This year I thought I'd have another crack at the Folio Society/House Of Illustration Book Illustration competition after making it to the final short list with my Sherlock entries a couple of years ago. No room on the long list for me this time unfortunately but I really enjoyed the creative challenge as always. The theme was Love Poems and there were three to illustrate, the details are below. Congratulations to all the long listed illustrators! You can go and vote for your favourite here until 16th March and you can also see these illustrations on my site here with related work.
The first illustration focuses on the following lines from The Good Morrow by John Donne.
'My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,...'.
Secondly, this extract from Wild Nights! by Emily Dickinson.
'Rowing in Eden -
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor - Tonight -
In thee!'
Finally, this passage from The Trick by Imtiz Dharker.
'...till that time comes when you come to the door
of dreams, carrying oranges that cast a glow
up into your face. Greedy for more
than the gift of seeing you, I lean in to taste
the colour, kiss it off your offered mouth.'
