Exquisite Corpse is the process of combining unrelated visual components to create a random image. You will each select, at random, the biographies of fictional characters each of which you will bring to life (via illustration, if that’s not clear).

Profession: Ghost

Notes: Stonemason who fell to his death in 1248 while working on Lincoln Cathedral. Haunts the toilets adjacent to the cafe.

I decided that the above image was too simple and I don't think it was a piece where I pushed myself the most. Taking that initial outcome as inspiration, I decided to have more fun with the piece and aimed to produce something that wasn't as serious. I let go of the notion of, 'it has to be perfect'. I should do this more often as I had a lot of fun with it the second time around, and produced the following: 

I think this one is a lot more fun and depicts a- well- a ghost haunting the bogs. I also decided to add my piece onto an image of a grubby looking toilet cubicle, just to push the piece a little further. The outcome can be seen below: 

Profession: Drag Queen

Notes: Described in this song...

I was excited to get Lola, as I like Drag culture and I love watching RuPaul's Drag Race. I live for the drama, but more than that I love seeing the over the top outfits and makeup, drag it definitely an art form in itself and those who do drag, are very talented individuals.   

Drag has come a long way since the 70s, the five o'clock shadow isn't something you're gonna see on many drag queens these days. However, since Lola by The Kinks is base on a 70s Drag Queen...a five o'clock shadow is something that came straight to mind. I decided to look at Drag during and around the time period and used the images as inspiration for creating my work. 

Key features for me are the bold red lips,  blue eye-shadow (throwback to 8 year old me), thick eyebrows, heavy black liner around the eyes, beauty spots and also a strongly defined chin. Bearing this in mind I went and created a colour palette for my piece. 

After completing the above, I decided to remove the harsh black line as I felt it wasn't needed. I then proceeded to add either a lighter or darker shade around the parts I was outlining, and I think this looked a lot better than the black. Taking inspiration from the 'Ralph of Warwick' piece, I added Lola onto a slightly more complex background as opposed to the simpler singular solid colour. I think this works well overall. 

Profession: mid-Victorian entomologist and entrepreneur

Notes: Was convinced spiders could be exploited in the production of silk.

For this one I looked at snazzy Victorian men with big mustaches: 

Again, I added my work onto an image, somehow I think this makes the overall piece feel more finished. 

I initially struggled with this one but I am willing to say that the finished piece is OK, however it isn't one of my favorites. I think that the colours used are too dull and the skincolour is very dull too. I decided not to include this one in the finished book.

I think I spotted a few new gray hairs on my head during this project. I really did not enjoy this one, I found it very difficult as these book choices weren't entirely something I'd go for, but hey, that's part of being an illustrator. Gotta push yourself out of your comfort zone and try your best through the tears. 

Diary of a Young Naturalist chronicles the turning of 15-year-old Dara McAnulty's world. From spring and through a year in his home patch in Northern Ireland, Dara spent the seasons writing. These vivid, evocative and moving diary entries about his connection to wildlife and the way he sees the world are raw in their telling. "I was diagnosed with Asperger's/autism aged five ... By age seven I knew I was very different, I had got used to the isolation, my inability to break through into the world of talking about football or Minecraft was not tolerated. Then came the bullying. Nature became so much more than an escape; it became a life-support system." Diary of a Young Naturalist portrays Dara's intense connection to the natural world, and his perspective as a teenager juggling exams and friendships alongside a life of campaigning. "In writing this book," Dara explains, "I have experienced challenges but also felt incredible joy, wonder, curiosity and excitement. In sharing this journey my hope is that people of all generations will not only understand autism a little more but also appreciate a child's eye view on our delicate and changing biosphere." -Goodreads.com

Texts that are required on the cover are as following: 

FRONT: 
Dara McAnulty
Diary of a Young Naturalist
'An extraordinary voice and vision’ Robert Macfarlane
‘Really, really special’ Chris Packham
Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing
 [Penguin logo – as supplied on template]

SPINE: 
Dara McAnulty
Diary of a Young Naturalist
[Penguin logo – as supplied on template]

BACK COVER: 
‘Miraculous memoir . . . profoundly moving’  Observer 

Evocative, raw and lyrical, this startling debut explores the natural world through Dara McAnulty's eyes, an autistic teenager coping with the uprooting of home, school, and his mental health, while pursuing his life as a conservationist and environmental activist.
 
