Leo Lionni, who created Swimmy, is an artist who makes me think about color and about "being the one who's different."
The One Black Fish
Among a school of small red fish siblings, Swimmy alone was jet black. One day, a big fish swallowed his siblings, and Swimmy was left alone.
Wandering the sea, Swimmy eventually meets another school of red fish. He teaches them to swim together in the shape of one giant fish. Swimmy becomes its eye.
It's a story about how being the one different color becomes the very thing that protects the whole group.
The Monotype Technique
The illustrations in Swimmy were made using a printmaking technique called monotype. You paint an image onto a surface like a plate, then transfer it onto paper. Since only one impression can be taken, no two prints are ever exactly the same.
Leo Lionni also used chiyogami paper as a collage material at times. He never locked himself into a single technique, choosing whatever method fit each story.
About Leo Lionni
Leo Lionni was born in the Netherlands in 1910 and worked across many fields — painting, design, and picture books. He passed away in 1999.
The Japanese edition of Swimmy was translated by Shuntaro Tanikawa and has been included in elementary school Japanese language textbooks. Many people have likely read it.
Staying a Different Color
Swimmy never tries to fix being black. He stays black, and becomes the eye of the school.
For anyone who feels like they're somehow different from everyone else, I think there's something quietly reassuring in knowing that a difference can become a role of its own. Part of why I paint is to hold in place the color you already have, without erasing it.
I think of my commissioned artwork at Mermaid nao as the work of finding your own particular color and holding it within a single piece.
[References]
Itabashi Art Museum (Leo Lionni and His Friends)
Bijutsu Techo (The Original Art of Swimmy Comes to Japan: An Exhibition Introducing Leo Lionni's Turbulent Life and Picture Book Art)
Irohani Art (What "Being Yourself" Did Swimmy's Creator Leo Lionni Convey Through His Picture Books?)
https://www.city.itabashi.tokyo.jp/artmuseum/4000016/4001836/4001852.html
https://bijutsutecho.com/magazine/news/exhibition/16778
https://irohani.art/study/35792/
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