Introduction
In this essay I aim to examine the extent of influence and
sources for two illustrators; Tony DiTerlizzi (1969) and Abigail Larson (1988).
I chose DiTerlizzi because I see this illustrators work as a great influence
upon my own work. He is a current, very successful illustrator with a great
following; his subject manor is current but with easily visible links to a host
of other artists work and stories and ideas from other books and times in
history. I chose Larson for a similar initial reason to that of DiTerlizzi. Her
work may not be currently well known but her style is easily recognisable and
easily distinguishable from other up and coming illustrators. It is the themes
and subject matters of her work that interest me most, linking her work to a
whole manor of other artworks and stories.
Tony DiTerlizzi
Tony DiTerlizzi is a contemporary American illustrator born
in 1969 in Los Angeles, California [1]. From a young age DiTerlizzi was
interested in both drawing and writing, creating a ‘field guide on fantastical
creatures’ when he was just 12 years old; an idea he would later return to for
one of his most popular titles, The Spiderwick Chronicles [2]. After graduating
from art school in 1992, DiTerlizzi has gone on to not just work on
illustrations for books written by himself and others, but also for calendars,
magazines and gaming companies such as Dungeons and Dragons [3]. He comments in
his website that his entire family are ‘artistically inclined’ thanks to his
“creative mom and supportive dad” [4]. This shows that it is not just other
artists and illustrators DiTerlizzi considers to be critical inspirations, but
his close family and how he was brought up have resulted in an overall
inspiration and encouragement to be artistically creative.
A lot of DiTerlizzi’s inspirations have stayed with him
since childhood, through books he read but in particular through the games he
played. As a child, DiTerlizzi was heavily interested in “Dungeons and Dragons”
[5], a game that inspired him to create a field guide on fantastical creatures
when he was just 12 years old, the very book that many years later would
resurface in his imagination and become the start of his most famous works,
‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’.
It is not just influences from when he was a child that have
influenced him within his key projects. With his project ‘The Spiderwick
Chronicles’, DiTerlizzi told the BBC in an interview that he had the ‘idea of a
man inspired by Arthur Rackham’ for one of his characters[6]. DiTerlizzi also
‘loved the fairy tales he illustrated’ meaning that Arthur Rackham inspired his
imagination in the form of both his writing and drawing. When we look at the
artwork of both illustrators, it is easy to see Rackham’s influence upon DiTerlizzi.
(The Old Woman in the
Wood, Arthur Rackham)
Particularly within the female characters, there is a
visible similarity in the portrayal of femininity, with delicate lines
especially within the facial features and slender figures. The mediums used
differ between the two styles of work with Diterlizzi’s pieces seeming a lot
brighter in their depiction, probably down to the fact the materials he uses
are denser than the watercolours Rackham used and also because DiTerlizzi is a
contemporary artist. There is a clear fairy-tale atmosphere that DiTerlizzi has
mastered similar to that present in Rackham’s work, a romance to the that comes
hand in hand with thoughts of fairy tales and classic female protagonists
within them.
DiTerlizzi has worked on multiple projects other than ‘The
Spiderwick Chronicles’, one of which being ‘The Spider and the Fly’ [7]. It
seems that for this project it was not other books but films that gave him his
inspiration. In an online interview DiTerlizzi was asked what his inspiration
was for the distinctive style to the illustrations, his answer to which was ‘If I was
inspired by any movies, it would have been Tim Burton’s movies and old silent
movies’ [8]. When we look at the illustrations, it is easy to see that DiTerlizzi
had old style movies in mind, what with the use of the soft black and white and
the easily recognisable 1920’s fashion in which the main characters are
depicted. He also mentions that ‘the poem is kind of scary. It doesn't have a
happy ending, so I instantly thought of old horror movies’. In regards
to Tim Burton’s movies, specifically the animations, we can see similarities in
the design of the characters. DiTerlizzi has taken the elongated, narrow framed
appearance of the characters and applied them to his design of the fly, in a
sense it adds to her femininity in DiTerlizzi's work, but it also recreates the
spindly look achieved by Burton’s character designs that gives them that
otherworldly feel. DiTerlizzi has used this to his advantage what with his
character being a fly with a humanoid rendition rather that Burton’s generally
human characters.
