This was my favorite assignment in Illustration Word and Image. We were to make up an explorer and illustrate/document their journey. We had to depict where they went, who they met, what they found etc. and create an illustrated book around this story.
I decided to make a Celtic children’s story: The Journey of Sionann Donnelly. This decision was inspired by a book I recently read, The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog by Patricia Monaghan.
I made this one another accordion book. I made the cover out of illustration board and book cloth. The image on the cover (drawn with colored pencils) was an homage to one of my favorite motifs from history, The Three Hares. I snuck them in throughout the book.
cover page
Beginning of the story, intro to the character. First illustration shows her home-base (bedroom.)
page 2 and 3 are a little map of the journey…..
SURPRISE! Fold out, detailing the journey
Northern Irish cemetery (sorry about the blurriness)
Biddy Early’s cottage
Newgrange
At the Climax, Sionann is confronted by the goddess
Ériu, who chews her out for stealing and tells her to go home.
Sionann flies home, and when she unpacks her things, she finds a book that tells the tale of her journey.
THE END
There’s a little hidden raven in every image, as Ériu’s raven spies on Sionann throughout the story.
Like this:
Like Loading...
YES, that entendre was doublé ! Anyway, Cimarutas, or Cima di Ruta (sprig of rue) are traditional Italian folk-charms which possibly originate all the way back to the Etruscans. They are pendants, usually silver, and the folk tradition is to place them where one would want protection (baby’s cradle, hung in a doorway, worn as a necklace etc.) They are always a sprig of rue with charms/symbols hung from the branches. The symbols are often a mixture of Pagan and Catholic motifs.
Ars Nycticorax 