Mariska Gewald | Netherlands
‘Being an Elephant is Epic!’ came about from a combination of my interest in animals and natural history and of my own experience growing up with an older sibling.
With this story I hoped to achieve a relatable, informative yet funny book about what it means to be an elephant and have a sibling. The visual narrative follows the relationship between two siblings as they make mischief at the pool whilst the textual narrative informs the reader about fact regarding elephants. A third layer of facts is added by the other animals that feature in the book in the background, like the sloth and the guinea pig, who are excellent swimmers. This part is still in development and will be worked out in more detail in the other roughs where more animals like this will feature.
This project was developed during my MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. I have used a mix of materials like gouache, pencil crayons and wax crayons.
Education:
Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
Children's Book Illustration
Graduation: 2021