Illustration for a course on graphic narrative. The request was for an image using a chess board that told a story. I don’t know how to play chess, so I used a stock image as a painting reference but then I haphazardly moved pieces around to space them out aesthetically. I added dragon-lady red nails and made the image a little ominous. The charm on the player’s bracelet is a Chinese character that means “Fate” or “Suspense”.

My son knows how to play chess and looked at the painting for a while. His summation was interesting, and perhaps the best interpretation of all: “The Black Queen is going for the kill instead of protecting her King. It’s kind of confusing. Either no one knows how to play this game and they’re BOTH in check or: Knight kills King, Queen kills King, Pawn can’t do anything, Bishop can kill the person who kills the White King, Rook can’t do anything, and it’s going to be a tie. Stalemate.”

Gouache on paper, 11″ x 14″
Summer, 2012
Located at: Private Collection