Bridget Irving by bridgetirving

Final Major Project

Project RESEARCH Bridget Irving Submitted for Postgraduate Art and Design Illustration Major project (7FTC1033)

October 2020

October 2020 Postgraduate Programme of Art and Design Major Study: Illustration - IDI Interactive Design Institute University of Hertfordshire Author: Bridget Irving Tutor: Ella Goodwin

All images, photographs and illustrations presented are the work of the author unless otherwise noted and referenced

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CONTENTS Introduction �� 1 Project proposal, planning and context �� 3 Project proposal �� 5 Project focus and planning �� 9 Time planning and project management �� 11 Key deadlines

Project management

Contingency and risk

Legal requirements

Resources and budgets

Recap of Practitioner influences �� 17 Recap of Little Red Riding Hood �� 19 Historical and international references

Research through critical studies �� 21 Ecofeminism and speciesism �� 23 Threats to wolves - Hunting and persecution �� 25 Eye contact and sideways looks �� 27 Ecofeminism and ecomasculinity �� 29 Summary from critical studies �� 30 Animals Erased and the stories we tell �� 31 Haiku poetry �� 33 The stories we live by �� 34 Dynamics and interrelations of colour �� 35 Case study: My neighbour Totoro �� 37 Case study: Hayao Miyazaki - Film maker �� 39 Sketchbook - inspired by Ponyo

Narrative techniques by Paula natalia Méndez

Audiencing �� 49 Kishōtenketsu �� 51 Reflection �� 53 Research for creative practice �� 55 Case Study: Avi Ofer, Illustrator and animator �� 57 World illustration awards 2020 �� 59 The everyday lives of wolves �� 61 Threats to wolves - Deforestation �� 63 Observational drawing �� 65 Walks, Woodlands and collections

Photographic notetaking �� 67 Sequence layout - The page �� 69 SCBWI Video tutorials 69 Reflection and conclusion �� 71 Reference List �� 75

INTRODUCTION “Learning is not a trajectory, but a slowly ascending spiral” Lynda Barry My final major project creates a 32 picture book for readers aged 3-6. As an animal advocate, I have aimed to recast the picture book wolf within the classic tale of Red Riding Hood, as ‘not the baddie’ and to address the use of visual stereotypes and anthropocentric descriptions of the human-animal relationship. Furthermore, I have considered how to question those traditional descriptions of that relationship within the minds of readers. Research Goals Through analysis, practice, review and reflection, I investigate the problem of the stereotyped wolf and reflect on that research in context of my aims, values and ambitions. I am motivated by the animal rights movements, that is, the aim to see the end of oppressive dominance of animals and nature by humans. I wish to be part of the creative, cultural and activist voices that are bringing about redress of the way humans think of and treat non-human animals. As noted by Mikhail Bakhtin, particular ways of speaking in a novel represent worldviews and the ideologies of a culture (Bakhtin 2010, 1981). This unconscious or conscious expression is never innocent, or free from the ideologies in which it was created. As Albert Schweitzer implores us to act, I feel a duty to work toward awareness and change; I wish to take responsibility.

“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.” Albert Schweitzer I hold firmly the views of Professor Arran Stibbe that we need to rewrite our stories for a kinder, sustainable and greener future. Stibbe does not explicitly mean fictional stories, but all language where we represent the animals and the environment as secondary, objectified in a current view of the modern world as an unchanging norm. Thus, I have taken Stibbe’s ideas and considered them directly in terms of the illustrated picture book story. As authors (Nodelman, Kummerling) state, children’s literature is the foundation of the learning of the ideologies of our society. This understanding motivates my research into illustration, the meaning within it, and to discover more about ecofeminist perspectives on illustration, its messages, media, skills and techniques.

Research Path and methodologies I begin my research with my project proposal followed with reviews of Practice 1 and 2, then a recap of influences and practitioners. The main body of research continues through visual methodologies that include case studies, research for creative practice, practice-led research in sketchbooks and audience studies.

Illustrator and animator Avi Ofer provides a casebook study from an ecocritical perspective. Of particular interest is her work with environmental journalist and activist George Monbiot.

I begin with an analysis of theoretical discourse, including reference to my critical studies dissertation.

Then I show research conducted for creative practice, which includes photographic and sketchbook notetaking on walks and online and documentary reference research into the lives of wolves.

Throughout, I have collected a kind of toolbox, or dictionary, of crucial ideas generated during research.

Research concludes with an examination of books, printing and publishing.

Case studies Through case studies, I have concentrated on, but not been exclusive in, an examination of picture books and the illustrations within them. I explore drawing, film and poetry, style and signifying elements, and how illustrated books reach their audiences. Significantly, I consider myself part of that audience for those case studies and my own work. Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and his film My Neighbour Totoro offers insight into the Studio Ghibli representations of nature, as suggested by Arran Stibbe with the bonus of unexpected insight into Miyazakiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughts, worries and working methods such as image sequences and idea generation. The documentary, Here Comes Ponyo reveals a man, despite success, is still troubled by self-doubt.

PROJECT PROPOSAL, PLA

ANNING AND CONTEXT

PROJECT PROPOSAL PAGE 1 OF 2 Title

Little Red Hat, an animal advocate’s retelling of Little Red Riding Hood

Outcomes • A 32 page, landscape format, picture-book with 12-14 double-page illustrated spreads. Several layout standards exist from which to choose. • To include cover and end pages with typography. • Intended audience age 4-8 years • To become an advocate, through writing and presentation, for awareness of animal rights and representation within the practice and profession of illustration.

Project summary

This project considers the image of the picture book wolf in context of the globally recognised fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. My approach is from animal rights and environmental perspectives, and I take the position that picture books are, ‘ideologically loaded creative places’ (Kümmerling - Meibauer 2016). Additionally, I want to acknowledge the feminist interpretations and analyses of the tale. Nevertheless, I wish to create a wolf who is not depicted nor analysed as a metaphorical stand-in for a male human. Consequently, this project aims to alert readers, and their guardians, via an ecofeminist approach, to the plight of real wolves and the fact that humans are the danger to wolves and not, as traditional stories assert, the other way round.

Aims and objectives

The primary aim of this project is to retell the story of Red Riding Hood, through animal advocate’s eyes, to subjugate neither the animal nor the female child, and to counter the unnoticed violence depicted in traditional versions. I aim to reconfigure the image of the human-wolf relationship in the minds of readers and to tell something of the human-animal relationship where animals almost always lose. Also, I hope to inspire other illustrators and readers to consider and discuss how they/we represent animals and to encourage awareness of the illustrator’s role in perpetuating negative stereotypes of animals.

Project motivation

This project was inspired after learning that friends’ children were scared of both picture book and real biological wolves. I began to consider how visual storytelling repeats and confirms existing belief-systems, in context of animal rights and the intersectionality of all forms of discrimination, othering and cultural perceptions that exist within and around these issues. I believe that to consider the representations of animals as unimportant or less significant, is to diminish further and obfuscate the lives of real animals. Furthermore, I am interested in current ecological and political debates that surround rewilding, and I feel an urgency to contribute to the increasing number of voices, the scholarly, artistic and activist voices, speaking up for animals. Wolves live in family packs, and this is essential to wolf life. However, the picture book wolf has been lone and alone for hundreds of years. Charles Perrault’s 17thcentury version is considered as the fairy tale’s literary beginning, and since then writers and illustrators have considered the wolf fair game. ‘Wolves in contemporary retellings have to contend with a legacy of centuries of negative wolf propaganda’ (Beckett 2008).

‘Wolves in contemporary retellings have to contend with a legacy of centuries of negative wolf propaganda’ (Beckett 2008). Now, I want to draw a different outcome for both Red and the wolf.

Concepts and themes

I address the illustration of the wolf in much the same way as illustrators are addressing how gender and racial stereotypes are portrayed in picture books. I wish to consider the depiction of power within the humananimal binary through the visual representation of the interactions between the main characters, as victim and predator. One current literary example is the 2019 gender-flipped Taming of the Shrew production directed by Justin Audibert. In a Guardian interview, Audibert says, ‘I don’t think the world needs to see any more imagery of men abusing women. There’s plenty of that out there in pop culture and in society’. (Audibert, 2019a). Similarly, I want to consider the imagery of humans oppressing animals - for example, the repeated picture book representation of a man, or Red in some feminist retellings, cutting open a wolf. Haven’t we seen that enough? In an interview, Audibert recognises his position of power, ‘I have to be aware of the privilege I carry as a man and as the director” (Tripney 2019). Likewise, the illustrator needs to recognise the privilege she carries as a human and as an artist.

PROJECT PROPOSAL PAGE 2 OF 2 Processes, materials and techniques

Methods and methodologies

Practical and technical approaches will include the following considerations:

• Theoretical texts

• Composition can give characters dominance over each other.

• Experimenting with art materials • Development of sequential visual narrative

• Comparative sizes of characters to each other and the page • Frequency of appearance on the page and through the book

• Examining the image • Character development • Audience studies and qualitative data collection

• The representation of sustainability such as evidence of reused paper.

• Conversational interviewing

• The exclusive use of vegan art materials.

