Whenever I show this picture to artist friends they invariably respond with something like "I know who did that...it was Beatrix Potter, right?" Wrong. The artist was Jill Barklem, who deserves to be better known.
Barklem did most of her work (above) in the 1990s, I think. She's not as well known in America as in the UK. I'm guessing that her publisher didn't promote her enough, but that's just a guess.
For comparison, here's (above) a picture by Beatrix Potter. Potter emphasized line quality and a gritty watercolor texture. Barklem was more architectural.
Big, natural wood cabinets like the kind Barklem liked to draw were common in the 1990s but are scarce now. Seeing this reminds me that for a decade or so romantic English country-style was in and sentimental cottage artists like Thomas Kinkade were popular. All that disappeared, seemingly overnight. Maybe if Barklem had continued to paint, that movement would have lasted longer.
The artist's real-life desk was full of thorns and brambles. She worked in pencil from photocopies of her rough layouts then inked leafy details derived from the samples that were in front of her.
Above, an example.
She liked drawing fine detail (above) and that was her undoing. She had an eye problem that was mostly resolved by surgery but which made rendering difficult. She abandoned children's books and did doll houses and miniature sculptures instead.
Interesting, eh?
Interesting for sure. 1990s? Wow...I have to admire the extremeness of it all, the relentlessly equal interest in everything depicted. As animation artists, we're more hit-and-run (or were, as the case may be), designing scenes rather than places, as support for the characters and story, and like a magician, directing eyes to what we want them to see before moving on quickly. These invite your eyeballs to hang around and shop, like a flea market. Really breathes, too- not funny or very dramatic or anything, just conjures exactly what she wants and makes it real and touchable. Not a single phony line. Cap tipped.
ReplyDeleteIf you're not already familiar with him, I think that you'd greatly appreciate the work of Daniel Pinkwater. He mostly writes excellent children's and young adult literature, but his memoir "Fish Whistle" is perhaps his finest work.
ReplyDeleteIn it he relates a story from his early days as a writer, where he encounters an eccentric and prolific illustrator of children's books.