Tuesday, November 3, 2015

BOOKPLATE

Occasionally I am offered a small, non-book illustration job. This memorial bookplate was one of those small jobs, and as always, I enjoyed the change of pace and the creative freedom that it gave me. The only restrictions I was given were the dimensions of the bookplate, and the text that was to be included.
Initially I came up with this very rough composition. The blue line indicates the outside dimensions of the plate. My sketches, if left to their own devices, would always be very rough---even sloppy, by today's standards. I never like to get very detailed in a sketch. For me, laboring over a sketch and filling in all the details at that stage takes away from the spontaneity and liveliness of the finished art. It's hard to believe this now, but many years earlier in my career, I sometimes did not even send sketches to an editor before going ahead with finished art. Publishing has changed dramatically since those days! At any rate, I knew that my finished bookplate art would be much more refined than my sketch...
...but my client was not as comfortable. So I made a new sketch, very clear, defined, detailed. (Again, by my standards. Many artists make sketches that are far more detailed and finished than mine.) I felt there was too much empty, unused space around the children's legs in the first sketch---a little boring. So I made the dog larger and sat him on the floor instead of on the bench; and I added the two mice. In the old days, these are changes that I would have made as I was preparing my work surface and laying out the composition in pencil, in preparation for painting and inking; the only difference then was that I would not have created an additional, separate sketch. And the refinements would have happened as I was actually inking. To me, that is the joy of creating. If I have worked out every detail ahead of time, then the inking and painting are, for me, simply copying, not creating. 

So my client was now comfortable with the sketch...
...and I could proceed with the finished art. I did not end up hand-lettering the text, as I had suggested. Instead it was added as type by the client. Again, in this day and age, the hand-lettering was probably just too "hand-made" in its appearance. Bookplate---a very satisfying job for me, and a nice change from book illustration.

13 comments:

  1. love it--something of yours I've never seen! Cathy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Cathy! Yes, it's interesting what one finds when cleaning one's studio!

      Delete
  2. and a lovely way of honoring the memory of someone. what a treat it will be for those who open a book and find such a warm and welcoming book plate.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely, Wendy. It's wonderful to be part of the process and to see the final result. And how great that the book and its story are so compelling that the animals want to listen, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wendy, it is exquisite! Lovely light.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Replies
    1. I did not realize that a simple bookplate would generate so many lovely comments. Thank you, Savannah!

      Delete
  6. How neat to see the bookplate in progress! I love the light and all the colors, too, Wendy! Well done! Isn't it fun to create a miniature work of art that stands on its own like that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is fun. And for a one-of-a-kind piece, like this, there's no need to think about continuity from piece to piece, as there is in book illustration. So that's very freeing.

      Delete
  7. How very charming. What a creative way to honor a person's life. I totally enjoyed reading about the process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really is a nice way to honor a person's life. The bookplate accompanied a sum of money to the library in question so that they could purchase books to add to their collection.

      Delete