David Wiesner is a children’s book illustrator and author, known for titles like The Three Pigs, Flotsam, Mr Wuffles, Tuesday and Art & Max.
His website doesn’t have a straightforward portfolio of artwork, but is instead arranged as archived articles, some devoted to a specific title, that include artwork.
Wiesner varies his approach somewhat to be in keeping with the framework of the story. He works primarily in watercolor and gouache; there is a page on his website devoted to his materials, and some of the posts about individual titles have some work in progress images.
Wiesner’s illustrations have the much-desired characteristics for children’s books of being both visually engaging and thought-provoking. The also have enough detail to invite the reader to linger over the images.
I had the opportunity yesterday so see some of Wiesner’s originals as part of an exhibit at the Brandywine River Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, PA — “Get the Picture! Contemporary Children’s Book Illustration” — that is on display until October 9, 2016.
I was particularly struck by his textural and imaginative illustrations for Art & Max, a children’s book exploration of painting and the creative process that features lizards who paint.
Wiesner is also the author of Spot, an interactive story/learning app for the iPad.
