My present...

My birthday present to myself this year was a book I've been wanting to get for a little while. I'm sure that many of you in the illustration world have already seen it, but I was happy to finally be able to pick up a copy. It's "Play Pen" by Martin Salisbury.

I really enjoyed his earlier book on the craft and business of illustration. This one profiles the work of several contemporary illustrators. Most of the artists are from various countries in Europe with a few from Asian countries, the Americas, Australia, and Iran.

I haven't read all the profiles yet, but I've flipped through all of the illustrations (I'm a visual person after all). I'm particularly interested in the fact that much of the work shown is influenced by the different places and cultural histories that the artist was raised in and, therefore, are different from what I'm used to.

That said, while browsing it did appear that many of the artists shown had styles and/or color palettes that were quite similar to each other. You'd think in a world full of creative people, a little more variety might be represented. A couple even had me scratching my head, wondering how they made the cut. Perhaps I will better understand their selection once I've read about them.

But, of course, art is subjective. And, if I ever write a book like this, then I'm sure my choices would show my own personal bias. Still, I'm delighted - and inspired - by the majority of the work shown in this book.

The Style "Trap"

I used to think in terms of trying to work towards a particular style, to build something that was uniquely ‘me.’ When I was in school, I wanted to be perceived as fresh, new, or cutting-edge. Well, we now know how that turned out. But now, a couple of things have turned my thinking around (actually many things, but I’ll only focus on 2 incidences here).

For the first, I have to refer back to Paul O. Zelinsky again – the subject of my very first blog post. If you look at his work, he offers a wide variety of styles. The November ’07 issue of The Artist’s Magazine states:

“What’s interesting about Zelinsky’s work is that the tone of his work changes in response to the demands of the text.”

This makes perfect sense to me. Each story to be illustrated will have its own unique personality to be considered based on its characters, setting, overall mood, and intended audience. Zelinsky does everything from lighthearted and childlike images to work reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance.

About his approach, he says:

“My preferred way of working is to start with a manuscript and try to imagine what the ideal art should look like for that particular voice, that particular world. Then I see if I can figure out how to make pictures in something like that style.”

There are some artists who, I think, limit themselves by developing a strong individual style and not straying far from it. It becomes their signature way of working, but they face being type-cast. My goal is to try NOT to pigeon-hole myself.

The other revelation I had on this issue came from Martin Salisbury in his book Illustrating Children’s Books. He states (italics are mine):

“Style is a word that other people use when talking about your work. If drawing is to develop naturally and with integrity, it is vital that you do not consciously pursue a ‘style.’ The process of working honestly, and with passion for your subject matter, will allow your work to evolve and develop its own identity.”