I recently decided to go through my collection of illustrated and resource books that I have accumulated over the years. As I’m working on my current picture book project with Raven Tree Press, I wanted to gather inspiration and I have always been able to find it in my old favorites. One of the books, that I purchased when I was going to art school in Australia, was one that Trina Schart Hyman illustrated.
The illustrations in “Tight Times,” written by Barbara Shook Hazen, are black and white and are beautiful. The sensitive line quality and the careful rendering of the characters are inspiring. Every little expression and body pose adds to the telling of the story and the detail in the background is meticulous, yet the entire book has a very loose and sketch like feeling.
Seeing that I so love Trina’s work, you can imagine how excited I was to see a post on Facebook about a current show that features Trina’s portrait work and some of her illustrations. Here is the video that shows a lot of the pieces featured in the show.
If you want to learn more about Trina Schart Hyman I urge you to look at Dylis Evans’ “Show and Tell: Exploring the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration.” It is a wonderful resource if you are interested in learning more about contemporary illustrators, and what inspires them, their background and how they solve the visual problems they encounter.
If you visit my "must have books" page on my website, I have a selection of very useful illustration books that you might be interested in and I've included the Dilys Evans book there.
Happy Reading.
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2 comments:
Hello! I stumbled upon your blog this evening and am so happy that I did. I was researching one of my favorite illustrators, Trina Schart Hyman and came across your blog. Wasn't her art amazing?! I had the pleasure of meeting her back in 1984. She worked with Dylis (sp?) Evans (who was my brother, Troy Howell's agent and mentor). She was so gracious to me. I grew up reading Cricket magazine and always sought out her books at the library when I was a child. Now, I cherish the ones I have (especially the signed ones).
With a happy heart,
Rebecca (now a follower of your blog)
It is always wonderful to find a fellow appreciator of my favorite illustrator. I will always have a very special place in my heart for the work of Trina Schart Hyman. There is something so beautiful about her figures. They are almost otherworldly, while simultaneously being wonderfully human. A lovely artist. Thanks for the link and post.
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