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The promise of a great story to come
Children's book illustrations at Brandywine
Marilyn MacGregor
Children's book illustrations are one of the wonders of the artistic world. In league with a good story, a beautiful illustration is, in fact, designed to be just that: a world where a child wanders freely, exploring color, fact and image as she soaks up meaning and truth.
The best illustrators show enough to fill out the story, adding details and ideas that complement the meaning without misdirecting the child, and prompting the child's imagination to play an active part. It's a tricky, labor-intensive job; a great children's book illustration, like a great children's story, is something of a miracle.
"Drawing from a Story," currently at the Brandywine River Museum, provides an opportunity to see some of the outstanding work of the genre. The Caldecott Medal, named for Randolph Caldecott, an English illustrator who helped set the standards for visual storytelling for children in the Victorian Age, has been awarded since 1937. Your childhood favorites, along with those of today's children, are somewhere on the list: Robert McCloskey's' Make Way for Ducklings (1942), Barbara Cooney's Ox-Cart Man (1980), Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express (1986), David Weisner's Tuesday (1992), and many more.
Watching a butterfly emerge
It's not often that children's illustrations can be seen as they are in this exhibit"“ as individual works of art, rather than one in a series of printed images. In several cases, including Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (1964), a preparatory drawing is on view; studying it and then seeing the finished work is like watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon.
The litho crayon drawings from Make Way for Ducklings are a treat; if you've ever read this charming story, you'll instantly feel that same warm rush you felt upon seeing big burly Michael, the Boston policeman, with the Mallard family.
Leo and Diane Dillon, winners of two consecutive Caldecott medals for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1976) and Ashanti to Zulu (1977), are represented by several of their richly complex and sophisticated illustrations.
Technology changes styles
Each illustration in the exhibit is an opportunity for close observation of technique and detail, but the show also offers a chance to see how styles and technology keep evolving, just as they do in any art. Techniques have become more and more inventive over the years as the means to print color and nuance of line and detail has advanced.
Last year's winner was Beth Krommes, whose intricate illustrations for The House in the Night possess the bright, fresh definition of a high-resolution computer image but are actually rendered with the ancient technique of scratchboard. The 2010 Caldecott went to Jerry Pinkney for a new wordless telling of the Aesop's Fable, The Lion and the Mouse; it's a long-overdue first prize for one of our greatest contemporary illustrators. The cover illustration in bright tones of gold is a tour de force, a front-on close-up of the most glorious, majestic, king-of-the beasts lion you could ever imagine, except for the eloquent play of trepidation across his broad face. Humor, complexity, emotion, wisdom, beauty, the promise of a great story to come"“ this particular illustration makes a great metaphor for children's illustration in general.
You can recognize a Caldecott winner by the bright gold seal on the cover of the book. It's always worth taking a look inside.
The best illustrators show enough to fill out the story, adding details and ideas that complement the meaning without misdirecting the child, and prompting the child's imagination to play an active part. It's a tricky, labor-intensive job; a great children's book illustration, like a great children's story, is something of a miracle.
"Drawing from a Story," currently at the Brandywine River Museum, provides an opportunity to see some of the outstanding work of the genre. The Caldecott Medal, named for Randolph Caldecott, an English illustrator who helped set the standards for visual storytelling for children in the Victorian Age, has been awarded since 1937. Your childhood favorites, along with those of today's children, are somewhere on the list: Robert McCloskey's' Make Way for Ducklings (1942), Barbara Cooney's Ox-Cart Man (1980), Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express (1986), David Weisner's Tuesday (1992), and many more.
Watching a butterfly emerge
It's not often that children's illustrations can be seen as they are in this exhibit"“ as individual works of art, rather than one in a series of printed images. In several cases, including Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (1964), a preparatory drawing is on view; studying it and then seeing the finished work is like watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon.
The litho crayon drawings from Make Way for Ducklings are a treat; if you've ever read this charming story, you'll instantly feel that same warm rush you felt upon seeing big burly Michael, the Boston policeman, with the Mallard family.
Leo and Diane Dillon, winners of two consecutive Caldecott medals for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1976) and Ashanti to Zulu (1977), are represented by several of their richly complex and sophisticated illustrations.
Technology changes styles
Each illustration in the exhibit is an opportunity for close observation of technique and detail, but the show also offers a chance to see how styles and technology keep evolving, just as they do in any art. Techniques have become more and more inventive over the years as the means to print color and nuance of line and detail has advanced.
Last year's winner was Beth Krommes, whose intricate illustrations for The House in the Night possess the bright, fresh definition of a high-resolution computer image but are actually rendered with the ancient technique of scratchboard. The 2010 Caldecott went to Jerry Pinkney for a new wordless telling of the Aesop's Fable, The Lion and the Mouse; it's a long-overdue first prize for one of our greatest contemporary illustrators. The cover illustration in bright tones of gold is a tour de force, a front-on close-up of the most glorious, majestic, king-of-the beasts lion you could ever imagine, except for the eloquent play of trepidation across his broad face. Humor, complexity, emotion, wisdom, beauty, the promise of a great story to come"“ this particular illustration makes a great metaphor for children's illustration in general.
You can recognize a Caldecott winner by the bright gold seal on the cover of the book. It's always worth taking a look inside.
What, When, Where
“Drawing from a Story: Illustrations from Selected Caldecott Winners.†Through May 23, 2010 at Brandywine River Museum, U.S. 1, Chadds Ford, Pa. 610-388-2700 or www.brandywinemuseum.org.
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