Arthur Rackham: Drawings Colour Plates E-Book

Maria Peitcheva

• Herausgeber: Maria Peitcheva
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Arthur Rackham (1867 – 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is widely regarded as one of the leading illustrators from the 'Golden Age' of British book illustration which roughly encompassed the years from 1890 until the end of the First World War. During that period, there was a strong market for high quality illustrated books which typically were given as Christmas gifts. Rackham's work is often described as a fusion of a northern European 'Nordic' style strongly influenced by the Japanese woodblock tradition of the early 19th century.

Leseprobe

Arthur Rackham: Drawings

Colour Plates

By Maria Peitcheva

First Edition

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Arthur Rackham: DrawingsColour Plates

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Copyright © 2016 Maria Peitcheva

Foreword

Arthur Rackham (1867 – 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is widely regarded as one of the leading illustrators from the 'Golden Age' of British book illustration which roughly encompassed the years from 1890 until the end of the First World War. During that period, there was a strong market for high quality illustrated books which typically were given as Christmas gifts. Many of Rackham's books were produced in a de luxe limited edition, often vellum bound and sometimes signed, as well as a larger, less ornately bound quarto 'trade' edition. This was often followed by a more modestly presented octavo edition in subsequent years for particularly popular books. The onset of the war in 1914 curtailed the market for such quality books, and the public's taste for fantasy and fairies also declined in the 1920s.

Arthur Rackham's works have become very popular since his death, both in North America and Britain. Rackham's illustrations were chiefly based on robust pen and India ink drawings. Rackham gradually perfected his own uniquely expressive line from his background in journalistic illustration, paired with subtle use of watercolor, a technique which he was able to exploit due to technological developments in photographic reproduction. He would first lightly block in shapes and details of the drawing with a soft pencil, for the more elaborate color plates often utilizing one of a small selection of compositional devices. Over this he would then carefully work in lines of pen and India ink, removing the pencil traces after the drawing had begun to take form. For color pictures, he would begin painting by building up multiple thin washes of watercolor creating translucent tints. One of the disadvantages of the 3-colour (later 4-colour) printing process in the early years was that definition could be lost in the final print, Rackham would sometimes compensate for this by over-inking his drawings once more after painting. He would also go on to expand the use of silhouette cuts in illustration work, particularly in the period after the First World War, as exemplified by his Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

Typically, Rackham contributed both color and monotone illustrations towards the works incorporating his images – and in the case of Hawthorne's Wonder Book, he also provided a number of part-colored block images similar in style to Meiji era Japanese woodblocks.

Rackham's work is often described as a fusion of a northern European 'Nordic' style strongly influenced by the Japanese woodblock tradition of the early 19th century.

Drawings and Illustrations

Cheshire Cat

Detail

Alice in Wonderland

Detail

Alice in Wonderland

Detail

“There's Where You Meet Hunters, and Trappers for the Circuses, Prodding Along Chained Bears and Muzzled Wolves"