Ick Bruna, the Friendliest Maker of Picture Books in the Netherlands
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ick Bruna, the Friendliest Maker of Picture Books in the Netherlands No one inin thethe LowLow CountriesCountries cancan claimclaim never to have seen anyany ofof DickDick Bruna's pictures.pictures. Child oror grownup,grownup, everyoneeveryone inin thethe NetherlandsNetherlands andand Flanders is acquainted with his work. DespiteDespite thethe factfact thatthat forfor somesome reasonreason or other his cartoon characters miffy,miffy, snuffy,snuffy, borisboris && barbarabarbara and and poppy poppy pig pig aren't partpart ofof common common literaryliterary parlance,parlanee, everyevery singlesingle personpers on inin thethe LowLow Countries has, consciously or unconsciously,unconsciously, made eye contactcontact inin somesome way, at some time or other, with one ofof his pictures onon stamps,stamps, postersposters or or pa- pa- perback book covers.covers. His children's bookbook characters characters have have gone gone out out into into the the world world — - thethe wholewhole wide world —- although although ofof coursecourse primarily,primarily, for two generations already,already, into into the world of thethe veryvery young.young. FromFrom AmsterdamAmsterdam toto TokyoTokyo theythey gracegrace babybaby cream jars, bibs, tote bags, sweaters,sweaters, cereal bowls,bowls, puzzles,puzzles, boots,boots, rainrain pon-pon- chos, coloured pencils, kids' games,games, towelstowels andand lotslots ofof other other thingsthings forfor chil-chil- dren. Their subtlesubde designdesign lendslends anan extraextra aestheticaesthetic dimensiondimension toto allall thesethese Dick Bruna (1927-). Photo products. They offer children in particular a sensesense ofof recognition,recognition, ofof famil-famil- by Sjaak Ramakers. iarity, because of course whatwhat kidskids seesee firstfirst onon thesethese productsproduets are are their their own own trusty book characters.characters. Books 'orfor little handshands Now, who is thisthis internationallyintemationally successfulsuccessful maker of picturepicture books,books, thisthis loveable author andand illustratorillustrator ofof some some ninetyninety little little books books for for the the very very young young (printed in enormous quantities inin thirty-threethirty-three languages)?languages)? Dick Bruna (1927-) waswas bornbom inin Utrecht,Utrecht, thethe citycity wherewhere hehe stillstilllives lives and and every momingmorning still bicycles to his studiostudio downtowndowntown toto work.work. AsAs aa youngyoung man he had no desire atat allall toto pursuepursue aa careercareer as as thethe fourth fourth generation generation in in the the well-known family publishing businessbusiness A.W.A.W. BrunaBruna && Son.Son. Instead,Instead, he he be- be- came a graphic designer, withoutwithout anyany realreal academicacademie training,training, and and so so is is aa self- self- taught artist. Since 19471947 hehe hashas designeddesigned somesome twotwo thousandthousand book book covers covers (for thethe Zwarte BeertjesBeertjes series) and lots of posters,posters, forfor which,which, asas anan out-out- standing designer, he has alsoalso receivedreceived aa numbernumber ofof awards. awards. In 1953 BrunaBruna producedproduced his firstfirst children'schildren's book,book, the apple (de appel), 198198 1,250 copies of which were published by the family firm. However, the book was not a success. Only 554 copies had been sold by mid- 1955. Evidently at that time the Netherlands wasn't yet ready for a children's book with such a 'modern' design. But the essence of his later work can already be seen in it. The text is rhymed and the story, about an apple that really wants to have arms and legs in order to see the world, is friendly and sim- ple. The illustrations share the same simplicity that his posters and book covers already had at that time. Only the technique differs slightly from the 44 later books. The early children's book illustrations are still cut-outs round- &(411 ed off by black brushwork. Besides this completely new formal language for children's books, with its flat composition, absence of perspective and daring use of colour - green and blue side by side! - the format was larger and longer than the currently popular Bruna books, which is probably also one of the reasons why his first children's book did not immediately strike a chord with the public. Only after Bruna had seen small children handling their books did he re- alise that his books should have different dimensions, the better to be held by little hands. Since that time he has produced 6 x 6-inch books, typically with twelve illustrations on the right-hand pages. The product, sometimes hardback, is always durable (washabie!) and will survive a great deal