What an enriching session we had on illustrating picture books with Ashok Rajagopalan!
“I didn’t know this, but I make an angry face when I’m drawing an angry face!” Ashok said. “If I want to draw a sad face, I make a sad face myself.” I remember seeing something about Disney doing the same thing. Is it something all artists do?
Today’s focus was creating emotions in picture books. Among the most interesting things for me was the fact that the reader’s emotion can be quite different from what the character is feeling. Sometimes, a character is angry, or confused, but the reader laughs. This laughter is deliberate, and the illustrator must portray the character’s emotion in such a way that the reader feels compelled to laugh.
Using a series of drawing exercises, we worked on drawing emotion and then heightening these emotions, first through the face itself and then through body language, colours and setting. As with every art workshop I’ve organised, I’m amazed at how easily and quickly illustrators draw! Look at the top right illustration in the image above for instance. Isn’t it incredible? It was done in less than a minute!
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