Illustrating Children's Books: Creating Pictures for Publication

Picture books and illustrated books today are bewildering in their diversity and Salisbury’s book, though principally aimed at students, is essential reading for anyone interested in finding out more about illustration, an art which although – or perhaps because – it’s so readily available, is too often taken for granted, and is seldom looked at in depth, or subjected to much in the way of critical analysis.

An academic, and an MA course director in children’s book illustration, Salisbury is also a practising illustrator himself and is therefore ideally placed to explore this subject from every angle. He writes about it with an easy authority and alongside the work of a large number of illustrators, both well known and up-and-coming, he uses his own drawings to illustrate and clarify his observations.

Beginning with a brief but essential history of illustration he starts with a woodcut from 1580 and moves on swiftly, but informatively through to the Golden Age of illustration in the 19th century, and on to the present day where he examines with relish the glorious mix of tradition and innovation that currently prevails. This he unravels and explains with the help of a number of enlightening ‘case studies’, in which a wide variety of artists talk about their work, their materials, their technique and their inspiration. We learn, for example, how Hannah Webb organizes her visual material to make a completely wordless book, how Jane Simmons moved from oil paint to acrylics, how Bee Willey has gone digital (and what that means), and how John Lawrence’s recent work involves close collaboration with the designer of the book in creating illustrations that combine vinyl engravings with collage. The importance of the regular discipline of observational drawing is emphasized – and in one of Salisbury’s own line and wash sketches, eagle eyed readers will see John Lawrence himself at work in a life drawing class.

And in addition to all the technical know how, there’s advice on how to get published, how to prepare a portfolio, how to deal with contracts and how to write accompanying letters (attention to detail in such things as spelling is stressed so it jars a little to see, in a reference to Susan Einzig’s illustrations for Tom’s Midnight Garden, that the incorrect spelling of Philippa Pearce’s name – one of the most important among 20th-century children’s writers – has escaped the editor’s notice). But that is a tiny quibble in such a comprehensive, wide-ranging work. The detailed contents page, which makes it so easy to locate specific information will be welcomed by students, teachers and readers at home, and along with a useful glossary of often unfamiliar terms, Salisbury provides not just a practical understanding of the art for everyone but also a broader base – and, importantly, a vocabulary – for further discussion at all levels.