This drawing was also my entry for Jillian Tamaki’s “Summer Myths” contest, which I only found out about on Monday – the day it closed. It is pen and ink and – for once! – the original is slightly larger than what you see here. The remedy connection is to do with sunburn.
The drawing didn’t make the shortlist for the contest, but some stunning pieces did. You can see them on Jillian Tamaki’s blog here: Results! My favourite is Roman Muradov‘s picture of the “ancient Poldevian tradition of burning post-it drawings of curious creatures accumulated through dull summer jobs. Usually performed on August 28th (29th if you’re left-handed).”
In other news, here is one of several figures I illustrated for Nicole Murphy’s semi-secret project. The others were coloured, but this one was surplus to requirements and only got a touch of shading.
July 7, 2011 at 8:45 pm
So what is the story behind your ‘Summer Myth’ illustration?
July 8, 2011 at 8:28 am
The thought process went as follows: remedy summer –> sunburn –> burned by sun –> Icarus –> (fell into) sea –> myths in sea –> mermaid. I like speech bubbles filled with pictures (saw a gorgeous one in a 18thC Japanese print at the art gallery), so from there it became an illustration of someone at the beach being told a cautionary tale, and being more interested in the tale than the caution.
July 9, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Beautiful. I saw the Icarus connection … and wondered if someone was being warned away from picking being a mermaid as a career choice. After all, I think every woman secretly wants to be a mermaid.