Art and Text

"...integration of word and picture is as natural to the artistic process as brush and canvas." - Steven Heller, "Visuals: The Art of the World"

We are surrounded by such a glut of information in this new age but how do we process it all? We get inundated with 140 character tweets every few seconds and processing each and every one seems to be impossible. But then you see an image and it explains what ten thousand words couldn't say. It could both provide an explanation to the text and also itself be an encyclopedia of information. The thing I like about illustration is that it can both dilute ten thousand words into one image, and also expand on them in a multi-layered image.

My favourite description of illustration has to come from it's origins in Latin: 'illustrare' = 'to make bright'. I believe art has the power to both uncover and to hide. I enjoy how an amazing artwork can give me some direct new insight and also cause me to ponder many mysteries all at once.

Art as Text

Any creative medium can be used "illustratively" if it expands on an already present textual idea. What I enjoyed about my experiences with graphic design was diluting a concept down to it's essence in order to convey it with clarity. This is often how I approach an illustration assignment - I take a multitude of words and distill them into an idea to 'make bright' in my painting. But how do you process or digest all that text and all those ideas and choose just one direction? In design this is solved by creating a hierarchy of ideas to express. For example a depiction of an apple could be just about the crisp fruit, it could speak of a gift for a teacher or the basis of a healthy diet, or it could refer to the story of Eve's temptation!

This is related to the idea behind this digest. Sometimes so much thought goes into one image that doesn't make it out there into the world. What thoughts are there about art when it's being made? What are the contexts and influences artists use when creating their pieces? In our information age these could come from anywhere! How many amazing ideas are discarded on the way to the final product? Often amazing connections and discoveries are made in the process of creating art that are lost along the way.

Art in Text

"Everyone understands text and images alike as ways both of communicating with others and of expressing oneself. Everyone interprets paintings with words — except, perhaps, when the act of interpretation produces another work of art. Whether one is just learning about art or looking for fuller understandings, mute astonishment just will not do the trick. No wonder that postmodern critics, especially those influenced by Jacques Derrida, often use "reading" when they mean interpreting, understanding, or even just looking at art. They have ceased to think of art and text as a shared space, to the point of speaking of art as text." - Jonathan Haber (Read more here.)

A question I was asked a few weeks ago relates this well: "Do you come up with the image first and then try to find text to go with it? Or, do you find an interesting quote and then create the image from that?"

Usually, when I'm creating an illustration, the text comes first. But that brings up an interesting point. The viewer sees the image FIRST and then, if interested, reads the accompanying text. It is opposite to how an illustrator creates. Perhaps both the art and text should be created in more co-ordination? I think this is only natural in an increasingly digital age.

But this kind of integration can only come about with increasing collaboration between creators: designers, art directors, authors, illustrators, animators, copywriters or whoever. It all depends on the creative process. If an illustrator comes in only at the end of an article or book being written they can create an interesting response to the text. But what if their ideas were to influence the creation of the text in the first place?

IMAGE CREDIT: "Alla Prima Apples" ©2009 Bethany Vanderputten. Private Collection.