• Workshops

Contexts: Theoretical, Critical and Historical Contexts: Social, ethical, global • The significance of picture books. Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak. (Berger, 2008/1972) • Children’s picture books are familiar places to discover representations of wolves and where we begin to learn to decode symbolic and realistic depictions. • ‘The visual representation of the wolf in children’s books are not only the first but often also the only wolves some people will ever see’ (Mitts-Smith 2012 p2) • Illustration as speech and speech as meaningful utterance in context of the time and place in which it is said. • Critical context: Picturing the wolf, anthropomorphism, cute style, horror style and implications of those for identity and visibility. • Objectification of the wolf symbolism and metaphor. • Theories of children and animals and that ‘children are predisposed to, ‘interspecies kinship’, (Mills, 2017b p68), that is taught out of them. • Red Riding Hood tale and illustrations construct the wolf as a punishable criminal and the child protagonist as the reason for the violent punishment meted out to the wolf. In turn the child reader becomes helpless bystander.

• Environmental contexts: deforestation, habitat loss, climate change • Political and social contexts: animal rights, hunting and consequences of animal agriculture for wild animals. • Global debates about rewilding. Are we ready? Make hunting illegal first? Stop positive representation of hunting - as fox hunting. • The normalisation or invisibility of hunting within non-hunting cultures. • Beyond Western/European cultures • Reaching a global audience via the Internet • Change in the work of illustration yet the word illustration remains broad enough to encompass contexts, genres and technologies. “The term is still broad enough to align with the spirit of today’s global activity” (Wigan, 2020) • Extending ideas beyond the picture book.

PROJECT FOCUS AND PLANNING

Figure 1 - Irving, 2020. Research plan 1- 200dpi.jpg

My research is guided by the work of Gillian Rose. In her book, Visual Methodologies, and the companion website, Professor Rose explains three broad methods of research for study and analysis of visual culture. These broad categories can be said to be, the study of the image (in all its forms including still, moving and three-dimensional), the study of an audience or audiences, and discourse analysis. (Rose, 2016) Study of the image is broken down into three further sites for exploration, the production of an image, the image itself, and where and how meaning is understood.

Figure 2 - Irving, 2020. Research plan 2.jpeg

Figure 3 - Irving, 2020. Me being chased by a wolf.jpg

TIME PLANNING AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROJECT PANORAMA • Project WordPress plugin • https://www.projectpanorama.com/ • Easy access and flexible task and milestone management • Upload of significant documents - acts as an additional backup • Satisfying task completion and visually presented progress charts • Used in conjunction with wall calendar and whiteboard - for daily reminders and next day planning. • At the start of the programme, I was kindly given a free licence by the company Project Panorama at the start of MA studies, but it came into its own when I used it to plan my final project. The WordPress plugin offers a flexible, shareable, private or public, and visual way to record project phases, tasks, milestone sand deadlines. The ability to upload documents and share has potential - uploading key documents can act as an additional backup. Ultimately, this became ‘overkill’ really for individual project planning but would work well to publish project progress. • I found that, at times, wall calendars and other immediately seen prompts served me as well, but do not have the advantages of sharing with others who may be involved in future projects. • The following screenshots demonstrate the input and visual representations of the project planner.

KEY DEADLINES • 17th February2020 • Draft project proposal

– InDesign Research and Dev documents set up + Paragraph styles + Contents and figures list styles • Review learning outcomes and postgraduate benchmarks • Research

– Theoretical texts – References and drawing – Case studies – Audiencing • Development

– Skill development – Character development – Narrative development • Final illustrations • Complete assessment documents • Reflection statement

– Combine reflection points (3000 word statement) • TurnitIn report • Submission details

– August 17th 2020 • Other information

– Deferral to October 23rd 2020 midday

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Notes, boards, wall calendars and To Do lists

Google Docs timetable (top) and Google Drive

Despite the advantages of technology, experience has taught me that old-fashioned prompts and reminders on the day-to-day scale, plus a visual reminder of the overall project, work well for me. Input is easy, and these tools push out information.

I discovered the advantages of Google Docs and Google Drive during Critical Studies team modules. It is a useful tool for sharing ideas, documents and updates, but also, I found it to be an efficient and easy replacement for Word.

CONTINGENCY AND RISK • Despite the advantages of technology, experience has taught me that analogue prompts and day-to-day reminders work well for me. Input is easy, and these tools, such as wall calendars and post-it notes, push out information. • Google Drive and Google Docs are useful tools. I found it to be an efficient and easy replacement for Word. • Goals have been set ambitiously with time to spare. Partly this is to encourage process and progress, but also it builds in time for difficulties that may arise. • Reading for critical studies has helped narrow my reading list, some dead ends recognised for example. This may help limit risk of distractions and diversions. Alternatively, it increases risk in the time scale by pushing for more in-depth analysis. • I have addressed administrative concerns such as backing up documents, files, applications and computer operating system. I have set up an external hard drive using Time Machine, with an additional backup of documents through paid cloud service Backblaze and free up to 15GB Google Drive storage. • Due to COVID-19 restrictions, ethics approval for workshops has switched to online engagement. These restrictions also mean that a second visit to Wolfwatch UK wolf sanctuary is unlikely during this module and alternative wolf research, such as documentaries is underway.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

SOCIAL SCIENCES, ARTS AND HUMANITIES ECDA

ETHICS APPROVAL NOTIFICATION TO

Bridget Irving

Ella Goodwin

FROM

Dr Timothy H Parke, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities ECDA Chairman

DATE

13/08/19

Protocol number:

cCTA/PGT/UH/04276

Title of study: What do children think about wolves? Exploring connections between illustrated wolves, real wolves drawing, and picture books. Your application for ethics approval has been accepted and approved with the following conditions by the ECDA for your School and includes work undertaken for this study by the named additional workers below: no additional workers named

Conditions of approval specific to your study: Ethics approval has been granted subject to the following conditions:

•

Approved conditional on the applicant attaining permission to use the Shrewsbury Art Gallery premises specifically for this event -- this permission to be seen by supervisor prior to recruitment and data collection.

General conditions of approval: Ethics approval has been granted subject to the standard conditions below: Permissions: Any necessary permissions for the use of premises/location and accessing participants for your study must be obtained in writing prior to any data collection commencing. Failure to obtain adequate permissions may be considered a breach of this protocol. External communications: Ensure you quote the UH protocol number and the name of the approving Committee on all paperwork, including recruitment advertisements/online requests, for this study. Invasive procedures: If your research involves invasive procedures you are required to complete and submit an EC7 Protocol Monitoring Form, and copies of your completed consent paperwork to this ECDA once your study is complete.

• Liability insurance for workshops • Personal insurance for exhibition • Health and safety concerns for workshops • COVID restrictions moves everything online. • Personal Data collection - GDPR

RESOURCES AND BUDGETS • Semester B begins with computer concerns.

– Creative suite applications and drivers for scanners, printers and so on, security and more are beginning to be affected by the upgrades to 64bit processing which my 6 year old MacBook Pro does not support. – I am working with InDesign 5, which cannot be upgraded. To upgrade to InDesign CC requires new hardware. • New MacBook Pros are about £2,500: 1TB storage costs more, yet local consumption of storage can be mitigated with cloud storage. • Payment plans and student discounts are available. Will negate buying an iPad for working on Procreate and tablet drawing. • My inkjet printer is costly - in terms of paper and inks; it needs replacement printer heads - as costly as a new printer. • Consider replacement with monochrome laser printer. I don’t print final work but use my printer for referencing and document printing only. Laser printer can print double sided - saves paper.

RECAP OF PRACTITIONER INFLUENCES Robert Lawson illustrations for Ferdinand. The story of Ferdinand pairs text with loving black and white illustrations of the little bull who didn’t want to fight. Subversive because it defied popular thinking. Appeals to children who have an instinctive care for nature (Brett Mills 2019). Historical context for animal rights children’s literature

Edward Gorey Gorey’s humour, expressive, free-flowing monochrome illustrations, sometimes darkly comic, always thoughtprovoking. Gorey often wrote about leaving space in a picture . . . for the reader to fill in. https://goreyana.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-doubtfulguest-original-artwork.html

Tove Jansson and the Moomins Tove Jansson created positive imagery through her Moomin books and also her love of nature and passion for painting. I fell in love with the Moomins as a child, and they remain firm favourites. She was a writer for adults and children, fine artist, illustrator and outdoor swimmer.

