What is a Vignette?

 As part of the character narrative project we are expected to create a range of different outcomes, one of them being two vignette illustrations taken from different point of our given historical woman’s life. Therefore as part of my research process for this project i wanted to look at what are vignette illustrations and how does their use have an impact on a narrative piece of work. 

So What is a Vignette illustration?

A vignette is an illustration used often in narrative’s with faded or loose edges, which therefore incorporate the white pages. This look helps to give a lightness to the space as well as pull the reader into the scene and further into the story. 

An example of this is seen below in the book by Julia Donaldson known as the ‘Stick Man’. In this piece artist Axel Sheffler shows an example of both full bleed image and a vignette illustration to help tell the story further. I like the contrast of the two images as although on the left we get more of a sense of the environment on the right we see the key details used to help progress the story and pull the reader in.  

I felt this double page was a perfect example of vignette illustration as it helps show the different between the traditional full bleed and the faded softly defined edges. I also feel in this double page Sheffler captures just the right amount of key details with enough being used to inform the reader of going on, yet not take away from the simplicity of the natural page. 

When i comes to thinking about my own vignette illustrations, i need to consider the vignette and how i can use it to create simplicity yet still have that detail of my character or event. Therefore progressing forward i will create a range of thumbnail ideas as welll as other details maybe including colour and tool selection.