of family life. Primary colours and clever simplification Right from the start, Bruna's illustrations show an extraordinary feature: From miffy is crying a surprising and idiosyncratic simplicity of form that he consistently uses. (nijntje huilt, 1991). Striking, also, are his black brushed contour lines, the absence of perspec- © Mercis b.v. tive, again, and his use of predominantly primary colours: red, black, blue, From poppy pig goes on yellow, white, green; along with brown, never purple and rarely orange. In holiday (betje big gaat met this, Bruna remains in a certain sense an adherent of De Stijl painters and vakantie, 1998). © Mercis b.v. a great admirer of Mondrian, among others. He says about his own use of colour: 'Blue is a colour that recedes. It is a cool colour and a colour that moves away from you. Red and green come toward you. They are warm colours because they contain yellow. Blue 1 use wh en I want it to be cold. But when I draw children in a house I give them a red or yellow background because I want them to be warm in there. I have really always tried to limit myselfto those primary colours, De Stijl colours.' Bruna's highly personal use of colours has remained practically un- changed over the years, but their application has become subtler and bold- er. In addition, in many of his books he also makes the best possible use of white, employing it as an exciting 'colour element'. As a self-taught illustrator, he should perhaps be seen as a gifted design- er rather than as a virtuoso draughtsman. The influence of non-representa- tional painting on his work is in fact unmistakable. In his illustrations we can recognise elements characteristic of painters such as Braque and Miró, and particularly the late Matisse; influences he freely acknowledges in inter- views. The design of his characters is always the result of a weIl thought-out process of simplification. Starting off in pencil, he draws much more natu- 199 ralistically andand usesuses greatergreater detail,detail, searchingsearching fromfrom therethere for for what what is is essential essential in the form. Leaving out more andand moremore detaildetail doesdoes not,not, however,however, diminishdiminish the recognition factor. InIn theirtheir deceptivedeceptive simplicity,simplicity, hishis drawingsdrawings givegive thethe impression of having comecome intointo beingbeing effortlessly,effortlessly, asas if,if, forfor instance,instance, the the contours were `merely''merely' accentedaccented withwith felt-tip.feIt-tip. NothingNothing isis fartherfarther fromfrom thethe truth. He cuts, pastes and experiments, withwith poster paintpaint andand brush,brush, initiallyinitiaIly producing at least aa hundredhundred preparatorypreparatory versionsversions forfor a a book book of of twelve twelve pic- pic- tures, and finally arriving atat aa number ofof definitive pictures,pictures, eacheach of of a a uniqueunique economy. His stories always have aa positivepositive focusfocus andand intent.intent. HisHis humanhuman charac-charac- ters —- as as weIl well asas hishis anthropomorphised animal animal characters characters — - havehave bigbig heads heads with little hair set on fat little bodies withwith shortshort armsarms andand legs,legs, attributesattributes they they clearly share with humanhuman andand animalanimal babies.babies. TheseThese attributes attributes are are also also why, why, according to psychologists like Lorenz, they appealappeal toto ourour feelingsfeelings ofof ten- ten- demessderness and our nurturing instinct, as well as possiblypossibly inducing a sense of recognition inin very youngyoung children.children. Bruna's characterscharacters also always look straightstraight at thethe readerreader withwith theirtheir friendly, oval, black eyes.eyes. AccordingAccording toto developmentaldevelopmental psychologistpsychoiogist DolfDolf Kohnstamm, the result of thisthis eye contact isis that itit holds the reader-viewer'sreader-viewer' s attention. Through minimal changeschanges toto mouthmouth andand eyes,eyes, BrunaBruna successfullysuccessfuIly adds expressionexpres sion totothe the faces, sometimessometimes havinghaving aa teartear hanghang dramaticallydramatically un- un- der an eye to suggestsuggest greatgreat sadness.sadness. HeHe suggestssuggests movement movement or or action action in in his his relatively stylised stills through the use ofofhorizontal horizontal `velocity'velocity lines,'lines,' aa tricktrick also often employed by comic strip andand animation artists,artists, andand thereforetherefore easyeasy for children to interpretinterpret asas such.such. From do you knowknow whywhy I' l' m m Safety and security crying? (weet(weet jijjij waarom ik huil?,huil?, 1997). © Mercis b.v.b.V. Typical of the design of Bruna's booksbooks isis thethe factfact thatthat thethe texttext