The Unfastened Heart

I was recently informed by Catherine McFarlane, that my Heartstrings illustration is a finalist in the Icon Prize! That means this is being considered for the cover artwork of the novel, The Unfastened Heart by Lane Von Herzen.

In my illustration I wanted to show the intricacies of love by showing the mechanics of a woman's heart and circulatory system. With my line work, I wanted the drawings of the weeds in the background to mirror the veins in the body.

Also, I was interested in the contrasting aesthetic of the silhouette shape of the body, with the hand drawn line art, and the more highly rendered pencil crayon shading in the face. I feel it is a collage of rendering techniques as much as it is a paper collage.