14/09/2026
‘It was noon. In the Tenth and Twenty-Fourth Vestibules the last two Tides were rising, filling the surrounding Area with tempestuous, raging Waters. Half a metre above the Pediment was a Deep Cornice or Shelf that ran the whole length of the Hall. We scaled the slope of the Pediment and hoisted ourselves onto the Cornice above. We were now about seven metres above the Floor.’
— Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, interior illustration for The Broken Binding special edition, art directed by Petrik Leo
This was probably the most technically challenging illustration of the project. The details of who are where and when were very specific and I wanted to make sure I could get the scene as accurate as possible. Scale was hard. Perspective’s always hard. Splashing water — especially hard.
For the water, I really want the reader to feel the impact of the waves crashing on the walls and statues. Part of it was composition, the other part was utilising the forbidden pen and ink technique — scraping at the ink with a boxcutter. This allowed me to create a negative white texture which mimics fine sprays of water ✨
