Style and Storytelling | Wylie Beckert

I first became familiar with Beckert's art through the Magazine ImagineFX. It was always something I nipped in the local W.H.Smiths to have a look at on the way to school if I had time. Never something I bought - at £6 it was far too overpriced for me on a students salary. After moving to university however, the cover designed by Beckert (shown top left) finally convinced me to buy it. The cover designed for ImagineFX is still my favourite piece of Beckert's art, but as I have delved further into her portfolio, I have come to appreciate many more.

It is easy to say that Beckert has a very distinctive and eye catching style, but what I like about her art most is the very clear inclusion of storytelling in her paintings. It really makes her work original. With so many artists in the world its difficult to make something 100% original. In Beckerts work though, it is obvious that so much thought has gone into how the "story" is composed . With careful planning she has depicted a scene with character, backstory and history.

With so much thought to story, Beckert herself has admitted that "it takes many hours of ugly scribbling and countless dead ends to come up with a really solid concept" and that it can be difficult to figure out how to present her "story concepts" visually.

Being at university I myself am in the early stages of figuring out where I want to take my art (and what exactly I want it to look like). Writing, as well as drawing is also a passion of mine and like Beckert I sometimes struggle to convert written word to illustration. Looking at how Beckert has managed to turn story concepts into illustrations is really inspiring.

What particularly "sticks out" for me?

1. Something particularly interesting is the way she uses under drawings. The illustration is first made up completely in pencil (shaded and everything) before it it copied, and printed onto Bristol Board for painting. This is something I have begun to work on myself in the past inspired by her work, this is because my own pencil work is something I particularly like about my own art. I am interested to see where this will go (I'll keep you updated).
2. Use of an under drawing creates a subtly textured final image as you can see the paper/pencil grain texture beneath the painting. 
3. The use of "light" is interesting. Its not very realistic and the dissipation of the light is not particularly natural. I like the way it is used to pinpoint important aspects in her images through brightness.
4. Colour: Beckert uses an acrylic under painting in brown and this really shows through on the final image. Gives the final painting a warmth that would not be present otherwise. Similar to the Flemish oil technique of an umber under painting used by artists such as Eugène Carrière.
5. There is often an element of transparency in Beckert's work - an element of the painting that is "see through". This aspect I think creates harmony between different layers of the image that would not be there otherwise. From top left to bottom right: Fish, Light, Skirt, Smoke.
6. Cartoony style created by use of outlining shapes and figures in work. When aiming for a cartoon render rather than a realistic one, the outlining helps exaggerate shapes creating a larger than life object, pose or expression.