Finnish photographer Pentti Sammallhati. Dogs appear in many of Sammallhati’s photographs. John Berger suggests that the dogs are keys to a gate between us and nature; that offer half-light glimpses of a world that intersects with ours. (Berger 2001). Sammallhati’s patterns from the cold north of Europe offer inspiration for form and composition in imagemaking, but also, how emptiness on the page is emotive, quiet and engaging. This photograph acts as the composition of a picture book double-page spread where the action comes in from the left, pauses centre stage and exits right taking the reader to the next page. Maira Kalman Maira Kalman inspires through her feminist approach to work, her quirky and unapologetic paintings of people and dogs, her joyful visual storytelling through shape, bold lines and colour and her intelligent approach to learning and storytelling through art. Animal positive imagery - but reinforces ideas of animal ownership in whimsical ways. https://lectures.org/event/maira-kalman/

Henrik Drescher The lines and styling of Drescher’s work are fascinating - he uses the appeal of a loose cartoon style to illustrate some vital animal messages. Hubert the Pudge sees Hubert escape a farm and saves both the other pudges and the farmer who lives a healthier, happier veggie life. The Yellow Umbrella illustrates the monkeys accidentally escaping from the zoo - and discovering their jungle homeland, which despite all its perils is home and they are free. Drescher’s work isn’t mainstream; society still pushes out dominant thinking. https://www.hdrescher.com/the-yellow-umbrella/

RECAP OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD HISTORICAL AND INTERNATIONAL REFERENCES Le Petit Chaperone Rouge by French illustrator Barroux, 2012 Barroux adheres to the Grimm brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version in which the wolf gets cut open to save Red and her grandmother. Noticeably, Barroux includes other forest animals which appear as collage additions from life-like illustrations - yet the wolf is caricatured throughout. Not just this book but Barroux, less well known in the UK, illustrates for both children and adults, successfully speaking to both audiences. http://www.barroux.info Bridget and the Gray Wolves, 2001 Swedish author-illustrator Pija Lindenbaum illustrates the wolves as a family, and who are afraid to leave the forest. Although this book uses the wolves and the girl in a red hooded sweater to make a message about human childhood, the depiction of wolves, with a level of iconicity and plenty of empathy shows their inherent value in their own feeling lives. Interestingly the character Bridget bears a resemblance to the author Pija. It is difficult to remove ourselves from our work. Little Red by British illustrator Bethan Woollvin, 2017 This illustrated version of Red Riding Hood was a category winner in the 2107 World Illustration Awards. Critical study examined the typically exaggerated features of the wolf and the sideways look of Red, which is a feature of the characterisation of the girl. This version concludes with an illustration of Red wearing the wolfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skin as a coat and the forest devoid of wolves. This visual storytelling reinforces the dominant belief systems about humans and animals.

Wolf in the Snow by Matt Cordell, 2019 This wordless picture book, first published in the USA in 2018, is a Caldecott medal-winner. It tells the exciting story of a child in red and her encounter with a wolf in the snow. Loose ink drawings and full-colour spreads immerse the reader in a wintry environment and an adventure of bravery and empathy. Cordell researched the lives of real wolves and documents in his blog his conclusions and subsequent desire to represent them more fairly and honestly.

Little Red Riding Hood illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, 2019 Helen Oxenbury’s anthropomorphic wolf walks on two legs, wears clothes, and hostile human characteristics. The wolf is heavily laden with negative stereotypes; he has become a metaphor. The illustration, whilst representing a wolf fails to speak for wolves.

Joanna Concejo’s Le Chaperone Rouge, 2015 The pencil drawings in Joanna Concejo’s 2015 version portray the wolf realistically with high iconicity. The illustrations supplement both Charles Perrault’s 17th century and the Brother’s Grimm 19th century written texts. Concejo’s work demonstrates the significance of the audience; with delicate and realistic representations, and without caricature or stereotyping, the gentleness is confusing next to the traditional texts that have no empathy or sympathy for the wolf.

RESEARCH THROUGH

GH CRITICAL STUDIES

ECOFEMINISM AND SPECIESISM ‘In entangled empathy are you comfortable with the habits of belief and behaviour fostered by the stories we tell our children?’ (Gruen, 2015) My critical studies paper is titled, ‘Ecofeminism and Red Riding Hood: Erasure of the wolf within feminist visualisations of the classic tale’. Within that essay, I explore contemporary visual approaches to feminist interpretations of the story of Red Riding Hood. I looked at a small collection of popular and awardwinning picture books that include Bethan Woollvin’s 2017 Little Red and Matt Cordell’s 2018 Wolf in the Snow, to examine the representations of the wolf and the female child through an ecofeminist perspective. I argue that visual narratives which counter gender stereotyping as a single issue, ‘do not successfully challenge hierarchical and dominant ideologies’ (Irving 2020) and therefore perpetuate oppression and dominance of the other. I analyse contemporary picture books that empower the female child character yet persist in old narratives of killing the wolf, with added triumphalism. I argue that these interpretations, ‘have not overthrown the dominant hierarchies they set out to disrupt’. (Irving, 2020). By concentrating on gender stereotyping as a single issue, illustrators do not attend to the problem of descriptions of hegemony and difference, power and subjugation; singling out the representation of gender perpetuates rather than challenges images of power and dominance. As Lori Gruen writes, structures of oppression such as patriarchy and speciesism are not just “similar or metaphorically connected, but rather, work together

(not always or simultaneously) to solidify the power the dominant class gains through the construction of a subordinated “other.” (Gruen, 2014). Then, it can be argued that to depict the female as the killer does not disrupt or challenge the status quo.

“Contemporary rewrites, or redraws, that claim to, or appear to, empower the female child character have not overthrown the dominant hierarchies they set out to disrupt.” (Irving, 2020) Brett Mills, suggest that a post-human approach could be to depict the human as the ‘baddie’ in a story - to flip who is good and who is bad. Indeed, ideas that humans are a threat to wolves and not the other way round is a crucial objective for my book. However, this contrasts with Gruen’s ideas and perpetuates images of violence, ideas of them and us, and does not create a character with which the child reader can identify. Following this analysis, I press for an ecofeminist perspective in defining the wolf and his story to disrupt the traditional and culturally embedded notions of human exceptionalism and the big bad wolf. Real wolves are predators not predatory, where to be ‘predatory’ describes appalling human behaviour associated with acts such as stalking and sexual predation but repeating the illustration tropes of the past continue to present the wolf as bad, as predatory. Helen Oxenbury’s 2019 illustrations of the wolf depict such predatory characteristics. In a foreward to her book. Oxenbury says that she does not like ‘giving wolves a bad press’ but was ‘more than anything else’ drawn to the opportunity to illustrate this ‘sly,

cunning fellow.’ Oxenbury recognises that she is doing a disservice to wolves, yet, the traditions of illustration compel her to repeat stereotypes that have gone before. Indeed she does describe the wolf as predatory.

Bal speaks of the ‘significance of imagery of our past, that makes the past matter for the present.’ (Bal 2010 p77)However, Bal alerts the reader to the imagery that does not alert us, ‘that only sees what it already knows, . . . without opening itself up to new experiences. .’ (Bal 2010 p.78) To remain alert, I researched photographic images and scientific texts about wolves, conservation and hunting. Wolves are persecuted, shot from helicopters, hunted on the ground, caught in traps and snares, and in many countries, they have been hunted to extinction; they have disappeared. Marc Bekoff reminds us that killing animals is easy, and it is only by our definitions that wild animals become “pests” or “nuisances.” (Berkoff, 2007). Then, this is true of literary and illustrated definitions to kill the wolf is easy. Consequently, critical study research and discourse analysis have directed my research for practice. Through analysis of destructive, counter and alternative discourses and theoretical texts, I have built up ideas of how to represent nature, the wolf and the human-animal relationship. Furthermore, critical studies investigations have directed me for further creative practice research for an ecofeminist approach to my outcomes.

To make changes, illustrators must open themselves to new experiences, new references, to not repeat the imagery of the past. In Of What One Cannot Speak, Mieke Bal describes the work of Columbian born artist Doris Salcedo. Salcedo explores suffering, violence and trauma in her art. For example, in her Atrabiliarios series, Salcedo uses worn shoes, ‘to retrace los desaparecidos (“the disappeared”) from South American nations like Argentina, Chile, and Colombia.

As Jacques points out, what is important is, ‘the attempt to find alternative modes for conceptualizing the relationship between the human and the wider world’ (Jaques 2015 p16).

THREATS TO WOLVES - HUNTING AND PERSECUTION

Figure 4 - Instagram photographs of wolf hunters, 2020

On Instagram, wolf hunters sometimes describe what they do as an act of conservation, to protect deer or elk numbers. There is plenty of evidence to counter this and hunters are a far greater threat to deer and elk than wolves. (Monbiot 2014) (Rust, 2016). However, science isn’t needed to prove suffering. If I explore these images as forms of visual communication, it is clear these are intended to communicate triumph, power and dominance, not conservation. Through animal advocate’s eyes, through a lens of ecofeminism or simple compassion, these are brutal images of unbearable and unnecessary cruelty. This is trophy hunting. Despite many adaptations that re-label the wolf, the image of the big bad wolf persists in contemporary versions. Where this happens, the wolf’s experience is not shown. For example, human characters have homes and families, but the big bad wolf, contradictory to

truth, is illustrated as a lone figure; there is no family seen to grieve for example, at his killing. I believe that ignoring the wolf’s experience dismisses and obfuscates the suffering of real wolves. ( )shows a high contrast whimsical approach to the illustration of the wolf’s death, and figure 12, an illustration of high iconicity of the killing of the wolf. Both approaches appear to take a feminist approach to traditional narratives. Guns and scissors and axes as weapons are commonly illustrated, still, in contemporary versions. They go unseen. In discussions on Writers and Artists forum and LinkedIn discussion, I found no-one who approved of showing weapons or violence toward animals in picture books, and no-one could think of anywhere that happened. Although somewhat anecdotal, this further demonstrates how the violence toward wolves in picture books goes unseen. So, how do I present this as part of the wolf’s story without portraying weapons?

