Mythological Monsters of Ancient Greece

It is sometimes said of Fanelli’s books that they are bought primarily by art students and designers. It is certainly true that she enjoys goddess-like status in these quarters, and rightly so. Her exquisitely crafted imagery has been hugely influential within the graphic arts. Innovative, sumptuously designed and coloured, her books are true art-objects in their own right. This new book is no exception. Fanelli seems to be experimenting with an expanded palette of colour here. It would be interesting to know whether she is using the computer to adjust colours – a tool she has tended to resist in the past. The book is superbly produced, its unlaminated illustrated cover boards make it a particularly pleasurable thing to hold and pore over. Each spread or single page is devoted to one of the creatures, represented through the artist’s highly individual approach to collage and hand-rendered lettering. It is also good to see a little more of her lovely pen and ink drawing than we are used to. The simple format makes the whole thing, I suspect, a good deal easier for a child to follow than some of her recent creations such as Dear Diary and the beautiful but complex, Dreamtime.