final: ink, gouach, acrylic
linocut print
thumbnail
sketches
Gary Kelley' assignment was to illustrate the color blue.
The method, introduced during the academy presentation, was to make a list and have corresponding icons.
My list: blue bird, underwater, blue river larger than a mile, pearl, blue bear, blue moon, blueberry, blueberry nights, the lunar hare, two metaphysical beings – blue, the sea horse, blue sky – the Heavenly cock, the nymphs, the rain bird, simurgh, siren, the fairies, the elves, haokah, the thunder god, the valkyries, the basilisk, the griffon, Swedenborg’s devils, the jinn, the unicorn, fauna of mirrors, the lemurs, ichthyocentaurs, mermaids.
The decision was to draw a happy bird from the play The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck. The story revolves around a girl called Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl, who went on a journey to find the blue bird of happiness. The picture captures the moment at which the bird is flying above a schematically resolved city and the two children are looking at her.
Pictorial elements from gzhel' and lubok, such as the lack of a sense of depth and the stylized surface decoration, were utilized in the designing of the page layout.
The first variant was inspired by children’s books illustrations by Ivan Bilibin, who along with other members of "Mir Isskustva" defined the Russian style of the Silver Age.
The line was the basis in his illustrations, while stylization and ornamentation were employed in creating his famously intricate designs.
The second design, with a more simplified delineator structure, maintaining only the most descriptive features, depends on the expressive quality of linocut. The inspiration here was Little Mice children's book, illustrated by Vera Yermolayeva.
