‘SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT’
These six illustrations were created to accompany the George Orwell short, ‘Shooting an Elephant’ in which a former British soldier in Burma recalls his experiences. Because of this element of recollection, I focused on aspects of nostalgia and regret for these drawings. Sepia-toned watercolour is used to represent a dreamy, forgetful quality, one of blurred lines, uncertainty and shame. The images might hang on the narrators wall, like old photographs as tries to forget is exploits.
The drawings are created on 200gsm textured fabriano watercolour paper, scanned and retouched in Photoshop. The background leaf motif was created using linoprint, again scanned and then made in to a custom brush pattern. The drawings subtly compliment the story but do not over power it, and are intended for print in small independent publications like The Moth or The Literary Review.
