9-5/8″x6-5/8″ acrylic, marker on 1903 book cover
In honor of today’s premier of the book-turned-series A Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu, and in dishonor of the 2017 Iowa Republican legislators, here is the cover of an actual book called The Perfect Woman, published in 1903. The book has lots of “helpful” advice to women that might make its way into future artworks.
I removed the two original, badly damaged photos on the front and replaced it with my own painted image. I enhanced much of the original decorative aspects (some of which were nearly rubbed off) with new paint. I tore off the front from the shell of the book cover after I had done most of the painting, which really is not a good time to tear apart something that old. But it worked out for the most part.
And no, this is not a daily. I have been pondering what to do with the book for a long time (and still have more ideas I will use the content/pages for at some point). I worked on this cover over time—removing, adding, drawing, painting, etc. I could have (and still might) work on this cover more. It just seemed like today is an auspicious day to upload it for now.