In April I finished one of the most extensive illustration jobs I’ve done so far, the book Piga, klockare, inhysing, lots, by the author Carina Wolff-Brandt (book in Swedish, published by Vingpennan). It finally arrived from the printers’ in the beginning of July and is now for sale!
The book is part historical fiction, part fact, about the life of people in the archipelago of Southern Finland during the years 1669-1809.
I begun work on the illustrations in August 2017, and by the end of April the amount of images landed at around 70. They are all graphite drawings, and then digitally assembled and colored. The original drawings are for sale, so if you happen to read the book and wonder about some of the drawings you can ask me about them by sending an e-mail (jennykwiik@gmail.com) or sending a DM on one of my social media accounts (Instagram @kiiwyn for example). Some of them are already sold, so act fast if you’re interested!
I feel very proud to have been part of the team making this book. The text is fantastic, a very engaging mix of fiction and fact, that paints a vivid image of the people of the archipelago. My task was to imagine places, people and object that are in some cases not pictured anywhere. For example a coast line in the 17th century will look very different. This was a very cool challenge, and I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to work with historical illustration. I really hope I will have the chance to do it again!
In the book there are also animals and plants, and this has also been a dream of mine, to have the chance to work with images of flora and fauna. A fantasy I have is to get the opportunity to illustrate a book on botany or similar.
The graphic design is also stunning! Made by Tuire Aho (Anno Design Oy).
Anyway. Cheers to our new book! I’ve received tons of wonderful feedback, and all I want is that as many people as possible see and read this beautiful book.
Jenny Wiik 