Reportage is an area of illustration that I am really interested in, as it is based around drawing from observation. A couple of my favourite illustrators working in this area are Lucinda Rogers and George Butler. Having gone to a talk from Lucinda Rogers, I really enjoyed learning about her process and ideas. When I found out that the House of Illustration were organising a similar event, with George Butler and Linda Kitson talking about their work, I was excited to find out more. It also fell at a good time for me, as I am in the middle of researching and writing my essay on war artists, and I have been looking at both Linda Kitson and George Butler and their approach to reportage illustration in a war environment.
George Butler explained that due to him having to compete for space in newspapers, he tries to capture things that perhaps no one else will see. He likes to experience things and meet people through drawing. Similar to Linda Kitson, he captures the aftermath of conflict, such as the refugee crisis. He spoke quite a lot about using ink to draw with. He said that it was helpful to use ink because there is no room for mistakes, and no rubbing out, so he finds that there is less hesitancy and reworking, creating more of an atmosphere/sense of immediacy in his work. More of his work can be found here.
Linda Kitson:
Linda spoke a lot about the importance of working quickly. She was a war artist during the Falkland War. She described being a war artist as an experience, and her drawings are a record of something that she has been a part of. I found it interesting when she said that sometimes she had no idea what her drawing would look like until it was complete, it was all about finding the drawing at the end of the journey. More of Linda Kitson's work, and a link to the exhibition at the House of Illustration is here.
George Butler:
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