A Certain Slant of Light (Signed Gicleé Print)
Several years ago a friend from the illustration community encouraged everyone to apply to the Illustrators of the Future contest. Since he was someone I trusted, I did, and didn’t think about it again until they called to tell me I was a finalist!
If you’re one of the illustrator finalists, you’re commissioned to create an illustration for a story by one of that year’s Writers of the Future contest finalists. I was paired with a great story titled A Certain Slant of Light, by Preston Dennett.
I don’t often read science fiction, and tend toward softer SF when I do. More often I read fantasy - I think because it lines up with my idealistic, philosophical nature. This story had a lot of these elements I really care about, asking questions about whether you’re going to change your path because the majority disagrees with you, or if you’re going to go with your own beliefs, values, and experiences
The story hinges on a man who loves his wife. She - along with a lot of humanity - are frozen in these amber bubbles, with society around them debating whether theyre alive or not, and what to do with them. It’s so satisfying to finally learn what the bubbles are about - because in much of life, we don’t really know what’s going on, and the best thing we can do is listen to our intuition. I loved how the story brought up those issues and was also just very romantic. In this illustration I wanted to capture the longing, faith, and trust in this weird, magical, unknoweable moment in the story.
I also bad my husband model as the forlorn man - he had a lot of fun doing this. It was really cute.
I tend to forget these days, but at the time I was rocking a chronic migraine that I’d had for the entirety of my first pregnancy. Months of avoiding lights and trying to function despite constant pain and nausea. So in a way, I was also trapped in amber that year, and this story resonated with me.
At the end of the day the contest coordinators were very sweet and worked with me so I could get this piece done. And I’m so glad I could do justice to such a sweet, thoughtful story.
Illustration for Preston Dennett's story " A Certain Slant of Light." This piece appeared alongside Preston's story in volume 35 of Writers and Illustrators of the Future.
Several years ago a friend from the illustration community encouraged everyone to apply to the Illustrators of the Future contest. Since he was someone I trusted, I did, and didn’t think about it again until they called to tell me I was a finalist!
If you’re one of the illustrator finalists, you’re commissioned to create an illustration for a story by one of that year’s Writers of the Future contest finalists. I was paired with a great story titled A Certain Slant of Light, by Preston Dennett.
I don’t often read science fiction, and tend toward softer SF when I do. More often I read fantasy - I think because it lines up with my idealistic, philosophical nature. This story had a lot of these elements I really care about, asking questions about whether you’re going to change your path because the majority disagrees with you, or if you’re going to go with your own beliefs, values, and experiences
The story hinges on a man who loves his wife. She - along with a lot of humanity - are frozen in these amber bubbles, with society around them debating whether theyre alive or not, and what to do with them. It’s so satisfying to finally learn what the bubbles are about - because in much of life, we don’t really know what’s going on, and the best thing we can do is listen to our intuition. I loved how the story brought up those issues and was also just very romantic. In this illustration I wanted to capture the longing, faith, and trust in this weird, magical, unknoweable moment in the story.
I also bad my husband model as the forlorn man - he had a lot of fun doing this. It was really cute.
I tend to forget these days, but at the time I was rocking a chronic migraine that I’d had for the entirety of my first pregnancy. Months of avoiding lights and trying to function despite constant pain and nausea. So in a way, I was also trapped in amber that year, and this story resonated with me.
At the end of the day the contest coordinators were very sweet and worked with me so I could get this piece done. And I’m so glad I could do justice to such a sweet, thoughtful story.
Illustration for Preston Dennett's story " A Certain Slant of Light." This piece appeared alongside Preston's story in volume 35 of Writers and Illustrators of the Future.
Several years ago a friend from the illustration community encouraged everyone to apply to the Illustrators of the Future contest. Since he was someone I trusted, I did, and didn’t think about it again until they called to tell me I was a finalist!
If you’re one of the illustrator finalists, you’re commissioned to create an illustration for a story by one of that year’s Writers of the Future contest finalists. I was paired with a great story titled A Certain Slant of Light, by Preston Dennett.
I don’t often read science fiction, and tend toward softer SF when I do. More often I read fantasy - I think because it lines up with my idealistic, philosophical nature. This story had a lot of these elements I really care about, asking questions about whether you’re going to change your path because the majority disagrees with you, or if you’re going to go with your own beliefs, values, and experiences
The story hinges on a man who loves his wife. She - along with a lot of humanity - are frozen in these amber bubbles, with society around them debating whether theyre alive or not, and what to do with them. It’s so satisfying to finally learn what the bubbles are about - because in much of life, we don’t really know what’s going on, and the best thing we can do is listen to our intuition. I loved how the story brought up those issues and was also just very romantic. In this illustration I wanted to capture the longing, faith, and trust in this weird, magical, unknoweable moment in the story.
I also bad my husband model as the forlorn man - he had a lot of fun doing this. It was really cute.
I tend to forget these days, but at the time I was rocking a chronic migraine that I’d had for the entirety of my first pregnancy. Months of avoiding lights and trying to function despite constant pain and nausea. So in a way, I was also trapped in amber that year, and this story resonated with me.
At the end of the day the contest coordinators were very sweet and worked with me so I could get this piece done. And I’m so glad I could do justice to such a sweet, thoughtful story.
Illustration for Preston Dennett's story " A Certain Slant of Light." This piece appeared alongside Preston's story in volume 35 of Writers and Illustrators of the Future.
