Mariia Zakutaieva
The Garden of Eden

The illustration was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's novel The Garden of Eden

Book Covers

Un-commissioned | New Talent

Why did you make this work:
Ernest Hemingway had a unique talent for hiding deep meanings in simple stories. His novel The Garden of Eden is a story within a story. The main character writes a short tale about his childhood memories of a safari in Africa, where hunters kill an elephant for his tusks. This emotional story is the true gem of the book, which inspired me to create a book cover for the novel as a study project.

What materials and techniques did you use?:
For the cover, I used a combination of traditional and digital media: watercolor and gouache for the background, and Procreate for the character. I intentionally avoided depicting the main characters, allowing the elephant to take center stage. My aim for the illustration was to appear slightly off-kilter, evoking the feeling that the elephant will soon be gone.

How were your illustrations used:
Self Promotion/portfolio, personal study project



Social Media:
instagram.com/island.neverland



Currently Based:
Ukraine

Biography:
Mariia is a Ukrainian illustrator, she is passionate about editorial and picturebook illustration, currently she is exploring different illustration techniques and working on portfolio.

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