Since becoming more active on Instagram, I've found many successful and established illustrators. One such artist is Daniel Miyares, a critically acclaimed author and illustrator whose produced picture books such as, 'A Night Walk to the Sea' and 'Float'. On Instagram, he posts rough thumbnails and sketches, experimenting with mark-making and different mediums which provides an insight into his process and shows how important experimentation is. I love seeing how a simple concept can provide the foundations for a whole story. Through testing out different materials you can see Miyares thinks about the narrative aspect, with characters and scenes full of life. On his website bio, he says he 'believes that stories have the power to connect us all' which is something I've always related to childrens books as they can be enjoyed by all ages.
Miyares attended Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida before moving to Kansas City to work at Hallmark Cards. He also illustrated stories for the local newspaper where he developed a love for book illustration and decided to freelance. Looking through his portfolio and Instagram, it's clear that he's not afraid to mix mediums and colours that aren't conventional, using a lot of diluted black ink combined with vibrant yellows and reds.
I love the diversity in his work and how he adapts his style depending on the intended theme or atmosphere of the piece. By using black, it provides a stark contrast and makes for an impactive composition as seen below in an illustration for his book, 'Little Fox in the Snow', 2018. The white space is used effectively to reflect the snow and create contrast with the red fox, pushing him into focus.
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| Picture book spreads from, 'Little Fox in the Snow', showing how white space is used to reflect the snow and make the fox and trees the focus. |
Another thing I admire about his process is how he utilises traditional methods, using gouache and coloured inks to create scenes. It helps add character and allows for imperfections as using traditional mediums comes with an element of unknowing. I was reading an interview with Miyares the other day and he was asked about the challenges he's faced as an artist and picture book creator to which he replied he posed the question, 'How do I tell stories that are relevant to young readers but also authentic to me?' This comes down to finding your style and staying true to it. Its something I want to continue working on taking into consideration that I want to illustrate children's books but also love working monochromatically and trying traditional printmaking processes so finding a way to bridge the two. Or keep them completely separate- I haven't figured that out yet!
Going back to the composition, the artist uses framing and lighting well to make the character or object is in focus and feels part of the composition/ environment. This can be seen with the fox above. I've learnt a lot by seeing his process and how he uses materials. I've always been someone who enjoys the process ad rough versions more than the final piece so being able to see the workings behind the illustrations is something I find interesting and how I want to use my illustration Instagram- as a platform to not take too seriously and just work on building up my portfolio.
To conclude, I am inspired by Miyares to continue creating and start putting more time into personal work like writing stories and sketching ideas as it will benefit me in the future after finishing uni.
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