I will investigate a recognised and

documented artist or designer who

has responded to nature and

landscape.

Beatrix Potter

Preliminary sketches

Illustrations – Aesthetic Realism

Landscape Illustrations

Her Artistic Life

At the age of eight Beatrix Potter was already studying and recording the characteristics of

a wide variety of animals, birds and insects in a home-made sketchbook. This habit of

spending time observing the form and structure of living things continued throughout her

childhood and into adolescence.

She was particularly drawn to the delicate and complex form of insects, becoming a keen

amateur entomologist. Potter made frequent visits to the Natural History Museum (less

than a mile from her home in Bolton Gardens) to study and sketch the insect collection; at

home, she learned to prepare slides of specimens to view with her brother's microscope.

All this painstaking work paid off: Potter developed the eye of an expert investigative

scientist, able to draw living creatures with great conviction - throughout her life her work

was guided by the principle of portraying nature as accurately as possible. She used a fine,

dry brush to define meticulously and minutely the anatomy of even the most delicate

specimens. Fascination with scientific accuracy underpins Potter's artistic technique, a bee,

beetle, butterfly, ladybird and spider enjoy supporting roles in The Tale of Mrs

Tittlemouse. Potter observed them, and her 'most terribly tidy particular little mouse' with

astonishing attention to detail.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/b/beatrix-potter-natures-lessons/

Features of her work

Majority of Beatrix Potter’s work features:

o Use of aesthetic realism/opposites

o Animals wearing clothes

o Soft colours

o Landscapes

o Watercolour

o Nature

Her approach – Aesthetic RealismHer work is interesting because she puts two opposites together — fact and wonder, the

ordinary and strange, known and unknown. And only because she wanted to see exactly and

be deeply affected by things did she come to a style unmistakably her own, showing who

she was by showing the world truly. Aesthetic Realism teaches, for the first time in history,

that we need to learn from art — including the art of Beatrix Potter — to be proud of how

we use our imagination. http://www.aestheticrealism.net/Aesthetic-Potter/Aesthetic-

Potter.html

“I do not remember a time when I did not try to invent pictures and make fairy-tales —

amongst the wild flowers, the animals, trees and mosses and fungi — all the thousand

common objects of the country side; that pleasant unchanging world of realism and

romance.”

Illu

stra

tion 1

Formal Elements

Colour: Potter has used very natural colours in this illustration. Soft greens, blues, and pale

browns; they are very organic and relate to the natural environment/world and nature which

is suitable for the image in the illustration as it features the countryside. These natural

colours are in contrast with the bright coloured clothes the goose is wearing as they are

pinks and blues which are unnatural colours.

Texture: The brush strokes for the trees and the grassy ground in particular produce a rough

looking texture. The texture of the clothing looks very smooth because of the subtle shine.

Tone: Potter hasn’t used a lot of tone in this illustration; it is evident she mainly focuses on

the use of colour to help produce depth and a 3-D effect instead of focusing on shadows and

light areas. The only extreme tone that features in this is the black lining on the duck which

is where the natural shadows are. It appears that the black areas make the elegant

watercolour stand out.

Shape: The shape of the components in the background are very elegant and relaxed adding

depth to the illustration. The sharper shape of the duck is in contrast to this.

Line: The lines are almost non-existent in the components in the distance of the illustration.

However the lines of the duck, the closest component in the illustration, are black and a lot

thicker in comparison making the duck stand out most.

Form: It appears that Potter may have used the Golden Section to deliberately make the

duck the key component in the illustration as it is positioned on the right side. It is evident

she wants the duck to be the key component because she also used colour and line to

emphasise this.

More How have nature of the landscape been interpreted in the work – what was

captured/expressed/accentuated/exaggerated/stylised from the original? How? Why? How

have the materials been used in this respect? Does scale play a part and how?

In this illustration the viewer is presented with the view of the character looking out into the

distance. It appears Potter wanted to put the focus on the character in the illustration and not

actually on the landscape which is the background. I can tell Potter wanted to maintain

realism in this illustration through the scale and materials. The scale appears to be very

accurate in this illustration as Potter has made the trees in the distance smaller than the trees

close up. As stated before, Potter has used the materials to emphasise this; the pen for

shadow and tone used on close up components and no lines visible in the distant

components. I find the colours of the duck’s clothing highly exaggerated so it contrasts with

the natural colours of the rest of the landscape. Due to the brush strokes, I find the

illustration makes the landscape Potter was drawing look more simplistic as there doesn’t

seem to be a lot of detail as a contrast to the original as the original I can imagine having a

lot more detail than expressed here. The only detail is on the components closest to the

viewer adding depth to the illustration

Illu

stra

tion 2

Il

lust

rati

on

fro

m ‘

Th

e Ta

le O

f P

eter

Rab

bit

’

Formal Elements

Colour: Again, Potter has used very natural colours in this illustration. Teal greens,

browns, pale browns etc. have been used. All the colours harmonise with each other and do

not clash giving off a calm and relaxing atmosphere.

