Editorial illustration | San Francisco Chronicle | Book review | "Death of the Black-Haired Girl" by Robert Stone
IMAGE
• Monochromatic, cold, static
• Even though there is no apparent outline, the forms are filled with scratchy, heavy pencil lines
• The medium of choice makes the overall image more textural - the hair appears brittle, and the skin looks rough
• Pencil (graphite?) marks give the illustration a naive, handmade quality
• The characters gradually become more faded which creates the illusion of perspective
IDEA
• Colours are synonymous with death. Lack of vibrancy, lack of life
• The viewpoint of the illustration is at floor-level and is that of the title character
• The name of the book implies that it's genre is crime. However the tone of the image is not brutal or violent. Instead, the mood is mysterious, solemn, and still
• The other figures that are present in the illustration are faceless and vague - they could be either bystanders or perpetrators.
[http://dadushin.com/SFCBlackhairedgirl]
