2. Literal Illustration - Wailing Well

For the next project of the module, we have each been assigned a short story by M. R. James, and the brief consists of producing 1 full bleed illustration, 160x226mm, CMYK (300 dpi) and 1 chapter heading illustration, 105x50mm, greyscale (300 dpi). Also for this project we are to take a more literal approach in contrast to the previous project.

READ STORY HERE

Wailing Well
Brief synopsis:
"Wailing Well" is a ghost story written by M R James in 1928. It is about a young boy scout named Stanley Judkins, who is a disobedient, ill-mannered boy. The story revolves around a scout camping trip, set during an undisclosed time of the early 1900s, in which they are given maps which points out the 'danger' zones with a red ring around them. The 'wailing well' is in the red ring, and despite being a prohibited area linked to lots of horror stories, Judkins is keen to go regardless. Needless to say the story doesn't have a happy ending.

Key quotes from the story:
"That sort of clump in the middle of the field down there"
"Three women and a man"
"You can pretty well see from here what a state it's got into with brambles and suckers and trash of all kinds"
"There's tracks in it"
"Four tracks: three women and a man"
"Rags and bones", "flutterin' rags and whity bones"
"They hadn't much to call faces", "but I could seem to see they had teeth"
"The well inside the clump of bent and gnarled scotch firs was plainly visible, and so were the four tracks winding about among the thorns and rough growth'
"He's making a straight for the trees"
"He saw a terrible figure - something in ragged black - with whitish patches breaking out of it: the head, perched on a long thing neck, half hidden by a shapeless sort of blackened sun-bonnet"
"The boys took it all in in an instance of silence"

Visual Research

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The main illustrators I have looked at for inspiration include Daniel Egneus, Mervyn Peake, Lorenzo Mattotti and Charles Keeping. I like Daniel Egneus' abstract stylisation of figures and I think this would work well when portraying 'flutterin' rags and whity bones'. I also really like the spookiness involved with Charles Keeping's work and the use of line, I think they are very gloomy pieces. Also with both Egneus and Keeping, there are elements of colour which have inspired some of my thumbnails, for example for the portrayal of shadows etc. I really like the layered effect these artists use and I think it would be ideal for this story. Mervyn Peake however I think provides an atmosphere which I am aiming for. I really like the use of light and dark, and his approach also provides the feeling of something old. Here are my initial thumbnails below for both the full page illustration and the chapter header. I am more confident with the chapter header thumbnails at the minute as I feel they provide a brief introduction to the mood and atmosphere, revealing little about the story. For the main illustration part of me is thinking I've over complicated it in some aspects, as a simple idea done in an effective manner could be just as, if not more, communicative in the sense that it wouldn't give too much away to the reader, yet it provides everything we want the reader to be feeling.

Developed thumbnails for main full bleed illustration:

Developed thumbnails for chapter header:

Following a group feedback session, Tony's main points were that he wanted me to experiment more with colour for the full bleed illustration, and also encouraged me not to lose the figures in the foliage - look at less skeletal figures (include more of the 'rags' that are mentioned in the story). Other things that were mentioned included the possibility of a bit more distant background, more attention to detail regarding the characteristics of the figures.  For my chapter header his thoughts were that it was a little too similar to my full bleed illustration. He suggested maybe keeping it a bit more brief and home in a bit more on the 'do not enter' idea, and the fact that the place is dangerous. Considering the feedback, I had a play with a few more ideas shown below.

VERY rough chapter heading ideas...

I also had a play with some of the different filters on the layers just out of curiosity really but I thought they displayed some interesting moods.

Full page illustration progress:

Here is my final illustration for the full bleed page. I am happy with the outcome, I think it portrays the right mood and atmosphere for the story. It provides the feeling of spookiness, gloom, and the suggestion that things don't look good for Stanley Judkins. I used Lorenzo Mattotti as inspiration for the brambles, thorns etc found at the bottom of the page and I think the varied textures of ink make this an interesting element. My aim was to make the viewer feel as though the 'forbidden area' begin to drag in and almost 'swallow up' the young scout, and I feel as though this is shown. The use of the hills, fields, and campsite in the background were used to provide context to the reader as a reminder of the whereabouts of the story.

Chapter header:

Here is my final chapter header illustration for my short story. I am happy with the out come of this, I think it provides enough gloomy suspense to the reader, setting the scene, intriguing them to what is yet to come. Below I have created a few mock up book examples to show the different ways the illustrations could be used within the story.