John Clapp
Illustration
(4k), large version (78k)
Jacket art for "The Hidden Face of God" by Richard Elliot Friedman
Client: Harper
Collins
Art Director: Laura Beers
Designer: Eric Handel / LMNOP
Watercolor on paper
Problem:
Harper wanted to
show Adam and Eve in The Garden of Eden in the presence
of God. At the same time they wanted to avoid the many
cliches such an image suggests: no apple, no Tree of
Life, no fig leaves and tightly rendered foliage, no old
bearded guy, etc.
Solution:
Eric and Laura gave
me the leeway to follow my nose and I ended up with my
favorite painting of the year, a misty, lush, suggestive
illuminated landscape.
These paintings are nerve wracking to do as they can go wrong in a split-second at any stage; you literally "float"raw pigment on top of very heavy washes. You can't predict it, you just have to wait for something wonderful and then try to dry it as quickly as possible.
I love to work on jobs like this where my clients trust me to make an image, not an "executed sketch".
So many "paintings" like this one die at the sketch stage, what makes them special just isn't visible until that last moment. I treasure the jobs (and the art directors) that allow me this kind of trust.