Mothers Superior

I recently had the pleasure of illustrating some kickass nuns for Mental Floss magazine's December issue! Thanks to my AD Winslow Taft for the fantastic layout and the idea to have me do the illustrations in illuminated manuscript style. It's always been really fun for me to try and imitate other illustration styles  (japanese woodblock prints, art deco) and it's a good challenge to try and add my own twist while still making the style recognizable.

Sketches!

I had a grab-bag of cool ladies from different centuries & locations to inspire me, including Ani Pachen (tibetan warrior nun), Katharine Drexel (fought against the Ku Klux Klan & segregation), Hildegard of Bingen (a crowd favorite in the 11th century),  Juana Ines de la Cruz (intellectual, writer, early feminist from the 17th century), and Dolores Hart (former hollywood actress).

The final layouts!

There were so many individualized stories so I tried to keep the illustrations general in scope (pursuing knowledge, fighting against the forces of evil, etc.). However, because Ani Pachen was the only tibetan nun, I thought it'd make sense to show her specifically. She led 600 tribesman on horseback to fight against the Chinese army. Pretty cool!
All in all, a really fun assignment.