Prince with Deer, from the Hind in the Wood, by Walter Crane, (1845-1915)

Walter Crane is viewed as one of the most well remembered artists of his generation with his book illustrations. In the earlier days even children’s books illustrations were considered high profile and seen as exhibited art to the public. Crane had the capabilities of doing detailed art as shown by his earlier work but later became inspired by how the Japanese art was portrayed more than his previous acrylic or oil paintings. The stylised pieces of art are considered to be his own in an almost trademark way. Despite being influenced by the Japanese art method, Crane has something Greek like about his art that especially flourishes when he does the older stories pertaining to this era. A lot of the time he managed to capture what the culture is like in his illustrations by researching instead of using imagination. While many artists could give a gritty approach to their retelling of the old fairy tales Walter Crane made it more cheery by simplifying the line art so the textures and colours would appear more prominent. The colours in his work were incredibly vivid when used on any surface, they all go together with enough contrast to stand out without making it out of place. Crane also did stained glass pieces along with trying other specialist areas. The stained glass and his illustrations go together as they’re connected with how he uses thick linear art and bright shades to create both. The stained glass process was done with thick lines and vivid colours as it’s the structure of the glass and the illustrations as it was his chosen method.

The art of Walter Crane is able to both simplify and stylise as he knows how to draw realistically well. I intend to try line art and possibly water colour to see if I can make potentially good results. The boldness of his line work is what I really hope to transfer to my work as this is how I hope all of my illustrations may look towards the end when they're final outcomes.