Sara Fanelli 'Scribbles'

"Everything is fed by personal research both in materials and ideas. The ideas most of the time come from marrying events and emotions in my life with texts I come across in my reading. This is the core of all the work and it feeds the general illustration commissions as well as the books." Heller Books- Interview with Sara Fanelli by Steven Heller

‘The second clue comes in the scribbles and handwriting which are hallmarks of her style, creating an immediacy which gives the impression that the author is thinking aloud on paper. ‘Scribbles,’ says Sara, ‘often have a visual function – they appear where I want some energy in the picture, but not too dominant. One can imagine anything about them – something might have just gone up in smoke or something is moving so fast that you see only its trajectory.’ And on handwriting: ‘ I like using letter shapes and their weight as elements of the picture, so I use the typography as parts of the construction of the layout right from the first planning of the page. 

Fig 1.- Sara Fanelli- Wolf 1997

Fig 2- Sara Fanelli- Book spread from Pinocchio

Sara Fanelli uses several methods/techniques to create her illustrations some she uses sticks, pasta and sugar to create depth and texture “so that each page became a jewel, a masterpiece in its own right”. Other times she simple just using pen lines and scribbles to create texture and interest which give an “elastic calligraphic quality”. Fanelli often uses black ink on top of collages, which pull the focus of the work back from the adult world to the child hood drawings once again.

Fig 3 Sara Fanelli- collage of images

Another inspiration of Sara Fanelli’s is Oliver Jeffers. Jeffers' style of illustration uses mixed media and is recognised for its subtle narrative and use of space in composition. Jeffers is a freelance illustrator and has worked for clients such as Orange, Lavazza, Sony PSP, RCA Records, Starbucks, United Airlines, Newsweek, Wired, Irish Times, The Guardian, Creative Review, New York Times, Kinder and The Telegraph.

Fig 4 Oliver Jeffers- Sketch Book

Fig 5 Sara Fanelli- 'A Little Stuck Stuck'

Jeffers artwork consists of figurative painting either 3 dimensional or flat, he draws parallels between the arts and sciences, in which figurative oil paintings were over laid with mathematical equations, to create a collage of paintings, typography and mix media materials, which is similar to Fanelli’s approach to her illustration.

In response to my findings i created the Images below inspired specially by this image by Sara Fanelli from her book 'Sometimes I think, Sometimes I Am'.

Fig 6 Sara Fanelli- 'Sometimes I Think, Sometimes I Am'

I started out by doodling I the style of Sara Fanelli on playing cards, limiting my colours to red and black pen. I also distressed to card by using sand paper to scuff the cards and rubbing a small amount of shoe polish in the cracks. However even though I had roughened the surface my pen were smudging, meaning the patterned was coming off, even though it added to the distressed look, I wasn't satisfies. On the reverse of each card, as i didn't like the design on the back i backed the cards using either lined or graph paper and doodled on those. In total I have 26 cards which are double sided meaning i have doodled and have created a complete pack of cards.

As I wasn't satisfied with the out come, on a A3 sheet of paper I collaged a collection of playing cards and rectangular pieces of graph and line paper the same size of the cards on the sheet. I then doodled using the cards i had already drawn on as inspiration, this time as the surface was matt and not shiny the pen stuck to the surface, the end result is below.

I really like this 'scribble' technique I think it adds some personality and edge to artwork, allowing the audience to wonder what these doodles mean, and I will try and integrate this methodology into my own work. 

References

• Fig 1.Sara. "Sara Fanelli – A Life In Pictures | Ourdailyread". Ourdailyread.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
• Fig 2."Portfolio". Sarafanelli.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
• Fig 3."Sara Fanelli. Creature Creator For Children’S Illustration". Fishinkblog.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
• Fig 4 "Oliver Jeffers - Definitely Baggy™". Definitelybaggy.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.Fig 5"Leo & Bella | A Little Stuck Stuck By Oliver Jeffers (Paperback)". Leoandbella.com.au. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
• Fig 5 "Leo & Bella | A Little Stuck Stuck By Oliver Jeffers (Paperback)". Leoandbella.com.au. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
• Fig 6"Sara Fanelli". Sarafanelli.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.

Bibliography 

Books

• Fanelli, Sara, Marina Warner, and Steven Heller. Sometimes I Think, Sometimes I Am. London: Tate, 2007. Print.
• Fanelli, Sara. My Map Book. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995. Print.
• Fanelli, Sara. Mythological Monsters Of Ancient Greece. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.

Website

• "Children's Books - Articles - The Dream-Like Images Of Sara Fanelli | Bfk No. 195". Booksforkeeps.co.uk. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Cinderella And Bags!". Creativeflourishes.blogspot.co.uk. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Cinderella". Alibris UK. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Oliver Jeffers". En.wikipedia.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Oliver Jeffers". HarperCollins UK. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Oliver Jeffers". Oliverjeffers.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Sara Fanelli - A Life In Pictures". the Guardian. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Sara Fanelli - Literature". Literature.britishcouncil.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Sara Fanelli – Art Not Artifice". Tate.org.uk. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Sara Fanelli. Creature Creator For Children’S Illustration". Fishinkblog.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "Stephen Friedman Gallery - Artists - David Shrigley". Stephenfriedman.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• "The Thought-Provoking Illustrations Of Sara Fanelli | Design | Agenda | Phaidon". Phaidon. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
• Steven Heller : Hellerbooks.Com". Hellerbooks.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.