The Insect God is written and illustrated by Edward Gorey. The story is about a young girl who is taken away in a black motor driven by an insect. Unfortunately the girl is killed by the insects as she is placed into a pod.
Despite the fact the story itself is extremely disturbing in terms of the actions and plot involved; I feel that the illustrations within the book produced by Gorey are extremely beautiful. They have an extremely traditional quality and their style revolves around line drawings in the structure of the images and their colour/contrast scheme. Although in some of the drawings I feel that the characters in terms of appearance and structure are quite disturbing and have some sense of wicked humour.
Potentially the most interesting technique that I have noticed in Gorey's style of working is how he creates shadows effected by space and structure with the use of lines. To create different kinds of shadows depending on their strength in tone or distance; he structures lines in specific areas extremely close together to increase their strength in tone.
I like the use of only black and white in the illustrations as I feel it creates a clear and adaptable sequence and structure within the book; making it pleasant and enjoyable to read and capture visually.
Edward Gorey's style is quite similar in terms of drawing style and mark making to the illustrations of Tim Burton; especially in comparison to his poetry book; The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories. Both examples follow a plot and visual idea of wicked humour and disturbing approaches to character designs.
Images obtained from: The Insect God by Edward Gorey.
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