Archive for the ‘rackham’ Category

Tuesday, May 18th, 2021

Illustration: Arthur Rackham’s Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Arthur Rackham

Arthur RackhamArthur RackhamArthur Rackham was one of the most influential illustrators who ever lived. If you aren’t familiar with his work, see Bud Plant’s biography. These scans are from a first edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales from 1909. This book is packed with amazing color plates and ink sketches.

Along with Edmund Dulac, Rackham was one of the most popular book illustrators of the early 20th century.

Arthur RackhamArthur RackhamWalt Disney admired Rackham’s watercolor and pen & ink style, and instructed Gustaf Tenggren to work with Claude Coates and Sam Armstrong to adapt it for use in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In animation backgrounds however, the sinewy Rackham line was overly busy, distracting from the characters; so Tenggren evolved towards the more dimensional painting style which reached its peak in Pinocchio, setting the standard for Disney cartoons throughout the 1940s.

Of Rackham’s style, Bud Plant writes, “Most obvious, in retrospective, is the calm and good humor of the drawings. They seem imbued with a gentle joy that must have been reassuring to both the children and their parents. Rackham had found his niche. His drawings would convey a non-threatening yet fearful thrill and a beauty that was in no way overtly sexy or lewd. It was a perfect Victorian solution and he seems to have taken to it with an impish delight.”

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Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

IllustrationIllustration

This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit spotlighting Illustration.

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Wednesday, December 6th, 2017

REFPACK019: Download Two Rare First Editions By Arthur Rackham


REFPACK 019
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November-December 2017

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Every other month, members of Animation Resources are given access to an exclusive Members Only Reference Pack. These downloadable files are high resolution e-books on a variety of educational subjects and rare cartoons from the collection of Animation Resources in DVD quality. Our current Reference Pack has just been released. If you are a member, click through the link to access the MEMBERS ONLY DOWNLOAD PAGE. If you aren’t a member yet, please JOIN ANIMATION RESOURCES. It’s well worth it.

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Rackham

Two Books By Arthur Rackham
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Rip Van Winkle / Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1905, 1909)

Arthur Rackham was born in Kent in 1867 to a large family. At the age of 17, he was sent to Australia to convalesce from a protracted illness. Upon his return a year later, he enrolled in the Lambeth School of Art and the City of London School. In 1892 he began creating spot illustrations for various newspapers and magazines, but he really really didn’t find his artistic niche until 1894 when he illustrated his first book, The Dolly Dialogues. In the years that followed, Rackham progressed to the top of his field, and in 1900 an illustrated volume of Grimm’s Fairy Tales cemented his reputation as one of the foremost illustrators of his time. This book blended elements of orientalism and art nouveaux to create a fantastic world of princesses, fairies and gnomes, all rendered with Rackham’s unique sinewy ink line.

Rackham’s first breakthrough book in color was Rip Van Winkle (1905). It established the process that he continued to develop and perfect through the 1920s. He would began his paintings with a detailed pencil sketch, then he applied an organic ink line that twisted and turned like the roots of a tree. When the ink had dried, he erased the pencil lines and applied thin watercolor washes in layers to define depth and hue. After the color washes were finished, he re-inked his distinctive line again over the top to make the drawing read crisply through the color printing process.

Animation Resources is proud to present the illustrations from a special German portfolio of prints from Rip Van Winkle (1905), and a first trade edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1909). These two books are significant to the history of animation, because they were the inspiration for Walt Disney to create his first animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney’s artists studied Rackham’s paintings closely, emulating the warm candelit glow and wood textures in the dwarfs’ cottage, as well as the distinctive Rackham sinewy trees in the threatening forest sequence.

REFPACK019: Two Books By Arthur Rackham
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Tuesday, June 28th, 2016

Illustration: Arthur Rackham’s Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Arthur Rackham

Arthur RackhamArthur RackhamArthur Rackham is probably the single most influential children’s book illustrator. His delicate watercolors define the image of fairy tales in many people’s minds.

If you aren’t familiar with his work, see Bud Plant’s great capsule biography.

These scans are from a rare first edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales from 1909. This beautiful book is jam packed with fabulous color plates and ink sketches.

Rackham’s style merges an organic line and earthy color palette with fantastic imagery. He often slipped faces into trees and clouds, adding an extra layer of wonder to his images. His pastoral subjects often seem to be nostalgic for an earlier time, perfect for bringing fairy tales to life.

Arthur RackhamArthur RackhamWalt Disney admired Rackham’s watercolor and pen & ink style, and instructed Gustaf Tenggren to work with Claude Coates and Sam Armstrong to adapt it for use in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In animation backgrounds however, the sinewy Rackham line was overly busy, distracting from the characters; so Tenggren evolved towards the more dimensional painting style in Pinocchio, which set the standard for Disney cartoons throughout the 1940s.

At Animation Resources one of our projects is to document the images that acted as inspiration to the artists who created the first animated features. No artist fits that bill better than Arthur Rackham. We’re very fortunate to be able to bring the illustrations from this great book to you. I hope you enjoy them.

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Arthur Rackham

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Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

IllustrationIllustration

This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit spotlighting Illustration.

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