its in the works works works

I feel, quite often some days that my illustration is stagnating, that i havent quite found my style yet and that i am not challenging myself. So to try and change this i have given myself a wee project.

Some of my favortie current illustration work comes in the form of comic book covers - usually much more detailed and well crafted than the illustration inside (with a fair few exceptions) The art on the front of the comic has to convey the story inside, without giving to much away but just enough to tempt the viewer to pick up and purchase the comic.

There is a rather long work of fiction i enjoy called Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, it is essentially a compleatly historically accurate portrait of england in the eighteen hundreds with the small addition of magic. More accuratly the idea that magic has been arround and recogised in England for centuries but had died out in recent years, and the book follows two gentlemen who attempt to bring practical, rather than theoretical magic back to england and the concequences of there actions. I would recomend this book to read, its an impressive work of fiction that doesnt read like a work of fiction at all.

Going chapter by chapter i will create a cover for a comic book series that doest exist yet, i had to think about all the books i own and i felt with this novel i was sure never to run out of good, imaginative source material. A few things i hope to directly challenge myself with this project are; loosing my fear of certain angles and materials, to get into the habit of drawing backgrounds and to stick to a project and see it out to the end.

This is the first of many. A cover for the whole collection. showing some of the main charecters and hinting at many of the things that intertwine them. Sketch for now, will work out what style and type of colour to use soon.

(spoilers ahead)


From the top we have : The raven king, surrounded by his namesakes and framing the top sectio with his cape/wings. Beneath him is Hurtfew Abbey - the home of Mr Norrel in the wild northen countryside. The four head and neck portraits going from top clockwise are Mr Strange, Stephen Black - a servant in the house of sir Walter Pole, Mr Norrel and finally Viniculus a street magician and vagabond - the runes above his head translate as Man - Gift - Hardship. Beneath these men are the Napolionic Guns, as a large portion of this story involves the war with france that went on at this time. Lastly at the base are on the left Lady Pole and on the right Mrs Strange, whos fates are intwined with the Ivy that surrounds them, Ivy that is according to the book the plant which was thrown at the feet of magicians "The conquerors of Imperial Rome may have been Honoured with wreaths of laurel leaves; lovers and fourtunes favourites have, we are told, roses strewn in their paths; but English magicians were always only ever given common ivy" page 23 footnote 1