The Encyclopedia of Poisonous Plants
The Encyclopedia of Poisonous Plants is a book created to showcase a few plants that are lethally poisonous. The book aims to relay information on plant appearance and poison, pairing dry facts with more morbid illustrations. While the content is important another major purpose behind the book is simply to showcase an aesthetic. The old typefaces and mock leather cover are meant to evoke the feeling of an old tome, mysterious and macabre. Creating a vibe or aesthetic in a work is a major focus of mine even beyond this piece, as is working with bone and flower motifs. By cover the topic of poisons and using dark illustrations, this work falls in line with a my desire to create beautiful and yet vaguely morbid or mystical art.
While the first set of illustrations for each plant are meant to closer resemble wood cut, the later illustrations resemble pencil sketches, allowing for value ranges and more intense and loose detail, mirroring the heavier written content. Red is also used to pull attention in the paragraphs and images covering the poisons in the plants. If a traditional version follows this, the book will be cord bound with full woodcut illustrations and digital text.
