Perogies & Gyoza: Did you do any research for Virginia Wolf since it is loosely based on real characters?
Isabelle Arsenault: I did visual research focusing on pictures
of Virginia Woolf and around her house in order to have references that
would help me visualize her life and include elements about it in my
images.
As the story had so little to do with the real Virginia Woolf, I
didn't feel like I had to read biographies to make the work accurate.
Also, Kyo gave me lots of hints about Virginia's life, that she
suggested could be integrated into my images.
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Image from Virginia Wolf - copyright Isabelle Arsenault |
PG: Could you elaborate on the colours/style you chose to show the different moods of Virginia Wolf?
IA: The story begins while Virginia is not feeling
so good... to describe her state of mind, I chose to work with muted
tones, mainly grayscale with one or two colors, while the rendering was
sketchy.
When the whole house sank, the colors and style
shift to different ones where the shapes look like shadows or
silhouettes. It's a world where everything is dark and negative.
When Vanessa starts to use her imagination and creativity to
enlighten this darkness, she uses color crayons and paint that contrast to the previous atmosphere. Colors/creativity bring some joy and fun
to what seemed boring and faded.
But this world is in their imagination. When they
woke up the day after, reality is not as perfect as they thought it
would be. This is described as a mixed of the sketchiness from the
beginning and the colors from the end. It's not as perfect as in
Bloomsberry, but it's much better than before.
So basically, colors represent Arts and creativity and what we can
do with them. With just a few colors and a big imagination, we can go a
long way.
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House sinking from Virginia Wolf - copyright Isabelle Arsenault |
PG: Is Bloomsberry based on anything, or your own secret world?
IA: I just tried to picture it as I figured the author would see
it herself. In the text, she mentions that Vanessa painted Bloomsberry
"to make it look just the way it sounded". So that's what I tried to
do. I also took inspiration from a picture I saw on Kyo's blog which
showed some blue flowers from her garden.
PG: You seem to have a very distinct style (rosy cheeks, muted colour palette, judicious use of white space). Did this come about organically or was it a specific choice?
IA: It's a bit of both. As I said, the styles
were distinct from one part to another in order to define the different
states of mind Virginia was going through. So I had to think about the
impact of every style before going with it or not. But on the other
hand, it all came naturally. I like to experiment with techniques and
explore the possible visuals for every specific book I'm working on. I
also have a tendency to play with colors and oppose them to grayscale
tones in my everyday work. It's my way of using colors - I'm a bit
selective and picky about it I guess.
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Image from Virginia Wolf - copyright Isabelle Arsenault |
PG: Do you produce art other than that for children's books? If so, is there a way for people to buy it?
IA: I produce illustrations for children's books
and do some other illustration assignments for magazines and newspapers.
In my free time, I work on a sketchbook where I develop ideas and new
projects. Sometime, these can develop into a creative project of its
own, like a silk-screen print series, or a promotional object. But I
don't have right now what I could call a production that people could
buy, out of the original artwork pieces from my books.
PG: What books did you love as a kid, and are there any kids books you love as an adult?
IA: I loved books with striking images, either
because of their beauty or of their darkness, their scariness. In
either ways, I remember liking the feeling of being impressed by the
illustrations of my favorite books.
PG: Are you multilingual? If so, do you have any tips for parents like me raising multilingual kids on how not to stuff it up?
IA:I have two sons, and they only speak French
right now... but sometimes, I read to them books in English. I think
children's book are great for learning a new language. The
illustrations help understanding a story and guessing the meaning of new
words. You can go at your own pace, and repeat parts if needed. My
kids and I especially like books by Mo Willems like Piggie and Elephant, which are simple, repetitive, and fun.
PG: What's next?
IA: I'm working right now on a children's book that
looks a lot like a graphic novel and I'm having lots of fun doing it!
It's for kids aged between 8 and 12 years old and will be published in
French at La Pasteque.
I have other great book projects coming up in the next year and
hopefully, I'll have another collaboration with inspiring author Kyo
Maclear in a near future.
Thanks so much Isabelle for letting me interview you! Can't wait for your next book!
I can't believe I'm the first to comment. Lovely interview. These illustrations are TO DIE FOR!! So gorgeous and I love how the gray plays off of the colours. Gorgeous! Thank you for the insight.
ReplyDeleteThese illustrations are really something aren't they? Why is it so many illustrators are such amazingly nice people?
ReplyDeleteI am very impressed with what I have seen of Isabel Arsenault's work so far. I pour over the book she speaks of as her current project in this interview, and had a really hard time returning Migrant to the library recently. So that wil be my next purchase. Stunning! Thanks for this interview.
ReplyDelete