Throughout my time in college this group of illustrations has been my favorite to work on and see come together as a whole. These four illustrations are based on Steven Millhauser’s “Cathay”, a series of short, descriptive excerpts taking place in Imperial China.
Working in such a small aspect ratio did prove to be a challenge at first, but after settling on a set color palette and focusing on the most important elements of these descriptive pieces, I was able to decide what kind of subject matter I wanted to focus on.
Many of Millhauser’s excerpts would speak of these beautiful concubines, so I decided to focus on the different descriptions of these seemingly mysterious. yet beautiful women. I hope to revisit Millhauser’s work in the future in order to challenge my skills once more, as it is a worthy challenge/
