Artist Research -

I extended my research into relative artists by looking at how some artists have a particular style or personal practise that can fit very well into a particular setting or context .

Edward Gorey-

Edward Gorey's style is very recognisable . His pen and Ink drawings depicting morbid and unsettling scenes that hark back to the Victorian and Edwardian Era, and it surprises people that Gorey worked and published his books and artwork from around the 1950s until the late 90's. 

Gorey's specialist technique of mark making made his work look like it belonged to a much older period of Victorian lithographs and prints,   his line work  was so consistent and precise , showing extreme control and passion for his work and producing  incredible texture and backgrounds for his subjects to interact with,  making his pieces look like something from a newspaper of the time , victorian etchings and the arts and crafts movement of the late 19th century .

An Image from Gorey's  book " The Doubtful Guest”  [1]

Gorey is a big influence in my own practise for his use of texture and the way he has  managed to create his own setting that houses his subjects very well and compliments his style, giving it an older feeling to his work than you may originally think.

A page from one of Gorey's most famous book, "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" which was an illustrated alphabet book that depicted Children Dying in various strange and gruesome  ways . [2]

Brett Helquist-

Helquist is an American Illustrator who is probably most famous for his work that features in  the "Series of Unfortunate Events " book series written by Lemony Snicket.

One of the Illustrations  from Helquist's Website showing an image of one the main characters Violet Baudelaire from the book "A series of Unfortunate Events : The Ersatz Elevator ".
[3]

Helquist's  Illustrations are so distinctive in style and decorative nature, his work often having extensive amounts of shading and texture , giving the desired effect of depth and tonal quality but also making the images pleasing to look at as you get lost in the patterns of the mark making, giving the image not just a narrative quality , but also a feeling of it being quite an intricate and important piece of illustration as you see the lengths Helquist has went into to create the detail we see in the images.
His work seems to fit well in collaboration to Snickets "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" because both have a very surreal and fantastical  element to their work. The images work well with the text to create a world that seems real but also has its own distinctive mix of period elements and surreal imagery that make it hard to pin point an actual setting for the narrative, it stands between multiple periods in terms of fashion, technology and general atmosphere , there are many different periods which can personally see the books paying homage to , from Late Victorian/ Edwardian, Pre War , 50's/60's as well as some elements which bring it into the present day.

Image From "A Series Of Unfortunate Events : The Wide Window" illustrating now the world which the narrative is set in is very much a mix of multiple periods from the past.
[4]

Another important aspect of Helquist's Illustrations is their composition and the way they are framed.
often creating full page images that are framed in a very decorative nature with the same amount of detail and tonal quality , making them part of the images and framing the illustration beautifully .

Image from "A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room":
a prime example of Brett Helquist's beautifully decorative style of line work and texture. [5]

By looking at these two artists I began to consider how I would achieve a sense of period setting through my own personal practise . Both artists have influenced me in their mark making and line work  but also through their execution of narrative . My own work is very linear based and mark making features prominently in it , which is why I will be looking into ways to further develop this skill.