Jennie Harbour

Little is known of Jennie Harbour (1893-1959) however her work is something which has captivated me for a while and even holds influences on my future tattoo. Harbour is a prime illustrator in regards to fairy tales in the Art Deco era (the predominant decorative art style of the 1920s and 1930s, characterised by precise and boldly delineated geometric shapes and strong colours and used most notably in household objects and in architecture.)

Harbours most prominent work was the illustration in the book: Fairy Tale Gems. A series of fairy tales written by Hilda Hart such as Cinderella are accompanied by Harbours brightly coloured and elegantly drawn characters on blue/silver backgrounds. Along with her illustrations in Hans Andersens Stories. A creation similar to the Fairy Tale Gems work however in this, she introduced brighter colours and landscapes along with more captivating, imaginative character work.Modern reproductions of these pieces have been created although are often deemed too violent for a modern audience, though her illustrations remain unchanged.

However i believe her most effective illustrations where commonly created in black ink and white silhouettes, which created an poignant indication as to the mood and depth within an image along with using different techniques to which were commonly produced and used within the period. Instead of bold blocks of bright colours, in these pieces Harbour uses a variety of techniques such as dot work and circles to add detail and emotion to an image. The dark techniques create a more stripped back version of a piece, without being distracted by the bright colours and in a way, forced ideology to the way in which the piece is to be perceived: the simple but effective techniques mean you’re looking directly at the emotion and atmosphere within an image.