2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
The importance of illustrations in a children's book can hardly be overestimated: they develop imagination, a sense of beauty, and improve the mood of children and adults. The first acquaintance with the world of literature occurs on the day when a child opens a children's book for the first time and begins to plunge into the world of fantasy and fairy tales. This is a very important point that can determine in the future whether the baby will be interested in literature or not. Children's attention immediately finds pictures in the book, and therefore they should be the personification of goodness, beauty and happiness.
Today we will talk about such a talented artist who creates magic on the pages of books - Rebecca Dautremer, one of the most famous contemporary illustrators in France.
The start of the journey
Rebecca was born in 1971, in the small town of Gap on the slopes of the French Alps. Not to say that the artist since childhoodshowed interest in brushes and paints. By her own admission, Rebecca started making art for children's books almost by accident.
In her dreams of becoming a graphic artist, a Frenchwoman enters the Higher State School of Decorative Arts. Being a simple student, Rebecca Dotremer, in search of a part-time job, gets a job at the publishing house Gautier-Languereau, where at that time they needed specialists for creative coloring books, decals and stickers. There was nothing to do: the students also want to eat. Only years later, the artist realized that this was her calling.
The heyday of a career. Technique
The start, which began so suddenly, gave the opportunity to Rebecca's talent to flourish, both on the pages of books and in life. The artist herself says that she was just lucky with the publishers, but the truth is that the uniqueness of the Frenchwoman does not hold. Rebecca Dautremer works with gouache on watercolor paper to achieve blurry, flowing lines. Light, gentle strokes create the illusion of 3D, and bright, saturated colors immerse deep into the image. The illustrator works very carefully and with all his heart on each of his paintings, turning to his own family, photographs, art and music for inspiration.
The artist attaches great importance to the philosophical original plot, avoiding Disney templates and frames. Her art deeply touches even the most sophisticated critic. She has 30 years of successful creative career. Currently the artist- not only an illustrator of children's books, she writes books, creates graphic masterpieces for advertising (for example, for the Kenzo perfume series) and continues to improve her talents.
Princesses
Rebecca Dotremer's biography as a real artist begins in 2003, when she receives an order to illustrate the book Princesses Unknown and Forgotten. In fairness, it is worth noting that the artist agreed without much pleasure. However, as soon as she started working, the Frenchwoman immediately began to actively cooperate with the author of the book, creating a wonderful creative tandem.
On each page of the book there is a touching story of the princess, her experiences, the formation of her life path, habits and, of course, a portrait. All paintings are made in the same style and convey the mood of the character very subtly. The very message of the book is fascinating, original, different from everything that is now being created by Western civilization. The response was great: just a week after the release of the circulation, all the books from the stores were sold out!
Alice in Wonderland
Rebecca Dotremer began her work on Alice in Wonderland in 2010. From that moment, a new stage in the artist's work began. Before starting work, according to the artist, she was not lucky enough to read Lewis Carroll, and the impression of the work was spoiled by a Disney cartoon about the adventures of a curious and mischievous girl. The illustrator wondered for a long time what the main character of her fairy tale should look like, and only after a while, having found the right image, she began to create. But from thiswork went like clockwork.
Black-haired short-haired Alice amazed the audience. Many decided that Rebecca painted a self-portrait, conveying her feelings and experiences to the character. One way or another, gentlemen may prefer blondes, but the talented artist saw the classic story in her own way and did not fail: the book turned out to be truly magical!
Cyrano
The artist worked not only on immortal literary monuments. The tandem with her husband, the modern writer Tai Mark Le Tan, has borne fruit. The family chose the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" for their creative project. The husband adapted the text, and the wife completed her main task - she illustrated the book.
It should be noted that the text of the work itself turned out to be sarcastic and cheerful, but the illustrations by Rebecca Dotremer retained their philosophical overtones and even some gloom. This artistic technique made the book unique: the old story sparkled with new colors from the palette of French talent.
Cartoon
In 2011, the artist acted as the art director of a cartoon called Kerity - la maison des Contes ("Kerity, home of fairy tales"). The cartoon turned out to be very elegant and kind. Delicate colors and cute characters will impress both children and adults. At the moment, the family creative union is working on a new cartoon, which cannot but please fans. This direction is still new for the artist, howevertalented Rebecca will soon give children many new interesting stories.
Le petit théâtre de Rébecca
After an attempt to go beyond the role of an illustrator of children's books (and, it must be said, a successful one), in 2011 the artist releases her Rebecca's Little Theater. The work became the quintessence of the Frenchwoman's creativity and brought her a resounding success.
The book is a small representation: the characters are cut out of the smallest details that can be superimposed on each other, creating your own fairy tale. Rebecca drew all the characters herself, they are collected in one book. Alice, Thumb Boy, Cyrano, Baba Yaga - the whole company is assembled. Each page is a stage and a home for a specific character with their own story, thoughts, feelings and charm.
Whoever opens the book will become the director of a theatrical performance (this someone must be at least five years old) - the fairy tale begins to come to life before the reader's eyes.
This creative approach develops imagination, abstract thinking and instills a love of the book from a very young age. This is great entertainment for a good family evening. And what could be more beautiful in our turbulent times?
Baby pictures or art?
Many accuse Rebecca of being too dark and eccentric. Others say that her occupation cannot be called high art. Perhaps the artist's illustrations do not hang in the Louvre yet, but they will forever settle in the soul of the little reader. Opening a book with pictures of the artist, you find yourself inunknown, magical, sincere world filled with light and feelings. The world that little explorers deserve!
Parents, looking closely at her work, understand one thing: in the world of advertising and falsehood, the artist's paintings are like a breath of fresh air. Her work is full of genuine sincerity and beauty. They are filled with deep philosophical meaning, sometimes with bright sadness, but always with great pure and tender love for the world around, for life itself. Rebecca was able to win the trust of many children and adults, becoming one of the most famous French artists of our time.
Recommended:
A list of interesting books for children and adults. List of interesting books: fantasy, detectives and other genres
The article will be useful to people of all ages who want to organize their leisure time by reading works of art. The list of interesting books includes children's stories, adventure novels, detective stories, fantasy, the quality of which will delight even the most sophisticated readers
Scenario for a theatrical performance for children. New Year's performances for children. Theatrical performance with the participation of children
Here comes the most magical time - the New Year. Both children and parents are waiting for a miracle, but who, if not mom and dad, most of all wants to organize a real holiday for their child, which he will remember for a long time. It is very easy to find ready-made stories for a celebration on the Internet, but sometimes they are too serious, without a soul. After reading a bunch of theatrical performance scripts for children, there is only one thing left - to come up with everything yourself
Children's Literature. Children's literature is foreign. Children's fairy tales, riddles, poems
It is difficult to overestimate the role that children's literature plays in a person's life. The list of literature that a child managed to read by adolescence can tell a lot about a person, her aspirations and priorities in life
Interesting and useful books. What books are useful for children and their parents? 10 useful books for women
In the article we will analyze the most useful books for men, women and children. We also give those works that are included in the lists of 10 useful books from various fields of knowledge
Yesenin's child. Did Yesenin have children? How many children did Yesenin have? Children of Sergei Yesenin, their fate, photo
The Russian poet Sergei Yesenin is known to absolutely every adult and child. His works are full of deep meaning, which is close to many. Yesenin's poems are taught and recited by students at school with great pleasure, and they remember them throughout their lives
