What was your initial inspiration for this cover design?
Fall has always been my favorite season. It’s a time of renewal and transformation. But also some of the best weather in New York City. It’s also time for cannabis harvest. I wanted to celebrate that.
How did you interpret the theme of fall for The Other in this artwork?
The concept is “a season of change”—an intricate, cannabis metamorphosis during a time of ecological change that I think most can find a personal meaning in, as well.
The cannabis plant is centered like a monumental tree—what does that symbolism mean to you?
Fall is the leaves’ time to shine, and I wanted to apply that to an iconic plant—cannabis—often known for its dazzling details and ever-changing forms, then place it in an iconic setting—Central Park—during an iconic time—fall.
Can you walk us through your creative process from sketch to final illustration?
For an illustration like this one, I typically start with a sketch of what I’m imagining the final art will feel like and begin my process with a collection of hand painted watercolor paintings, which I scan into my computer. From there, I create a conceptual piece of art, either as a photo composite or a watercolor collage, and then I break down the composite into watercolor prints which can be layered to bring greater depth and detail to the overall piece. I sketch the line art on my iPad using Procreate and combine everything in photoshop to achieve the final look.
Do you have a relationship with cannabis culture or plant illustration?
Personally, I find that cannabis has been a creative unlock and a clarifying part of my self-care practice—the plant medicine helps put me at ease. In addition to being a lover of cannabis, and enjoying botanical illustration as one focus in my art work, I am also engaged with cannabis in my work life as the creative director of Jetty Extracts.
How does this cover connect to your broader body of work as an artist?
I’m a big fan of transformation and process based art. I enjoy doing mixed media illustrations where painting, drawing, and printmaking are combined in a single visual. I’ve often focused on botanical illustration as an area of focus for the ketubah art I make. This illustration was an opportunity to revisit some of the themes and techniques I bring to creating these custom pieces of modern Judaica, which are often multilayered, have botanical forms and come to life initially as a mixed media illustration. The colors and geometric forms I use tend to be more saturated and communicate memory, imperfection and what I feel when I look at the up-close intricacies of cannabis flower or think of the color palette of autumn in Manhattan.
Did any past artistic influences (painters, illustrators, movements) guide your approach here?
I get inspired by watercolor artists like Daniel Freaker and by artists whose work spans more than one medium like Chuck Close, David Hockney, and James Rosenquist. I’ve always been medium agnostic and I love mixing things up to yield something new.
What message or feeling do you most hope viewers take away from this cover?
There’s no better place to savor the changing of the seasons or enjoy fall than in New York. Likewise, the local cannabis market, like each of us, is experiencing moments of growth and harvest on which to reflect. There’s a beauty in becoming something new, shedding your past self to show up in an even more vibrant way.
