Book Illustration

A good illustration is more than window dressing or interpreatation. Illustration is one type of narrative component—the text another. They weigh equally, work together, combine, to create a singular telling of the story. To do this the illustrator distills the narrative text, finds the touchstones, those points of commonality. From there, she seeks the dynamic imagery needed to mirror the character of the writing. If the text is poetic or whimsical or grittily realistic, the illustrations follow suit.

UNDER ONE CROWN

These illustrations are selected from the book Under One Crown.

(Authors Rachel Jurovics, Sarah Stein, Mary Blocher.)

A description of the book follows the illustrations.

pps. 1&2

pps. 5&6

“God made the two big lights” and “the big light [to rule by day] and the small light [to rule the night and the stars].”

pps. 7&8

Mai “gadol”? How are we to understand “big”?

pps. 9&10

The Moon said before the Blessed Holy One: “Master of the World! Is it possible for two rulers to govern under the same crown?” God said to her: “Go and make yourself smaller!”

pps. 11&2

Receiving and reflecting the Sun’s rays, I [the feminine moon] rule the cradle of darkness.

pps. 19&20

“Ah, then,” sighed the Moon, “by the Sun will they count the order of things; by the Moon will they discover the meaning of their days.”

pps. 29&30

And the Moon and the Sun bowed beneath their Crown, in awe of the words of Covenant, which bind God as well as human beings.

pps. 31&32

They sang together: “Blessed are You, Yah, who gives life to the dead,” ensouling all Being, Moon-cycle after Sun-cycle after Moon-cycle . . .

Under One Crown

(Excerpts from the authors’ description)
Under One Crown looks anew…at a verse in Genesis 1 whose interpretation in Talmud has served as the basis for Judaism’s depiction of the feminine archetype as a source of evil.…A powerful strand in Jewish mystical tradition understands the evil we experience as a consequence of what transpires in that white space. Indeed, according to this influential interpretive motif, God’s design for the universe requires the Moon’s diminishment in order to account for evil and suffering.…Under One Crown’s alternative to the [Talmudic] narrative yields a more integrated perspective of the masculine and feminine archetypes.

Harold's Plan

A little book for little people.

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