A New Era for Illustration

'In the digital future, texts will be annotated visually, animated and illustrated like never before' -Riddell

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/aug/12/chris-riddell-new-era-illustration

Article written by illustrator Chris Riddell , from the Guardian Newspaper online discussing the future of book illustration in the digital era. (Aug 2012)

" As the digital revolution gathers momentum, traditional print publishing is being forced to change. In this new age of austerity, as chill winds blow through publishers' offices, we need illustrators of the calibre of EH Shepard more than ever. And they're out there - look at Posy Simmonds' wickedly perceptive novel Tamara Drewe, David Roberts' brilliantly quirky illustrations to Mick Jackson's Bears of England and Shaun Tan's surreal and exquisite wordless story The Arrival. Like Shepard, these illustrators' work reaches all ages.

As the Kindle's dread grip on digital publishing is challenged by tablet computers and android smartphones, with their bright screens and high resolution, the need for illustration is growing. Newspapers such as the Guardian and the Observer, meanwhile, are expanding into the internet's broad open spaces - spaces with plenty of room for illustration.

At the same time graphic novels, computer games and CGI animation are blurring the old distinctions and categories in publishing. In the digital future, texts will be annotated visually, animated and illustrated like never before. The austere 'prayer book' paper that permitted the space for Shepard's illustrations to Pepys' diaries is now being recreated in the digital era.

It is a space waiting to be filled by today's illustrators. " Chris Riddell.

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/features/illustration-revival

Similarly this article by Lawrence Zeegen furthers Riddell's optimistic outlook on the illustration industry. (Computer Arts, Issue 174. May 2010.)

"The smart money was always on illustration rising up and breaking free from the shackles of entirely commercially driven projects. A more entrepreneurial spirit has come about, in part due to the fact that digital hardware and software has come down so dramatically in price, coupled with fast broadband/ wi-ficombos becoming standard issue. This has so readily enabled the creation and production, distribution and promotion of images that contemporary illustration has emerged from the shadows to kick-start new self-initiated projects, publications and associated publicity. Equally responsible for the rise in fortune, but far less recognised perhaps, has been the input and impact of a new breed of art and design school educators, who are pushing graduates into a competitive marketplace fuelled with the vision to succeed self-sufficiently."

Serial flicker.

I recently attended Thought Bubble, a comic convention in Leeds. I was stood talking with an illustrator flicking through one of his comic books when he told me to stop because that was the last in the series and I would ruin the ending for myself if I looked at the last few pages.
 It got me thinking about how I often have a tendency to do this with novels (and with comics because I'm an idiot) I have no idea why. But it struck me that if there were illustrations in it I could very well ruin the book for myself if they were explicit enough to tell me the story. Then again with a lot of illustrated YA books that I used to read I would purposefully do this just to see the illustrations and I guess in a way try to figure out where the story was going.
(I feel I'm in the difficult position where I'm such a visually aware person that I struggle to guess what the general population would do. I can't wait to see all the drawings but they might just read it normally.)

As in illustrator would you factor in the possibility someone (or even most people) may flick through the book before reading or even buying it? Would you make sure none of your illustrations were explicit of the story? To have an image of the main character with their head chopped off at the end of the book would surely be a huge risk.

I've looked at the idea that you could place an illustration too far forward in a narrative and thus change how you read it but I hadn't considered the freedom of the reader to look forward in the physical book itself.

 Is this a point down on the illustrated novel side or just something else that the illustrator need be wary of?

Chris Riddell

Extending the Narrative.

In the image of Little Nell's death the narrative is extended through metaphors by (in a paradox) altering the narrative of the text. The illustration is contributing to the continuum of the narrative and so alters our reading experience.

The placement of the illustration within the text can also extend the narrative and change our experience of the reading the book. 

On little Nell:

"Coming at the end of the chapter, it provides us with a moment of stati, of contemplation, in the face of the death f the character. That the engraving is placed sideways in the original edition, with the consent and to the satisfaction of Dickens, is also significant. We have to turn the book around to take in the image, and in doing so we suspend the continuum of the verbal discourse. The presentation of this moment of stasis within the text is only one function of the image, which also extends and deepens the verbal text in ways explored above." -Stuart Sillars

The placement of an illustration therefore is almost as important as that which it depicts. You may want pauses in your text for contemplation, to build tension ect. but you do not want to give away too much at the wrong moment. If the illustration of Little Nell were to come before the end of the chapter interrupting the text, then you'd be forced to stop reading unnaturally and wouldn't necessarily have the moment of reflect or perhaps even the understanding of what is presented. Furthermore if an illustration with such obvious connotations is shown before the event in the text this would alter our reading experience for the worst, ruining the 'ending.' Spoilers if you will.

The placement of illustrations can have a number of functions including heightening the suspense of a scene by delaying a moment in the narrative. Advancing the narrative by restraining it. An illustration may extend the text in its foreshadowing of events, depicting a happy scene like a weeding with signifiers of a funeral ect. evokes a sense of dread or unease. The illustration almost allows for a kind of dramatic irony, in which the reader knows more than the character.

The game is afoot!

In this research blog for my dissertation I am aiming to address the lack of illustrations within contemporary adult fiction, the reasons for this and to decide for myself as an illustrator and avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction if this is something that should, by rights, be more prevalent in current literature.

The decline of book illustration (overlooking children's literature) appears to have been ignored and taken as a passing of the ages, of old world traditions and almost historic ways. I'd like to look both into why this is in the publishing industry, why as a culture we no longer question its lack and present a case for the renewal of the illustrated book in the contemporary best sellers lists of 'real grown up' literature.

The suggested reasons are varied and controversial. Lack of decent illustrators, a taboo on 'books with pictures in' and the rise of the digital age (Kindle, iPad & audiobooks).

Most importantly I intend to look at how the illustrations in a book modify your perceptions and responses to the text and specifically, the story. What are the pros and cons towards having illustrations sat amongst your text? Does it distract or enhance?

Personally I'm hoping my research weighs heavily in favour of of the illustrated book but I am not adverse to accepting the difficulties and dangers of illustrating prose or even perhaps the realisation that illustration has little to no place in the modern fiction book.

Who knows! 

The game is afoot!