Ink
Artists:
Wanda Gag
Trina Schart Hyman
Lois Lenski
James Marshall
Maurice Sendak
A crop of Wanda Gag's artwork from Millions of Cats. Click through to enlarge
Ink is dyed or pigmented liquid.
India ink is the most commonly used ink in illustration because the flat dark color allows for easy printing, scanning, or photocopying. India ink ingredients are carbon black, sometimes called lamp black (this can be acquired from a variety of sources but often is the soot produced by burning petroleum-based products), and shellac, which is a resin that allows the ink to dry quickly, flatly and permanently. Another common ink, sepia, is dark brown and historically created from squid ink, but it is now often made synthetically. There are also modern inventions like acrylic inks, which use acrylic polymers as pigment.
Wanda Gag: Millions of Cats
Gag used ink to draw outlines of cats and characters, as well as for shading and creating tonal qualities.
“I aim to make the illustrations for children’s books as much a work of art as anything I would send to an art exhibition. I strive to make them completely accurate in relation to the text. I try to make them warmly human, imaginative, or humourous - not coldly decorative - and to make them so clear that a three-year-old can recognize the main object in them.”
Gale Research Company. Yesterday’s Authors of Books for Children: Facts and Pictures about Authors and Illustrators of Books for Young People, from Early Times to 1960, Vol 1. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 1977.
Trina Schart Hyman: Caddie Woodlawn
Trina Schart Hyman worked on illustration board, between Fabriano, Bainbridge, or Whatman. She then drew lightly with pencil before inking over her pencil drawings with a Winsor and Newton Series 7 sable brush #1. She preferred brush over pen for its sensitivity. After linework, she would sometimes add acrylic paint in light transparent washes. Working in pen and ink, Hyman displayed her skill in light and shading, as well as fine detail.
Lois Lenski: Chimney Corner Stories (TK)
James Marshall: The Cut-Ups at Camp Custer
Marshall used ink for the outlining of his characters, utilizing the ink to give a sharp, bold edge with an underlay of watercolor.
Maurice Sendak: A Hole is to Dig
Sendak used pen and ink to create children and their dog rolling in the snow. Employing short lines, simple outlining, cross hatching, and shading, he expressed much through simplicity.
When creating illustrations, Sendak first created many sketches on tracing paper, working until satisfied with the environments and character design. Then he made a dummy book, with each illustration being a study for the final art. This allowed him to imagine how the final book would look and make necessary changes. He then moved onto his final illustrations, creating them using crowquill nibs and india ink and, if he desired to produce the book in color, he would add light watercolor washes.
"Maurice Sendak (1928-)." Something About the Author, edited by Lisa Kumar, vol. 165, Gale, 2006, pp. 192-200. Something About the Author, login.ezproxy.lib.umn.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=SATA&sw=w&u=umn_wilson&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CBLNUHU059376249&it=r. Accessed 12 Dec. 2016.
Gale Document Number:GALE|BLNUHU059376249