations and words were nearly inseparable. I'd always imagined they were born together or, at least, in close collaboration.
With a chuckle, Lewis set me straight: "I don't think about the author at all. They had their opportunity to play in their sandbox, and now this is my turn to play."
"Immediately, I noticed that he spoke as an author as much as an artist.
He talked about "writing" the images. He said he spends time thinking about the punctuation in his paintings. A comma is an element that gives the child's eyes a little visual break. An exclamation mark helps indicate the drama of the scene. Lewis talked about this in a matter-of-fact manner: "This visual language is actually a language, and I don't look at it as illustration."
It made me realize that a picture book is a story told in two languages: one that kids are learning, and the other that they're fluent in."
"First, color contrast. "Look at this one where she's pounding millet," he said, pulling out our book. The page is full of greens and oranges. "Then you turn the page and you go to these blues. So blue and orange are a direct contrast." This is almost like varying the inflection in your voice as you read aloud."
"In addition to learning what Lewis is doing, I also learned what he wasn't not doing.
He was not repeating the text. "That's already told. Why would I tell it again?" He flips to the last page of our story. The illustration is a panoramic view of a village at dusk. Everything feels quiet. Lewis admitted, "The text doesn't suggest any of that."
"Also, "you can never compete with a child's imagination," Lewis said. "Their imagination is going to be far greater than anything you can ever paint." This often means not depicting the most fundamental parts of a story.
As I listened to Lewis, I started to realize that we were both tiptoeing along a balance beam, trying to figure out just how much to give kids in order to inspire their own confidence. Confidence to trust their imagination. Confidence to see the written word as theirs to own."
I love this article, the dialogue between them, the planning of the book and the analysis of the theories she was being introduced to. The idea of not repeating the text is really important, I always try to show emotion through the characters in my work, to use the characters to add to the text not just act out what has already been said but I think it is something I should think about more, try to keep it in mind through the entire process of illustrating a narrative. I think it is important to concentrate on the subtleties of the story, trying to suggest ideas to the audience. I want to create illustrations that bring the viewers into the process, to create a connection between the narrative and the imagination. As E B Lewis says, "you can never compete with a child's imagination," I want my illustrations to be the starting point of a process, to engage with peoples imaginations.
"Why is she showing her knees? Everyone in this West African country knows knees are a private body part. We fixed the illustrations.
But, of course, these children's books weren't written with any of Mali's millions of children in mind."
While in Mali Gabrielle Emanuel decided they needed a children's book that was familiar to them. She wrote a story based on photographs she took and illustrations she made by tracing the photos. A year later when she was back in America she was introduced to E B Lewis, an award winning illustrator who was going to illustrate her book. He taught her a lot about illustration and the connection between writer and illustrator.
Both E B Lewis' quotes and the conclusions Gabrielle Emanuel draws from her interactions with him are both informative and inspiring. E B Lewis' understanding of his role in the storytelling process and the importance of that role are demonstrated by the way he talks about his work.
"Almost as soon as I scooted into the booth, he told me there was one theme that connected all the books he illustrates, "and it's emotion."
Enter E.B. Lewis.
"His arrival promptly ripped apart my long-held perception that a book's illustrations and words were nearly inseparable. I'd always imagined they were born together or, at least, in close collaboration.
With a chuckle, Lewis set me straight: "I don't think about the author at all. They had their opportunity to play in their sandbox, and now this is my turn to play."
"Immediately, I noticed that he spoke as an author as much as an artist.
He talked about "writing" the images. He said he spends time thinking about the punctuation in his paintings. A comma is an element that gives the child's eyes a little visual break. An exclamation mark helps indicate the drama of the scene. Lewis talked about this in a matter-of-fact manner: "This visual language is actually a language, and I don't look at it as illustration."
It made me realize that a picture book is a story told in two languages: one that kids are learning, and the other that they're fluent in."
"First, color contrast. "Look at this one where she's pounding millet," he said, pulling out our book. The page is full of greens and oranges. "Then you turn the page and you go to these blues. So blue and orange are a direct contrast." This is almost like varying the inflection in your voice as you read aloud."
"In addition to learning what Lewis is doing, I also learned what he wasn't not doing.
He was not repeating the text. "That's already told. Why would I tell it again?" He flips to the last page of our story. The illustration is a panoramic view of a village at dusk. Everything feels quiet. Lewis admitted, "The text doesn't suggest any of that."
"Also, "you can never compete with a child's imagination," Lewis said. "Their imagination is going to be far greater than anything you can ever paint." This often means not depicting the most fundamental parts of a story.
As I listened to Lewis, I started to realize that we were both tiptoeing along a balance beam, trying to figure out just how much to give kids in order to inspire their own confidence. Confidence to trust their imagination. Confidence to see the written word as theirs to own."
I love this article, the dialogue between them, the planning of the book and the analysis of the theories she was being introduced to. The idea of not repeating the text is really important, I always try to show emotion through the characters in my work, to use the characters to add to the text not just act out what has already been said but I think it is something I should think about more, try to keep it in mind through the entire process of illustrating a narrative. I think it is important to concentrate on the subtleties of the story, trying to suggest ideas to the audience. I want to create illustrations that bring the viewers into the process, to create a connection between the narrative and the imagination. As E B Lewis says, "you can never compete with a child's imagination," I want my illustrations to be the starting point of a process, to engage with peoples imaginations.
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