Boy and the Star

Each illustration has been composed using basic shapes and detailed with various materials and techniques, ranging from charcol to paint. Light plays a significant visual, as well as a narrative, element. The entire book takes place at night, so each illustration has a light source with the rest of the image hidden. I wanted to hint that there is more happening than what the viewer can see. Instead of a more traditional perspective guideline, I decided that the images felt stronger by playing with depth, perception, and placement.

"Stars, I have seen them fall, But when they drop and die. No star is lost at all. From all the star-sown sky. The toil of all that be. Helps not the primal fault; It rains into the sea, And still the sea is salt." - A. E. Housman. I began first by working purely digital, using different drawing and illustration programs. Although this worked well for creating the composition, it lacked thelife and depth that I sought. I then turned to more traditional mediums and used charcoal, paints, pencils, graphite and more to create textures which suited each part of the illustration.