“It all began with images.” — C.S. Lewis
As a writer who always keeps her eyes and ears open for inspiration and details to add to her work, I typically have a notebook or scrap paper to jot down notes or ideas. I usually have my phone and its note app on my person as well, which serves, but there’s something special to be said about scribbling words onto the page before the elusive brainchild flutters away, never to be seen again. Don’t get me started on all the ideas I’ve lost whilst driving or lathering my hair in the shower.
Speaking of catching ideas on paper, last month, as you may have read, was full of literary-based events. At the C.S. Lewis Festival and Harbor Springs Festival of the Book—back-to-back weekend events—I made sure to bring writing supplies to capture all the nuggets of wisdom and inspiration that I would surely hear. And at the former event, I wrote down a quote by C.S. Lewis that sparked October’s rambling focus:
“It all began with images.”
Lewis shared this admission of Narnia’s origins, I believe, in a letter or journal entry. I was so busy scribbling the quote verbatim and mulling it over that I tuned out to where the quote was found—sometimes my writerly ears do tune out…
In my previous blog post, I spoke of the power of words, and now, the focus is on how visuals—art and illustrations—can speak of their own accord.
A picture is worth a thousand words, an idiom implying that one visual has the power to convey a message or emotion faster than a wordy, flowery, and long-winded paragraph. Being a fan of both—illustrations and thoroughly descriptive chunks of writing—I would love to combine the two in my novel, the catalyst for which, back in 2009, began with images in a dream.
On this long journey of novel crafting, I, from time to time, research what readers want to see in books. The readerly desires I’ve come across include more romance (not smut), perhaps a little left to the imagination (we don’t need to spell EVERYTHING out for readers), and the return of chapter titles.
I will say, there’s something about chapter titles in place of numbers. The titles are a slice of insight or a clue to what the next set of pages holds, and personally, I enjoy how the titles make me ponder a bit as I go through each chapter. To that list of desires, however, I’d add the return of simple chapter page illustrations, like those in The Chronicles of Narnia or the Harry Potter series. How I do miss those—hand-drawn snapshots of what’s coming; visual teasers that tell the reader so much.
Down the line, I would love to find an illustrator to create simple drawings to place beneath each of my chapter titles. The unfortunate truth is that I’ve already selected the artists for chapter illustrations and dust jacket art, but they’ve both passed on after impressive careers.
Pauline Baynes and Trina Schart Hyman are my favorite illustrators, with third place going to Arthur Rackham and honorable mentions to J.R.R. Tolkien and Tomie dePaola. But Baynes and Hyman lent their art to two of my comfort reads, Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia and Patricia C. Wrede’s The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, respectively, so I hold special places in my heart for them, their artistic contributions, and the power behind their images.
Pauline Baynes
(1922 – 2008)
Born in Hove, East Sussex, United Kingdom, Pauline Baynes spent her childhood in beloved India. To her sorrow, she returned to England to attend a boarding school, leaving behind a life and place she loved. Baynes found solace in art and knew early on that she wanted to become an illustrator.
She studied at both the UCL Slade School of Fine Art and Oxford, and throughout the 1940s, Baynes illustrated children’s books, wrote and illustrated her own book, and in 1948, connected with Tolkien to create illustrations for his works. Baynes illustrated Tolkien’s Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Smith of Wootton Major, Leaf by Niggle, and Bilbo’s Last Song. After seeing Baynes’ work for Farmer Giles of Ham, Tolkien called her art “more than illustrations, they are a collateral theme.”
Tolkien had wanted Baynes to illustrate The Lord of the Rings; however, the project became too large, rendering illustrations impractical (too much descriptive writing, perhaps?). Still, Baynes did create Middle-earth maps and a slipcase design that was adapted into a book cover for the trilogy.
Baynes’ friendship and working relationship with Tolkien led to her illustrating C.S. Lewis’ septet—The Chronicles of Narnia—between 1950 and 1956. This year marks the 75th anniversary of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and in my opinion, the initial Narnian adventure wouldn’t be the same without Pauline Baynes’ work. The simplicity of these illustrations, in particular, is what I would love to accompany my chapter titles because simplicity speaks volumes.
P.S. Check out this recent picture book publication by Waxwing Books, which is an illustrated biography by Katie Wray Schon: Painting Wonder.
Trina Schart Hyman
(1939 – 2004)
Born in Philadelphia, Trina Schart Hyman became an American illustrator of children’s books after studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Konstfackskolan, the State Art School in Sweden. Throughout her career, Hyman illustrated over 150 books, with a strong preference for fairy tales and Arthurian legends.
Hyman’s work had a strong presence in my childhood, and probably for many others, with her artwork appearing in picture-book retellings of Rapunzel, Swan Lake, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and many others.
A Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator, Hyman possessed an artistic style that celebrated fine lines, detail, emotion, and energy. And while I adore her corpus, it was her partnering with author Patricia C. Wrede that stole my heart.
Hyman illustrated stunning dust jacket art for Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles series in the 1990s (a solid decade), which caught my attention as a young library-goer. Hyman’s work for Wrede’s series is highly regarded for its distinctive and memorable covers, and I couldn’t agree more. All four books are enrobed with beautiful character art that complements Wrede’s written descriptions.
If I could have it my way, I’d beg on bended knee for Hyman to create my novel’s dust jacket art, but she had passed before I’d even had my dream that serves as my novel’s provenance.
You’ll have to forgive me if I’ve already rambled on about illustrators and their artistic contributions to the literary realm in an earlier post. As someone who loves children’s picture books and chapter illustrations and gets giddy in art museums, the repetitive iteration cannot be helped.
Words are powerful, as are images, with both playing vital roles in life and society, and as a writer and an almost art school student, I find each to be invaluable.
Next Post:
Monday, November 24