I had the pleasure of being profiled by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre as part of their series about Picture Book Gallery artists. The Picturebook Gallery is in affiliation with The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) which is a national, not- for-profit organization founded in 1976, dedicated to encouraging, promoting and supporting the reading, writing, illustrating and publishing of Canadian books for young readers. Gallery artists generously donate 60% of the sales to support CCBC programs. Please visit the gallery and the gorgeous original art that is available! You can find the interview here or read the Q&A below.
CCBC: Take us through the steps you take to create your plasticine illustrations.
Barbara: My plasticine illustrations begin with pencil sketches. A final drawing becomes the map for the clay art. Starting with a base of illustration board, the image is built up in layers. There are three basic techniques: spreading the clay to create a background layer; modelling shapes to build up the image; and adding texture to add detail and depth. I refer to my drawing to organize the order of the layers. Once the art is finished, I work with photographer (and husband!) Ian Crysler to light and photograph the art. We do a limited amount of Photoshop, mostly for cleanup. I feel that this art needs to look handmade and a little rough. Digital files are sent to the publisher.
CCBC: Your relief-style plasticine artwork is distinct, striking, and recognizable. Plasticine differs from other types of modelling clay as it is oil based, squishable, and non-hardening. What would you say are the joys and challenges (if any) of creating illustrations with this medium?
Barbara: Plasticine, like other similar brands, is a non-hardening modelling clay. I have loved working with it since I was a kid. There was a line in an old ad that said something like “how can you be bored when you have plasticine?” Still true! As a child I liked the way I could make an elephant, then squish that up and make a cat, or a wizard or whatever. I still love that quality because it means I can keep working on an image over time. Any mistakes can be scraped off and remade. Plasticine is literally a hands-on material, and I like the directness of that. While I do work very hard on my pictures, there is a silly quality about plasticine that takes the pressure off trying to make something perfect. Clay art is fragile, so I’m always nervous until the image has been photographed. After the art has been photographed it can be framed in a shadow box to preserve it and then it is quite stable. I love the challenge of figuring out how to create different things, like chenille fabric or a screened window. Depicting transparency is the biggest challenge with an opaque medium but the problem solving keeps things interesting. Another difficultly is working in the studio in winter because woolly sweaters shed lint onto the art. Sometimes I wear a big white overshirt and pretend I am a lab scientist. Mostly I try not to think too hard about why I love modelling clay because nothing ruins a joke like an explanation.
CCBC: Plasticine is fun for children, an easy-to-find art supply and one that is relatively affordable compared to other art supplies. How would you say readers are affected/influenced by your artwork crafted from plasticine, a medium which is familiar to them and commonplace in their everyday life?
Barbara: When I looked a picture book art and comics as a child, I tried to figure out how they were done. I copied cartoons and artwork but often the images were so sophisticated and perfect looking that I couldn’t imagine ever being able to do that without access to serious art supplies. I like to think a young artist can look at my pictures and figure out how they were made and even try it themselves. I love to see artists exploring this accessible and fun medium for expression. I receive a lot of mail full of amazing clay art by kids. I believe it is as important for children to be able to read as it is for them to be able to communicate their own stories—in whatever form. My friend, author and collage illustrator Marthe Jocelyn, has said dimensional art “makes you look” and I think that is the appeal. You can look at a photograph of an alligator, a realistic painting of an alligator, and an alligator made from sunflower seeds painted green. The sunflower seed alligator is the one that makes you say “wow, this alligator is made out of sunflower seeds!” And maybe you will spend more time with that picture, that book. Maybe you will slow down and pay attention to the story that artist is telling. The important thing is that all illustrators are telling a visual story, whatever the medium. There are as many styles as there are readers. I’m not a fan of age or reading level categories. If young readers are given the opportunity to explore a variety of books, I believe they will connect with the ones that resonate with them.
CCBC: Prior to illustrating picture books, you created illustrations for textbooks. In what ways, if any, did your work illustrating textbooks influence/inform your work illustrating picture books?
Barbara: Illustrating textbooks was a terrific education. I learned to work with inflexible page designs, experience the printing process and to meet deadlines. The artwork had to clearly reflect the text, be researched for accuracy, and diverse representation was required. The restrictions pushed me to think more creatively. That discipline was helpful when I had the freedom to play with page breaks, page design and images with picture books. If illustrating textbooks was school, creating picture books is recess!
CCBC: The United States has at least three institutions (Eric Carle Picture Book Museum, Mazza Museum, R. Michelson Galleries) which are dedicated to collecting, preserving, and presenting picture-book illustrations. Canada doesn’t seem to have an institution committed to carrying out this type of mandate. How would our nation benefit from having a museum dedicated to the realm of picture book artwork?
Barbara: While there is no free-standing museum dedicated to Canadian book art, we are fortunate to have the Osborne Collection, housed in the Lillian Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library. The Osborne collects and preserves original book art including Canadian illustration, holds changing exhibits and access is free to the public. Tours and school visits can be arranged, and librarians are happy to pull materials from the collection for specific interests. Canadian artists Marie-Louise Gay, Brenda Clark, Sydney Smith, and Michael Martchenko are just of few of the artists represented in this treasure-filled collection. Well worth a visit!