Twisty-Turny House began for me all the way back in April of 2019 with an email from Lori Nowicki, my agent at Painted Words. Laurent Linn and Sylvie Frank at Simon and Schuster had seen samples of my work and and thought I might be a good fit for Lisa Manchev’s manuscript. I had a chance to read the manuscript and fell in love immediately with all the opportunities to add my own touches to the story. Her writing was expressive without being overly descriptive which always affords an illustrator a chance to add his or her own touches. The extended deadline (publishing September 2021) also allowed bonus time to experiment with imagery before getting down to business.
INSPIRATIONS
I had several discussions with Laurent about the visual style I wanted to explore and sent him samples of work I had been looking at. I’ve been spending the last few years working on a much looser style than my usual work seen in books like A Day In the Life of Marlon Bundo. That book was the beginning step in a process that continues today. Work from the 1960s and ‘70s made up the bulk of my visual research. Illustrators such as Celestino Piatti, Charles Keeping, Ed Emberley, and Evaline Ness. I love the energy found in the line and color used by the illustrators of that era. Exciting and fresh. Very loose, dynamic.
I did a few initial design samples of the animals and the house.
So the first imagery I wanted to explore was the house itself. It would play a primary role in the animals’ relationships and it would allow me the chance to gauge how far I could push what I saw should be exaggerated visuals. I was in conflict with my usual need to have everything look logical and complete. My background is in rendering in a more representational style (showing volume, spatial relationships, etc), but this was a chance to let go of those things. The house ended up ridiculously over-the-top. Spindly. Illogical. Utterly appealing. Laurent fortunately agreed. This image ultimately became the opening spread and back cover.
Click the Instagram link below to see a time-lapse process video for the first spread of Twisty Turny House.
Since the house plays such a role in the story I wanted to give it a distinct look. That’s when I began looking at 1970’s interior design – the colors, the furnishings. I even threw in a few items found in our own house (the macrame owl and turtle planter). The green and blue glass grapes are a nod to my Aunt Gene who was the Auntie Mame of the family and her house was a wonderland to a six-year old.
My inclination when drawing animals is to agonize over making sure volumes and structure are adhered to. When drawing Marlon Bundo I made sure the legs were bending according to real rabbit anatomy. My approach to the animals in Twisty was to throw out that necessity altogether. Legs became simple dashes of the brush, reinforced with the occasional line.
My over-arching mantra was that expressiveness would take precedence over logic.
Twisty-Turny House is taking its place among my favorite books in my catalog of work. Laurent and Sylvie allowed me the luxury to use this project as an experiment and that doesn’t happen often. Without trying to come across stuffy, I think of my representational, highly rendered work as symphonic in nature – carefully crafted, ordered, rational. But the style seen in Twisty-Turny House feels more like jazz – expressive, spontaneous, emotive. It makes me happy.
Weblinks:
Pre-Order: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781534438477
Portfolio: egkellerdraws.com
Instagram: @egkellerdraws
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