illustrations for olympic terra this timethe project consisted heavily of references to local ecology and its restoration. the plants and animals played a vital role in the bioremediation of contaminated soil. I had to do illustrations of the animal and plant species that would be (re-)introduced to the area during that process. the reason certain plants were picked was because they absorb a certain contaminant. barges would be set up, segregating the soil from the mainland. the plants would grow and in doing so absorb the contaminants. I thought this was a fascinating concept, because the flowers everyone regards as beautiful and pristine and whatnot are literally derived from and consisted of awfully toxic chemicals that the industry left behind on Marshgate Lane. they're beautiful but deadly, etc etc. here are some (a Brassica genus left, alpine penny cress centre, and Leptochloa filiformis right), of about 5 -

as you can see, they're put together out of the photos that we'd taken from the area, which kind of reflects the concept of being put together from the chemical contents of that same soil, but to be honest it was mostly just me digging a style I'd been messing around with. it's a lot of fun, and really quick to throw together, and I think it looks pretty neat. I'm no plant expert but photos of the real plant were used for reference, so hopefully they're actually individually recognisable.

I also did the animals, there were 7 or 8 in total. various birds and aquatic life, done in the same visual style. house sparrow and sand martin, and a common newt, made of soil -
here's a detail shot (aka original file size). black redstart, made up mostly of wood (they live in the trees afterall)

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