Tove Jansson and Composition

Tove Jansson is the illustrator & writer of the Moomin series. I find her work very compelling! I think her composition is really one of the most interesting aspects (although her characters are really great too!)

There are many interesting websites on her work, and also the Moomin books (published by Drawn and Quarterly) are all at the MICA Library, so check 'em out!

Narges Mohammad

Louise-Marie Cumont

Saul Bass

These are a couple pages out of Saul Bass's only kid's book, "Henri's Walk to Paris".  He worked in a very graphic style and used bright, popping colors throughout.

The Pumpkinville Mystery

James Warhola's Pumpkinville illustration

David Wiesner

These are some pages out of the book "Tuesday".  I like the way these watercolors are mostly flat (and such perfect washes, dear lord) but, I'm assuming, small enough that the nice grainy texture of it shines through and becomes an integral part, kind of the way Lisbeth Zwerger works.  It also allows his compositions to be more of a focus too.

Katsumi Komagata

KATSUMI KOMAGATA

Japanese graphic designer Katusmi Komagata worked as a graphic designer before he started creating books for children when he became a father himself. Komagata's books are design objects that emphasize primary shapes and graphic symbols. One of his books Block'n block is a construction game made out of wood pieves that gives children a chance to create faces and scenes from their own imagination.

http://www.one-stroke.co.jp/

Bjørn Rune Lie

I found Bjørn Rune Lie's illustrations while looking for inspirations. He is an illustrator who now works in Bristol, England. Many of his illustrations are very graphic, stylized(flattened and organic shapes), and has a great sense of composition. I thought he has great sense of positive and negative space, especially in the black and white illustration, as well as the illustration from the children's book called Slapsefjell(first one). 

Henry's Freedom Box by Kadir Nelson

Kadir Nelson is an illustrator, and a commissioned artist. In this particular book, I found many illustrations that have strong perspectives, and lighting. This one particularly shows that strong perspective and lighting determines the atmosphere and mood of the illustration.

Bold Composition by Dan Santat

Dan Santat's illustration from the children's book Oh No!: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World has a bold centralized composition using only red black and red.

Lisbeth Zwerger

I love the way Lisbeth Zwerger creates such simple compositions with strong areas of flat color.  It's impressive because she doesn't have any details or clutter to hide behind, everything has to be spot on, and it is.  Also, having large areas of color allows the subtle texture of the watercolor particles to show through, which is something I always like seeing.

Composition: Craig Thompson

I am in love with how this graphic novel pushes past the boundaries of a traditionally paneled comic format. Thompson's style is simple and emotive, his characters express through their acting and through their placement on the page and their interaction with it. A moment in the story can be given so much stronger of an emotional impact based on how they interact with the space on the page, the panel borders, etc.

Henrik Drescher's The Yellow Umbrella

I thought these were some particularly great spreads from Henrik Drescher's The Yellow Umbrella. He really knows how to fill the space/ use the page break in the spread, and create a sweeping movement that creates space with pretty flat components. His texture and minimal color really direct your eye to where he wants you to look first and I think each spread is well planned in that way.