Wild & Wonderous: National Parks
This illustrative series was my Capstone project in my final year of study at SUNY at Fredonia. It's intended to stand as a reminder of the importance and beauty of the natural world around us, a reminder of our responsibility to preserve it, and a testament to returning to traditional art mediums when burnout is at its peak. It combines traditional pen and ink work with digital coloring, drawn and then printed on canvas at 26" x 20", and displayed alongside the original ink illustrations at the Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery during the Fall 2022 Senior Exhibition.
Planning
The above images are sketches/thumbnails from the beginning of this project, where I was experimenting with different compositions, elements, and color schemes. In order are Big Bend, Wrangell St. Elias, Glacier, and Yellowstone.
Ink Illustrations (documentation coming soon)
Once laid out in pencil, with careful consideration as to the native flora and fauna of the park, everything was inked in pen. Above images are before edits and coloring started.
Final Pieces
(resized to 72dpi for website viewing)
Unused Concepts
These are thumbnails and ideas for other National Parks I was considering for the series. In the near future I plan on continuing where I left off, and finalizing these to make this a set of 7. Who knows, maybe I'll complete an illustration of every National Park. In order are Olympic, the Grand Canyon, and the Everglades.
