REFLECTION

from Lucy Panrucker’s Process Book Unit 3

METHODS OF PRESENTATION

REFLECTION

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How I came to choose Marianne North as my subject near my family went to Kew Gardens a couple of years ago. We came across a small building called the Marianne North Gallery. We decided to look inside and what I saw made quite an impression on me. All the paintings were crammed together, hung so closely with no interfering space. It was quite unlike any gallery I’ve seen before immediately I felt drawn in and curious about the different scenes shown in the paintings, the subject mainly plants. Unlike a traditional botanical artist, Marianne North chose to paint plants as she put them ‘in their homes’. It seemed incredible to me that all these paintings, over 800, were done by one woman. When I discovered that the paintings been executed within a 14-year period and what’s more she funded and oversaw the gallery herself the achievement has seemed even more impressive.

North, M., Mills, C. and Botanic, R. (2018). Marianne North : the Kew collection. London: Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens.

Marianne North Gallery (2018) photograph

READING

p. 10 Letters from Marianne North to Joseph Hooker, 1879 Reading Marianne’s autobiography, Recollections of a Happy Life, helped me plan the book’s narrative and visualise how it would look and feel. My goal in creating this was to have as little text as possible, I didn’t want to have too much text.

I became even more fascinated when I read some of her letters to friends and family, in which she described her solo, round-the-world trips, which included everything from riding elephants and shooting rapids to climbing mountains on horseback and trekking through jungles on foot.

Long before the devastation caused by global warming was apparent, North made amazing botanical discoveries and shared first-hand warnings about endangered species. Her passport to the world was her painting.

DEVELOPMENT

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01

02

CHARACTER

I wanted to experiment with different styles of drawing people, particularly Marianne. I knew it would be difficult for me to have a simple style that was expressive enough to convey emotion. So I needed to find a style thatsimplified features that could be expressive in different ways. Because I knew it would be more relevant to this story, I had to figure out how to convey more complex emotions.

I need to think about how my story will divide into spreads. The spread might have lots of pictures on it, or one big illustration stretching across two pages. I need to think about which moments are the most important ones in my story and what space will give to each illustration.

Marianne used every means available to her to find the subjects she wanted to paint all over the world. Travelling was frequently an adventure in and of itself.

Create a narrative. Pick important elements of Norths life (the story does not need to include everything) one page can have full text and the next page just images, so the reader doesn’t feel erupt or lose the flow of looking at images. For this week start making thumbnails and experiment with colours or materials.

LOCATION

03

OBJECTS

Tutorial Mar 7

p. 12 VISIT TO KEW GARDENS

Photos I Took

Midpoint reviews Mar 14

Write a third person story homage about Marianne North. Start making rough storyboard to help me navigate what I should include within the book.

When I started writing the story, I wanted to use real images of Marianne to inspire my artwork. I wanted to try a limited colour palette using colouring pencils just like William Grill’s book Shackleton’s journey. He uses colouring pencils as his favourite medium because it’s quick and portable. When William Grill travels, he always carries around a small sketchbook with limited colours pencils to keep a note of things, like a reportage. This got me thinking of how Marianne North travels with all her art supplies, taking note of things she sees and experience on her journey.

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WILLIAM GRILL

Looking at some of my favourite picture books, I found that many of them are made of 32 pages and have between 12 and 14 spreads for the story. I need to think about how my story will divide into spreads. The spread might have lots of pictures on it, or one big illustration stretching across two pages. I need to think about which moments are the most important ones in my story and what space will give to each illustration. One of my favourite picture books recently is called Shackleton’s Journey by William Grill. What I liked about his illustration was how his composition layout was informal without using a lot of words. One page can have a lot of information, but the next page will have a big illustration stretching across two pages, it creates a moment to relax. His style has a naïve sense but still includes a lot of information.

Researching how illustrators publish a book has helped me plan out the stages of making a picture book. I tried an online learning platform called Domestika, to build an illustrated story with a three-act structure and how to assemble a picture book. The course was run by Renata Galindo, author, and illustrator. Galindo explores how visual and verbal language can playfully interact to enhance the narrative and experiment with different visual storytelling techniques such as the vignette, the spread, the panel, and more. Seeing how framing and angles create a visual language and create a mini dummy to analyse the flow of the story. First, I need to make the narrative, this will help me visualise how the book is going to look and feel. The next stage was to make a dummy book, this is a way to experience the book as I intend it and the only way to know how the rhythm of the story works. This course was easy-going, and important fundamentals highlight the simplest concepts. Enjoyed the pace and flow, and her enthusiasm for children’s books.

ALSO INSPIRED BY

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YASMIN IMAMURA RENATA GALINDO

KATIE HICKEY

Tutorial Mar 21

Experiment with book binding. Make a dummy book to experiment with stitching/ types of bookbinding (concertina, dos a dos or single section case binding?) Think of what paper to use. Texture, weight, coated or uncoated, somerset paper, colour et cetera. Order samples from G.F Smiths. Edit text from the story to make it shorter because there is repetition in some of the paragraphs. Edit digital drawings by muting the green and blue colours to make the flowers pop. Making it differ strikingly. If appropriate to the story, some spreads don’t need to include text.

BOOK DEVELOPMENT

Bookbinding experimenting, thinking of different ways in which I can use words and pictures to tell a story and how the structure of the book affects the story. This will help space out the major events of the story in a way that keeps the reader engaged, without overwhelming them. The bookbinding workshop has helped me decide on the appropriate binding for the book. At first, I wanted to make a hardcover that is strong and durable and looks professional, but I only have 32 pages so it might be too bulky. Instead, I want to try different options like a paperback which is light, compact, and easily transportable, able to be bent and stuffed into the corner of the bag. Or an A2 fold out a poster or a pocket-sized format that Unfolds into a double-sided 11”x17” poster.

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