My friend Josh and I absolutely love the NBC show Hannibal. It’s beautifully shot, the stories are macabre and creative, and the acting is amazing. I’ve still never seen Silence of the Lambs and can only stomach PG-13 style horror movies, but I absolutely love this show!

I knew I wanted to make something for Josh that centered around that. I was walking down the street and I saw an artist selling silhouettes painted on the backs of books. Insert lightbulb moment here! I went online and purchased a used copy of the book Red Dragon, which the show is based on.

One of the major pieces of imagery throughout the series is a stag. Huge, haunting, and powerful. The stuff of Will Grahams nightmares.

 

I wanted to do something really cool with it using all of the cover to highlight the stag. So instead of a simple silhouette, I decided to work in the negative space to create an image. The most popular example of negative space art are the two faces/one vase we’ve seen a thousand times.

But here are some other really cool examples as well:

Below is my final creation, or as Will Graham would say, “this is my design” –

I plan on making another one of these using a different book and artwork. I’ll be sure to make the post a DIY in case you’re interested in making your own.

In the meantime, go catch up on seasons 1 & 2 of Hannibal and let me know what you think!