The Folk Artist as Authorial Illustrator

As I work through the process of interpreting the poems by Ted Hughes it occurs to me that in some way I am interpreting a modern myth or recreated folk legend, if possible. These poems, especially the Crow collection, are written as creation stories which could be classed one of the oldest form of poems, almost biblical.

In this way it has a connection with Folk Art much of which interprets something of the society or the stories found therein. I began searching around for references to folk art and how they interrupt cultural stories and more importantly how they handle the iconography of the story. By 'handle' I mean reproduce or visual interrupt but also the physical means by which they do it. I thought this might help to inform the process of illustrating Ted Hughes work.

I came across an Article in the Journal of illustration entitled 'Folk author: Collaborations between folk artist and publisher, a Tara Books case study', written by Rathna Ramanathan and published in 2014.

Working through this long article I found the following and again it took me back to the identity of the illustrator.

Initially I found the referred to folk art in the article was that of an Indian origin but I did not see this as a barrier to the actual process which was what I am ultimately interested in and I was sure I could draw parallels.

During the process of defining what 'Folk' is Ramanathan highlights a number of references to the fact that folk art cannot be "fully appreciated solely through a formal analysis but instead must be studied through its narrative, biography and folkoric contexts". I think this concept compounds my supposition that Folk art has a close relationship to illustration's narrative roots and that potentially could even be the origins of the first illustration, as a speculative statement.

The honesty of Folk art is also talked about and this also appeals to me as one of my goals. I am trying to be honest to the words of the poem, that I am illustrating, and hopefully the essence of the piece. Often what lies behind the folk art drawing or painting is something function or learned for the community to engage with. There is a public to publish to in a sense, a local population, hamlet, village or town group,  even if it is a record of the livestock or a story that an elder told. There is always potentially a social narrative or importance underlying the message of the work.

How do the ideas for their published books originate when they worked with these marginalise artists? They split it down into three categories:

1) The traditional starting point of a text

2) A conversation with one of the artists

3) Or the subject interests of a designer

Currently I work with the first of these and take the text and illustrate it, informing this with photography and my manipulation of scale and collection. But one that caught my eye is how they evolved the conversation with the artist and that their folk presence therefore more intensively informs the illustration. The artist in a sense is have a far stronger influence on the final publication.

One of the main forms of folk art cited is Gond art. The Gond belief is that viewing a good image brings good luck and traditionally themes are drawn from folk tales and Gond Mythology. This included fantastical imagery such as 'forest magic, the world of ghosts and spirits, birds and animals, the sun and the moon, man and woman'. Interestingly the process of creating Gond art is through putting down dots, very much like indigenous Australian art. Traditionally these were drawn on the walls of dwellings and used the earthy tones of white, ochre, brown, and black.

But these works were not meant to last, their materials degrade and the messages are often news worthy or temporary because of the surface they're applied to. This questions the role of the Folk Artist. Are they the Authorial Illustrator and is their work produced for the short term rather than something that is designed for longevity?

What I really draw from this is yet again the question of the identity of the illustrator and second the grounds or physical presence of the art and how this gives the work a deeply rooted identity in its surroundings.

Bibliography

RAMANATHAN, R. (2014) 'Folk author: Collaborations between folk artist and publisher, a Tara Books case study',  Journal of illustration. [Online] 1 (1) p123-149. Available from: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jill;jsessionid=1857qu791l8sb.victoria  [Accessed Oct/2015]

Tacita Dean's Alabaster Drawings

In my last post I talked about having a surface, upon which to illustrate, that was a prepared ground and so I have pursued examples of illustrations or drawings on prepared grounds. While reading Tacita Dean's book Analogue I found a series of drawings that she did on alabaster. These were dry point directly on to the burnished flat surfaces of alabaster stones which depicted detailed cloud forms or a marbled effect.

Dean was enthralled by the qualities of the material and the details of the surface began to guide her drawing;

                "All I could do was trace what was already there. And it became about mapping. Suddenly it looked like a desert map, because it had this colour to it and there were these deep black pools looking like oil, almost like an X-ray of the desert."

p22

When she scored into the stone it created white lines which she used to map the "landscapes contained within the alabaster". She listened to the radio as she worked and was influenced by the political events from 2002 as she worked, but the works are named after sleep and depth and time and suggests the hypnotic or therapeutic nature of the process.

