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[CCBC-Net] POETRY AND ART
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From: Lbhcove at aol.com <Lbhcove>
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 10:53:50 EDT
You must forgive me for being so vociferous on this subject but it is one that I'm totally involved in on a day-to-day basis.
Consider this: As an anthologist, I compose the collection...and the collection only. Like most writers of picture books, we NEVER or RARELY get to see final art until the book is published. It is the EDITOR who decides on artwork...NOT the poet nor anthologist. And often art directors have a lot to say about design and illustration.
Having done close to 200 books, are there illustrations that I don't like? Illustrations that never come close to depicting a poem? Or books of my own I consider over-illustrated? You bet! Once they are 'out', however, you can't put 'em back! They become YOUR book.
Some of the best illustrated works (mine as well as others) are those that do not necessarily interpret each word of a poem but give an abstract look to the work...thus giving the reader an opportunity to broaden his/her thinking.
There are times I BEG editors to consider having less art than poem-text; not overwhelm the work. Sometimes I win; other times I lose.
But in the end it not the writer or collector's fault.
So much goes into the making of a book. So few people truly realize how much. In the end, however, when it comes time for criticism, time for reviewers to chime in...it is usually the AUTHOR who gets the glory or the blame.
It is much easier to review a book than it is to create one.
I do both. Writing a paragraph about a book IS a lot easier than writing the book.
This industry is vast...and it is an industry. We must always keep these facts in perspective...
Lee Bennett Hopkins
_www.leebennetthopkinsbooks.com_ (http://www.leebennetthopkinsbooks.com)
Received on Thu 13 Apr 2006 09:53:50 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 10:53:50 EDT
You must forgive me for being so vociferous on this subject but it is one that I'm totally involved in on a day-to-day basis.
Consider this: As an anthologist, I compose the collection...and the collection only. Like most writers of picture books, we NEVER or RARELY get to see final art until the book is published. It is the EDITOR who decides on artwork...NOT the poet nor anthologist. And often art directors have a lot to say about design and illustration.
Having done close to 200 books, are there illustrations that I don't like? Illustrations that never come close to depicting a poem? Or books of my own I consider over-illustrated? You bet! Once they are 'out', however, you can't put 'em back! They become YOUR book.
Some of the best illustrated works (mine as well as others) are those that do not necessarily interpret each word of a poem but give an abstract look to the work...thus giving the reader an opportunity to broaden his/her thinking.
There are times I BEG editors to consider having less art than poem-text; not overwhelm the work. Sometimes I win; other times I lose.
But in the end it not the writer or collector's fault.
So much goes into the making of a book. So few people truly realize how much. In the end, however, when it comes time for criticism, time for reviewers to chime in...it is usually the AUTHOR who gets the glory or the blame.
It is much easier to review a book than it is to create one.
I do both. Writing a paragraph about a book IS a lot easier than writing the book.
This industry is vast...and it is an industry. We must always keep these facts in perspective...
Lee Bennett Hopkins
_www.leebennetthopkinsbooks.com_ (http://www.leebennetthopkinsbooks.com)
Received on Thu 13 Apr 2006 09:53:50 AM CDT
