2006 She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways

In 2005, my professor Eric Velasquez sent me an inquiry from an art director he knew about illustrating a series of love poems in graphic novel format. I immediately got to work illustrating "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways" by William Wordsworth, a poem I first read in high school and was very fond of. The job was on spec, and didn't go anywhere, but I created some pretty cool pieces.

"SHE dwelt among the untrodden ways

Beside the springs of Dove,

A Maid whom there were none to praise

And very few to love:

A violet by a mossy stone

Half hidden from the eye!

--Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky.

She lived unknown,

and few could know

When Lucy ceased to be;

But she is in her grave, and, oh,

The difference to me!"

Normally, I can't stand when characters look alike (if they aren't related). Some artists just draw all their people the same way. Wordsworth wrote a series of "Lucy" poems, but never discussed her true identity. Scholars speculate it was his sister and that he was infatuated with her, so it's OK they look similar here :)

I brought these samples around to book companies, another very competitive market. The style I used is a little too similar to Nightmare Before Xmas, but I still like them.