I was commissioned to illustrate a short story by Noémi Lefebvre, translated by Sophie Lewis, in which the narrator is pulled into a discussion of proxemics with a stranger. The story is written in homage to the anthropologist Edward T Hall, and features themes of personal space, senses, memory, and human connection.

We chose the middle concept, as the “broken mirror” composition reflected the fragmented storytelling from the narrator. It also allowed me to pull images directly from the story that add to its rich world. This illustration was quite research heavy, which was very fun!

In the final image, from the top-left fragment, we see:

• The stranger

• The photo of Edward T Hall

• The yellow shoes

• The French Alps

• The woman from The Silence of The Sea

• The flowers (I chose Clematis ‘Ville de Lyon’ as the story is set in Lyon, France)

• The narrator’s hand holding a cigarette

• A bird (even though the story mentions magpies and pigeons, I chose to illustrate an Ortolan Bunting as I thought it would be a little more poetic)

• The narrator

• The sky, with aeroplane vapor trails

• Le Progrés (the snippet of headline is the title of the story in French)

• The trees from the Place Colbert

After completing a final draft in monochrome to confirm the values, I coloured this piece using three separate colour transparencies - a red, yellow, and blue layer. Each of these was split into 3 more layers with varying opacities, and all set to multiply. This enabled me to mix a variety of colours, all whilst keeping a cohesive palette throughout. I kept it bright and airy to give the sense of fresh Alpine air. The illustration was finished with highlights to the mirror shards and a layer of grain for texture.

Tools: Adobe Fresco, Kyle T. Webster brushes, iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Photoshop, iMac