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Three by the Sea by Mini Grey Picture Book Analysis
Three By The Sea is a 2010 picture book by British writer-illustrator Mini Grey. This storyteller comes from South Wales, which is somewhat evident in the setting. The most widely borrowed picture book from Mini Grey is the wonderfully metafictional Traction Man series. This one has metafictional elements also, and offers plenty of picture book techniques to discuss. I even…
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Hunting And Trapping In Art And Illustration
Stalking Horse: a person or thing that is used to conceal someone’s real intentions. I heard this phrase used to describe a tactic used by Woolworths Australia, who installed a digital mirror at some self-serve check outs. They said that they were not retaining any images, and if customers don’t like it, customers were free to use the staffed check outs instead. Then it…
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Cartoonish and Highly Stylised Cats
Cats all look pretty much the same, right? No? Well, compared to the diversity of artist impressions they do. Check out this wide variety of creatures, all successfully coded as cats.
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Mr Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Sendak and Zolotow Analysis
Mr Rabbit and the Lovely Present is a 1962 picture book written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Zolotow and Sendak were both giants of American picture book world. Mr Rabbit and the Lovely Present was also a Caldecott Medal Honor Book, so it’s interesting to look through a contemporary lens and see how picture books have changed,…
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Cats In Disguise
Cats are good at hiding. This is probably why, in our human stories, we like to anthropomorphise cats and imagine they are in disguise.
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Collage Sheet Illustration In Picture Books
Crafters sometimes talk about ‘collage sheets’ and we can use this term to describe a certain type of picture book illustration. Basically, I’m talking about a piece of art which looks a lot like a sticker sheet, or, if you’re a generation older than modern adhesive, like a sheet of paper dolls, yet to be cut out. Think also of a page in a stamp collector’s album.
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Inky Illustrations of Cats
There are many ways of rendering cats in illustration. By letting ink run into the paper, cats can look beautifully soft and furry. Header image was done with Midjourney using prompt: cat, kitten, inky watercolor
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Women and Cats in Art
There is a strong link between women, girls and cats. In fiction, for instance, women are frequently described as cats (and also as birds).
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Fully Anthropomorphised Cats In Art
Animals in picture books exist on a continuum between fully animal and fully human. To sit at the anthropomorphised end of that spectrum, the animal in question: wears clothes walks around on its hind legs talks displays human-like emotions lives in a house Beatrix Potter had a massive influence on illustrators all through the 20th century. Any animal dressed in…
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Balinese, Birman, Burmese and Siamese Cats In Art
Header image made with Midjourney AI.
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The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame Analysis
A man in the shape of a Mole’s body feels a yearning which can only be fulfilled by entering the most transgressive parts of his own psychology, externally represented by the Wild Wood. On his journey, he meets other men, each driven by their own secret (and not so secret) passions.
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Fish Bowls In Art
The fishbowl is a common symbol of surveillance, as is a glass house. For house cats, the fish bowl is a miniature version of the pond or lake — domestic version.
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What do birds symbolize in literature?
Birds are much older than we are — living dinosaurs. Across cultures, birds function as smart collaborators with humans. We now know how smart (some) birds really are, but we have long had a sense of their canniness. The smartest bird in the world is currently thought to be the New Zealand Kea, which isn’t so great if you live in New Zealand and the kea is chewing the bits of rubber off your car.
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Owl At Home by Arnold Lobel Analysis
Owl At Home is a 1975 picture book written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The book comprises five very short early reader stories about a kind, anxious and lonely owl. These owl stories, along with the frog and toad stories come from the second phase of Lobel’s creative career, in which he tapped into his own emotions and acknowledged he…
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Amos and Boris by William Steig Analysis
Some picture books have an Aesop fable at their base. Amos and Boris is one such picture book, written and illustrated by William Steig (1971).
