A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

I have begun to illustrate pages from a section in my Frankenstein book that I am really excited about. When I first talked to my editor about how I envisioned the book, we talked about who's perspective the story is told through. The original Mary Shelley's version is really a story within a story within a story within a story... Mary Shelley is telling a story about an explorer, who is telling a story about Victor Frankenstein, who is telling a story about his creation, who is telling a story about himself. I choose to tell the story through the perspective of Victor Frankenstein.

At the heart of it, Frankenstein is a story about a man and his obsession; How he abandons family, friends and health for this obsession and eventually he abandons the obsession itself. So I've decided that the majority of the book would be illustrated a certain way to represent this perspective. The sailor's story is told through letters and Mary Shelley's story and Victor Frankenstein's story have been combined as she is the author. This leaves the monster's perspective.

What I wanted to do with the monsters story is present it in a way that was more childlike, yet does not feel foreign alongside the other artwork. When the monster starts his story, it is black and white ink art much like that in newspaper comics and completely pictorial. As the story continues and the monster becomes more evolved and familiar with the world, so does the artwork. The next chapter mid tones are introduced to the art. The chapter after that, monochromatic color is introduced... and so on and so forth until the art in the monsters story resembles the rest of the art in the book.

Here are two pages from the monster's genesis.