Jungle Book colour

Full of good heart and bad behaviour

Did you hear this fascinating radio programme last Monday, What the Scandinavians know about Children’s Literature, presented by Mariella Frostrup (Radio 4)? She discussed Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren), the Moomin stories (Tove Jansson), The Wild Baby (Babro Lindgren and Eva Eriksson), and also work by Elsa Beskow and Gro Dahle. The Scandinavian approach, with it’s strongly expressive authors and illustrators, has the voice of the child at it’s centre. The books are for the pleasure of the child. 

Anarchic and free Pippi Longstocking came out in 1945, with a promise of a better future. The 9 year old character lives all alone, with no mum or dad, which is quite nice because there is no one to tell her when to go to bed... Lauren Child illustrated a recent version, and she explains how Pippi is a sassy adventuress with independence and endless money, which is a wonderful fantasy for a child (and adult, too).

The Wild Baby has a very tired and worn out mother, but the baby is never punished for his pranks and the mother always comes to hug him and play with him afterwards. 

The author Frank Cottrell-Boyce talked about how unusual The Moomins are, because the parents haven’t been killed off, and the whole family goes off on adventures. While there are no baddies, there is a huge emphasis on quiet, maybe born out of the long winters, dark nights and strong story-telling tradition. 

Scandinavian children’s stories tend to be full of good heart and bad behaviour, dealt with in a non-sermonising way. There are no cute animals wearing clothes. Difficult subjects, like abuse, are explored too, in books and animations such as The Angry Man (Gro Dahle and Sven Nyhus).

The Magic Puddle

Inspiration

I came across this piece of cloth hanging up at the Whitworth Art Gallery recently, which bowled me over. It's a length of stencilled 'adire eleko', mid c19th, made using starch resist and indigo-dyed cotton. It's from Nigeria, possibly a copy of a design first produced in Manchester for the African export market by Hendersons. 

And another piece of inspiration from the Whitworth's Global Threads exhibition by Aboubakar Fofana, called Les Arbres a Bleus (2007, metal, pvc, sand and indigo-dyed cotton).

This explores the tree as a traditional sacred symbol in Mali and the long history of dyeing and patterning cotton with indigo. 

http://cottonglobalthreads.com/case-study/aboubakar-fofana/

Alice In Wonderland (with offset colour)

Orange or Alice Blue.

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

Here is my (alas, unsuccessful) submission for House of Illustration's recent competition, with The Folio Society. The competition was to illustrate The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter, a collection of ten short stories, closely based on fairytales.

The Bloody Chamber is a dark, gothic tale, based on Bluebeard, with blood, corpses, keys, pornography, lots of lilies and a mother who rescues her daughter in the nick of time.

"You never saw such a wild thing as my mother...her hair was her white mane, her black lisle legs exposed to the thigh, her skirts tucked around her waist, one hand on the reins of the rearing horse while the other clasped my father's service revolver..."

The Company of Wolves is an adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood.

"The forest closed upon her like a pair of jaws"

Puss in Boots is a romp with the cat as a con-man.

"I went about my ablutions, tonging my arsehole...one leg stuck in the air like a ham bone...Love? I withdrew my head from my privates and fixed him with my most satiric smile..."

More Alice in Wonderland b & w

Some more Alice in Wonderland images, but with a lot more Alice. Many thanks to all who have given me feedback on the poses at different stages.