These two illustrations were drawn in 2002 for From Weird and Distant Shores by Caitlin R. Kiernan. Both of them were drawn in ink on Arches hotpress paper using a combination of brush for the darker out-lines and black areas, and Rapidograph pen for the pointillism. This might have been one of the first books where I scanned that art in-house rather than sending originals out to be scanned.
The first image was for a story called Between the Flatirons and the Deep Green Sea where there is a mention of something that sounds like an ammonite “giant whorl, big as a bicycle wheel.” I drew what that image triggered in my mind, something simple and sculptural. I have often been struck by the found sculpture in fossils. With this illustration I tried to set up a contrast between the girl’s knotted body and the weight (timewise and physically) of the ammonite from the late Jurassic. The impossible spindle forms holding the ammonite give the piece a surrealist flavor which is heightened by the distant horizon of the littoral zone. If I were to redo this piece I would probably eliminate the detail at the bottom of the piece and replace it with a dark tone to emphasize the sculptural aspect of the piece. I like the way this piece interacts with the story and yet could stand alone.
The King of the Birds has a simple triangular composition to anchor the detail. Birds are a recurring motif in my art. As an artist their vast array of forms fascinates me. I also find their particular brand of intelligence intriguing. My take on this character was a creature that was able to transition between the human and non-human world. His human face looks one way and the bird face another, physically though he is a protean combination. Caitlin captured the character beautifully in the story
“They lead him forward, all these twittering, squawking spirits of the dead, phantomswift wings that make no sound but the velvet rustle of lost time, the memory of lost skies, and the King of Birds gazes down with golden, curious eyes.”
