Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Art and Writing

Bookplate contest: The final design.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

Ah, slow but sure. That's me. I'm guessing the winner of the 2006 Lone Prairie Bookplate Contest was wondering if I'd ever get the design done.

Four sketches later, I finally inked one. And here it is, the design you see.

This bookplate is going for a young boy, but we all know he won't stay young for long.

I wanted to create something that would retain the youth but not be childish later. I wanted to keep the idea of a young reader growing into an older reader in mind as I drew the bookplate, the concept of growing into knowledge (i.e. reading books) the key. The concept of the frog and the crown indicating a prince in disguise was as much a statement on little boys growing into men and giving them time and books to help them do so, as well as one on books and ideas disguised as "frogs" when they are so much more under the surface.

There's a scroll element, the reminder of an early form of book, with a cut-away view of a partially open book on the opposite side of the design. The leaves on the tree are a pun on the leaves in a book, with the tree also being a kind of symbol for the growth and branching out of knowledge, reading, writing and all things related. Up in the corner I have bits and pieces of Ionic columns, the style between the extremely logical Doric order and the overly-fanciful Corinthian order. It's a way of finding that middle ground, enjoying the story and fun of fiction while retaining the love of true knowledge.

And of course, front and center stage are two books, with the young reader's name. These are his bookplates, after all.