Isolation: A Junior Narrative Illustration by Jesus Garcia (2018)

The image is based off of my flash fiction story, where the main character, Marcus, was sent to prison over a misunderstanding and being at the wrong place, at the wrong time. The character is a father that was separated from his family and he later decides to join a group that plans on escaping the prison, but things didn’t turn out the way they wanted.

My illustration process began with me selecting the animals to combine that resembles my character’s traits. I chose a dog, specifically a Golden Retriever, because they are locked up a lot, and because they are known to be a happy and caring dog. I also chose a Penguin, because they are known to be protective of their young and Marcus has his own child that he cares about very much. The last animal I chose was a rat, because they are known to be very persistent, and that is shown in Marcus through his perseverance of going through with the escape plan. The outfit that I chose for my character was an orange shirt and pants, which are common colors for prisoners to be wearing. The location I chose for the illustration to take place is prison, inside a jail cell filled with a lot of negative space to signify the character’s isolation. I used linear perspective to emphasize the transition from light to dark, and to show off the setting some more. I am very pleased with my work, but one thing that I would add is the fur on the dog head.