The Watercolor Technique in Illustrations of Children’s Books of the 1980s—2020s by Soviet and Modern Russian Artists

The article analyzes the technique of watercolor in illustrations of children’s books of the 1980s—2020s by Soviet and modern Russian artists. There is traced the influence of modern technologies on children’s book illustrations made in the watercolor technique. In the context of current artistic trends, the article examines the connections of social processes and book graphics; the features of the technical development of book design; the combination of various visual materials with the technique of “watercolor” in the conditions of information technology; new technological and technical approaches; the author’s vision of an illustrated work. The main method used is the analysis of the works of Soviet and modern illustrators of children’s books: V.V. Pertsov, N.E. Popov, A.V. Kokovkin, V.G. Britvin, V.V. Pavlova, A.A. Koshkin, E.A. Silina, Ya.M. Sedova, A.A. Desnitskaya, O. Demidova, V. Pomidor, A.Ya. Lomaev. The relevance of this topic is determined by the intensive introduction of digital technologies into book art and the transformation of the traditional watercolor technique, and the topic’s novelty is based on the lack of formulation of the mentioned issues in the context of children’s book watercolor illustration. Modern technologies make it possible to implement any creative idea of the artist, who, being able to freely interpret the literary work, is now an active participant in the creation of a book image. Absence of censorship imposes a certain responsibility for the quality of illustrations on the artist, since it affects the perception of the child. Thus, forming the aesthetic taste of the younger generation, the artist becomes a participant in the educational process.

The analysis of the watercolor illustration showed that the artist is faced with a difficult task, which is associated not only with the ability to use technological and technical innovations, understand the principle of modern computer programs, reinforce the visual series with knowledge of the historical context, but also to know and understand how children’s consciousness works and how to instill good taste in a child.

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