Figure 5 - Bethan Woollvinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Little Red 2017

Figure 6 - Joanna Concejoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Le Petit Chaperone Rouge 2014

EYE CONTACT AND SIDEWAYS LOOKS

Figure 8 - The sideways look can’t be sustained

Figure 7 - Martin Ware illustration for Angela Carter’s Red Riding Hood

The sideways look can not be held, therefore it is a useful tool to create movement or to guide a reader around a page. For example, in Bethan Woollvin’s illustration (Figure 8) the reader is guided from wolf to axe and back again.

“The cinematic illusion of movement got extended to the literary and painterly realms, and the sideways look surfaced as a way of avoiding visual engagement and inciting spectatorial/ readerly contemplation.” (Kérchy and McAra 2017)

As Kérchy and McAra suggest this technique can be used to avoid visual engagement. This may mean, a reader does not engage with a character and characters could be seen to avoid engagement with each other. In Matt Cordell’s illustration, eye contact and engagement between characters and across the double page spread creates tension and intensity in a pivotal scen in the narrative. I think this look also helps to create a reality of the experience that connects to the lives of real wolves. Martin Ware’s illustration (Figure 7) uses a sideways look for Angela Carter’s Red character. Artist Mieke Bal curated an exhibition about sideways looks in art. She argues that the look is often an expression of loneliness and denies the reader dialogue with a character. (Bal, n.d.)

Figure 9 - Matt Cordell illustrates eye contact between his characters

ECOFEMINISM AND ECOMASCULINITY

The messages inherent in an audience - of showing conventions of female role as mother - comes now with connotations of limiting and conventional roles but now raise voices of opposition to that representation. But what if now I can represent a female as an agent of empathy, of care. Perhaps this would be evident if the adult human character is male - yet do I risk reinforcing ideas that women and girls need a man to save them once as a hunter, now as compassionate but always as dominant. It is true that the very rare attacks on people by wolves are usually on women and children (Linell 2002). Perhaps, represent both, as Matt Cordell does, yet is he, unconsciously reinforcing ideas that normalise heterosexual families? Then perhaps a same sex parent couple - this has great potential. However, not all books can portray the same alternative images - then they project another false normal - the importance is diversity - amongst representations - so then gender, race of the child have equal status amongst all books; no-one book can answer all the concerns, but all books can be sure not to reinforce negative and damaging stereotypes. Represent the child as ambiguous in gender, able to be interpreted as the reader wishes. How does this affect understanding of the wolf and the human-animal relationship? I aim to dispel ideas of human dominance over the wolf, whose likeness acts for wolves and other non-human animals. To do so I see I must also consider not just the representation of the wolf but also the people and how and if they interact with animals. Could I include a real dog, a toy wolf?

One advantage of portraying the human as male would be to take that gender then to the wolf - it was my intention to make the wolf male, without text and so pronouns how else to do this. To close the meaning?? As researcher and activist Greta Gaard observes, there is value in ‘deconstructing the role of the Dominant Master Self’ whereby place is made for those usually constructed as dominant through characteristics of gender, race or class for example (Gaard 2014 p.255). Can I place the traditional male hunter figure with all his characteristics as the nurturing adult?

“eco-justice activists and scholars have learned the value of deconstructing the role of the Dominant Master Self, and providing a location for even those constructed as dominant (whether via race, gender, class, sexuality, or nationality) to embrace a radically ecological vision and stand with— rather than on top of—the earth’s oppressed majorities.” Greta Gaard, 2014

SUMMARY FROM CRITICAL STUDIES • Critical study essay notes on feminism in Red Riding Hood • Traditional/culturally embedded version - where values and morals are in keeping with the patriarchal family model • Avoid then the patriarchal family description or recast the stereotype male hunter as the caring figure - complete with lumberjack checked shirt and beard. • The wolf must not be a metaphor for human behaviour - for stereotype sleazy human male behaviour or other human characteristics - the wolf must stand for wolves. How to do this visually? • Could my Red be gender ambiguous, i.e. not wear a dress? Also, illustration has an advantage over words in that it doesn’t use gender pronouns. • What are the significant ideologies represented? • How is balance of power illustrated?

• Could Red be portrayed as the baddie? Brett Mills suggests that one method to unbalance conventions is to cast the human in the baddie role. (Mills 2019) • How would this look? Use the visual language usually assigned to the wolf such as shadows and caricature and scale. • How do contemporary illustrations rely on assumptions, that is revert to stereotyping. • How can I avoid making the same assumptions? • Failure in particular feminist re-tellings to consider the animal perpetuates patriarchal beliefs of entitlement based on identity. • Shared stories through society - that people are fundamentally in their essence entitled to kill animals. • How can animal rights and gender rights share the same literary spaces?

ANIMALS ERASED AND THE STORIES WE TELL

Figure 10 - Animals Erased Kindle book cover. 2012

Erasure occurs in stories where an area of life is unimportant or unworthy of consideration. (Irving, 2020). Erasure manifests itself as patterns that support the dominant ideology, ‘where representations fail to represent a particular area of life at all, or background, distort or diminish it. (Stibbe 2018). One way this occurs in illustration of the wolf is exaggeration of the jaw and teeth, which reinforces ideas of threat. I think to portray a wolf consistenly thorughout a picture book with enlarged head, jaw and teeth present a asingular image and so erases the wolf. Metaphor also erases the wolf; where the wolf is interpreted as a metaphor for a sexually predatory man. In metaphor, the wolf is unimportant in himself, ‘he serves only to be an actor for human characteristics, the worst of human characteristics.’ (Irving, 2020) This approach to visual representation devalues the life of the wolf. Stibbe points out that it is a simplification to suggest that a text can be classified as either destructive, alternative or counter to a given philosophy but he argues that it is crucial to ‘critically analyze dominant discourses of unsustainable societies’ and although he doesn’t specifically mention picture (Stibbe, 2012. p13) books he does relate this to all texts, all utterance sand he examples children’s animated films. In these examples, there is a devaluing of the life of the wolf“With rare exceptions, the role of discourse in the domination by humans of other species has been almost entirely neglected in the field of critical discourse analysis.” (Stibbe, 2012. p.19)

“With rare exceptions, the role of discourse in the domination by humans of other species has been almost entirely neglected in the field of critical discourse analysis.” Arran Stibbe, 2012 p.19

HAIKU POETRY “Even wolves shed tears It is hard for us to see They suffer so much” - Eternity Phoenix 2005

How can writers write language back into the land in ways that contribute to more harmonious relationships between humans and the other animals, plants, and soil that make up that land? Arran Stibbe, 2012 p147

Arran Stibbe describes Haiku nature poetry as representing connections between animals and humans and can record profound connections that aim to represent the natural world directly and in unembellished ways. (Stibbe 2012) p12. They record animals as ‘active agents leading their own lives for their’ own purpose’ (Stibbe 2012) p.12. (Stibbe 2012)

tsukubōte / kumo wo ukagau / kaeru kana crouching / peering up at the clouds / a frog (Chiyo, in Stibbe, 2012 p148)

Stibbe describes how ‘despite the brevity of Haiku . . . the linking of the particular animals and plants with their wider context is carried out through a season word (kigo).’ (Stibbe, 2012, p150) (Stibbe 2012) In the example above, the season word is frog, where the frog represents spring when frogs are particularly vocal. How does the illustrator create a visual haiku?

These nature centered Haiku describe similarities rather than negative impressions of difference. Stibbe summarises that Haiku can encourage people to learn from nature rather than attempt to dominate it.

I think this is what Cordell achieves in Wolf in the Snow - he shows the wolves as active agents in their own lives. His research into the lives of wolves is evident in his illustrations, and I see this connection between authorillustrator and nature, that Stibbe sees in Haiku.

THE STORIES WE LIVE BY The Stories We Live By is a project initiated by Professor arran Stibbe of University of Gloucestershire. The ‘stories’ are the written, spoken and visual texts that pervade society and speak in ecologically destructive ways. The free, publicly available course provides tools for which to recognise, understand and analyse and these texts. For me, this was about awareness; I was able to take Stibbe’s ideas into my approach to my illustrations. The course is based on Stibbe’s book ‘Ecolinguistics: language, ecology and the stories we live by’ . The second edition is due for publication, December 2020. Through video, Powerpoint presentations and discussion groups, the course describes eight ways

that language encodes the stories and discourse that society is based on. The ways are: ideologies, framings, metaphors, evaluations, identities, convictions, erasure and salience. Here, ‘stories’ refers to all communication in society, including written and pictorial texts such as advertising, news reports, conversation, and literature. However, it is logical to concentrate this into illustration in picture books. This short course helped me recognise the visual language and meaning in case studies and in my own work.

