The advertisements of children, somewhat children and other things
I created illustrations to the absolutely hilarious and absurd poems created by Dorota Kassjanowicz. ‘’The announcements of children, somewhat children and other things’’ is a collection of poems, carefully created to replicate real announcements or advertisements. The poems are surprising and abstract and in between the lines there are a lot of links and enigmatic clues.
The book was created for the Clairvoyants competition organised by Dwie Siostry Publisher. It received an honorary award from an international jury.
The illustrations also qualified for the shortlist for Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2021.
It was very important for me that the illustrations embodied the absurdity of the poems.
Before I began the creative process, I gave Dorota’s text a thought. At first I had a creative block, I felt uncertainty and I questioned myself whether I would be able to truly portray the exceptional nature of Dorota’s poems. Nevertheless when I came up with the concept of the first character- The sad man sitting by the table, then came the others. At that moment I knew I found it 🙂.
Even though a lot of years have passed since the first characters of ‘’The announcements..’’ emerged, I still feel very pleased with them.
I feel satisfied when I can transfer something close to my heart onto the illustrations.
In ‘’The Announcements…’’ There are a lot of these things present. For instance fondness towards the old ineffective toys: hedgehog pencil holder, which has been with me since my childhood, the “muscle man” (who recognises it?), or my beloved Tahiti slippers (do you remember these?) – Those are the very few elements, which I managed to sneak from my ever growing collection of ‘‘unwanted things’’.
There was also a personal touch in the opening and ending poem- it’s the titles of our favourite books from childhood- Dorota’s and mine.
Is there a specific illustration that you like? You can get it in the form of a poster.