The beginning: history of Illustration

The history of illustration. Each of the 6 artists listed gave me pause for thought. Although their work is what would be now called ‘outdated’ they all had serious talent and excelled in what they were creating at the time. Its hard to choose one for comparison as each has its own beauty.

Edward Bawden is probably the one I would choose for my comparative as I think his work is ageless. As a printmaker he reduced his line to basics for the linocuts and lithographs, a style that is still utilized today. Even the paintings he did during his years as a war illustrator were very contemporary. 

Edward Ardizonne 1900 - 1970 was an illustrator who portrayed day to day events in London. Another war artist, he then moved on to illustrate children's books. Although very talented I find his work very old fashioned, loose pen and ink work with watercolour washes.

Kathleen Hale 1898 – 2000 Illustration and author of childrens books, particularly ‘Orlando the Marmalade Cat” were what made her famous, but she produced some beautiful lino cuts and paintings as well. The illustrations were to ‘cutesy’ for my liking.

John Minton

John Minton 1917-1957. A prolific artist during his short lifetime, he was a painter, illustrator, muralist and designer of props and costumes for the theatre. His work seems quite dark to me. Perhaps it was his state of mind which was coming through his paintings, but one poster I really like was done for London Tansport. Full of life and movement.

Eric Ravilious 1903 -1942.  Another artist I admire. Best known as a muralist, wood engraver and watercolourist, his work is really outstanding. He seems to be able to make light glow in his landscape paintings. But, not my first choice as it all seems dated.

EH Shepard. Winnie the Pooh and other childrens books were his forte although he was a cartoonist with Punch for 24 years before he became famous. I can't say I like this type of illustration. To cutesy.

Contemporary Artists:

There are thousands of illustrators, each with incredible talent. So do I choose someone famous or someone I admire? No choice really. I have been following the work of Kenn Brown since he went to OCA in Toronto with my daughter back in the ‘80s. Kenn and his partner Chris Wren work together to create incredible illustrations Their work is described as digital, but they also work with oils and acrylics with amazing effect. Ken doesn’t illustrate kids books, but his cyber illustrations would excite any youngster.

The image at the right is an outtake for an assignment on advancement in technology to end disability

So now I need to draw an illustration in the same style as my two chosen artists: