First, page 146 of Moby-Dick, which illustrates the line ...so, in his inclement, howling old age, Ahab's soul, shut up in the caved trunk of his body, there fed upon the sullen paws of its gloom!
I had created two separate illustrations on the same evening for this page and I liked one quite a bit better than the other. Bizarrely, I lost the second one (the one I liked the most) almost immediately so I was forced to scan and post the first one I had, which is what you see above. While rooting around in the studio looking for something for the upcoming book, I found the second illustration buried in a pile of found paper. I was overjoyed! Even better, Tin House said I could include the version I liked best in the book. So below is the new version, the one I like better, and the old one is now for sale in my Etsy shop.
(Same media, dimensions, and date as the first)
Second, the book is coming together quite well, but my illustration for page 186 just wasn’t working out all. The line this illustrates is Or why, irrespective of all latitudes and longitudes, does the name of the White Sea exert such a spectralness over the fancy...
In person, this is quite an eerie and beautiful piece with lots of translucent white brushstrokes and a fantastic texture. It didn’t scan well though...
And it is looking completely underwhelming in the book. Since I was able to finish the illustrations about 2 months early, we have some time to really make sure this book looks fantastic, so last Friday I created a completely new illustration for page 186, right here...
It's a bit more literal, perhaps, but I think it turned out better. And my skill with the brush is really improving. This one is 12 inches by 8.25 inches, ink and marker on watercolor paper. The previous version will be a gift to a friend who really liked it. All of these alternates will be preserved on my actual web site as well, in case you want to compare many years from now.
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