Richie's Introduction

I'm Richie Pope, a freelance illustrator from Richmond, VA. I'm part of the Career Mentorship program here at the TAD RVA POD (not enough acronyms). This semester I will be working on 12 editorial pieces as a basis to build my new portfolio. After that, I'll create a cohesive website, promo material and put my work out there. You can check out my new art blog here.

This piece was for the Honors Studio class with Sterling Hundley. The first assignment was to pick from two stories and create a half-page black-and-white editorial piece. The really cool thing about this is that the articles were from the Progressive and the AD, Nick Jehlen, was there for our class critique. No pressure, right?

The story I picked was The Fading Diary of the Human Race, describing how local governments are closing down libraries for budget cuts.

The author talked about frequenting the New York Public Library, so I used the imagery of the marble lions, Patience and Fortitude, being led away on a leash to symbolize the libraries being taken away.