Final paper for History of Illustration based off of great american illustrators, Ted and betsy Lewin
Ted &
Betsy Lewin
“Be true to your work
and your work will be true to you.”
Pratt’s Motto
Illustrators, husband
and wife team, Ted and Betsy Lewin both went to Pratt Institute in New York,
where they met and found their passion for illustration. Pratt’s motto is, “be
true to your work and your work will be true to you,” this motto is something
they both strongly believe in and carry it out as a proverb that they live by. Their
styles are entirely different, yet they have found a way to combine forces to make
fun and educational children’s books. In this essay, the focus will mainly be on
Ted Lewins’ work, as his use of water color intrigues me more, yet Betsy has
been such a great influence in Teds career and life that I will not leave her
out altogether.
I first came
across Ted’s work in a book about great American illustrators and fell in love
with his mark making and story telling abilities. Thus when this assignment was given, I jumped
on the bandwagon to interview the Lewins’.
I was so eager to get in touch with a real successful illustrator, and
was not at all disappointed.
Their love for
each other, travel and illustration has given them the ability to come together
and make strong bodies of work while exploring the world. Their strength lies
in telling the stories of real events, allowing children to learn about the cultures,
traditions and happenings around the world through vivid colors and unique mark
making.
Teds medium of
choose is watercolor. Although in PRATT he painted predominantly in oils, Ted
was drawn to watercolors, which he only explored after he graduated from college
through his wife’s probing and encouragement. With his expressionistic use of
watercolor he captures emotion and intensity with every stroke that he applies
to a picture. This creates an atmosphere
with a thorough understanding of the image in just one glance.
He enjoys
watercolor because of its spontaneity. It has its own mind, and is very
unforgiving, thus trying to master it is challenging. I’m very drawn to watercolor too; the
numerous techniques and mark making applications are so appealing. I love that
both subtitles and harshness can be created with very little paint. Recently I
have been using watercolor a lot, experimenting with different techniques, and
how the viewer reads them. This has slowly become my medium of choose, as I
aspire to find my own artistic voice.
Teds Influences
range from N.C. Wyeth, Normal Rockwell and Winslow Homer, to his classmates at
Pratt like Tomi DePaulo and Anita and Arnold Lobell. He stated that when he was
in 5th grade he new he wanted to be an artist, and used to copy N.C.
Wyeth’s work to the best of his ability. By copying the masters, Ted learnt
certain processes, styles and techniques, thus he concludes that he was able to
find his own voice through the masters.
This is something
I have heard and read a lot about, it was even mentioned by Robert Henri in The Art Spirit. I have only copied two
pieces of ‘masters, works: Vermeers, ‘Girl
with the Pearl Earring’ and DaVincis,
‘Self Portrait’. On both occasions I have seen little glimpses of how they
tackled a certain portion of a piece, and it’s been very profitable. For this
reason I understand exactly what Ted grasps when copying, and I have started
putting this into practice, especially copying Teds works.
One of my favorite
works that I feel carries such a strong emotional atmosphere, comes from the
book, ‘The Greatest Elephant in the
World” illustrated by Ted Lewin.
This true story is about the bond between elephant and man. A child and this
elephant were born on the same day, where they grow up together. They went
through so much, lost each other and then 20 or 30 years later found one
another again. This story is so strong in itself that it grips you, then with
the added illustrations, tears come to my eyes on numerous occasions. That is
why I feel like Ted is such a great storyteller. He brings the images and
stories to life.
The image I will
be discussing is the fight for survival in the open water, the reaching and
bond between man and beast. Where
young Bram is reaching for Mosey’s Trunk. Ted picks the pivotal pregnant
moment, which holds the viewers attention and makes them question, “Will they
survive, can they reach each other, what will happen next?” Here using a
limited palette of raw sienna, black and blue, Ted creates an atmosphere that shows
chaos, desperation and emptiness. The picture spans between two pages, exposing
the great expand of ocean, where ted decides, like in most of his pictures, not
to paint the exact scene that is in writing, but rather simplifying the image,
to create more drama, emotion and empathy. He literally paints out the
unnecessary events, to create a strong focal point.
Ted also loves to
play with contrast, mainly painting the negative or background allowing space
and freedom for the lights to come through exposing focal points and movement.
This image however
does not use the white of his page. He makes the sky and sea have a yellowy
sienna undercoat, creating a somber mode. Working wet on wet he then adds some
black and blue to sky
Both Ted and Betsy
use the same process to start an image. Tracing paper is a crucial element;
where rough sketches on tracing paper are layered together and maneuvered in
many different compositions make for planning out the finished product simpler
and more efficient. Once the composition is formed and works well, Ted uses a
projector and re-draws his well-composed piece onto watercolor paper. He then places his piece flat on his drawing
table, and paints quickly with out much layering, allowing the colors to flow
and bond with one another. Which is different to my technique. I love layering;
watercolor dries so fast that layering is nearly unavoidable to me. The results
are so beautiful, creating crisp lines and fresh splatters. I do however near
to the finishing of my piece, work mainly wet on wet. This means I wet the page
significantly before applying paint. Then lastly I allow the entire painting to
dry, before I add on subtle details.
I have learned a great deal from interviewing
both Ted and Betsy. They have beautiful unique styles, understanding story
telling so well, that they capture the viewer at first glance, allowing the
emotions of the image to flow into the viewer. I am so grateful for this
assignment, and feel that it has taught me not only in ways becoming a better
artist, but in becoming a better person and aspiring and following dreams. I
find myself reading and rereading the answers from Ted and Betsy, they are
filled with little nuggets of power and wisdom. As stated before, “be true to
your work and your work will be true to you.” What you put in will eventually come
out.
