Contextual Reference: Alison, Lizzie Stewart

 

Stewart, L. (2022) Alison. London: Serpent's Tail, Profile Books Ltd.

 

One of the first things I liked about this book, was the minimal use of colour. The majority of the pages are monochrome and uses tonal values really well in each panel. The looseness in each panel lends itself really well to the mood on each page.

I also enjoyed the varying layouts within the book. Some pages were a full page illustration, or made to look like a scrapbook/collage or memories belonging to the main character. Whilst others were smaller panels, that felt like glimpses of memories. They formed a narrative that was almost separate to the story text, but worked alongside it really well.

I hadn't expected to feel so moved by this story. Whilst it followed the main character through her life, it was about young people carving out their place in this world and the journey of discovering their identity. The "unpolished" illustrations made the narrative feel more relatable somehow. I loved the textures throughout the book and this is something I'd like to bring in to my own illustrations.