Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: An Appreciation of Maira Kalman

Frank Chimero on text and image:

Go take a look at your bookshelf: most books are seas of text without pictures. When a book does have imagery, they are marooned onto their own page, or the text tiptoes alongside the image, reticent and scared of contact. Even this little post is guilty. Images and text are frequently described as natural partners, but there is very little intimacy in how they are treated. Like an old married couple, they sleep in separate beds.

Blending image and text requires a different kind of authorship. It can be done in teams, but I admire individuals who both write and draw to produce works completely their own. I’ve come to call it “drawing words and writing pictures.“