WRITERS WHO WERE ALSO ARTISTS

Some of our favorite authors were also artists. While writing is itself an art, it is very different from the visual arts of sketching and painting. For some writers, the two media—though vastly different—go hand in hand. Just ask children’s book authors who double as illustrators. For example, Richard Scarry’s work is unmistakable. Both his stories and illustrations are almost instantly recognizable, such as the “Best Word Book Ever” and his series of busy characters (“Busy, Busy Town” and “Busy, Busy Cars and Trucks”). His images of a pig driving a pickle-shaped car, a worm wearing a hat, and bunnies dressed in sailor suits all evoke immediate nostalgia for childhood. While the books themselves aren’t very complicated, children’s stories are more complex than you think.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of the beloved fable “Le Petit Prince,” illustrated his unique masterpiece, while Beatrix Potter’s stories are just as beloved for their drawings of animals come to life as the written story. All our childhoods would be different without the charming images of Peter Rabbit in his baby blue coat, Tom Kitten donning a straw hat, or Mrs. Tiggy Winkle in her white apron. Hans Christian Andersen—one of “history’s greatest storytellers and the patron saint of the fairytale genre”—wrote, drew, and was famous for creating around 1,000 papercuts (along with some of our favorite stories such as “The Little Mermaid” and “The Ugly Duckling”).

Andersen was speaking of himself in “Godfather’s Picture Book” (1868) when he wrote that “Godfather could tell stories; so many and such long ones. He could cut out pictures, and he could draw pictures; and when it was near Christmas, he would take out an exercise book with clean white pages, and on these he would paste up pictures taken from books and newspapers, and, if he had not enough for what he wanted to tell, he would draw them himself.” Writers and artists glean inspiration from the world around them; this includes studying art, reading, collecting clippings, and even making collages and scrapbooks.

While paintings needn’t any language because anyone from anywhere in the world can see an image and derive their own meaning, words that make up stories are written using an alphabet and, unless translated, can only be understood by those who are literate in that particular written language. Cave drawings go back to neanderthals; no written language existed, but storytelling did. Choosing the right words is trickier than imagery because so much of art is abstract and can be subjective. While there are forms of experimental literature and poetry, most books and stories have to be written in a linear fashion so they make sense. There has to be a beginning, middle, and ending.

Some of our favorite novelists were also painters and sketched furiously. If you write in a diary, you probably doodle as well. If not out of boredom, then to illustrate your story or to release excess creative energy and impulses. Writing by hand, especially in cursive, is an artistic act akin to drawing, and, of course, calligraphy is certainly a waning visual art form. Journals are always filled with scribbles in the margins. Kafka’s journals are decorated with little drawings, as are Sylvia Plath’s. These writers were more serious about the craft of storytelling with words, but that doesn’t negate their vivid pen and ink creations.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” (1937) introduced the world to Middle Earth complete with illustrations of maps, mountains and even a dragon. The legendary fantasy was first illustrated by none other than the writer himself. He created an entire world, complete with words and images, for readers to immerse themselves. Lewis Carroll did the same thing with “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground” (1862-64). The original manuscript was fully embellished with nearly forty ink drawings to illustrate the character of Alice tripled in size after nibbling an enchanted cake, animated rabbits and birds, and even a giant caterpillar smoking on a toadstool. While these images have been recreated countless times with varying details, it was Carroll who first laid the groundwork.

For more on the writers, stories, and illustrations mentioned above, check out the sites below:

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/carroll-illustrations-for-alice-undergound

For more on storytelling in its many forms and books for children and adults alike, check out Full Cycle Publications at the website and the blog.