Marie Gordon 8/13/19 Marie Gordon 8/13/19

Dublin Inquirer Issue 71: Cover Art

Issue 71 cover design for The Dublin Inquirer Newspaper in celebration of Irish biodiversity, invites the reader to participate in the piece by finishing colouring it in. Illustrated by artist Marie Gordon

Cover Art for Feb/Mar 2022 issue of Newspaper Dublin Inquirer by Marie Gordon

This piece for issue 71 of The Dublin Inquirer Newspaper is in celebration of Irish biodiversity and invites the reader to participate in the piece by finishing colouring it in & (if they like) share their work by tagging @dublininquirer or @mild.ie on instagram.

I originally pitched 4 cover ideas through rough , mock ups based on the cover idea of a half coloured in illustration celebrating Irish wildlife, that encouraged the reader to participate in the piece by finishing it. The client choose image no. 1 which includes a mix of Moths and Butterflys on native Irish plants. Next I did a bit more research on which plants which insects prefer and where, then began creating a more detailed illustration based on the pitched layout. My process involved hand drawing, scanning, cleaning up and colouring in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Original mock ups created to pitch 4 cover ideas to the lovely Dublin Inquirer team.

All of the plants and insects drawn in this piece occur at different times of the year across Bull Island, North Dublin - a National Nature Reserve designated by Unesco of significant importance because of its rare habitats and wildlife. I used the amazing book ‘The Wildlife of the Bull Island’ by Proinsias Mac an Bheatha to research moths and butterflies, also looking into what plants they prefer to land on, as well as, The National Biodiversity Data Centre’s catalogue of species. This piece includes 14 species in total; a Burnet Moth, alongside one of it’s favourites Marsh Ragwort, Sea-milk Wort, a ‘big’ Small Tortorise, Sea Aster, a Meadow ButterCup with a beautiful iridescent Forester Moth on it, the Larva of a Cinnabar Moth, Wild Carrot, two Bumble Bees, Birds Foot Trefoil, Devil's Bit Scabious, a Common Blue Butterfly and a Marsh Fritillary.

Abundance in nature, it’s beauty and fragility is something I was thinking about while creating this piece and hoped that the added participatory element might mirror this idea of engaging more with our natural surroundings, allowing for an opportunity of curiosity and play. I often walk along bull island and will now be looking around myself a little more carefully to hopefully spot more of these critters.

Learn more about the North Bull Island on The Dublin Bay Biosphere website and if you are interested in engaging more with our natural environment take part in some of the National Biodiversity Data Centre engagement projects; especially their annual Flower-Insect Times Count (great citizen science accessible and fun for adults and kids!)