Hypnos/Thanatos 1 (2003) dry point on Agatha alabaster 55x55cm

What's interesting here for me is the resulting mapping of the planes she discovered in this beautiful material and how the surface guided her. Having previously, in the drawing workshop (see last post), considered the construction of my own grounds, I found this natural and complex ground intriguing. Could it be possible to find a surface that was of nature or conceived of natural materials that related to the subject matter of the poems I was illustrating? Would I even need to seek the ground or would I simply stumble upon it if I exposed myself to trying to work on a range of credible surfaces?

The forming of the shapes in the alabaster was by a natural process over millions of years. Geographical upheaval had created this beautiful effect that Tacita Dean had then interrupted within her own systems, a process influenced by her subconscious eye and the stories of the moment. She saw images and relationships in the movement of the cloud like forms within the stone and put her interpretation of stories there. This was a drawing but yet potentially an illustration of a story found within the alabaster that could translate something of now.

Detail of Limn (2005) dry point on white transparent alabaster 61x61cm

The delicate nature of the dry point on the stone makes the drawing appear like silver threads or intricate contours. At times shafts of lightening cut the scenes and the desert background appears like a withered torso or the swelling of an orange thunderstorm as the drawing on the surface is cast in sharpened relief when you recognise the crispness of the mark. It's cinematic in nature, a drama that moves in and out of the eye's focus, which is not surprising as Dean chooses film often as her preferred medium. Here she seeks a narrative even though they may be unconventional.

These intriguing works yet again make me question the use as white or cream as a background. The richness and heritage of the effect is impressive and adds a cinematic tor de force to the work that draws the viewer into something majestic and entrancing. The question is though is this something that would work within the meaning and scope of the poetry I am illustrating?

Bibliography:

DEAN, T. (2006) Analogue: Films, Photographs, Drawings 1991-2006. Germany: Schaulager Steidl

 

Drawing Workshop and Conclusions

The drawing workshop run by Kerry Andrews on the 9th of December, at the University of Hertfordshire, which was titled "Drawing from the Ground Up" had a focus on working from a mid tone, a worked surface or prepared ground. Before the practical we looked at some ideas about drawing and especially the conception of the process.

Kerry talked about Alexander Cozens (1717–1786) and his "new method of assisting the invention in the composition of landscape". This was a starting point where Cozens talks about the use of prepared surfaces and translating something there within the marks. In a sense the start has already happened and that you then continue on top.

By having an image, texture or series of marks to work from something could be sought within the surface. Potentially the image would be unknown or there may be a gesture seen within the ground that gives direction. This could take the form of an 'atmosphere' something darker or lighter, intense of moving.

I used a series of brown vertical lines on a mid tone, washed with a diluted ink, as a back drop to the image of the crow. I had also scrunched up the paper and flattened it again to introduce a chaotic network of creases. Then I drew the crow's head in Indian ink and  highlighted it with white paint creating a greater range of contrasts and a 'lived in drama'. What I mean by this is the crow looks like it's in a three dimensional world, that something is going on behind it and that it potentially lives in a drama, which could be the poem I am illustrating.

The process it's self is contrasting to the style I have adopted so far where the images and icons I created are stark against the paper. Each aspect of the work has been driven by some part of the story. I took symbols from the poem and worked them up individually and then combined them. As can be seen here and aspects of the story are evident but does it give the feeling of the meaning behind the words or is it a literal translation of parts of the story to try and make a collective whole? Does the single image of the crow's head, drawn in the workshop with its distinctive background and use of paint, tell us more about the story of the poem? Which feels more like the poem? These are some of the things I need to consider as I move forward.

Some Useful Illustration Links - Part 1

I wanted to put together a series of links that I have found over the last few weeks for reference or for anybody wanting to find out about what is going on in the Illustration world.

This is a link to The House of Illustration which is a new space in near Kings Cross in London. This will have a range of exhibitions to visit.

http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/home

Illustration House in London

This link takes you to the World Illustration Award Catagory Winners and a good way of seeing some current and successful Illustrators. http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/home and the link for 2016 competition entry form is here: http://www.theaoi.com/awards/enter-info.php

The directory of Illustration is a comprehensive database of Illustrators and artists with loads of information: http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/home

The Association of Illustrators has many links and networks as well as the magazine Varoom which is one of the leading journals. http://www.theaoi.com/

The Journal of Illustration is one of the few Illustration focused publications and can be found here: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=233/

The Australian Association of Illustrators can be found here and is a country I am looking to forge connections with especially seeing I am interested in Aboriginal drawings: http://www.illustratorsaustralia.com/

Illustration web has a list of commercial illustrators and has a range of portfolios to browse: http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists

These are for my own reference and people interested in this area may find them handy.