(Illustration
from the Spider and the Fly, DiTerlizzi)
(Alice in Wonderland Illustration by John Tenniel)
(The Spiderwick
Chronicles illustration on the Phooka)
DiTerlizzi mentions other artists that have influenced his character
design for the Spiderwick Chronicles. When designing the elves for the book, DiTerlizzi
was faced with the issue of not wanting the final design to come too close to
Tolkien’s ideas for the elves of middle earth. Instead, he says that ‘Victorian
painter John Anster Fitzgerald proved to be a big influence on their final design’
[10]. Fitzgerald, like Arthur Rackham, had a speciality in illustration fairy tale
inspired scenes, with a lot of his paintings having delicately designed fairies
within them, hence why we can see the connection between Fitzgerald and DiTerlizzi
and why DiTerlizzi must have felt able to draw inspiration from him.
On his website, DiTerlizzi discusses how not all of his
inspiration derives from other artists. Whilst artists like Arthur Rackham help
to fuel his work and ideas, DiTerlizzi has a preference for reverting back to
nature for his inspiration, ‘from hikes in the woods to walks on the beach, the
endless textures, designs, and colours in our real world is the most amazing …
amount of inspiration’ [11]. This is highly evident in his work, what with the
high content of all manner of creatures within his illustrations, from the
insects of The Spider and the Fly to
the mythical creations of The Spiderwick
Chronicles that have their roots within real life nature. Much like his
idea for his field guide, when DiTerlizzi was a child he created a book based
on insects from his own collection of the creatures [12] presumably the idea
lingering with him for when he undertook the illustrations for The Spider and the Fly.
Whilst discussing his
initial character designs for key mythical characters from The Spiderwick Chronicles he goes into great depth in regards to
his initial ideas for their appearance, rooting all of them within pre-existing
creatures in nature. The character Hogsqueal [13] in particular had multiple
animal references. The initial character sketches depicted him with ‘large cat eyes’
[14]. DiTerlizzi wanted him to inspire images of creatures of the night within
his readers so used spiders and bats for further initial ideas, with the
characters end appearance being heavily ‘inspired by leaf-nosed bats’ [15]. For
another set of characters, the Goblins, DiTerlizzi again chose to look to
animals for a more original, ‘fresh’ interpretation rather than looking to past
interpretations within media, this time using toads and anglerfish for
reference [16]. However, DiTerlizzi did not use animals for inspiration for all
of his characters as his main fairy character, ThimbleTack’s ‘general facial
features were inspired by the wrinkly shell of a walnut’ [17]. DiTerlizzi’s use
of the animal kingdom and natural items to inspire his characters helped him to
create much more realistic characters in their appearance, his imagination
having turned his mythical creatures into something far more believable for his
audience.
DiTerlizzi’s idea to look to nature for inspiration may have
come partly through his love of books at an early age. In interviews when asked
what his favourite book is, DiTerlizzi answers that his favourite is Watership Down by Richard Adams [18]. Obviously, this book is
completely centred on the story of a group and rabbits, as well as other
animals. Taking animals and turning them into endearing characters could also
have been an idea reinforced by his inspiration from another writer and artist,
Beatrix potter. On his website, DiTerlizzi comments on how he read Beatrix
Potter’s Jeremy Fisher and that she
was one of the artists that heavily affected him and his work. When we look at
these two, we can draw parallels between them, the central theme being that both
of them wrote as well as illustrated their own stories and drew from nature.
As well as nature, DiTerlizzi has been as equally heavily
influenced in another topic in his work, fairy tales and folklore. For The Spiderwick Chronicles, DiTerlizzi
teamed up with fantasy writer Holly Black. Black specialises in writing fantasy
novels for a young adult audience [19] and from reading one of her novels it is
clear that she is very knowledgeable when it comes to fairy tales and folklore.
It’s easy to see that Black and DiTerlizzi had a huge influence upon each other
for the duration of their collaboration on the Spiderwick story. Black comments
that ‘Sometimes I sent words to him and got art back, sometimes it was the
other way around’ [20]. DiTerlizzi’s inspiration spread into his artwork and
character design for The Spiderwick
Chronicles as in his initial design he comments that ‘I strive to weave in
imagery from classic fairy tales wherever possible’ [21].
Abigail Larson
Abigail Larson is an up and coming contemporary American illustrator
[22]. She grew up with a love of classic horror films and novels [23]. On her
website, she says how as a child she had ambitions to become an opera singer or
to join the circus, neither of which worked out in the end but no doubt have
influenced her in some way [24]. In fact, one of her recent personal projects
involved a story of a travelling circus, no doubt inspired by her love of that
life herself. The story itself was not just centred on a normal carnival, but
had obvious Supernatural and gothic links within it, features that seem to run
constantly through Larson’s work.
