Here’s a sneak peak at some key components of a book in the works.
You attentive parents might recognize these cheerful figurines as members of the Fisher Price Loving Family line. Though I’m hoping Alden will not take an interest in this plastic family, they will be the central characters of an upcoming drama about the state of family life in contemporary America. Rather than drawing, Robbi will photograph these figures in self-made dioramas. Perhaps it won’t work, but we’re going to try.
One of the things we’ve come to love about our book project is that we get to reinvent our style and approach with every volume. Most illustrators are advised to cultivate a recognizable style and stick to it, creating characters or an aesthetic that are consistent from project to project, so that art directors can begin to recognize one’s work and have it in mind so that when the right project comes along, they say, “This would be perfect for Robbi Behr!”
Only, so far, Robbi hasn’t subscribed to this strategy. Although there are definite through-lines in her approach to depicting humanity (the oft-cited gnarly fingers and pointy boobs, for example), in the course of illustrating our subscriber books, she has been largely free to choose a media, aesthetic, and approach that works best with whatever text I have advanced. In 3+ years of Idiots’Books, she has worked in pen and ink and watercolor, gouache, vector art, and, sumi ink. She has drawn on cardboard boxes, ticket stubs, hot-press paper, stretchedc canvasses, construction paper, sketchbooks, and rice paper. She has used clip art, collage, and digitally manipulated images. She has gotten to make saddle-stitched, wire-o, and perfect bound books. She has gotten to make posters, card sets, CD-jackets, and original letterpress prints. Stylistically, has ventured from the surreal to the abstract to the representational. She has gotten to do it all, never veering from her aesthetic core, but showing the full range of its application. And each new project affords an opportunity to try something new. Cops, as the new book is called, will provide a chance to try her hand at photography. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.
It has been a difficult day in the barn. It seems two weeks of this is enough. I’ve gotten so much done, but there’s no one here to share it with. I’ve been working all day on a story about Homer (the epic poet, not the lovable consumer of Duff beer). I ran, I went to yoga, I did my pushups. But I’m operating in a vacuum. I need a hug from my Robbi, a kiss from my baby, a petulant episode from my two-year-old. The days are slipping past, but not fast enough for my tastes. On Saturday, I’ll head to Baltimore to spend a day with my good friends Christian and Emily. On Sunday, I’ll attend a dinner party with some friends in Chestertown.
That leaves tomorrow as the last official day of this sabbatical. I’ll review all I’ve written, making changes and improvements. It has been a good two weeks. I’m sure I’ll look back and think I could have done more. But I guess I’ll have to be content knowing I did as much as I could.
