Illustrator
It doesn’t take much for me to be inspired by the Irish landscape. For the longest time I’ve been inspired by the greenery, the moodiness of the sky and the ancient history of its people. And you know what’s funny? I’ve never even been to Ireland.
I’m trying something a bit new, which involves pencil in the face and hands. Normally I would have done it in watercolour or ink, but I really like the soft effect of the pencil.
My favourite book publisher, The Folio Society, holds an annual illustration competition to illustrate one of its upcoming title. This year was Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, a gothic retelling of fairytales so I thought, why not. I’ll try my hand at this one, since fairytales are one of my favourite subjects to draw and I’m a bit of a folklore nerd.
Because the retelling was gothic and rather dark, I poured on the black ink with washes of watercolour. I also had a few of my lovely students pose for me. I didn’t win, but I’m very glad I entered and feel very satisfied with these pieces, especially the first two.
Illustration for The Bloody Chamber
Illustration for In The Company of Wolves
Illustration for Puss In Boots
The competition also had us designing the jacket. The Folio Society puts out beautiful hardbound editions so I imagined this design in black linen with gold and red hot foil. Hot!
My mother went on a trip to Ireland last summer and came back with a stack of amazing landscape photos. I love the big stormy skies of Ireland and the U.K. And they certainly don’t call it the Emerald Isle for no reason. And the ruins are pretty cool too.
