THESIS ENDS

1984 by George Orwell
Ink on toned paper, Digital


Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Pencil drawing and Digital


Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley
Pencil drawing and Digital
This book was a short, nonfiction reflection back on the predictions from Brave New World that came to fruition more quickly than expected. I used the two novels as an opportunity to do a sister cover to the first piece


The Giver by Lois Lowry
Watercolor and digital


The Children of Men by P.D. James
Ink drawings and Digital
a note- the book is absolutely nothing like the movie. Both were very well done, and took place in the same world, but the plots were very different. The book was much more of a character study of what the effects of the inability to have children had on the whole human race, instead of the action being driven by one event. I wanted to kind of show that the world was messed up, and so Trish suggested I have the kids upside down, as nothing in their world quite worked anymore.


Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
Ink drawing and digital


The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Digital
Ended up never putting type on this one, I didn't feel like it needed it.

A few people have asked me about prints. All of these are available as 13"x19" prints for $20 each, just email me or leave a message on here.

To explain, here is a summary of my artist statement-

Dystopian Literature - Negative or undesirable societies, visions of "dangerous and alienating future societies," often criticizing current trends in culture. These books describe the state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad, characterized by oppression, the effects of pollution on the environment, or any suppression of humanity
Why I picked this topic- I loved these books in high school, and wanted to create interesting covers that would reach a wider audience. The novels remain very relevant in warning against current issues in our society (for example, wire-tapping, genocide, global warming) and possible futures if we aren't mindful of ways to prevent these outcomes.

About a month into the semester I was starting to really worry about my topic, I was scared that it was too negative (for applying to Hallmark and Children's book publishers), that the books were too overwhelming, but all in all, I'm really glad I picked something I cared about, and the work didn't turn out to be too negative at all. I wanted to use this semester to create a body of work that really reflects on what kind of person I am and where my interests really lie. After doing the covers for Black Swan Green and Double Bind I felt like it was an affirmation that books are, and have been, a very important part of my life (sup librarians). I have always loved reading, as much as I love art even, and wanted to do a body of work that scratched the surface of that, and wasn't just work I knew would get me hired somewhere.

After long projects like these you always feel like there was more you could have done, but I'm pretty happy with the books I chose, and was happy to hear from some people that they'd read them and liked them as much as I had. 

To everyone who came to the show, thank you, hope you grabbed a postcard :) To the other illustration seniors, I think we had a pretty rockin show. I am really proud of our class.