January 22, 2019

Better visual storytelling through the seven word and picture combinations

One of the most fun parts of illustrating picture books is the early stage; the one where a publisher has contacted me because they think I’d be the right fit for a text they’ve just acquired.

Reading a new, unpublished text, is a thrill. There’s something so energising about the potential that lives within a new text. Yes, of course, there are the words on the page which tell a story, but that’s just one half of the puzzle. No matter how prescriptive a text, there’s still another half of a story to tell: the picture part.

I’ve recently been reading “Understanding Comics“, by Scott McCloud. I can’t speak highly enough of the guidance and analysis of ‘sequential art’ in this book. I already consider it one of the most influential books I’ve ever read for my own practice. And even though Scott is talking about how sequential art pertains to comics, I couldn’t help but think of picture books as another form of sequential art. The same rules apply. It’s all about how you combine words and pictures in a sequence.

In the book, Scott gives seven distinct categories for word/picture combinations.

When I’m working alone in my studio, I often find I get stuck on an idea or a spread. Or, I simply love a drawing I’ve got but deep-down, I know that it’s not working. These known categories are a great tool to free up my thinking. I can either use them on a live text or, for practice, on any piece of text, original or otherwise.

Let’s take some text, “The cow jumped over the moon.” Here are seven ways one could illustrate that text using Scott’s framework.

Word-specific

Words provide all you need to know, while the pictures illustrate aspects of the scene being described.

A cow flying through space
Even without this image, you know that the cow is jumping over a moon because the words describe it all. I haven’t even had to draw the moon.

Picture-specific

Pictures provide all you need to know, while the words accentuate aspects of the scene being shown.

A child looking out a night window at the moon
In this one, I haven’t even drawn the cow, but the feeling of the text changes as we focus on the boy at dinner instead.

Duo-specific

Words and pictures both send roughly the same message.

A drawing of a cow jumping over a moon
Here’s a cow, and a moon, and the cow is jumping over the moon. The pictures tell the same story as the text.

Intersecting

Words and pictures working together in some respects while also contributing information independently.

A drawing of a ballerina cow leaping over a moon
This illustration shows a cow jumping over a moon, but the pictures-alone have additional information about the cow being a ballerina.

Interdependant

Words and pictures combining to convey an idea that neither would convey alone.

A drawing of a pole-vaulting cow, vaulting over a pig, and about to hit a cactus when he lands
In this one, the pictures tell a story of a cow pole-vaulting a pig giving the reader the moon. We also see that the cow is likely to end up spiked on the cactus. All of this isn’t mentioned in the text.

Parrallel

Words and pictures following seemingly different paths without intersecting.

A fork and spoon running along a path
What does a fork and spoon running in a park have to do with the text? Nothing. And that’s what parrallel combinations are.

Montage

Words and pictures combined pictorially.

A cow jumping over the text
This image makes the text part of the illustration, as good montage does.

How to use these combinations

With this simple but beautifully articulated framework for word-picture combinations, it’s easier than ever to force myself to think outside my own biased frame of reference to produce the best story possible.

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