Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

'Call me Ishmael' is one of the most famous opening sentences of any novel. ...more info on wikipedia

About the artist: Shelley Revillfrom the UK

Shelley Revill is an illustrator and animator/compositor from London. She has been working in animation and illustration since 2000. “Recently I have been working on illustrations of monsters for a picture book project so it was good to take on this project for a bit of a change of tone!”

Why this work

“I read Moby Dick a couple of years ago and loved the depictions of life on a whaling ship. It is very visceral and dramatic. A time and lifestyle far removed from me. It is a layered book with lots of symbolism, with themes of obsession, religion, mortality, might and progress. I was inspired by the whaling log books I saw scans of online, with their beautiful calligraphy and the whale stamps that they used to depict their haul (you can see my reference to that in the sea in my image). Moby Dick and his perceived evil barbarism is in fact entirely projected by the Captain Ahab. A creation of mind and word and since Moby Dick is also a rare albino whale he is shown in my image with bright white lettering. It is a complex and rewarding story of adventure. Well worth a read!”