Dance of the Wild — Celebrating the Spirit of Childhood in a Picture Book
As a child, I loved to romp around free and unfettered by clothes, in all my natural glory! As did most of us, I expect.
To see that in a picture book ‘ Dance of the Wild’, handled so beautifully and positively, made me happy.
Shilu, the naughty little girl in ‘Dance of the Wild’ speaks to each of us — Of wanting to be free and being puzzled by why grown ups don’t see freedom the way we see it.
Richa Jha’s story is deceptively simple, talking about nudity and identity without really seeming to touch on it. The words just flow and take you along, without ever jarring. And Ruchi Mhasane’s magical watercolor illustrations do a fantastic job of having a parallel visual story that blends seamlessly with the written word.
Ruchi told me some very interesting things about what it was like to work on ‘Dance of the Wild’ published by Pickle Yolk Books. ( Written by Richa Jha, Illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane)
Me — Tell us about what you felt when you were first sent the story.
Ruchi — I loved it immediately. The original text was a little different from the current one and even on the first reading I knew I loved Shilu and her family. I also knew I would have to be careful with the illustrations so the subject was sensitively handled. But it was an exciting journey from the start!
One of the first things we knew about the book was that the pictures and text would have their own separate journeys.
It was Shilu’s innate sense of freedom that I was keener to depict, rather than the flavour of the text.
Me — Once the text is sent to you, how does it all pan out, until it is designed and printed into a book?
Ruchi — I usually read through the text a few times over a few days and let it sink in. Coming back to it again and again helps me pick up things I may have missed in an earlier reading.
I also get familiar with the characters or setting or start picking up on what the author really wants to say. Then I break down the text into different pages and pace the story. Decide which parts need a whole spread, which parts can turn to multiple drawings on a spread, what is the page turner or reveal, etc.
Then lots of drawings and redrawings; going back and forth with publishers and/or the author.
And finally the finished artwork! There’s also a detailed design process parallel to this, which deals with the other content in the book, typesetting, etc. It’s very exciting at every stage really!
Me — What was the most exciting experience when working on ‘Dance of the Wild’?
Oh, I can’t say. I usually just really enjoy the process of working.
There are times when I feel stuck and don’t enjoy it at all, or feel like nothing is coming out right.
I’ve never found making art to be euphoric, just deeply engaging and meditative.
Even the parts where I’m stretching the watercolour paper, or mixing paints, or putting tape around the paper are as enjoyable as the actual painting, watching the colour soak into the paper, or feeling the pencil scratching against the paper.
Me — There is a lot of graceful movement and flowing forms in this book. Did that inform your choice of medium?
Ruchi — Not really. It’s just the way I enjoy drawing, everything followed from what I was already finding pleasant to draw. The text guided the flowing forms and the dancing, but the medium was just my personal preference.
I did do a good number of drawings before the final work, but I didn’t really work on the look as much as on Shilu’s movements and expressions. My preferred medium is pencil and watercolour, and I love muted colour palettes, so that was just me being me!
Me — And those watercolours and muted palette — aren’t they difficult to keep close to the original when sending off to print?
Ruchi — Yes and yes! That is always of concern, but one learns these things with practise and a better understanding of technology. I’m still learning I’m afraid.
Me — Do you draw on your childhood when you illustrate? Are there any references to that, in this book, for instance?
Ruchi — Actually, not really. I know there must be something that plays out subconsciously, but nothing specific.
Shilu’s childhood and mine are from two different times, so not many things from her surroundings were part of mine. As for her spirit, I think all children have some of that in common, and I’m sure I did too!
Me — Speaking of Shilu — I love the little detailing in blue on the endpapers. As you finish the book, on the back cover you see that she is a bit older.
Ruchi — I’m glad you asked about that. That was Richa’s brainchild! She wanted Shilu’s free spirit to continue to be free even as she grew older, which is when gender problems get magnified. It was too complex to incorporate within the narrative; there’s so much nuance there, so we decided on subtly suggesting it through the endpapers.
Me — It’s nice to see that so much thought has gone into making this book! It also sounds like a great collaboration!
Ruchi — I think Richa Jha is one of those unique writers who understands very deeply how the creative process is. Not only was she happy to let me work at my pace, but she was constantly rethinking the text and trying to make the words and images cohesive, and we kept building up the book based on each other’s inputs. It was truly a delight working with her.
Richa was a patient person to work with, never pushing me and just letting me work at my pace (which I know is very slow!) Also, it was great going back and forth with her; every time I sent in work, she would call and we would have a long talk going over every page carefully, then again a long period of work.
Me — What is it like to work closely with a writer?
Ruchi — Every writer, like every artist, has their own temperament, and different publishers feel differently about the role of the illustrator.
Many authors also appreciate the new levels of meaning illustrators can add to their work, which I think is really commendable; I can imagine it is very hard to allow another artist to freely interpret your work in a different form.
Often in the publishing world the illustrator merely executes the writer’s vision, which is a pity, especially when it comes to picture books.
On the other hand, some publishers really put effort into using their editorial judgement to try to allow both writers and illustrators their creative freedom.
