Jabberwocky - Style Evolves

I've been drawing out some thumbnails and miniature versions of Jabberwocky in order to figure out the style and setup of what I'm going to be making. I've got a good idea now of what it will look like. I did a bit more research because I wanted to get more of a Victorian feel to the book, since the poem was written in 1872. Here are a few things I've found that are influencing the final design:

I just can't resist adding a few gears. This is Steampunk Dragon by Kerem Beyit. The Jabberwock will be more of a decorative element than a full illustration, but the parts that are showing will have a bit of a mechanical feeling to them, and be patterned after some of the fancy Victorian swirls and flourishes used to decorate posters and books.

Like these ones. I'm also going to use them to decorate the punctuation marks. There are so many exclamation marks in this short poem, and I just plain love ampersands and can't resist fancying them up a bit. There are loads of neat corner flourishes and borders out there, but I think it will look out of place to have random decorations floating on the pages (given especially the maze shape of the book), so I'm only going to use these designs where they can be worked into the text and illustrations.

From the British Library. Normally the rule for graphic design is TWO FONTS, period. It's actually an enormous irritant of mine to see work with multiple fonts, colours, styles, sizes... Yet for reasons that escape me entirely Victorian posters are nothing but a mix of different types, and it works very well.

This beautiful poster is available from Angry, Young, and Poor. I was really excited to stumble across this one because it's very similar to the colour palette I had in mind. I found a few posters with this diagonal layout for the main word/title, as well as a fancy first letter, and that's going to be worked into a few of my own layouts.

Jabberwocky - Trying a Book Edition

I'm going to start working on a new book soon, and I've finally decided on the text it will be based on. I'm going to use Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. A little cliché, perhaps, but for good reason. I think the poem will work well because it's a good length (long enough for a decent size book, but short enough for a small project), and even though it's a nonsense poem, it still has a story to follow, which should allow me a huge amount of freedom when it comes to illustration. I can follow the story or invent whatever I want. I think I will focus of the letters themselves, because the poem features the bizarre words.

The main reason I'm starting this new project, and why it's taken me so long to figure out my newest project is because I want to make a printed edition. This will certainly be a bit of an experiment. Actually a big experiment. It's going to made with lino cuts, with the idea that if I make 20 books instead of just one the price will be 20 times less than a single handmade edition. And that could lead to one actually selling, which would be very welcome indeed! Of course I still need to buy an awful lot of paper and lino blocks to begin with, perhaps someone would like to pre-order one? Maybe I should start a support-an-artist fund? Send brushes!

A Few Influences:

This illustrated version is by Stephane Jorisch, who also did one of The Raven (great minds apparently think of the same authors).

Fantod Tarot Card Pack by Edward Gorey. I've always loved his drawings, there's something about the lines and stylization that I just can't resist. I got this set of tarot cards a few months ago and have yet to figure out how to display them, so I just pull them out once in a while to look at them and read the funny book that goes with it. I think the stark figures on a plain background may be the way make their way into my book.

I definitely want the words to be a little random and twist and turn all over the place. This is a lino cut of Amsterdam by Mark Andrew Webber. His work is incredibly cool, take a look at http://www.markandrewwebber.com

Things I Don't Want:

I like the reproductions of the original illustrations that are all over etsy, especially the ones done on old pages of books, but I don't want my book to be one of a thousand copies.

And while I think this is beautifully illustrated I really dislike it that the poem itself is printed and not drawn. If you're going to put that much work into something, finish it!

The Tell-Tale Heart - a brand new giant project

I am starting a big new project! I want to do another book, something like John, only not quite so symbolic or research intense. I've decided on The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe because it satisfies my three requirements:

1. It's in the public domain. (read it here)
2. It's full of vivid imagery.
3. It's short

I anticipate that it will take me about a month to finish it all off. To start an explanation of what I'm doing, here are some of the images and inspirations going into it:



This is a calligraphy piece I did a few years ago. I think I was going for a vintage poster/label sort of look. The way the words are all misshaped and oddly layed out is how the entire book will be.This is a sketch I did of Sir Philip Sidney's Sonnet 39 (Astrophel and Stella). This is the font I'll be using for the majority of the text. The capital letter will be a mixture of Art Nouveau and Gothic fonts.

I like the black and white look of Frank Miller's Sin City, especially having the illustration in negative. There may be a whole lot of masking fluid going into this.

Vintage scientific instruments. I'll see if I can work any of this in, especially because of the imagery of the eye.

This story actually uses the image of a watch. Well, sound, to be more precise. Either way, it's an excuse to justify my steampunky tendencies.

These sketches are by an artist named Eric Freitas. I think they're incredible and the spikey, gothic feel with be prefect! I wish I could afford one of his clocks.


Death watch beetles. Only mentioned once, I think, but there will be plenty of these creepy crawlies all over the pages.

Possibly in machine form! At very least in spikey, scary versions.


This is an illustration by Vladimir Gvozdariki. It makes my drool just a little bit. I really like the handwriting in the background, and will likely use some of that. And the rest is just awesome.

I'm really into paper cutting lately. I haven't tried it yet, but there will be some around the edges of the pages, and possibly on some black paper in between the pages. This one if from etsy seller Artomanut.

M.C. Escher's drawings and optical illusions.
Vintage anatomical diagrams.