Texture: The textures that stand out in particular in this illustration is the rabbit’s fur. The

colour Potter used has made the fur look soft. Also, another texture that stands out in

particular is the texture of the leaves as it looks very smooth which is realistic.

Tone: Like the previous illustration the tone is not prominent. Potter has used to colour to

create the 3-D realistic effect. However, to emphasise the texture of the leaves, Potter has

used a black fine line pen to create a shadow. The harshness and boldness of the fine liner

emphasises the watercolour used for the leaves.

Form: Potter has created distance/depth in this illustration by making the components at

the back of the image (the woods) blurry and less sharp than the close up components (the

rabbit and the wheel barrel) which puts the viewer in the illustration.

Shape: The shape of the components in the background are very elegant and relaxed

adding depth to the illustration. The sharper shape of the rabbit and the wheel barrel is in

contrast to this.

Line: The lines are almost non-existent in the components in the distance of the

illustration. However the lines of the leaves and the rabbit, the closest components in the

illustration, are black and a lot thicker in comparison making the duck stand out most. I

find the lines add tone and depth.

More How have nature of the landscape been interpreted in the work – what was

captured/expressed/accentuated/exaggerated/stylised from the original? How? Why? How

have the materials been used in this respect? Does scale play a part and how?

In this illustration the viewer is presented with the view of the rabbit watching the farmer

working in the crop. Seeing as Potter wanted to make the viewer feel as though they are in

the illustration, depth and distance was an important feature she had to focus on in order for

the viewer to know what they are looking at and what is going on in the illustration; this is

important as this illustration was featured in a storybook so the viewer must understand

what is going on. To make sure the illustration had depth and distance, again, Potter used

materials and scale to present this. She used black fine line pen to outline the closest-to-the-

viewer components and for the far away components she made the line practically invisible.

The idea of natural high definition for the close up features makes it realistic. Scale-wise,

Potter made the leaves in the crop that features in the illustration different sizes: large close

up and gradually getting smaller as they are gradually going further away.

Illu

stra

tion 3

‘Sid

mouth

Bea

ch'

Photograph of Sidmouth Beach

Formal Elements

Colour: Again, for this illustration, Potter has used very natural colours. Soft blues,

whites, lilacs, and pale browns; they are very organic and relate to the natural

environment/world and nature which is suitable for the image in the illustration as it is a

beach. The use of colour helps form a very interesting tone; she has used dark purples on

the cliffs.

Texture: There isn’t a lot of texture in this illustration because Potter has used a soft brush-

stroke technique making everything look soft. However, the textures that stand out are the

textures of the clouds, the sea, and the sand. The soft but obvious brush strokes make the

illustration look very calm and harmonious.

Tone: Like the previous illustration the tone is not prominent and is very subtle. Potter has

used to colour to create the 3-D realistic effect.

Form: Like all her illustrations, the form of the illustration is organic; all the components

are realistic and accurate to real natural formations as Potter intended.

Shape: The components featured in the illustration are not outlined; all the shapes are filled

with colour. The shape of the edge of the cliff contrasts with the shape of the clouds as they

look light and fluffy and blend in with the lilac sky whereas the cliff stands out in it

surroundings.

Line: The lines are almost non-existent in the components in the distance of the

illustration.

More How have nature of the landscape been interpreted in the work – what was

captured/expressed/accentuated/exaggerated/stylised from the original? How? Why? How

have the materials been used in this respect? Does scale play a part and how?

In this illustration the viewer is presented with the view of Sidmouth Beach. The key

components in this illustration are the sky, the sandy beach, the sea, and the cliffs. Since

Potter was concerned with realism she has used scale to make the illustration look like it has

depth and distance through the drawing of the cliff going right round the coastline. The

landscape looks very aesthetically pleasing, calm, and harmonious. This is because of the

colours and the materials used. The landscape has been painted very simply with

watercolour and tone has been achieved by the use of colour Potter used. It is clear the

reference Potter used was a lot more complex than the illustration she has done; I find the

simplicity of her version makes it more calming and serine.

Next

o I will produce one A3 copy of Beatrix Potter’s work (2D or 3D).

o I am particularly interested in Beatrix Potter’s use of line so I will explore this further.

End