Last month Nanette Regan asked in the comments-
I’d love to hear your thoughts about how writing a graphic novel and writing a picture book differ and are similar. In relation to the image/text dance, I mean. Do you find one comes together more naturally or are they equally complicated?
I cannot stress enough how much I don’t consciously think about this stuff very much whilst I’m working. That’s not to show off but to say that, for the most part, whatever you instinctively choose to do is probably a pretty good place to start! Trust that gut. Especially if it tells you it’s time for a snack.
The first, defining, difference is that the structure in which I work on these two different kinds of book are totally different. Typically for a picture book the writing portion, after maybe a draft that you write to pitch, takes place with the help of an editorial team. Your editor and book designer will be, most likely, be very present in the early stages of putting your book together and so creating that balance between text and image isn’t a solo endeavor.
When I’m putting together a graphic novel, at least so far in my career, I’ve been working alone, completely a first draft of the whole project before a publisher has seen anything (this might not be the most sensible way to work). So the decision making is my own, every single stage of it. This is one of the things that makes this kind of work really, really special and really, really exhausting.
In both instances, though, I think instinct is your main tool. You kind of know what is an image and what is language because of what your own storytelling taste is. I, personally (and this is a personal preference not a rule, please don’t read this as an attack on the way you or another artist present their ideas) don’t love using images for internal thought and feeling. I think the ‘internal stuff’ lends itself to a more poetic type of illustration than the kind I make. So, for me, the text is where the feeling is and the images is for the creation of the world, the facts. I tend to stick to this and then have moments where that line gets blurred (see above images) and the images might shift into representing something more abstract. I think (again, for me and my work) it pays to earn those moments. If every page is a visual metaphor your reader might start to get a bit tired and begin to crave something solid to tether themselves to.
In picture books your text is minimal so your images hold a lot of extra information. I LOVE specificity in children’s books. Make the room they’re in a room that feels like it really belongs to that character, give them clothes and a haircut that speak to a real person rather than ‘the shape of a cute character’ (literally nothing I hate more than ‘generic pretty girl’ in a picture book. Make her an actual person.) Your text, if you’re writing for young children, will stick pretty closely to events. All the description has to be in the images. So if there’s anything you want your reader to you know that isn’t in the text, you put it in your drawing. The spread above from, There’s a tiger in the garden, is an example of this.
For fear of boring the socks off you I’ll leave it there, I can revisit this in future if anyone is particularly interested. If you have questions you need answers to, please, leave them in the comments.
In other news Paintpot now has a paid option. There will continue to be monthly free posts (like this one) but, from now on, there will also be subscriber content. I’ve taken a bit of time to figure out what form this will take and realised that, having been a lecturer in illustration for (gulp/splutter/ vomit) almost ten years I have A LOT of resources I could share. This will sometimes be a focused look at one area of illustration and book creation, other times a broader overview of something I’ve worked on or an aspect of my career that might be useful to you, often it’ll be some behind the scenes process stuff that i’ll pick apart for your entertainment. In a glorious, rose-tinted fantasy world I would give all this stuff away for free and, thus, create a magical egalitarian digital art school accesible to all. HOWEVER! It takes a while to make all this stuff (writing out lectures and recording talks etc etc) so i’m afraid, for now, it’ll have to be monied. I’ve tried to keep costs low and I will endeavor to make sure you get your money’s worth as best as I can manage.
Hopefully the first paid post will go up in the next week or so.
There’s no pressure to subscribe! There will still be stuff here for free and hopefully this new system will mean that the free stuff is lighter and less educational in tone than the past two posts have been!
Thanks for stopping by everyone!
Lx
p.s i’m on this episode of The Tidal Year talking about swimming and creativity with host and writer Freya Bromley.
Blimey thank you so much! I wasn’t expecting such a thorough answer, I’m a bit blown away. The advice to trust your gut is really helpful, I do find things come together more easily if I’m trusting my instinct rather than searching for a “correct” solution. Thinking about the difference between facts and feelings is very helpful too. Thank you so much!
Super interesting post! Thank you.