Figure 11 - Stories we live by certificate

DYNAMICS AND INTERRELATIONS OF COLOUR • Colour hierarchies

• Time, such as past and present, could have different colour associations.

• Temperature - warm and cold colours • Colour association to link elements, either together or to commonly understood cultural concepts • Use colour for each character to immediately differentiate them from each other - a part of a characters’ essence. • For example, babies could be a tint of adults, such as the mother an intense bright red and the child character a 70%tint, paler red, the adult wolf could have intense, saturated colours and the cubs could be less saturated. • Also, colour association helps to highlight a character in a scene, maybe if they are small or in the distance - red will stand out, for example. • White can help illuminate, or the associative colour can be established for context, e.g. scenes which tell the wolf’s story and the scenes which tell the child’s story or inside and outside can have different tones. These visual codes need to be established early on. • Could all outside be in the moonlight? Natural colours - the yellows of turmeric and browns of coffee - identified in Practice 1. • Think about complementary colours

• High contrasts can act as focal points - an advantage of red. However, research showed how strict use of red and black, for example, indicate a colourific rivalry and can suggest altercation or opposites. • Also, contrasting colours reinforce the binary, us and them, animals and humans. • Cold and warm colours. So, to reject conventional negative visualisations of the wolf, i will choose warm greys and the pepper colours associated with real grey wolves of Europe or Timber wolves as they are known in north America. • Textures can add warmth - the texture of the paper, pencil. • Avoid black and single colour representation of the wolf. • Caution against ideas of the shadow of a wolf • Investigate the colour of a real wolf - the Grey wolf from European and North American habitats. • Dark and light greys, whites, reds and yellows

Figure 12 - Irving, 2020. Colours and semiotic meaning

CASE STUDY: MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO

Figure 13 - Totoro opening animated titles

I watched My Neighbour Totoro to understand the representation of nature with considerations of erasure, avoiding it, and the poetry of animal representation. As Arran Stibbe points out, the film represents nature in different ways. For example, there is one continuous shot where the focus is intently on natural phenomena, depicted for their own sake” (Stibbe, 2012. p174) The animated film weaves together ideas of people and anture with the supernatural, things that don’t need to be explained. The nature scenes express the intrinsic value of nature. As Stibbe observes, ‘like haiku, the model is one of direct and respectful interaction with animals and plants, rather than with symbols or conceptions of them. (Stibbe p13)

Stibbe examples the scene that cuts from the family truck to a leaf in a stream by the road. The sun shines and the only sound is of a small waterfall. Stibbe argues that the contrasts between the truck and nature is clear, man-made purposeful movement, a family moving home compared with the ambivalent travel of the floating leaf, with no purpose to the narrative and ‘its significance being purely in itself.’ (Stibbe 2012 p.174) These scenes are sometimes brief, lasting a few seconds, and they focus on just one particular animal, plant, or other aspects of nature. Stibbe believes that the medium of animated film has potential to reach a much wider audience than haiku poetry. The same could be said for picture books. Tutor dialogue also drew my attention to the role of adults and their relationships with children; often adults believe children and their stories of other-than-human lives and worlds.

Figure 15 - Miyazakiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s watercolour sketch, left and the final scene, right.

Figure 14 - Scenes of everyday joys in nature from Totoro

CASE STUDY: HAYAO MIYAZAKI - FILM MAKER Arran stibbe and Totoro, Kishotenketsu and Kiki’s Delivery Service led me to research the practice of film maker and Studio Ghibli co-founder and Hayao Miyazaki.

The documentary shows how small teams of animators draw each frame by hand, Miyazaki drawing each guiding key scene. It is slow demanding work; five seconds of film takes a week to complete.

10 years with Hayao Miyazaki is a four part documentary about the work and life of Miyazaki. Episode 2 follows him through the 200 days that lead up to the premier of his 2008 film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, the story of a little fish with a human face who meets a boy by a cliff on the edge of the sea The video includes evidence of Miyazaki as artist, illustrator and as film director working through plot lines and character development and visual sequencing. He recalls memories of his mother and his childhood to help bring his story together.

Miyazaki is often beset by self doubt, after all his successes. Miyazaki didn’t start film making until he was 43 but he talks about his films being destined to be made.

Recalling his family life he says, “Movies show who you are,” . . . “no matter how hard you try to hide it.” (Miyazaki, 2019) (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ ondemand/video/3004581/). I sense this is the same for picture books.

Figure 16 - ponyo scene -2.jpg

If a scene doesn’t meet with his approval he redraws it, reworks it, by hand. (Figure 16)

“What I don’t want to do is embarrass myself” (Miyazaki in Ponyo is Here, 2019)

Figure 17 - Irving, 2020. Focus

Figure 18 - Studio Ghibli logo. Totoro is symbolic for all their nature positive films.

SKETCHBOOK - INSPIRED BY PONYO

Figure 19 - Ponyo inspired sketch where my characters disappear in to the book

• “Once upon a time in a certain place there lived a little girl and she wore a very big hat.” • “Once upon a time in a certain place there lived a child who loved to read. “ • Should/could ‘girl’ read as ‘child’ ? Only text will define gender because of the need for gender specific pronouns. The language of the image can be liberated from that. • If I can tell the story without assigning gender?

• Ponyo is a fish with a human face and falls in love. • Ponyo has a life in the ocean but wants to live as a girl - (The Little Mermaid). There are two worlds: here and there, nature and not nature. • How can I create ideas of nature and not nature and bring them together? How can I create a connection between here and there? • Where is the wolf’s real life? Inside or outside the book? Where is reality? Inside or outside?

Figure 20 - Ponyo inspired sketches

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES BY PAULA NATALIA MÉNDEZ

Natalia Méndez is an author, editor and teacher at University of Buenos Aires (UBA). This course gives an overview of the picture book publishing industry and pathways to publishing as well in depth instruction on different narrative patterns for illustrated books. https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/495-narrative-techniques-for-children-s-books

Figure 21 - Stills from Natalia Méndez’s tutorial

Summary of course learning • Publishing genres and the process of editing a book • Types of narrator, whose point of view • Time of story and the narration • The story-tellers

– Roald Dahl and Fantastic Mr. Fox – Hayao Miyazaki and the film Spirited Away. – Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean – Kurt Vonnegut - Cat’s Cradle – Bill Watterson - and Calvin & Hobbes • Chain narratives • Western storytelling often relies on the concept of conflict - domination of one element by another. • This dualism is evident in traditional tellings of Red Riding Hood and in contemporary rewrites considered original or ground breaking.

• Further reading Carranza explains how the boundaries between good and evil in fairy stories has often become exaggerated over time. She cites examples retold by Disney, that she classifies as “lacklustre epigones” (Carranza 2012) whereby the story telling is built on, “old scaffolding of good and evil in absolute terms” (Carranza 2012). Modern interpretations risk repeating clichés and trite motifs. This approach to absolute good and bad so often places the wolf then, as absolute bad and this position is reinforced through exaggerations of features, such as claws and teeth. This is seen in Helen Oxenbury’s 2019 illustrations of Beatrix Potter’s text for Red Riding hood. • Alternatively, the wolf’s position as ‘baddie’ can be reinforced by the making of the innocence of Red, where innocence represents absolute good. A small, naive female child creates innocence. Visual clues such as scale, proportions, appearance and so on. • So, to make the wolf not bad he is often described as cute, as innocent, as small - he takes on the perceived characteristics of good. However, this can reinfocre the dualism

• Four act story-telling - Kishotenketsu • Traditional Western three act structure

– In the first act, a conflict is introduced. In the second act the conflict is escalated, and in the third it is resolved. The conflict is an integral part of the structure as a whole. That’s not the case in Kishōtenketsu. In none of the four acts is a conflict a requirement. – This holds true even for the third act. The complication doesn’t have be something that the character struggles against – but it can be. (Odlund n.d.)

Figure 22 - Irving, 2020. natalia Mendez notes.jpg

Figure 23 - Irving, 2020. Notes on Marcela Carranza

• MAuthor Marcela Carranza - further reading list from Natalia Méndez’s course.

• In the original Wizard of Oz book Dorothy’s adventures and her companions were as real as the farm itself .

• Stories can be in a number of acts, three four, five • Carranza describes Kishōtenketsu. • Picture books traffic the values of the society in which they are made. • Avoid clichés like, ‘it was all a dream’ . “It is an old and hackneyed resource” (Carranza 2012)

• Avoid ‘trite’ motifs such as the male hero who saves the day. • In Anderson’s The little Mermaid, the grandmother is the strongest figure yet this is lost in modern adaptations. Will my story give strength back to the female characters?

• Give female characters strength without them becoming as the male characters

• Narratives of violence - Jacques Derrida - something has to dominate

• Time - can be achronistic • Poststructural . . remembering fairytales (Waller)

• In a conflict story something changes. So, in feminist versions of LRRH does a naïve Red change to become a dominant character? How is this illustrated?

• Chain narratives - where illustrations are chronologically sequential - vents happen one after the other to describe a series of moments.

• In Western conflict narratives, one element must prevail over another. Therefore, either Red or the wolf must win, must prevail over the other.

