Blogger Babble: Illustrator Sophie Blackall

By The Inside Source
April 7, 2010

There is something darkly subversive beneath the cheeriness of Sophie Blackall’s illustrations. Much like the work of her creative predecessors, including illustrators Edward Gorey and Maurice Sendak, Blackall's whimsical images offer hints of something troublesome and totally delicious. Something worthy of a child's—and probably your own—overactive, seeing-monsters-in-the-dark imagination.

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Kids everywhere have a love affair with that dark feel. I do too.
One of Blackall's paintings hangs above the credenza in her dining room.
Taxidermy deer heads keep watch over Blackall's living room.
Blackall found a vintage hygiene book with fantastic illustrations. She, with the help of her children, is wallpapering her bathroom with pages from the book.
Vintage hygiene book pages.
Vintage hygiene book page.
One of Blackall's macabre arrangements
Blackall has quite a few creative projects outside of her illustrations. She made this stool by stuffing the fingers of white gloves and completing it with four deer-hoofed legs.
Blackall's stool
A bell jar filled with dismembered doll limbs
Blackall's vintage dolls, many of which she finds on eBay, have even made their way into her bedroom. They have a special place next to her nightstand.
Vintage shoe horns found on eBay.
Blackall collects vintage children's scrapbooks that she finds on eBay. They give an eerie and fascinating look into a Victorian-era child's life.
Blackall found these vintage suitcases, which she often uses on trips, on eBay as well.
Floating bookshelves
"I made this quilt from very worn-through 19th century sheets that I found on eBay," she says. "I sewed the squares by hand while on the subway and then embroidered quotations from songs and poems onto the squares."

Blackall is well-known for the illustrative work she has done for a wide variety of children’s book authors, including Meg Rosoff and Annie Barrow for her Ivy & Bean series. Most recently, Blackall has garnered quite a bit of attention for a particular group of illustrations, which are posted on her popular blog. Called Missed Connections, these illustrations depict real stories drawn from the famous Craigslist feature in which people anonymously recount their chance encounters with total strangers, with the far-off hopes of somehow re-uniting. Blackall’s depictions of these moments, which embody her light-hearted yet macabre aesthetic, have attracted readers from as far away as Argentina and Iran.

Blackall shared a few of her favorite Missed Connections with The Inside Source.

We Shared a Bear Suit

Saturday, October 17, 2009
"We shared a bear suit at an apartment party on Saturday night.
I asked for your number and you gave it to me, but somehow I don't have an area code written down. I had a great time talking with you, and I don't trust Chance enough to wait until I see you in the elevators... "

“The man who wrote this on Craigslist sent me an email and told me that I had drawn his post," Blackall says. "He even sent me a photo of him in the suit! He never heard from the girl, though.”

I Wish I could See Inside Your Head

Monday, November 23, 2009
"You were wearing a green dress with white buttons. We made eye contact at least three times on the 6 train this morning. All of a sudden you gave a little smile, and looked down at your lap, as though at some secret joke. You never looked up again and I had to get off at Bleeker. I wish I could have seen inside your beautiful head."

“Missed connections has been an amazing, extraordinary ride," Blackall says. "It was something I started for myself, like taking up knitting. I had no intention and no idea it would blossom the way it did. The missed connections is an example of when you do work you love, the end product will always reflect that love. You won’t always get the money you want and it will probably be a lot more work, but it will be satisfying and wonderful."

Blackall's Curious Quarters

Blackall's Brooklyn home and studio are a window into her creative process. One step inside, and it’s like you’ve been transported into a Harry Potter novel or Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Blackall’s home, which she shares with her two children, is filled with carefully-curated, nearly-ghoulish oddities that don’t necessarily creep you out, but just like her illustrations, instead bring an odd smile to your face. Traveling from her living room to her master bedroom, you'll come upon items like a bell jar filled with dismembered doll limbs, taxidermy deer heads, discarded children’s scrapbooks and a stool made out of the stuffed fingers of white gloves and deer hoof legs.

In Blackall’s own words, her dwelling is something of a “Victorian Natural History Museum.” A huge eBay fan, Blackall says, "If I go around and point to all the items around my home, I’d say two thirds of everything is from eBay.” These bizarre finds, paired with some of her own paintings and artistic work, create not only an inspiring place to live and work, but also a dazzlingly magical sanctuary that mirrors the cheeky yet melancholy nature of her work.

Blackall's eBay wish list includes items she'd use to decorate her home.

1. French Wedding Bride Gilt Velvet 19th (winning bid, $142.16) "These bridal 'things' blow me away. I have no idea what exactly the bride did with them, but they've got everything going on: mirrors and gold and velvet and birds and flowers and life and love and death..."

2. Vintage 1875 Scrapbook Die Cuts & Victorian Valentines (winning bid, $31) "I borrow lots of ideas for drawings and color palettes from these old scrap books, and I like to think of the child who assembled them and how their life turned out."

3. 24 Total Vintage Bisque Arms-One Painted Bisque (starting bid, $9.99) "You can never have enough doll limbs."

4. Antique Hair Mourning Wreath Shadowbox Frame (starting bid, $475) "Many people find Victorian mourning jewelry and mementoes made of human hair kind of creepy, but I'm really drawn to them. The craftsmanship, working with individual strands of hair, is extraordinary, and as always, it's always about the stories behind the piece."

5. Antique Vintage Striped Linen Tweed Suitcase (winning bid, $75) "I keep vintage suitcases to store my fabrics and papers. I actually travel with them, as impractical as that is. At least you can always pick yours out on the carousel!

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