I chose Dracula !) And then moved on to choose a chapter by picking a number that I liked - 7 And a page that made sense in that regard- 107) Unfortunately, there was quite a lot packed into a few lines so I moved on to fixate on one of the lines that resembled a scene - Dracula’s arrival to England. [for those who are willing to read my posts: I will move on to my point and idea closer to the end😂] Since I’ve never read the book itself After posting my initial sketches I read the chapter and went on to google the main plot and what led to that moment - therefore research faze started) I found out from a chapter and googling: where are we? [luckily the place used - is an actual port that is still there and is quite documented so I found maps, old photos, and even old drawings of that port that lead up to the time period in question. Our time frame - late 1800, early 1900 - This lands us neatly at about the Victorian era, which means: Victorian-era newspapers! [Back then they already figured out newspapers with quite detailed illustrations!] Why is that important? You may ask Well it is important because I happened to study pen&ink + brush pen styles lately, so I can promote this newspaper/simplified gravure style [with some modern twist] to a client as a style for the book/this chapter [it just so happens that it is also significantly cheaper to print b&w + one/few additional colors than going full color, so one more potential vote for my artistic vision))] Why else is it important? Cos they also already had steam-powered ships, and I just like them, and who doesn't?!) At about that point in research, I started taking notes and just sketching out ships from that time period, studying the location and some props that could make it into the frame. From the book: I knew the type of ship and from the size of the crew I figured out - how big she should be. It is quite a small sailing boat, though, in my imagination, it is a mixture between a sailing boat and a steamboat [they did already have those at a time - I’ve checked a hundred of times, though for me it is only important cos it makes my initial sketches with a bloody wheel works 😅] and that leads me to a question - how bad of a practice is it? To make something up, fall in love with the idea, and then, successfully, find proof that it is plausible - in order to just make it work.. 😅 @Sterling Hundley ?) IDEA FAZE: After research and icons, I moved on to.. Think) Turned out that Dracula is quite a complex read and raises quite a lot of conflicts and questions! And also I've noticed how different it can get BECAUSE of the illustrations involved! And that is such a nice feeling indeed. I narrowed my point of view to two conflicts: superstition vs science and “classic” good versus evil [so dark vs light by definition] And wanted to convey the contrast Drawing faze!) 1. Sails are seen approaching the port and seems to be a hopeful miracle that they survived the storm. [they almost radiate lite] But in truth, it is a searchlight from land, land that is yet protected from a storm - with calmer water… but darkness approaches. Ironically that small beacon of light is, actually, death and pain, darkness is coming. [I wanted to double down on that point by making a creepy silhouette of a figure in a shadow that the ship casts] Hopefully, the sketch translates the worry, and something unsettling. 2. We see the ship crashed into the sand in Whitby port, the searchlight shining on it and darkness running away [again a silhouette of something violent running from light… like superstition would from technology heh.] And even though it is running away, it is there to stay. Will people win? [spoiler: yes, they will.] 3. And here came back my initial sketch of a wheel covered in blood with a crucifix tied to spokes - where a dead man was tied up sometime earlier. Light is shining through the window onto otherwise a very grim scene - That sketch is the only one here that is not scripted in the book! In the book, they don’t have that particular moment, they do have a dead man tied to a wheel and they do have the funeral of that said man. So I kinda slipped it in between the lines - first of all: I don’t like violence and wouldn’t want my viewers to embrace it. My research on publisher shows that they are focused on children, schools, and scholars - I would rather all of those had my illustrations!) with that said 😂 I also have a position for those who think that I’m wrong) I really feel that horror books are scary because our mind can start playing tricks on us - so no matter how I will draw the dead man, if I show only blood on the wheel + book description - I think the reader will piece two and two together with quite a chilling result!) I stayed as loose as I could and used a 2mm pencil in a 5.25/8 cm box [so it would be easily blown up later to the same aspect ratio but in inches] I attached actual thumbnails [boxes - i do like how that word sounds, is it ok to call them that?😂] + tried to make a kinda fancy one page montage, like was shown in a lesson before, of sketches and studies 😅 and my reference and ideas view 😁 p.s. I had to give up few really beautiful shots in order to make 3 😭 well.. I guess it is part of fun, anyway if I did a whole book I would stick them in a beginning of a chapter 😁

I have chosen to illustrate Dracula for a young adult/ adult reader. I picked Chapter 6, which develops the idea of Renfield's decline, from feeding his pets to eating his pets.

Interesting process….a bit of resistance working with words, but drawing simple icons started the gears turning. Settled on predator/prey…seemed fitting for the story.

This is the most difficult part.. Making choices. Which one? How to find your own style and sacrifice others when you can make anything and everything.