16 Jun 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, books, Colour, Illustration, Inspiration
Tags: children's books, chinese, fold tale, Illustration, molly bang
Dont you just love an excuse to sort through your book collections? To be paging through old battered survivors of childhood, as well as look at new discoveries. For me, one such new discovery is “the Paper Crane ” by Molly Bang. This little book is perfect. I love the freshness of the storytelling, the sensitivity and beauty of the artwork, and the quiet joy it radiates.
What could be a more satisfying medium for this story than to tell it in pictures made up of folded and cut paper and collage? More
14 Jun 2008
by mashadutoit
in books
Tags: arthur ransome, children's books, Illustration
Why is it that so many books that are loved in childhood are forgotten when we are grown? Many marvelous stories which are classified as “children’s books” are magical at any age. Of course there are children’s books that are the literary equivalent of coloured sugar popcorn – to be devoured by children, but heartburn inducing in adults. No – I’m talking about books that can be read and re-read at any age, and always gives you something more. One such an author is Athur Ransome, well known for his “Swallows and Amazons” stories.
He is another author who illustrates his own books. More
06 Jun 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, books, Colour, Illustration
Tags: children's books, Errol le cain, Illustration, sleeping beauty
Isn’t it strange how some childhood moments stay with you so clearly, while most things fade into a half remembered muddle? It was just before Christmas, many years ago when I was just a little girl. My family were getting into the car to go home after a visit to the bookshop in Cape Town. My father was holding a brown paper packet. I tried to peep into it and caught a glimpse of two books, but my father whisked them away before I could get a proper look.
That packet re-appeared again under the Christmas tree, and contained Errol Le Cain’s Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. More
02 Jun 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, books, Illustration, Inspiration
Tags: drawing, Gormengast, gothic, Illustration, Mervyn Peake, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, writer_artist
Inevitably I have come to Mervyn Peake. Mervyn Peake! That name casts a shadow. Have you read Titus Groan, or Gormenghast? Did you realise he was well known as an illustrator for such classics as Alice in Wonderland, and Treasure Island?
If you have not read him yet, Mervyn Peake is the master of true, dark goth. His creations live below the page, he sculpts his characters and crosshatches them with words. No one else writes, or draws, like Mervyn Peake.
More
23 May 2008
by mashadutoit
in books, Colour, Illustration, Inspiration
Tags: children's books, children's illustration, cinderella, Errol le cain, Illustration
Here is a magical book for you to have a look at: Cinderella by Errol Le Cain. This process of sharing my favorite illustrators has helped me realise how profoundly they have influenced me . When I am asked what my influences are, I tend to think about serious fine artists. Audrey Beardsley maybe? But in all honesty, it is people like Errol Le Cain who have shaped the way I look at things.
I wish I could draw like Errol Le Cain! Here is Cinderella doing her embroidery under the watchful eye of her stepmother and stepsisters. More
20 May 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, Inspiration, Opinions & reviews
Tags: bakgat, david kramer, south african music
Sometimes you meet a someone who can put your thoughts into words; who can articulate those vague opinions that have been bouncing around your head for years. The great South African musician, composer and songwriter David Kramer came to speak to our students today, and I kept wanting to stand up and shout “listen to him! LISTEN to what he is saying!”.
He is also very difficult to draw!
More
19 May 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, books, Illustration
Tags: Add new tag, charles keeping, children's books, gothic, Illustration, poetry, the highwayman
Illustrator Charles Keeping had a dark side, always just beneath the surface of his work. Compare the work he did in “Joseph’s Yard” with “The Highwayman”, the famous poem by Alfred Noyes. The Highwayman is a satisfyingly Gothic love story of a highwayman and “Bess the landlords red lipped daughter”. You can read (or listen to) the poem here. The poem has a urgent rhythm that drives it along – its the kind of poem you feel compelled to read out loud:
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
More
16 May 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, books, Colour, Illustration, Inspiration
Tags: charles keeping, children's books, children's illustration, Illustration, josef se plant, joseph's yard, writer_artist
Charles Keeping was a powerful force in my childhood. I was scared and fascinated by his books . The drawings burn on the page, and the stories cut into your heart. I was deeply influenced by his drawing style – that muscular scrawl with ink and wash. In this post I want to share one particular book: “Joseph’s Yard” which I grew up knowing as “Josef se plant”, in its Afrikaans version.
More
09 May 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, Opinions & reviews
Tags: hand spring puppets, puppets, south african art, south african theatre, william kentridge, woyzeck
Last night we saw Woyzeck on the Higveld at the Baxter Theatre. What magic! A combination of the breathtaking puppetry of the Handspring Puppet Company and William Kentridge‘s animated charcoal drawings. The puppets were near life size, each manipulated by two puppeteers, and the animation were projected on the screen behind them.
There are so many layers to this show. The puppets themselves are more intensly alive than actors could be. I would love to have a closer look at them, the brooding Woyzec, the stately Maria and her baby, the creepy doctor – each with their pair of puppeteers moving and living with them.
More
26 Apr 2008
by mashadutoit
in books, Inspiration, Opinions & reviews
Tags: children's books, fantasy books
I recently came across this quote in an interview with fantasy author Garth Nix – speaking about the importance of a moral message in children’s books:
“I subscribe to the belief that if you want to send a message, use Western Union.”
This reminded me of the famous Tolkien quote, from his introduction to The Lord of the Rings:
” I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.”
And yet when stories deal with the issues we have to face in our lives, we feel the rightness of it. More
13 Apr 2008
by mashadutoit
in Myself, Opinions & reviews
Tags: public transport south africa, south african railways
A topic that’s been on my mind for a while is that of commuting by train in Cape Town. I take the train to work every day, from Wynberg station to the central station in town. Mostly when people find this out, they are a little surprised. “But no one takes the train.” and “Is it safe?” or alternatively “if more people took the train, we could solve our transport situation.”
I am left with quite mixed feelings.
On the one hand, the train seems to be awfully full of people every morning if nobody is traveling by train. More
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