Figure 24 - Notes from Natalia Méndez course

• Loose ends must be tied up - Make a circular story • Close-down meaning that the wolf is in trouble • Maybe outside the window isn’t a wolf, but just wolf-like enough to imply that the wolf and nature are connected, that the wolf is symbolic of all harm done to nature, that nature then also is symbolic of the wolf. • Or a cow outside - icon of human interference - is it strong enough. Do people see a cow as man’s interruptions or as countryside, as nature? • Can she see the forest fires from her window - reminded of Australian and American wildfires. • What can Red character give her parent/parents to prompt them to help nature?

Figure 25 - notes - storyline2.jpg

• What are my own ideas from observing nature? Go out, observe, draw • Just draw to generate ideas • Tell the true story of the wolf - the wolf wants to be heard. • Death in Red Riding Hood - the wolf’s death not given consideration - people are saved. • Characters could go into a new book - the wolf’s book. • If not a dream then what - how does she communicate with the wolf? • Maybe she has a toy wolf

AUDIENCING Gillian Rose suggest that there three sites where meaning about an image is made, where its meaning is understood. These sites, places are the site of production, the site of the image itself, and the site of its audience. Rose summarises, ‘that is, how an image is made, what it looks like, and how is seen are the three crucial ways in which a visual image becomes culturally meaningful’. (Rose, 2006, p.188). Rose suggests some helpful questions, such as, who are the original or more recent audiences, how is an image displayed, how will it be seen, what relationship does this create between the image and its viewer? Also, particularly relevant to picture books does an image have or need text to ‘guide its interpretation’ and ‘how do the preceding and subsequent images affect its meaning’. (Rose, 2006, p.189). Regarding who is the audience, I first looked to books from my case studies and then what age range their publishers recommended. For example, Matt Cordell’s Wolf in the Snow is recommended for age range 2-6. (Figure 54) Alan Male states, ‘Understanding the audience is essential for the successful transfer of messages’ (Male, 2017, location 250). With this in mind, I worked with a home education group, with children aged 3-10. Their guardian parents enjoyed picture books and were experienced in buying and reading pictures books to the intended audience age, to act as my focus group. This small group of ten children were of mixed age and gender, but as a home education group have similar locations, backgrounds and ethics. All adult guardians considered the representation of gender and race when buying books, but not all considered the representation of animals in the same way. Two vegan families did not buy picture books about farms, and one parent considered the stereotyping of wolves in picture books.

Figure 26 - Macmillan website entry for wolf in the snow. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250076366

Figure 27 - PanMacmillan website entry for Little Red https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/bethanwoollvin/little-red/9781447291404

I established the group in Practice 2, with relevant ethics approval. As the major project started and we moved to lockdown, I was in contact with the group online. We messaged, and they sent photographs and videos and for reader-response sent me information about their children’s thoughts on a book. Unlike in a workshop, I was not able to gather feedback directly from children, but feedback came via the parent. Some feedback during development suggested that my target age range should be older than 2-6 because of frightening elements.

Research showed that all adults presumed the wolf to be female, children mixed pronouns with no preference. Originally I had intended my wolf to stand for the stereotyped wolf; I decided to keep the adult character as female, I could add text to present the wolf as male or leave to keep open to interpretation. Adults are a primary audience; they commission, publish, buy and read, and it is, usually, adults who write and illustrate children’s picture books. Therefore adult feedback is critical, from peers, professionals and parent book buyers.

Figure 28 - Macmillan prize

Therefore throughout I look to classmates, professional peers and tutor feedback, as well as adult guardian readers. Also, competitions can offer opportunities for professional feedback. Macmillan 2020 (Figure 56) was postponed to October 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions and has since been cancelled. Entries for those eligible, such as students graduating in 2020, will be accepted for April 2021 competition.

Figure 29 - Clavis Key Colors 2020

Competitions such as Key Colors are an opportunity to explore European publishing audiences. Also, I explored academic papers that investigated children’s responses to picture books. For example, (Beaumont et al., 2017) argue that biological accuracy of illustrated animals helps young children become familiar with real animals, and that, ‘familiarity is required to develop an understanding of, care for and, ultimately, action in terms of protecting the natural world.’ (Beaumont et al., 2017). Alternatively, I consider (Suvilehto 2019) who suggests that anthropomorphic animals in picture books can help children be travellers in a story and (KümmerlingMeibauer 2016) argues that traces of ‘cuteness’ in animal characters invite, ‘the child reader to have empathy with them’.

I consider this research into audiences and develop my wolf with these theories and concepts of erasure. My wolf characters embody this mix, whereby I do not overtly anthropomorphise, but still, my drawings have ‘traces of cuteness’. I recognise that anthropomorphism has advantages in picture books stories; I am not opposed to it where those characteristics avoid negative and persistent stereotypes. However, i concluded to make illustrations that help create familiarity, make bonds between reader and subjects, and engender empathy and understanding toward non-humans.

KISHŌTENKETSU The four acts of Kishōtenketsu narrative are: KI - INTRODUCTION The character, setting, situation and other basic elements are established. SHŌ - DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTRODUCTION An expansion of the first act introduction. No major changes occur. A continuation that helps establish knowledge of characters and scenes. No major change occur until the third act. (Still Eating Oranges, 2012) TEN - THE TWIST The story takes a turn into a contrasting, seemingly separate situation. Not a cryptic twist in a story line but rather where the story may appear seem to jump to something unrelated.

• A four act narrative without protagonist and antagonist, where the wolf is traditionally the antagonist. • Conflict in context of the story structure - no conflict doesn’t mean no drama. • Fulfills ideas of non-western storyline, • Disrupts the traditional story by not turning the characters on each other. • Avoids problematic outcomes of absolute good vs absolute bad which results in the persistence of the visual stereotypes.

The Ten (Third Act Twist) is the key to Kishōtenketsu

• Will audiences understand a Kishōtenketsu story? Western audiences are accustomed to a central conflict.

Introduce a contrasting, even seemingly nonsensical, departure from the character and situation set up in the first and second acts.

• ‘risk not engaging with audience, being dubbed a poor story, or lacking development, (Krake, 2016).

KETSU - CONCLUSION A reconciliation.

• “We’re indoctrinated by this Western way of thinking. It’s insular, it creates the idea that there’s only one way to write a story. That’s how Western stories are written. It’s not how all stories are written” (Krake 2016).

The story resolves, connecting all acts. In the fourth act, that third act dislocation is brought together to resolve a complete narrative connection with the first part of the story. (Krake, 2016) The fourth act draws a conclusion from the contrast between the first two “straight” acts and the disconnected third, thereby reconciling them into a coherent whole. Impact of Ten (the third act) on acts one and two.

• Kishōtenketsu is probably best known to Westerners as the structure of Japanese yonkoma (four-panel) manga (Still Eating oranges, 2012) • “I think it’s a risk worth taking.” (Krake, 2016). • So do I.

Examples of Kishotenketsu Examples inlcude: Mario Brother’s video game (Krake 2016) Kiki’s Delivery Service - Studio Ghibli

Figure 32 - Super Mario platform games with a four act narrative https://www.geek10.com/top-10-mario-platformer-games/

Figure 31 - Kiki’s Delivery Service https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097814/ Figure 30 - Kishōtenketsu example https://stilleatingoranges.tumblr.com post/25153960313/thesignificance-of-plot-without-conflict

REFLECTION

Educator and researcher Dr. Gillie Bolton writes about the advantages of writing reflectively to children, others or ourselves, as if we were our child selves. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Explaining our work as if addressing (our) children can be useful and revealingâ&#x20AC;? (Bolton and Delderfield 2018) p. 112. She suggests this process can help us have a conversation with our stronger wiser selves. Although not mentioned this became a way to help break down my ideas from academic analysis to picture book form. In this form, can I analyse my narrative and its intentions for the child audience, and can I evaluate how clear my aims are? Here is my effort to explain to an imaginary child, the intentions of my book. This technique did help me clarify my narrative. Furthermore, the process helped to remind me of my goals and to counter some of my overthinking. As Bolton predicted, this process helped get to the heart of the problem.

“You love animals and books about them and your toys of them. Some books make animals such as the wolf appear frightening. There may be pictures of a scary wolf, and sometimes grown-ups read these using scary voices. Do not let these stories make you afraid of the wolves. Wolves are like you in many ways, they have families, and they love their children, and the adults look out for the cubs. Wolves love to play too. Outside, in nature, animals are having a hard time. People are cutting down the forests where they live, fires and floods are forcing the animals to leave the forests, but as people, we can help them, we can decide not to hurt them or destroy their homes, we can find ways to live that do not mean we have to cut down the trees. Storybooks sometimes make out the wolf to be a threat to people, but it is the other way round. And although you should not get in the way of a wolf, you don’t need to worry as they are frightened of people and prefer to stay far away from us. There are no wild wolves left in the UK. That is what I try to do - to tell people about animals, how they want to be left alone to sleep in their beds at night, just like us”

RESEARCH FOR CR

REATIVE PRACTICE

CASE STUDY: AVI OFER, ILLUSTRATOR AND ANIMATOR I chose to explore the work of illustrator and animation director Avi Ofer because of his work in collaboration with George Monbiot. Ofer creates an animation that supplements, then leads his narrated documentary about rewilding. (Figure 33) It can be seen here on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3I9gDocYdk

I explored more of Avi’s work through his website. There is a mix of cute children, animals full of emotion and movement. (Figure 34 and Figure 35) He doesn’t describe his techniques or tools but examinations of images suggests there is a mix of hand drawn and digitally hand drawn techniques; the later would more easily support animation.