Shifting from intense darkness to light, recalling his sensory encounters in the wild – with blackbirds, whooper swans, red kites, hen harriers, frogs, dandelions, Irish hares and more – McAnulty reveals worlds we have neglected to see, in a stunning work of nature-writing that is a future classic.
 
‘This is writing at its wild and unruly best . . . sentences race, roar, and overflow with joy’ Rachel Clarke
 
‘Extraordinary’ The Times, Nature Books of the Year
 
‘Dara captures the essence of why we all spend time in nature. The excitement, the peace, the solace, the escape’ Mya-Rose Craig (AKA Birdgirl) 
 
[Barcode box containing barcode, prices, website address, logo and FSC logo. All as supplied on template – box can be repositioned on the back cover, but overall box design, size and elements within, should not be changed]
 
[Please include a copyright line if you have used an image in your cover design that was created by a third party. For example: ‘Cover photograph by Joe Bloggs’]

When in doubt go to Youtube. I found some pretty useful stuff here as well as clips from the author himself, this helped me get a feel for what he was like, all very important stuff for book cover research. Furthermore, these book reviews did help me with the main features of this book.

These are the types of things you'd expect to see in a nature diary. Creepy bugs and stuff, but I do like butterflies. I wanted to incorporate elements of these visuals into my final piece somehow, considering the use of collage or just placing different components of the images onto the book cover design. 

These are some quick sketches, possible cover design and also placement of title. I don't really know what I'm doing here, I'm just trying to create a few things to get my ideas flowing. 

This is where I got stuck, I hated the text but couldn't find one that I liked, the colours were all wrong, everything was all wrong and I had no idea where to take it all. I wanted to create a scrunched up diary page-like cover, however I did not achieve this whatsoever. After creating this abomination, I decided to leave it for a few days and come back to it after a break. 

A bath, some essential oils and slice of cake later, I came back to this project with a determination to make something acceptable. After the feedback session we had I decided to look at the use of lined paper, as well as crumpled 'scrap' pieces of paper in order to create the feel of a diary page. I also revisited the text, I think this one is better but somehow I still don't feel its right. I do however like the text used for the author's name and also the title, this to me has a likeness to something that has been written by hand- it isn't too tidy or perfect.  

This is my final outcome. I do like how it turned out despite all the struggle it took to get there. I'm glad that I continued to push myself and make something that I was satisfied with. I took elements from the previous piece however I decided to use a solid colour for the background and add bits of paper behind the title and for parts of the text, I think this looks better overall. I also think that the text is a lot more pleasing to the eye than the previous texts.

Text required is as following:

FRONT:
[A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery series logo]
Murder Most Unladylike
Robin Stevens
There’s been a rather shocking murder at Deepdean School for Girls . . . 

SPINE:
[A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery series logo]
Murder Most Unladylike
Robin Stevens


BACK:
When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up A SECRET DETECTIVE AGENCY at Deepdean School for Girls, they struggle to find any real crimes to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia’s missing tie. Which they don’t.)
 
Then Hazel discovers the body of Miss Bell. And when she and Daisy return five minutes later, THE BODY HAS DISAPPEARED.
 
Not only do they have a murder to solve – they must PROVE ONE HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE . . .
 
THE FIRST MARVELLOUS MYSTERY IN THE BESTSELLING, AWARD-WINNING SERIES.
 
‘Thrilling’  Guardian
‘Ripping good fun’  The Times
‘A delight’  Daily Mail
‘Enormous fun’  Irish Times

​

Videos found on Youtube where the author talks about the book...I find her very irritating, but maybe that's because this project has put me in a bad mood... For your viewing pleasure (low volume recommended.) 

I went back to the videos after completing the project , I still find her irritating 

I hate this, it looks so clip art 

I wasn’t overly keen on the finished design of my cans, so I tried a different label design for the following two.