(The Performers,
Abigail Larson)
Larson has always had an obsession with scary movies and
literature, something her parents were not too happy about [25], something that
obviously features predominantly within her artwork. Her love of gothic horror
seemed to stem from her discovery of Bram Stoker, Lewis Carroll and her
particular interest in Edgar Allan Poe. Her love in his literature has inspired
her enough to create several pieces of artwork based on his writing [26]. Her
inspiration and obvious love of Edgar Allan Poe has even resulted in her
creating pieces specifically for the Poe museum [27].
As her love of Stoker might suggest, Larson has a love of
anything bizarre or scary, with this obsession linking into her love of
Halloween. Several of her pieces feature imagery linked in with Halloween,
particularly pumpkins, ghosts and skulls, reinforcing her love of gothic
horror.
The classic
literature that Larson loves has a heavy link with her inspiration, not just
because of the story content but also because of the time period within which
it is set and written. If we again take Stoker as an example, the time it was
written and set in would be the Victorian era. The majority of Larson’s work
has characters within it that are not set in present day but in this gothic
Victorian world, as the settings and dress designs for the most would suggest.
In an online interview, when asked where she got her inspiration, her reply was
‘I visit a lot of museums and go on historic house tours to feel inspired
because so much of my work is historically inspired’ [28]. Interestingly
enough, another reason she likes the era is because she identifies it as a time
when the idea of ghosts and mediums became popular, again tying into her
overall love of the gothic genre and the huge effect it has had on her and her
work.
It is not just the classic literature of the Victorian era
that inspires Larson but also its artists. The likes of Arthur Rackham and
Edmund Dulac have both influenced her work [29]. The similarities between these
two artists seem to be the features that Larson has picked up on most: both
have a tendency to use ink lines and feature very feminine figures. Larson
herself seems to create work that heavily features female characters, as well
as use watercolour like Dulac and Rackham. John William Waterhouse is another
artist she names as a big influence to her; again we can see the link of the
feminine content within the artwork. Waterhouse’s work includes depictions of
myths and stories popular within the Victorian era, no doubt the pieces with
the greatest link to Larson’s own work.
As a contemporary illustrator, Larson utilises the newest
technology as a platform to launch her work from, such as facebook, tumblr and
deviantart. How this new technology exposes her work to a lot of people, the
idea also works in reverse, with the latest popular items being easily
accessible. Larson has shown several pieces that have been in direct reaction
to contemporary characters from new films and literature, which have evidently
had just as much influence upon her as older works.
Among the more contemporary writers and illustrators that
have influenced Larson and her work include Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
[30]. Larson is a fan of Black’s literature having created pieces upon her
novel, Tithe, in her style which has
also been inspired by DiTerlizzi ironically enough. Larson has obviously drawn
upon DiTerlizzi and Black’s love of folklore as a topic to bring into her own
work. Larson’s figures are similar to DiTerlizzi in the sense that they both
draw slender, more feminine figures and have a preference for ink and
watercolour.
Conclusion
I have learnt a lot about both illustrators during this
essay. Both had multiple influences, many ingrained from childhood that have
affected them and their artwork for the rest of their lives. Not only are other
artists able to influence, but literature is a crucial thing to both
illustrators artwork. Arthur Rackham was a heavy influence for both artists,
showing that influence can come from any time period. DiTerlizzi quotes Picasso
when asked how he develops his style, a quote which I feel fits very well when
discussing inspiration, ‘Good artists borrow. Great artists steal’ [31].
References
8. Tony DiTerlizzi Interview Transcript, http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/tony-diterlizzi-interview-transcript
9. DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg. 534
10. DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg. 528
13.
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg.516
14.
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg. 517
15.
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg. 516
16.
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg. 519
17.
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg. 515
20.
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg. 501
21.
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster, pg. 504
Bibliography
1.
Black, Holly (2002), Tithe, New York, Simon
& Schuster
2.
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly (2009), The
Spiderwick Chronicles The Completely Fantastical Edition, New York, Simon &
Schuster
7.
Tony DiTerlizzi Interview Transcript, http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/tony-diterlizzi-interview-transcript Accessed 21st
April 2013
8.
The Wicked Art of Abigail Larson, http://www.deadmansreach.com/articles/AbigailLarson.html
Accessed 21st April 2013
Image Sources
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