Inspired by Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and his Orchestra, written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Activity Guide by Kate Kwasneski, Intern, and Molly Skouson, VISTA service member
51²è¹İapp College Museum of Art
About the Book
Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and his Orchestra was written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney. The book won both the Caldecott Medal and the Coretta Scott King Book Award and is included in Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, an exhibition organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas. The exhibition celebrates 50 years of the award, and was scheduled for exhibition at 51²è¹İapp College Museum of Art. Special thanks to Nick Glass and .
Duke Ellington (1899-1974) was a famous jazz piano player who was born in Washington, D.C., and lived in New York City most of his life. His parents both played the piano, and they made him take piano lessons even though he preferred baseball. Eventually, he decided to become a professional pianist and formed his own jazz orchestra. He was one of the first African American artists to play at Carnegie Hall. For this performance, he played his composition Black, Brown, and Beige, which he wrote as a musical telling of African American history and which is featured prominently in this book.
In the book, Pinkney describes Duke Ellington’s music: “with the tunes that he and Billy wrote, Duke painted colors with his band’s sound†(page 27). What does it mean to “paint colors†using sound? How can you show movement and sound in a still, quiet drawing?
This painting shows what Brian Pinkney thinks Duke Ellington’s composition Black, Brown, and Beige looks like. What colors and shapes does Pinkney use? What instruments are being played in the painting? Listen to Black, Brown, and Beige. What do you think it sounds like?
We can try to paint the sound of a song in this way, too. Listen to a song online or ask someone to sing a song for you. What do you think the song would look like if you could see it?
Other Examples of Drawing/Painting Sound
Look at these other ways of imagining what sound looks like. The first one shows a real space. Looking from backstage you can imagine the sounds of the orchestra that plays here. In the second one, the colors represent sound. This one is even more abstract than the one showing Duke Ellington’s symphony. When you decide how you want to make your artwork, think about all these different ways of representing sound. Think about how both art and music have patterns, rhythm, shapes, mood.
Above is an example based on the song “Take Me to Church†by Hozier. Your painting could be as abstract as this one, or it could look more like something in real life.
Your painting could have a place for the sound to come from, like the one from the Duke Ellington story, or the sound could come from everywhere and cover the whole page. That is up to you. Think about what kinds of colors and shapes go with certain sounds.
Would a loud, sharp sound go with a large red circle or a small blue star? Would a smooth, sweet sound go with a long green line or a wiggly yellow square?
Write
What parts of the music did you use to make your image?
Take a step back from your image. What does it look like?
Make up your own song. If your song has words, write them down.
Credits
Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas. Special thanks to Nick Glass and
Web support:
Daniel Strong
Associate Director and Curator of Exhibitions
51²è¹İapp College Museum of Art
and
Rick Johnson
Student Assistant
51²è¹İapp College Museum of Art