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It was kind of a kooky idea, I admit it.  I’ve seen plenty of sites where artists will reinterpret someone like Maurice Sendak in their own styles.  What I wanted was something a little different.  I wanted to see what would happen if great children’s book illustrators illustrated one another.  If a Lobel illustrated a Bemelmans.  If a Carle illustrated a Silverstein.  Trouble is, famous folk have a way of not bothering to illustrate one another (to say nothing of the fact that a bunch of them are dead as doornails).  The solution?  To offer a silly fun challenge.  And so the Re-Seussification Project was offered: To re-illustrate any Dr. Seuss book in the style of another illustrator.

Now there was some question at first about revealing the identities of the people making the mash-ups.  Some folks thought this fun contest was unfortunate because I wasn’t celebrating the great talents of up-and-coming artists.  So as a compromise, I’ll present the art first and then the names of the artists at the bottom of the page.  Makes it a little more streamlined anyway.

And now . . . the moment you’ve all been waiting for . . . in the order of the faux artists, here’s the lot!

So, we’re all friends here, right?  Right off the bat I’m going to make a confession.  In offering this contest all I really wanted was for someone somewhere to do an Eric Carle.  It was a lot to ask since we’re talking about an artist dealing in the medium of cut paper.  It looked like it wasn’t going to happen.  Then, last night, the final submission was sent in and it was . . .

1. GREEN EGGS AND HAM IN AN ERIC CARLE STYLE

A brilliant way to start us off!

Next up, I’ve fond memories of this book.  As a child of Kalamazoo I was slightly obsessed with any and every mention of my hometown, no matter where it might be.  Dr. Seuss was one of the few authors to understand the true glory of my hometown’s name and for that I shall forever be grateful.  It lifts my heart a little then to see him memorialized in the form of . . .

2. HORTON HATCHES THE EGG IN A LAURENT DE BRUNHOFF STYLE

I particularly like how worried Babar appears.  One thing’s for certain.  That elephant bird is gonna be one snappy dresser.

This next image didn’t go the easy route, no sir.  Some illustrators have styles that are easier to imitate than others.  For this next one I was incredibly impressed by the sheer details at work.  From the border to the font to the colors to the fact that this looks like an honest-to-gosh watercolor.  Hold onto your hats folks, for you are now in the presence of . . .

3. GREEN EGGS AND HAM IN A TOMIE DEPAOLA STYLE

The best part is that his name is signed with dePaola’s customary little heart.  THAT is the attention to detail I crave.

I would like to introduce you to Casey Girard. She studied Illustration and Graphic Design at RIT in upstate NY and currently works out of the Boston, MA area. When she moved to Boston in 2006, she joined the Publishing world at Houghton Mifflin; first as a temp in the marketing department of the School Division and by the end of summer a full time marketing designer in the Trade Division.

She says, “It was a blast getting to be a part of all their amazing books and helping them be received into the world.”

In 2009 she stepped out of her full time position with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to become a full time freelancer. She continues to create marketing materials for a few companies including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, The Boston Conservatory, and Shambhala.

Casey says, “My illustration has been ongoing throughout the years in my own projects, pieces that fit with my marketing jobs, and attendance at SCBWI conferences. Now as a freelancer I am putting more emphasis on my illustrating through time and marketing.”

She works in colored pencil, using the process of burnishing to create soft surfaces, and watercolor, to keep my pieces loose.

Here is Casey’s Process:

With all these animals I use lots of reference. I do my best to collect my own. In the case of this story I was able to use my photos from our zoo trips.

When I start my illustration I begin with sketching. Getting to the illustration is usually after I have done numerous studies to fully know my characters. Once I get to drawing an image I will usually sketch out a piece over and over to get it right. Although, even then I may have to go back and rework am image once I see how the color changes things. Especially in this example. I challenged myself, which I love to do, by having a scene with over 20 animals. It caused need for a lot of back and forth.

Generally once I have my sketch fully worked out and tight, I will scan it into my computer to do a color comp. Since I paint on wood it’s not desireable to start over. Photoshop is a quick way to flesh out a color idea and know if something is working.

With this image I originally tried to use a blue tone for the background. In photoshop I felt this worked, on the board it did not. Things got muddy fast. So, for this image I repainted the final. I did not complete a second color comp. I went right into using yellow as the background tone.

Before I began my final painting I addressed other compositional problems. I changed my sketch by moving some of the animals around and removing a few of them. They were making the image look cluttered and distracting from the main action.

1 Comments on Illustrator Saturday – Casey Girard, last added: 2/4/2012