paper layers

A few posts ago, I mentioned how easy it is to achieve a 3d effect with paper by simply placing one tier of an illustration slightly proud of the one beneath it. A gorgeous example of this can be seen in Freya Blackwood's illustrations for a new picture book by Margaret Wild called The Treasure Box (Puffin: 2013).

The story, set during the Second World War, is about the one precious library book that survives the bombing of a European town where a little boy lives with his family. Before he dies, the boy's father entrusts the book to his keeping and the child buries it in a safe place beneath a tree. Years later, the son, now grown, returns to the place, unearths the book, and replaces it on the shelf of the rebuilt library in the town of his birth where it can be read and enjoyed by others.  

The illustrations cleverly tie into the book theme of the story. Freya Blackwood has collaged torn page fragments from a variety of books into the background of some of the illustrations in the book. She combines this technique with cut-outs of her watercolour images of people, buildings and scenery positioned on the page to create subtle drop-shadows and layered compositions. I've posted a few details below so that you can see how effective the illustrations are:

I'm very happy to have added this lovely book to my growing sub-section of children's books featuring paper-craft illustrations.