Ofer uses a limited palette of greys and black with organic lines and patterns. In one scene she recalls Maurice Sendak’s characterisation for Where the Wild Things Are. The palette doesn’t over complicate the message Ofer’s illustrations entertain and simplify a complicated message. Presented for TED Ed lessons suggests this video is intended for a wide age range audience, children and adults.

Figure 33 - Avi Ofer Rewilding our world illustration and animation for George Monbiot’s documentary (2014) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3I9gDocYdk

Figure 34 - Avi Ofer, 2014. Rewilding our world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3I9gDocYdk

Figure 35 - Avi Ofer deer

Figure 36 - Avi Ofer

https://aviofer.com/

WORLD ILLUSTRATION AWARDS 2020 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING CATEGORY https://theaoi.com/world-illustration-awards/showcase-2020/childrens-publishing-category-highlights/ Charlotte Manning Canadian Animal Alphabet “Charlotte’s illustrations are young, warm, original and, importantly, have huge child appeal. The stipple texture of the pachoir (sic) brings a richness to her pictures, which is emphasised by her strong and bold use of colour. Charlotte’s simplicity of design and composition shows a really good sense for the page.” the AOI, 2020) (https://theaoi.com/world-illustration-awards/ showcase-2020/childrens-publishing-categoryhighlights/)

Figure 37 - Charlotte Manning Humpback whale

Pochoir is a stencil based printing technique that was used by artists such as Matisse and Picasso (Zwartkruis, 2014) https://www.charlottemanning.art https://www.instagram.com/charlotte_m_illustration/

Takashi Miyata Lost Rabbit Takashi Miyata : LOST RABBIT Children’s Publishing category Un-commissioned | Professional

Figure 38 - Charlotte manning Wolverine

For a children’s book and museum exhibition, Miyate tried a ‘monochrome expression to draw a dream world and draw the uneasy feelings of a lost rabbit. The background and characters were drawn with a black felttip pen and were combined and digitally recreated with my PC.’ (Miyata, 2020) https://www.takashi-miyata.jp Figure 39 - Takashi Miyaki Lost rabbit https://theaoi.com/wia/takashi-miyata-lost-rabbit/

Alfie Stevenson-Kelly HuldufÓlk Alfie uses graphite, ink and colouring pencils “Deforestation is a world issue that children should be given an understanding of, and the consequences to their future. World issues are a difficult subject that parents are faced with explaining to their children. They wouldn’t want to scare them or cause uncertainty. Children’s books humanise difficult issues and encourage children to think about how they would feel and what they might do.” (Stevenson-Kelly, 2020) https://theaoi.com/wia/alfie-stevenson-kelly-huldufolk/ https://www.alfiestevensonkelly.com https://www.instagram.com/alfiestevensonkelly/

These short-listed illustrators demonstrate a range of techniques; each combines hand-drawn with digital refinements. These examples are tackling modern issues, for children. They deal with extinction, deforestation and also in Lost Rabbit, what it feels like to feel lost. Takashi Miyata’s black felt tip pen illustrations show how meaningful illustration can be made with the simplest of tools. Miyata creates a sense of feeling lost through perspective and a limited palette. Also, each demonstrate narrative on a page through colour, line and composition.

Figure 40 - Alfie Stevenson-Kelly’s graphite pencil and ink drawings

THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF WOLVES The International wolf centre is a trusted resource for

information about wolves, their behaviours and lives. The centre is in Ely, Minnesota ‘The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.’ (International wolf centre, n.d) https://wolf.org/about-us/

The Wolf Conservation Centre is another resource with wolf watching webcams and a bank of Youtube videos about the sanctuary’s wolves and cubs.

Figure 41 - lLearn about wolves https://wolf.org/wolf-info/basic-wolf-info/

Figure 42 - Mexican gray wolves Zephyr and Alawa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb0i0VTum-E

The centre is in South Salem, New York Here, Zephyr and Alawa (Figure 42) feature in many WCC videos. They are captive-born Mexican gray wolves protected at the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC)

Figure 43 - Sister wolf cuddles.jpg

Figure 44 - Irving, 2020. Adult and cub sketch pencil

This led into my online research through images, articles and videos, of deforestation and the machines that are used, the sense of it, the noise of it. Images of deforestation often centre on Indonesia and the Amazon but research in to European wolf areas showed how much Europe is also experiencing deforestation.

Figure 45 - wolves on rock sketch from Zephyr and Alawa video

Figure 46 - Defensive wolf sketch from video

THREATS TO WOLVES - DEFORESTATION • Shadows, shapes and form • Scale, dominance, noise • Sharp angles, bulk and weight • Global problem • What companies make these? • Wolves are guardians of the forests

Resources https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestationand-forest-degradation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVxvFywDx7c https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/threemeat-companies-linked-to-deforestation-of-amazonrainforests/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdRMuQiv0No https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3oPUqw1Ej8 Trees for life https://treesforlife.org.uk/into-the-forest/habitats-andecology/human-impacts/deforestation/

OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING WALKS, WOODLANDS AND COLLECTIONS

Figure 47 - Irving, 2020. collection-4.jpg

Feathers, leaves and bark. Pine cones, Fibonacci numbers, golden spirals Concentric circles Greys and browns Textures and smells

Figure 48 - Irving, 2020. nature collection-3.jpg

Shape and form moulded by shadows and imagination. Pareidolia - seeing faces in everyday objects, seeing faces in the everydayness of things.

Figure 49 - Irving, 2020. Trees and light

Figure 50 - Irving, 2020. Tree sketch from observations

Figure 51 - Irving, 2020. Trees and litter sketch from observations

PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTETAKING

Figure 53 - Irvin

Figure 52 - Irving, 2020. Tree studies

ng, 2020. Tree sketches

Figure 54 - Irving, 2020. Observations of fern

SEQUENCE LAYOUT - THE PAGE SCBWI VIDEO TUTORIALS

â&#x20AC;˘ Classes available for SCBWI members

This video tutorial by illustrator LeUyen Pham explains how narrative flow through illustrations and page compositions.

The red lines demonstrate the pathway a page can be read - top left to bottom right (in western book layouts). Using illustrations, colour and text the reader can be guided across the page.

The figure 8 - where the visual narrative takes the eye in a figure 8 loop maintains reader engagement. Helpful in page-filling, busy illustrations to keep reader engaged in the page.

â&#x20AC;˘ Joined SCBWI - student membership

Figure 55 - LeUyen Pham - page composition

Figure 56 - Page composition LeUyen Pham2.jpg

REFLECTION AND CONCLUSION Increasingly I became alert to the experiences of others in combating my difficulties with focus, worry and productivity during research. For example, in reruns of The Southbank Show, Melvin Bragg reflects on an interview with Paul Abbott, writer of the TV series Shameless. In it, Abbott talks about not letting the day in before he writes (The South Bank Show 2016). He gets up and writes his ideas that fermented overnight. He does not check email or answer the phone, and although initially recorded in 2005 and so without the distractions of social media and isolation, Abbott’s words ring true today. It is powerfully succinct advice. Furthermore, Abbott works in an upstairs room, an almost empty environment. It turns out, he says, that the best inspiration to surround himself with, when creating, is nothing. (The South Bank Show Originals on TV | Series 3 Episode 4 | Channels and schedules | TV24.co.uk, 2016) This reminded me of the workplace and space of illustrator Christoph Neimann I had seen in a video interview with him. I was struck by the white emptiness of his workspace - one desk for drawing and one for his computer. Like many, my desk is not like that, but I do now work in a less cluttered space, and I aim to work before letting the day in. Bassot describes the possible difficulties with finding objectivity in professional practice and what do we do when our values conflict with those of clients, for example? (Bassot 2016) p. 90. For me, this has led to seeking vegan businesses and publishers as much as exploring mainstream routes to publishers. Rather than work with clients I consider unethical, such as illustration for animal-based food, I have found my position and my subject specialism; sharing values has helped find work. Consequently, I have expanded my goals to wanting to write and present about animal illustration as much as someone who does it. So, I accepted an invitation to talk, in an online video, about animal illustration, my practice and final major project for a local festival of arts. Bassot cautions that ‘articulating core beliefs . . . will often be challenging for all concerned’ (Bassot 2016) p90.

