Anglia Ruskin University A Practice-based Investigation of Animal Character Development in Picturebook Illustration. (Written exegesis) Katherina Manolessou A Thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2012 Please note: This is a redacted version of the thesis. All images have been removed due to copyright considerations. You can find the full version of this thesis, including the visual record, dummy book and published picturebook, at the Anglia Ruskin University library. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank: My supervisors Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles for their invaluable advice and support throughout this project. More specifically I thank Martin for always believing that my illustration practice could generate a picturebook, and Morag for all her advice on my writing. Emily Ford, editor at Macmillan Children’s Books for her belief in Monkey and Bird. Together with Jo Spooner, designer, they have given me constructive feedback for the development of the picturebook. My friends Paola Parise, Joanna and Iain McGregor, Darren Raven, and Katerina Athanassopoulou for their advice. My family in Greece, and especially my sister Sofia, for the support they have offered me so that I could find the time and energy to work on this project. My children, Dimitri and Anna who are a constant source of inspiration. Dimitri has inspired the characters in this project and I am sure that Anna will inspire more. Above all I am grateful to my husband Andreas Tsanakas for his unlimited and unwavering patience, support, and encouragement. This project is dedicated to him. 4 Abstract Anglia Ruskin University, Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences PhD A Practice-based Investigation of Animal Character Development in Picturebook Illustration By Katherina Manolessou This practice-based thesis investigates the development of animal characters in picturebook illustration through the process of creating a picturebook featuring animal characters. The thesis consists of a visual record of the illustration practice, a written exegesis of that record offering a contextualisation and critical reflection on the practice, and the artefact produced, a picturebook maquette. Key considerations include the role of anthropomorphism and stereotypes in the design of picturebook animal characters; the engagement of my illustration practice with the experience of childhood; the construction of a simple picturebook story; the role of the environment as a characterisation device; the roles of the central characters within the picturebook narrative; the expression of the characters’ feelings and motivations via speech, actions, body language and facial expressions; the composition, pacing and rhythm of the picturebook. The research contributes to the understanding of picturebooks and how they are created by bringing into the foreground the practitioner’s intentions, considerations, and methods. It makes connections between different stages and paths of the character development process and addresses picturebook illustration as authorial practice. 5 Table of Contents Introduction 6 Chapter 1: Research context 13 Chapter 2: Research design 43 Chapter 3: Anthropomorphism and Stereotypes 56 Chapter 4: Sketchbook drawing 81 Chapter 5: Looking for a story 107 Chapter 6: Book development 120 Chapter 7: Final artwork 180 Conclusion 198 References 202 Introduction Introduction | 7 This doctoral thesis investigates animal character development in picturebook illustration through my own practice of creating a picturebook featuring animal characters. I use the term character development to describe the process of constructing picturebook characters through illustration practice. This process includes character design and the establishment of the character’s role in a picturebook narrative. In the thesis the terms character construction and characterisation have also been used to describe this process. This research project addresses a gap of knowledge in the form of systematic and sustained inquiries carried out by illustration practitioners into and through their practice, with specific focus on character development. The research offers a record, a critical reflection and a contextualisation of how picturebook animal characters are constructed in the individual practice of one illustrator. It contributes to the understanding of picturebooks as work-in-progress, and not as finished artifacts. Moreover the research approaches picturebook illustration as authorial practice, where the generation of ideas and concepts is an integral part of the practice. This PhD submission consists of two visual components and one written component. The two visual components are the picturebook maquette and the visual record of the illustration practice. The written component is an exegesis of the practice. The visual record that contains all the figures, and the exegesis that refers to these figures (picture footnotes have been used to make the connection easier) are designed to be read alongside each other and not separately. Below I give an outline for each of the three components. Introduction | 8 The picturebook maquette The picturebook maquette, also referred to in the written essay as the picturebook proposal, follows the industry standard for presenting a picturebook idea to a publisher. It is a 32 page dummy book that contains detailed pencil drawings and full text for all the pages. This dummy book also includes final artwork for two double spreads. The picturebook, titled Zoom Zoom Zoom (and referred to in the written essay as Zoom) features two animal protagonists, Monkey and Bird, who live in a jungle. There is also a supporting character, an alien living on the moon. The text is based on the nursery rhyme Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. The basic plot is as follows: Monkey cannot fall asleep in the night. His friend, Bird, suggests they go to the moon. So they pack, put their helmets on, and they fly off. When they get there, they are warmly greeted by an alien. The alien shows them around. They all play happily on the moon while the alien counts down towards a take off in his spaceship. After taking off, they travel back to earth, and during this journey Monkey and Bird gradually fall asleep. When they get home, the alien puts Monkey and Bird to bed and flies back to the moon. The visual record of the practice-based research This part of the thesis is the visual record of the research through my illustration practice and contains a selection of the most representative and significant of my drawings and prints. A small number of photographs showing different stages of the practice and, Introduction | 9 where relevant, images created by other artists that have influenced my work have also been included. I have shown whole sketchbook pages as much as possible, but at times it was necessary to isolate drawings or notes from a page in order to discuss their role in the development of this project. In keeping the visual work together in one volume, the reader can move from page to page, backwards and forwards, and is able to see the development, paths, and connections between different parts of the practice. The captions under the images provide only brief information, as the images are discussed in detail in the written exegesis. The written exegesis The written essay that accompanies the visual record of the research and the picturebook maquette acts as an exegesis, that is, an interpretation or explanation of the practice. It offers a contextualisation of and critical reflection on the illustration practice involved in creating animal characters in picturebooks. Both the visual record and the written exegesis follow the same structure. They are organised into chapters that correspond to different stages in the chronological evolution of the practice. The different objectives, considerations, approaches, techniques and conclusions from each such stage are recorded in each chapter. Below a brief overview of the shared structure of the visual record and the written exegesis is provided. Chapter 1 provides the research context consisting of a theoretical framework Introduction | 10 and the cultural and physical conditions under which the research took place. This chapter offers definitions for practice-based research and research context, and gives a brief overview of practice-based PhDs in other disciplines that had a bearing on this project. The context is then discussed in relation to the picturebook genre as a commercial and cultural product, and as a focus of academic research. The contribution to the study of picturebooks by picturebook illustrators is also discussed. This understanding of picturebook research specifies the gap of knowledge in the area of research projects carried out by illustrators through their own practice. The chapter finishes with an overview of my educational and cultural influences, and my previous illustration practice. The design of the research is discussed in Chapter 2, especially the understanding of this project as ‘emergent’ research, where the artistic practice is the main tool of research. This is followed by a detailed explanation of what the illustration practice consists of and how reflection, decision-making, and evaluation took place during the practice. The timeframe of the research, the role of the feedback, and the recording of practice are defined. Finally, this chapter ends with a discussion of the role of the written exegesis and my understanding of the relationship