Portfolio pieces
Inspired by Classics
“I travelled only at night, fearful of encountering the visage of a human being.”
Frankenstein
Of course Frankenstein had to be one of my first Classics to illustrate! What an incredible novel. Mary Shelley created such an indelible image of hubris and madness that it still resonates powerfully today. But for me, it is the creature’s journey and awakening into true self reflection and moral consideration that is the most profound. Ultimately it is not the hubris of the doctor’s scientific work that created all the horrific outcomes but his lack of parental responsibility and human decency that drives the monster into acts of revenge. And the monster who experiences the life of the truly outcast and shunned who finally comes to a moral awakening and sense of responsibility. Oh and yes, the influence if not the skill of the painter Andrew Wyeth is clearly my influence in this piece.
Treasure Island
“That was Flint's treasure that we had come so far to seek, and that had cost already the lives of seventeen men from the Hispaniola. How many it had cost in the ammassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
I loved Treasure Island as a primary school kid. It was quite unlike any of the books I had read or come across. Raw and brutal, and far more adventurous than any book I’d come across until that point. This composition idea isn’t taken from the book but more from my memories of it. I’d consider it more of a statement of intent than a finished piece. I may do a series of Treasure Island pieces if time allows or perhaps one day do my own version of it.
Medium: Acrylic and Oil
Photo: taken with iPhone
Work in Progress 1
Work in Progress 2
Work in Progress 3