Me — And how about the kind of time an illustrator gets to spend on picture books? Getting a chance to work at one’s own pace would make for great picture books, I think.
Ruchi — Well, ideally, I think they should at least take six months.
A picture book is pretty complex for something that is meant to be so simple.
I am of the opinion that art takes time, and good art takes a lot of time.
And I find that I personally get better the more time I spend on something (not every artist feels that way). But in the real world there are budgetary concerns and marketing schedules and it doesn’t always work like that.
Me — What do you think makes picture book characters memorable and real?
Ruchi — That’s a very difficult question, and honestly, I don’t know.
Perhaps there’s no single answer to this.
I think a character or setting captures the imagination of a reader when they somehow find a point of connection; something they relate to.
Sometimes one relates to a character in a fantasy world with nothing in common except the character’s inner dilemma.
Sometimes the physical situation and socio-political setting may establish the connection (though I think this is true for adults — I think children see things in a more personal way).
It is something elusive, that I think artists have always been trying to figure out.
Me -Another thing artists, especially illustrators, are always trying to figure out is their ‘style’. What are your thoughts on that? Do you think that something like an illustrator’s style exists?
Ruchi — That’s a really good question. I used to think one can ‘learn’ a style and now I feel it is a bit superficial to be talking in those terms.
I think what one sees in artists’ work is an extension of their personality and thoughts and character all combined.
It is deeper than, say, colouring in a particular palette or drawing a stylized type of figure or using button eyes or drawing an outline.
It is more like handwriting.
People have their own handwriting even when everyone has been trained from the same typed letters. They can’t help it. Of course, there are influences, and things that affect and change your writing, sometimes consciously so, but there is still something innate. And it takes time to develop, just as it takes time for our personalities to develop.
I’m still discovering mine, and I’ve found it keeps changing, as do I. My MA course helped me understand this a little better, and care less about how to draw something and more about what I wanted to draw.
Me — You’ve put it so well! How did you become interested in children’s books?
Ruchi — I’ve always loved children, always loved books and stories (for children and adults) and I’ve been drawing since I can remember.
I’ve also always had a respect for reading and its role in education, awareness and the general well-being of society.
To be honest, I never really planned on having this as a career; it just organically happened. It helped that I grew up in a home where art, books, music and nature were the norm, and my parents didn’t find it too difficult to accept this rather impractical choice of career.
Me — Your illustrations are evocative of emotions and nostalgia. Tell us about how you developed that kind of an aesthetic.
Ruchi — That’s another difficult-to-answer question! I think part of it may be that I’m personally a bit old-school and tend to like the more innocent things in life.
I think some of it comes from the pre-digital era. I grew up on a lot of Russian and Chinese picture books (translated into English and Marathi) along with some British ones, and a lot of literature I read was socially progressive, rooted in science but also very romantic (I use that word in its dreamy, idealist sense).
I was also shown a lot of classical and contemporary painting, art and design, and I watched a lot of cartoons which I probably loved more than the ‘real’ art. But it all adds up I think. It is very difficult to look back and pick out the influences.
Having said this, I think I unlocked a large part of this aesthetic by being on the MA course in Cambridge. I was made aware of my art there, and that makes a huge difference.
Me — Tell us about your background.
Ruchi — I studied BFA in Applied Art at Rachana Sansad, Mumbai and then did the MA Course in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art.
Me — What are some picture books that you would recommend?
Ruchi — There are too many! Off the top of my head, Shaun Tan’s ‘The Red Tree’ , Oliver Jeffers’ ‘The Heart and the Bottle’ , Marta Altes’ ‘I am an Artist’, Jon Klassen’s ‘I Want My Hat Back’ , and so many more that would take a while to list.
Different books work for different types of children.
There are some beautiful picture books coming from all over the world, with some tackling quite sensitive subjects very beautifully. It is worth looking at books from Europe, especially Scandinavian countries, Korea, Iran just to name a few (although language barriers prevent us from seeing these).
For picture book enthusiasts, Ruchi was kind enough to give two resources -
- In case you want to see some out-of-print picture books from Russian publishers, there is a little database by many collectors — here
- For recent picture books over the world tackling some pretty difficult topics, you can find a talk by professor Martin Salisbury — here
‘Dance of the Wild’ is available here, here and here. It was an In-book winner of the Kyoorius Design Awards 2018 and has received the badge of White Raven (Making it to the prestigious annual catalogue of the International Youth Library in Munich — the only book from India in the 2018 list.)
It was also a runner-up in the Best Children’s Book of the Year category at the Publishing Next Industry Award 2018.
Ruchi Mhasane has a beautiful blog where you could see more of her illustrations and picture books.
You could have a look at Richa Jha’s interesting and fun books here.
The idea behind this series of interviews is to give readers a glimpse into the world of children’s publishing and picture book illustration in India — what illustrators actually do and how they work their magic. Stay tuned!
Read the interviews with children’s book illustrators Ishita Biswas , Sunita , Deepa Balsavar, Bhargav Kulkarni
