Sunday, July 8, 2012

The Night Circus and Paper Art

A few months ago I noticed a book with black pages, a pretty cover and an alluring title - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.



Upon reading the synopsis, I knew this book was for me. I devoured it within a day. I'm not going to talk about it too much, there are reviews everywhere but I just suggest you pick it up for yourself. Perhaps it won't be for everyone, but it absolutely struck a cord with me, mainly for the imagery described throughout. I immediately wanted to draw or paint everything, it was all so fantastical and beautiful and just as if Erin had the same imagination as me, I loved it so very much.

So I began sketching out some elements of the book that I found particularly wonderful. The two main character, Celia and Marco, pictured above, obviously needed to be shown and I also wanted to illustrate their favourite parts of the circus - The Wishing Tree created by Celia, and The Ice Garden created by Marco. I wanted them to all be separate images that were linked together by colour and by the trees.



I have also, for many years followed in awe the illustrations and paper art of Brittney Lee and toyed with the idea of trying some paper art myself. I couldn't fathom how Brittney could create so much detail with some paper and a knife but I really wanted to give it a go.

Couple that wish with the mighty need for some Night Circus inspired art, the challenge of only using black and white paper, a new scalpel knife, a rather beaten up cutting board and some few months of working on and off and finally, I had a four part artwork that I am exceedingly happy with!






7 comments:

  1. Very pretty! Loved the idea!

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  2. Thanks so much! I hope you're loving the book!

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  3. My goodness I just read the book and I stumbled upon it much the same way you did. I have been looking for a piece of art that is exactly how I picture the book! And this IS IT. breathtaking honestly.

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  4. This is absolutely beautiful, it looks exactly like I pictured they would

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  5. I have been obsessed with the Night Circus for several years now, and the utter lack of fan art for this book is just depressing. There's SO much inspiration in this book, it's pure creative brain food. You've done the book an absolute justice. This is completely STUNNING. I'd love to see more Night Circus inspired work from you!

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  6. Beautiful art work. Why did you quit blogging?

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