Art Style & Audiences

Information/Reference (9-11 year olds)

Alex Baker: Baker produces informative visuals focusing mainly on the human body. I think her art style is very appropriate for an informative book for young readers. The illustrations are more sophisticated and detailed which suits factual and scientific text. I feel that the detailed art style allows young readers to take the topic of the book more seriously. Informative books usually address real life situations, the realism of her style suits this theme. Her initial sketches are always drawn in pencil and the painted in Photoshop. In order to inform a reader of this age, I think the drawings should have realistic elements. I feel a child can refer to the drawings whilst reading the text, making the context easier to understand.

https://www.illustratoren.de/en/illustrator/Alex-Baker/3624
https://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/AlexBaker/view

Baby/Toddler (First Object Book)

Kate Merritt: Kate Merritt works mainly with digital collage focusing particularly on texture and surface design. I think her illustrations would be appropriate for a toddler/baby book as they are very bold in colour and are constructed from basic shapes. She uses found materials to build her collages such as buttons, feathers and foil. A child of a very young age can easily identify the shapes and relate to Merritt’s characters. The element of texture gives her collages a very soft appearance which I feel is suitable for young readers. Babies and toddlers are introduced to softer materials initially such as teddies and blankets, a young reader may recognise this within the illustrations. In order for an art style to be successful for this age range, I think the shapes should be simplistic and recognisable to young eyes. Bold palettes including primary colours will stand out more to a baby/toddler.

http://painted-words.com/portfolio/kate-merritt/
http://www.katemerritt.com/

Picture Book (3-6 year olds)

Duncan Beedie: Beedie is a digital based illustrator who also has experience in 2D animation. I think Beedie’s illustrative style would appeal to a child between three to six years old. The shapes are quite minimal, but also have small elements detail defining the shapes into characters. The mark making reminds me of marks a child would make when drawing which makes the style relatable to the reader. The shapes remind me of collage as if they have been cut and layered together. For example the tree below is a circle with small oval shapes layered over the top to represent leaves. The colour scheme is more sophisticated than those used in babies’ books. They are realistic, but bold which is attractive to young readers. In order for an artistic aesthetic to appeal to an audience of this age, I feel the visuals should have an element of detail whilst still including recognisable shapes. The illustrations should be more sophisticated than those featured in baby/toddler books.

http://duncanbeedie.co.uk/category/illustration/#prettyPhoto

https://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/DuncanBeedie/view