the outsider

During the first week of january I decided to work on the House of Illustration and Folio Society competition for 'The Outsider' by Albert Camus. It was a book I had read and attempted to illustrate before, (not very successfully) when I was a student. For that reason it was easy to get up to speed with the book quickly. The competition required three illustrations spanning the entire book, and the cover design with consideration given to the folios binding. Two of the four images turned out ok (coffin & beach) but the final image ( prison) which i thought was the most interesting at first, became the least successfully, weak drawing of the man and far too flat compared to the other images. There is a need to acknowledge the tradition of illustrated books whilst speaking in your own visual language, this is a balance I didnt achieve but is worth thinking about when attempting this again. Hopefully with another weeks work these could be improved- but I might try to expand the series to six images first to really get a sense of the whole book and create a body of work that is consistent

cover
'i then wanted a cigerette. But i hesitated because i didnt know if i could smoke in front of my dead mother...' ' .....the whiteness of the room seemed even more dazzling than before'

'.... That was when everything shook' ' ....and it was like four sharp knocks at the door of unhappiness'

'.... i had a tormenting desire for women...' '..... the feeling of the water and the freedom it would give me.... i imagined the sound of the first little waves...'