Research has considered my critical studies essay and its conclusions and I have summarised these in context of their influence on my practice, generally and for my major project. This research explored meaning in context of animal rights, but also to find ways to not undermine feminist messages in contemporary picture books. This was most relevant in portrayal of ethics of care and ideas of gender stereotyping. I divided research into two main parts, critical and theoretical texts, and then research for practice, references and tutorials for example. Exploring tutorials early on helped start development proper of my illustrations - I found confidence and structure through tutorials Through theoretical texts I reinforced my understanding of the issues around animal representation, formed strong ideas about how to contribute to changing peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perceptions about it and reinforced my convictions and commitment to developing my picture book and for future projects.

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Irving, 2020. Research plan 1- 200dpi.jpg Figure 2 - Irving, 2020. Research plan 2.jpeg Figure 3 - Irving, 2020. Me being chased by a wolf.jpg Figure 4 - Instagram photographs of wolf hunters, 2020 Figure 5 - Bethan Woollvin’s Little Red 2017 Figure 6 - Joanna Concejo’s Le Petit Chaperone Rouge 2014 Figure 8 - The sideways look can’t be sustained Figure 7 - Martin Ware illustration for Angela Carter’s Red Riding Hood Figure 9 - Matt Cordell illustrates eye contact between his characters Figure 10 - Animals Erased Kindle book cover. 2012 Figure 11 - Stories we live by certificate Figure 12 - Irving, 2020. Colours and semiotic meaning Figure 13 - Totoro opening animated titles Figure 15 - Miyazaki’s watercolour sketch, left and the final scene, right. Figure 14 - Scenes of everyday joys in nature from Totoro Figure 16 - ponyo scene -2.jpg Figure 17 - Irving, 2020. Focus Figure 18 - Studio Ghibli logo. Totoro is symbolic for all their nature positive films. Figure 19 - Ponyo inspired sketch where my characters disappear in to the book Figure 20 - Ponyo inspired sketches Figure 21 - Stills from Natalia Méndez’s tutorial Figure 22 - Irving, 2020. natalia Mendez notes.jpg Figure 23 - Irving, 2020. Notes on Marcela Carranza Figure 24 - Notes from Natalia Méndez course Figure 25 - notes - storyline2.jpg Figure 26 - Macmillan website entry for wolf in the snow. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250076366 Figure 27 - PanMacmillan website entry for Little Red. Available at: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/bethan-woollvin/little-red/9781447291404. [Accessed 16 May 2020] Figure 28 - Macmillan prize Figure 29 - Clavis Key Colors 2020 Figure 30 - Kishōtenketsu example

https://stilleatingoranges.tumblr.com post/25153960313/the-significance-of-plot-without-conflict Figure 32 - Super Mario platform games with a four act narrative https://www.geek10.com/top-10-mario-platformer-games/ Figure 31 - Kikiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Delivery Service Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097814/ [Accessed 14 June 2020] Figure 33 - Avi Ofer (2014) Rewilding our world Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3I9gDocYdk [Accessed 14 June 2020] Figure 34 - Avi Ofer, 2014. Rewilding our world Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3I9gDocYdk [Accessed 8 June 2020] Figure 35 - Avi Ofer Deer. Available at https//aviofer.com [Accessed 14 June 2020] Figure 36 - Avi Ofer Available at https//aviofer.com [Accessed 14 June 2020] Figure 37 - Charlotte Manning (2020) Humpback whale Available at: https://theaoi.com/wia/charlotte-manning-canadian-animalalphabet [Accessed 12 July2020] Figure 38 - Charlotte manning Wolverine Available at: https://theaoi.com/wia/charlotte-manning-canadian-animal-alphabet [Accessed 12 July2020] Figure 39 - Takashi Miyaki Lost rabbit. Available at: https://theaoi.com/wia/takashi-miyata-lost-rabbit. [Accessed 12 July2020] Figure 40 - Alfie Stevenson-Kellyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s graphite pencil and ink drawings Figure 41 - Learn about wolves Available at: https://wolf.org/wolf-info/basic-wolf-info/ . [Accessed 16 April 2020] Figure 42 - Mexican gray wolves Zephyr and Alawa Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb0i0VTum-E Figure 43 - Sister wolf cuddles. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Qe6Dt_K14 Figure 44 - Irving, 2020. Adult and cub sketch pencil Figure 45 - Irving, 2020. Wolves on rock sketch from Zephyr and Alawa video [pen and pencil] Figure 46 - Defensive wolf sketch from video [pencil] Figure 47 - Irving, 2020. collection-4.jpg Figure 49 - Irving, 2020. Trees and light Figure 48 - Irving, 2020. Nature collection [photograph] Figure 50 - Irving, 2020. Tree sketch from observations [pencil] Figure 51 - Irving, 2020. Trees and litter sketch from observations [pencil] Figure 52 - Irving, 2020. Tree studies [pencil] Figure 53 - Irving, 2020. Tree sketches [pencil] Figure 54 - Irving, 2020. Observations of fern [pencil] Figure 55 - LeUyen Pham - page composition [screenshot] Figure 56 - Page composition LeUyen Pham [screenshot]

REFERENCE LIST Bakhtin, M. and Holquist, M. (1981) The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by Mikhail Bakhtin. Bal, M. (2010) Of what one cannot speak: doris salcedo’s political art. University of Chicago Press. Barry, L. (2019) Making Comics. Drawn & Quarterly Publications. Bassot, B. (2016) The Reflective Journal. London: Macmillan Education UK. Beaumont, E. S., Mudd, P., Turner, I. J. and Barnes, K. (2017) “Cetacean frustration: the representation of whales and dolphins in picture books for young children.” Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(4) pp. 545–551. Beckett, S. L. (2008) Red Riding Hood for All Ages: A Fairy-tale Icon in Cross-cultural Contexts. illustrated. Wayne State University Press. Berger, J. (2009) Why look at animals? London: Penguin. Berger, J., Richardson, J. A. and Goodheart, E. (1974) “Ways of Seeing.” Journal of Aesthetic Education, 8(4) p. 111. Berkoff, marc and Gruen, L. (2015) “DUPLICATE_.” In Entangled Empathy: An Alternative Ethic for Our Relationships with Animals. Lantern Books. Bragg, M. (2016) “The South Bank Show Originals on TV | Series 3 Episode 4 | Channels and schedules | TV24. co.uk.” The Southbank Show. Sky Arts. Gaard, G. (2014) “Toward New EcoMasculinities, EcoGenders, and EcoSexualities.” In Adams, C. J. and Gruen, L. (eds.) Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth. illustrated. New York London: Bloomsbury Academic, p. 225. Gruen, L. (2014) “Facing death and practicing grief.” In Adams, C. J. and Gruen, L. (eds.) Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth. illustrated. Bloomsbury Academic, p. 127. Irving, B. (2020) Ecofeminism and Red Riding Hood: Erasure of the wolf within feminist visualisations of the classic tale. Master thesis. University of Hertfordshire. Jaques, Z. (2015) Children’s literature and the posthuman: animal, environment, cyborg. Routledge. Kümmerling-Meibauer, B. (2016) “Cuteness and aggression in military picturebooks (with Jörg Meibauer).” Issues in Early Education. Mills, B. (2017) Animals on Television: The Cultural Making of the Non-Human. Springer. Mitts-Smith, D. (2012) Picturing the wolf in children’s literature. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. Monbiot, G. (2014) How Wolves Change Rivers (featuring George Monbiot). [Online] [Accessed May 3rd, 2020]

https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/how-wolves-change-rivers/. Nodelman, P. (2006) “Decoding the Images: How Picture Books work.” In Hunt, P. (ed.) Understanding children’s literature. Indiana University Press, pp. 128–139. Rose, G. (2001) Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials. illustrated, reprint. London: SAGE. Rust, N. (2016) BBC - Earth - When you start killing wolves, something odd happens. 11th May. [Online] [Accessed April 26th, 2020] http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20160510-why-it-is-a-bad-idea-to-let-people-hunt-wolves. Stibbe, A. (2012a) Animals Erased: Discourse, Ecology, and Reconnection with the Natural World. illustrated. Wesleyan University Press. Stibbe, A. (2012b) “Haiku and beyond.” In Animals Erased: Discourse, Ecology, and Reconnection with the Natural World. illustrated. Wesleyan University Press, p. 146. Stibbe, A. (2012c) “Introduction: Vanishing animals.” In Animals Erased: Discourse, Ecology, and Reconnection with the Natural World. illustrated. Wesleyan University Press, p. 2. Stibbe, A. (2018) Part 8 - The Stories We Live By. [Online] [Accessed April 11th, 2020] http://storiesweliveby.org.uk/ part-8/4593493395. Suvilehto, P. (2019) “A study of animal characters as representations of humans: the animality/bibliotherapy test.” Journal of poetry therapy, 32(2) pp. 95–108. Tripney, N. (2019) “Women are the powerbrokers”: gender-flipping Shakespeare’s Shrew | Stage | The Guardian. 25th February. [Online] [Accessed November 17th, 2019] https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/feb/25/women-arethe-powerbrokers-gender-flipping-shakespeares-shrew. Wigan, M. (2009) Illustration: Global contexts.

Bridget Irving

Articles inside

Paper stock

Idea generation

Kishōtenketsu inspired storyline

Idea generation

Poetry and word lists

Introduction

Mood and atmosphere of the story