Benjamin Vierling is a stunning talent, probably best known for painting the cover of Joanna Newsom’s album ‘Ys‘. Couched in the traditions of German and Flemish masters, Romantics and Pre-Raphaelites, he takes traditional techniques (such as painting with egg tempera onto wood panels), and re-interprets them for a 21st century audience. But as well as a fine artist, he is also a fine illustrator – and I was keen for him to develop a scene from the novel The Great Dominions.
Benjamin had a general interest in the subject-matter of the book, which was a great basis for collaboration; he also enjoys depicting birds, so it made perfect sense for him to render a scene featuring an avian market, its owner Sabiq, and the falcon Qamar. After just one draft he’d more or less nailed it; any changes were focussed on portraying the Sabiq figure:
Initially I thought his face needed bulking out with more facial hair, but unfortunately he ended up resembling Santa Claus:
So Benjamin paired back the beard and gave him a kind-of-Amish look, which I thought worked pretty well:
When worked up in ink it looked even better, particularly with the addition of the scar (which is faithful to the prose description):
From this, Benjamin completed the inking process; I really like the way the piece is framed by pillars and the Islamic arch:
But it really comes alive when rendered in full colour. When the e-book is available shortly you’ll be able to see it, and the other illustrations, in all their technicolour glory.
To get a sense of Benjamin’s fine art chops, take a look at the below. ‘Vanitas‘ will be showcased at Art.Fair 21 in Cologne by the Strychnin Gallery. Hope you find a buyer Ben!
