So I recently dusted off copies of the Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix. Once again, I enjoyed them thoroughly, exciting and thrilling adventures in a vivid world of life and death. So, of course, it got the wheels in my head turning. So here’s what I came up, an illustration of Lirael in death. Honestly though, my sketchbook was becoming inhabited by sketches from this world before I started the piece so it was only a matter of time.
I made this sometime around 10:30 at night one evening….
Next up in my series of recovered Roald Dahl books, Esio Trot! I missed this book when I was young. It was cute and charming if not a little bit strange, but then again it’s Roald Dahl and strangeness is one of the reasons I love these books so much! Next up, not sure yet, possibly Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Really I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of ‘The Witches’ as I recall that one being very strange and very great.
~Greg
So I was reading this book all about vanilla that I pulled off the shelf at the library on a whim. I expected it to be interesting generally, but I was immediately swept away by all of the fascinating things there were to know about Vanilla. And so, without further ado, here is the story that this piece illustrates:
Once upon a time in New Spain the upper class women discovered a mix for hot chocolate that would be all the rage for many years to come. They were so infatuated with this beverage that they had their maids bring it to them frequently, so frequently, in fact that they could not even forgo their beloved drink during mass. Their defense was that the sermons were simply too long and dull and that this would help them stay awake. The Bishop’s response was to outlaw the beverage during mass, with the penalty of excommunication because clearly this drink was an addictive devil’s brew, made to upset the service. The women took this decree in stride and stopped going to mass at the cathedral, instead going to the local convent, where they could continue to summon their hot chocolate maids as they pleased. The Bishop refused to be confounded, and made a further decree, everyone had to take mass in the cathedral or else suffer excommunication. Certainly that took care of that…for a very short while, for the Bishop was soon poisoned. This poison was delivered to him, in his hot chocolate!
I read this tale and realized that I immediately needed to make a piece about it. Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.
~Greg
I made for my sister who recently returned from some time in Europe. This was made during that burst of energy in late October, same time I did the Blue House. I think I was channeling my childhood love of Inspector Gadget. That was definitely one of my favorite shows when I was in 1st grade.
~Greg
So today I am posting a piece that literally took me years to finish. I started in 2008 and finally got around to finishing it late last year. I suppose that is a cautionary tale about the dangers of putting a project down.
Actually, this piece was inspired by a fairy tale I found in a book when I was doing a series of fairy tale illustrations. The tale goes something like this. A poor peasant makes a deal with a odd stranger and pledges his future child. Eventually the stranger returns and the son is taken away and made prince of a distant land. He is given wonderful gifts, one of which is a magic sword. When the sword bearer shouts “head’s off” the sword works it’s magic and pops the heads off of the intended persons the way a kindergartener pops the head off a dandelion. At some point the prince decides that he’d like to return home. He is informed that while he can keep his magic gifts, once he leaves he can never return. And so he returns home to his parents who are shocked by his appearance. Once he sees that his parents are still okay he decides to return to his land across the sea. The prince arrives to find he is treated as a stranger, even his wife, the princess no longer recognizes him. So in an odd, fairy tale turn the prince storms the castle, magic sword in hand. He shout’s “head’s off” as the guards swarm him and make his way to the throne room. There, the royal family is waiting for him. He again shouts “head’s off” and installs himself as king. THE END.
How could I NOT do an illustration of that story, it was so deliciously odd, it made for a fun challenge.
If anyone would like the story I referenced I will happily point them to it.
~Greg
At some point in October I dusted off my gouache and had a brief period where I was cranking out several pieces a week. Looking back I’m going to guess some of it was due to the garden winding down and finding myself a bit more free. Sometimes I feel like the creativity just seizes me and I have a sudden burst of creative energy. For me, those are good bits of time.
For any readers out there, have you ever had that burst of creativity or energy?
~Greg
So I took the idea of my James and the Giant Peach cover I recently posted about and decided to run a little bit further with it. Armed with a stack of Roald Dahl books from the public library, I’ve decided to reread some more of my favorite tales and recover them. The ultimate idea is to make a coherent series of covers with shared elements between them, so that if all these books were on a shelf they’d look like they belonged together in a collection. I took some of the aspects of the James and the Giant Peach cover and adapted it to another Roald Dahl story which I never had the pleasure of reading in my youth, The Fantastic Mr. Fox. It’s a fun story indeed. Next up, I’m setting my sights on Matilda, but we’ll see!
~Greg
This week I decided to challenge myself, drawing inspiration from the cover redeisgn challenge that periodically happens at The Fox is Black. This is one of my favorite Roald Dahl books, I’m pleased with the results and considering recovering some other Dahl classics. What projects have challenged you this week?
~Greg