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Thursday, September 8, 2016
Pages from the "Evil Dead" Necronomicon
Illustrator Tane Williams has posted 15 of the Necronomicon pages he created for the 2013 remake of "Evil Dead". It's a very different style from the original version, but the pages nicely fit the aesthetic of the new film.
I really like the texture of the paper, which reminds me of a thick Japanese mulberry (kozo) paper. It has a lot of eccentricities inherent in some types hand laid papers, that artists often used to effect. In actuality, many much earlier papers were finer than you would probably expect because of the time and expense in making paper 400 years plus ago. The amount of time and handwork was considerable to make a flawless and perfect sheet for writing or printing.
The images have a nice wood block print look, with some uneven transfer and shading you expect of wood block prints, especially large ones, rather than the sharper images of copperplate. It’s a nice stab at the grimoire genre and a breakaway from the parchment and pen grimories. BTW, the iron gall ink marginals are a nice touch.
The only thing that jarred me was the apparent use of white ink where there should be none at this time, for example the white fill on the goat head. Color, if any, could be added in by extra print blocks, and it was something seldom done, although much later the Japanese became masters of the technique. Additional color could also be added in by hand, stroke by stroke with a brush at great expense.
But do consider using hand embellishment on your grimories, or a tipped in illumination for effect or to really make things pop. For example, rather than the white ink around the candle-headed fellow, an added block print impression of red or a even a hand applied wash of red would add considerably to the drama.
These pages show a lot of attention to detail and historical accuracy to the early printing process. It has a good overall feel that works well for a prop with instant appeal and it’s a superior effort that shows in the finished product.
2 comments:
My goodness, that second illustration looks almost like a cross between the caterpillar and the Jabberwock, both as drawn by Sir John Tenniel for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass, respectively.
I really like the texture of the paper, which reminds me of a thick Japanese mulberry (kozo) paper. It has a lot of eccentricities inherent in some types hand laid papers, that artists often used to effect. In actuality, many much earlier papers were finer than you would probably expect because of the time and expense in making paper 400 years plus ago. The amount of time and handwork was considerable to make a flawless and perfect sheet for writing or printing.
The images have a nice wood block print look, with some uneven transfer and shading you expect of wood block prints, especially large ones, rather than the sharper images of copperplate. It’s a nice stab at the grimoire genre and a breakaway from the parchment and pen grimories. BTW, the iron gall ink marginals are a nice touch.
The only thing that jarred me was the apparent use of white ink where there should be none at this time, for example the white fill on the goat head. Color, if any, could be added in by extra print blocks, and it was something seldom done, although much later the Japanese became masters of the technique. Additional color could also be added in by hand, stroke by stroke with a brush at great expense.
But do consider using hand embellishment on your grimories, or a tipped in illumination for effect or to really make things pop. For example, rather than the white ink around the candle-headed fellow, an added block print impression of red or a even a hand applied wash of red would add considerably to the drama.
These pages show a lot of attention to detail and historical accuracy to the early printing process. It has a good overall feel that works well for a prop with instant appeal and it’s a superior effort that shows in the finished product.
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