Między słowem a obrazem – kiedy rysunek staje się ilustracją

Abstrakt

Between words and pictures – when a drawing becomes an illustration

The question of translating text into images is being analysed in order to tracing the moments of artist’s choices when illustrating a work of fiction or poetry. The nature of literature, especially this addressed at mature readers, provokes personal interpretation. It results in applying own sensitivity and experience in translating lexical language of a novel, tale, story or poem into visual language of drawings or paintings that serves as illustrations in published books. The most willingly applied technique of a visual repertoire in book illustration seems to be drawing. Drawing appears to be attractive thanks to its formal characteristics, and these being simplicity, ability to synthesise, power of expression among others. The range of means that may be used in drawing is wide enough: thickness and density of a line, the way it is conducted, whether it is being continued or interrupted etc., proportions between empty spaces and covered area of paper. Its character is also being described in comparison with elements of style of verbal language. The writer takes a closer look at the titles published in Poland in the second half of the last century in an exceptionally interesting “Unicorn Series” of fiction. Following the remarks from the first part of the paper, she also makes an attempt at analysing one of the books edited in 1978, namely Wilhelm Hauff’s Fantasies in the Bremen Ratskeller. An Autumn Gift for Friends of Wine illustrated by Stasys Eidrigevičius.