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Over the Shop by JonArno Lawson and Qin Leng Analysis
Over The Shop is a wordless picturebook by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Qin Leng, published 2021. Here’s something we all owe to the trans community: By pushing the conventional and arbitrary rules of gender, all of us are more free to be who we are. This picturebook is a celebration of these hardwon freedoms.
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Birthday Presents For 13-Year-Olds Who Love To Draw
I love art equipment. I love researching art equipment. My kid has expressed appreciation that their parent is an artist. Although I’m mostly digital these days, our kid receives awesome traditional art equipment as gifts. LYRA WATERSOLUBLE GRAPHITE CRAYONS These are big. Sharpen with a craft knife. Good for laying lots of colour down on […]
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Amatonormativity and Storytelling
The word amatonormativity was coined by Elisabeth Brake in her book Minimizing Marriage: Marriage, Morality, and the Law (2011). Amatonormativity describes the societal assumption that everyone must seek romantic, sexual, monogamous relationships before finding happiness and fulfilment. Elizabeth Brake calls this undeserved elevation and centrality of romantic love amatonormativity, from the Latin word for love, […]
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Films To Watch With A Twelve Year Old
The ‘parents guide’ section of any given movie on IMDb tells you what to look out for in these films. My kid saw these but not all can. Boy (a New Zealand film) Sci-Fi Gattaca Artificial Intelligence I, Robot Horror A Quiet Place The Ritual Carrie The Others Anime to watch while you’re still a […]
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Coming Soon Short Story by Steven Millhauser Analysis
“Coming Soon” is a short story by American novelist and short story writer Steven Millhauser, first published at The New Yorker in 2013. (About 3,900 words.) Chang-rae Lee discussed this story with Deborah Treisman at the New Yorker Fiction podcast. The following are my thoughts after reading the story and listening to their discussion.
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Inky Illustrations of Cats
There are many ways of rendering cats in illustration. By letting ink run into the paper, cats can look beautifully soft and furry. Header image was done with Midjourney using prompt: cat, kitten, inky watercolor
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1920s Fashion In Art
1920s Hair 1920s Hairstyles History- Long Hair to Bobbed Hair A Variety Of Skirt Lengths Young flappers liked short skirts but mid-calf was another popular length, made for tall, skinny bodies. “Exoticism” Fur 1920s Children’s Fashion Clothes in children’s catalogues offer a glimpse into how the wealthy classes were dressing their children. The dresses above […]
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Movements In Children’s Literature
When looking at the development of children’s literature over the past two and a half centuries (which is about all you get, because children’s literature is a distinct and recent entity) two major movements have been influential: Romanticism and Modernism in the 18th and 19th centuries Postmodernism, Surrealism and a bunch of other -isms came […]
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Eye Lines Guiding The Viewer in Illustration
Artists and illustrators use tricks which tell the viewer where to look. Since humans tend to naturally follow the gaze of others, one focusing trick is to create eye lines all pointing to the focus of the work.
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The Overview Effect In Fiction
If you’re reading a picture book and you ever come across a page like this one, you might be seeing the overview effect as utilised by storytellers.
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Autumn Colours in Illustration
The basic meaning of ‘autumn colour’ is clear. Even within that palette, there is a huge variety of hues illustrators use to depict fall. Below are examples including realism and heightened, saturated fantasy colours.
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The Years of My Birth by Louise Erdrich Short Story Analysis
“The Years Of My Birth” (2011) is a short story by Louise Erdrich. Tommy Orange joined Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Years of My Birth,” by Louise Erdrich, which appeared in a 2011 issue of the New Yorker magazine. The author has said that her novels come from her short stories. “The Years Of […]
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The Daughters of the Late Colonel by Katherine Mansfield Analysis
“The Daughters of the Late Colonel” (1922) is a modernist short story by Katherine Mansfield, included in The Garden Party And Other Stories.
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Women and Shoplifting in Fiction
Watch enough TV and you’ll likely draw the conclusion that women, especially housewives with significant personal problems commonly relieve psychological pain by shoplifting. It’s rare to find men shoplifting for the buzz. Also in fiction, teenage girls shoplift as a hazing ritual, and to own prized items (mostly body adornment items) they couldn’t otherwise afford. […]
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Movement Through Picture Books
Western picture books are read from left to right. This affects the layout of a page, and the direction of character movement. Generally, characters also move through a picture book from left to right. When embarking upon a journey they will look to the right. When looking out a window, the window will often encourage […]