Identifying Tools and Materials

I decided to look at various illustrators who use Collage in its many forms. There is photo collage, paper, tissue, background collage, digital collage.... etc etc. Part of the reason for this choice was that I would like a bit more textural depth in my images and this might be a way of developing it. I discovered a vast range of techniques - some of which I have dabbled in, but it left me inspired to try all sorts of  new things.

From Amelia's Anthology Pikaland

Lesley Barnes - series of cards

I was most impressed with the intricate work of Lesley Barnes (above). It's all about style. Her figures are very cold - although there is a sort of fairytale nightmare feeling to her work. From reading about her, it seems that she uses tissue and acetate - cuts and scans and then puts it all together digitally. Her beautiful animation Herzog and the Monsters will stay with me for a very long time. It's technically brilliant. I would love to create something like that - maybe one day!

Lesley Barnes Firebird

Alicia Buelow

This combines photography, drawing text and demostrates how you can manipulte drawings by using all the available tools in the computer.

Alice Feagan - kids and cobblestones

This is the exact opposite, it's paper cut - traditional collage.

Amy Wasseman - Postcard

This Amy Wasseman postcard combines textures and photography to create a disturbing landscape with a dollop of the surreal about it.

And then there is Lauren Child who combines drawing and photography and uses the computer to collage it all together to create her very distinctive picture books. 

She has branched out into other forms recently with a wallpaper range for Liberty

Wall paper design by Lauren Child

This image was done by Child for the Dulwich Picture Gallery - it is a self portrait and demonstrates the key aspects of her personality - I like the tree and the use of text. She has a very light way of using text which absolutely complements her images and the stories she is trying to tell.

 Then there is Eric Carle who hand colours layers of tissue paper and then cuts then up to create his collages.

 Dave McKean - has to be one of my favourite illustrators using an incredible range of skills in his illustrations. I love 'The Savage'

Wolves in the walls uses great painting techniques combined with photo collage - again the dark mood is  invoked with use of distortion of the wolves faces and the unsettling perspective on the wallpaper - you can look inside Wolves in the Walls and Savage. His sombre colour choices add to the mood and the textural use of paint and collage and text give a rich depth to his illustrations. (I must remember 'Varjak Paw' for later in the course when we distort a cat or dog!) 

Also I really admire the work Of Joel Stewart, particularly a book which my children have - 'Tales of Christian Anderson'

In it he has used collage, bits of different textured paper combined with pastels and ink and put them all together in the computer. He displays many different styles within this book although they hang together  to create scenes in a sort of Victorian Puppet theatre.

He also (on another note uses lovely little carbon paper monoprints - which I must try!)

THERE ARE MORE ILLUSTRATORS IN MY LOG BOOK!