Edward St. John Gorey (ca. February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.
what i like about this style is its purity and simplicity in its forms that juxtapose the physical drawing technique that he has used. in his work you rarely find block tones and instead he uses what looks like a sporadic and 'scratchy' style of drawing that creates a dark, macabre feel in his books.
his characters also interest me and give me alot of ideas for how i would like to present my book, their falawn posture and almost expressionless faces convey the bleak world that gorey is working to create excellently and i would like to look into developin this style into my own work. i have also located a book of his that is very relevant to my work called the 'Gashlycrumb Tinies'. samples of which i will upload in my next post.

EDWARD GOREY

LOOK AT THIS

THIS IS A LINK FOR ANOTHER ARTIST THAT I HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT CALLED HAN HOOGERBRUGGE. especially the work that is at the end of this link. i cannot upload his work to this blog because it is short videos and i am not allowed to steal them. his surrealist approach STUNS me.. the way that this mans mind must work is a mystery.. in his work he often creates interactive animations that touch deep on the human psyche. visually his work starts out very bland, often with a man dressed in a suit but when the user interacts the character will react in untold ways that will shock and amaze. this is another take on the serious/satirical thing that i am going for and he does it very well
http://www.hoogerbrugge.com/work/animation/nails/
copy and past the link and then click 'launch nails'

Spiders On Drugs

this video is similar to the Look around you so i thought i'd post it here too

i was showed the following videos, from an old series called look around you, by a tutor in my class. they take a satirical approach to educational material and pick up on the funniest qualities of old videos like this. these have given me alot of ideas as to how i would like my book to come across; combining what i have seen in the ikkaku ochi books as well as the mutter museum books and these videos i would like to create a book with a very austeer look with fantastical, nonsensical content. i am currently trawling through medical dictionaries in search of illnesses which i could use in my book.
in my chat with geoff, my tutor it became apparent that i am no longer writing a childrens books, instead i am aiming it at adults whilst giving it the visual appearance of a childrens educational book. the next step for me is to look at artists who have done the same as well as continuing to look at medical material. word.

Look Around You - Maths

Look Around You - Sulphur

Look Around You - Computer Games

this set of drawings are from observation of the exhibits at the Hunterian.

3981- A green Broad Bill

a drawing from observation of Ben Marshall's painting of Daniel Lambert along with a picture of the portrait

a drawing from observation 'male foetus estimated to be between fifth and sixth month of development'

an idea for how to signpost each different letter of the book

some thoughts on the book