Ordeal by Innocence
‘Cover Illustration - Ordeal by Innocence’ by Laura Hope
Coloured pencil, wax crayons and oil pastels on board
54cm x 35cm
‘Cover Illustration - Ordeal by Innocence’ by Laura Hope
Coloured pencil, wax crayons and oil pastels on board
54cm x 35cm
‘Cover Illustration - Ordeal by Innocence’ by Laura Hope
Coloured pencil, wax crayons and oil pastels on board
54cm x 35cm
Laura Hope is a figurative artist based in Oxfordshire. She obtained a first-class honours degree in illustration at Cardiff School of Art and Design before going on to work as a memorial artist, hand etching portraits onto gravestones. Laura’s work has been exhibited across the UK and is included in private collections. In the last two years her work has been shortlisted for the Jackson’s Painting Prize, won the de Laszlo Foundation Award at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibition and awarded the NG Art Creative Residency Prize at Wells Art Contemporary. Her illustrations have been commissioned by clients including Stylist magazine, Sipsmith, Kiehl’s and Clive Christian.
About the Ordeal by Innocence series:
I was commissioned by the Folio Society to create a cover and 7 full page illustrations for a new edition of Agatha Christie's Ordeal by Innocence. This classic murder mystery opens with Dr Arthur Calgary visiting the glamourous Argyle family to tell them that Jacko Argyle is innocent of killing his adoptive mother. Calgary believes this will bring relief but instead it reveals that another family member is guilty and will do anything to keep their secret safe.
For the cover I wanted to capture feelings of suspicion, to do this I chose to illustrate the eyes of all 8 family members in various states of worry and suspense. The cover reflects the many tense scenes where the family members are gathered together stealing uneasy glances at each other. To create an unsettling mood throughout the rest of the book, I chose to closely crop my illustrations. It's about what's not being shown or what's happening outside of the image frame that makes the viewer feel uncomfortable.