Editorial Pt 1

So I decided to jump back on the horse and set myself the challenge of doing 5 historical editorial illustrations within a week using lino as my main tool.

I had the following restrictions: 

• I didnt get to choose the articles

• I had to work to an A5 Lino space in a Portrait format

With the first one On the war on Ireland I decided that A personification of the countries and Irelands resistance would work best to depict this complex scenario. A lot of complex information is best illustrated using either personifications of issues or simple symbolism as you want to create a piece of editorial illustration that goes along well with the article.

I wanted to be very careful with my colours here. I knew that even in black and white the british flag was easy to distinguish however the Irish one is more complex as the colours and order of them distinguish it away from other european countries. So i did research which colour codes the flag contained.

Trying to stick to a simple colour scheme based around the irish flag I was able to use the black and white element a highlight for the hero (ireland) and the villain (England). The composition of the piece pushed across the idea of a domineering antagonist and a weaker but determined protagonist.

All in all I think that this piece came out exceptionally well and has reignited my confidence in editorial work.