tell me about your favorite illustrators

[lirazel]

I recently got a beautiful edition of The Secret Garden illustrated by Tasha Tudor. I've always loved Tudor, both her books/illustrations and her lifestyle¹ and it's a delight to own this book.

It got me thinking about illustrators whose pictures really stick in my mind. I'm very basic in my tastes; I don't tend to be into stuff that's too experimental or avant-garde tbh.

Many of my favorites actually illustrated chapter books for children. These tend to be line drawings, among which my favorites are:
+ Beth and Joe Krush (The Borrowers series, Gone-Away Lake, at least one All-of-a-Kind Family book)
+ John R. Neill (the Oz books)
+ Vera Neville (the older Betsy-Tacy books)

But of course picture books are the real world of illustrators. These are more about colors for me. Some of my favorites (both from my childhood and ones I've discovered through reading to my niblings) are:
+ Fred H. Crump (fairytale retellings)
+ Jill Barklem (Brambly Hedge)
+ Molly Idle (Flora and the [Bird] series)
+ Tasha Tudor (Pumpkin Moonshine)
+ Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar)
+ Ezra Jack Keats (The Snowy Day)
+ James Gurney (Dinotopia)
+ Aaron Becker (the Worldless books)


I am also very fond of the covers illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, which are not my normal style of art but are so striking and memorable that I adore them. Especially the ones for Monica Furlong's books.

Note that this isn't a list of favorite books from my childhood--I'm talking specifically about the pictures.

Please share with me some beloved illustrators from your life!


¹ Now that I think about it, she basically invented cottage core. She would do NUMBERS on Instagram today.

Comments

[angelofthenorth]

Axel Schaeffler who did the gruffalo

[lirazel]

I never read that one as a child! I'll have to get it from the library for my niblings.

[landofnowhere]

I also <3 the Dillons, and yes, especially the Furlong covers, but also the Abhorsen covers.

Barbara Cooney (Roxaboxen, Miss Rumphius, Letting Swift River Go).

Trina Schart Hyman -- her fantasy/fairy tale/historical covers and picture books were everywhere in the library when I was a kid, the cover to The Jedera Adventure is a personal favorite.

[chestnut_pod]

Roxaboxen was everything to me as a little child! And I also brought up Trina Schart Hyman and mentioned two completely different books -- she was so prolific!

[evewithanapple]

The Renee Graef illustrations for the Little House picture books are absolutely gorgeous. I wouldn't shell out for copies because . . . you know, but I would be sorely tempted by a full colour illustrated edition.

And, of course, like every self-respecting fantasy girlie in the early 2000s, I was madly in love with the work of Kinuko Y. Craft.

[lirazel]

Oh agreed! I actually have those hardbacks with her dustcovers--I was gifted them over consecutive Christmases as a kid.

Ah, the McKillip illustrator!!!

[chestnut_pod]

The Dillons are such icons. I treasure the beautiful covers on my copies of Wise Child and Juniper.

Kinuko Y. Craft is the epitome of fantasy illustration to me. Her The Twelve Dancing Princesses is gorgeous beyond belief.

Also Trina Schart Hyman, most famous for Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, but foremost in my heart for The Serpent Slayer.

[lirazel]

Me too! I love my copies!

I looked Craft up and went, "Oh, the McKillip illustrator!" lol!

I didn't recognize Hyman's name, but I have definitely seen her work and it is very beautiful! I think the one I read as a kid was Red Riding Hood?

[genarti]

I LOVE both Tasha Tudor and Trina Schart Hyman. So delicate and distinctive! And I totally agree about Leo and Diane Dillon's covers. James Gurney, too, for sure.

[lirazel]

I love the overlap in tastes here!

[genarti]

Lots of us with formative books they did, maybe! I know that's the case for me -- and also, all of these illustrators were so prolific that I got to go not just "ooh, I like this art" but "ooh, I like this art and it looks awfully familiar, are these books illustrated by... the same person???" as a kid, which I always found super exciting.

[nnozomi]

The Philharmonic Gets Dressed--I'm sorry to say that I knew the author (Karla Kuskin) but had to look up the illustrator, Marc Simont. It turns out that he also illustrated Thurber's The 13 Clocks and The Wonderful O! Who knew! Also, I've been reading a translation of Patapoufs et Filifers and reflecting that it's entirely incomplete without Jean Bruller's original illustrations.
Also Virginia Lee Burton (Mike Mulligan and Life Story) and, though it almost goes without saying, Maurice Sendak. Also, 100% agree with you re Beth and Joe Krush! Those are wonderful.

[lirazel]

Oh my gosh, I'm not familiar with that book, but I'm going to read it to my niblings as soon as I can!

For me, THE Virginia Lee Burton book is The Little House, which I read to my niblings the last time I was with them!

I adore husband/wife illustrating teams!

[dollsome]

Very lovely theme for a post! <3 I love her Secret Garden illustrations. You have inspired me to find my copy so I can admire them again!

This is probably my inner snowy climate kid talking, but I've always had a soft spot for Jan Brett's wintery illustrations. They give me the warm and fuzzies. And I used to looooove the Little Bear books when I was very small; those pictures still evoke some childhood wonder in me. And I was today years old when I consciously learned those were done by Maurice Sendak?! (Maybe I knew that at some point and just forgot.)

[lirazel]

<3 Do you have the pale green copy? That's the one I used to get from the library, but the one I bought recently is dark green and has a ribbon bookmark.

Jan Brett is so talented and distinctive!!!

Little Bear is definitely my favorite of Sendak's!

[dollsome]

I do have the standard pale green one. The one you got sounds so nice!! 💚