Falsketch

For those unaware, 303 is a class called Individual Art Review, where you put up your best work and talk about it before a panel of Art and Design Faculty. This was my final project for another class, mean to simulate the experience and get used to talking about our art that way. In critique I mostly received the teacher's opinion of how I should talk about the visual structures I used- contrast, discontinuity, focal point, etc. This was a slight let-down after staying up all night working on these, and I would really appreciate some more critique on the quality of the illustrations themselves.

Here is my Artist Statement, followed by the series. The characters were created by myself and Brigid Gallagher.

Grace Makley

Mock 303 Statement

My major is illustration, and I want to write and illustrate books. Therefore, my project for Mock 303 is a set of story illustrations. The plot is rather involved, so I chose a single sequence that I found most compelling. It is my hope that they stand on their own, at least in emotional content, and will make the viewer feel something, regardless of whether they know anything about the characters or not.

The themes in this piece are death, vengeance, resurrection, and reunion. The story was originally conceived as an anime epic, and those clichés are there, especially in the character of the impulsive youth who wields incredible cosmic power. My character, Taine, resembles the main characters in Bleach, Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, and countless other shows. I am not bothered by the fact that he references these characters, because they are all referencing a hero archetype that goes back in mythology to Lancelot, Cuchulainn, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh. The relationship portrayed in this piece is that between best friends, blood brothers, or comrades in arms. This is also an archetypal relationship. It draws from entertainment in recent times, like J.D. and Turk from Scrubs, Starsky and Hutch, or Watson and Holmes; as well as similar relationships in the anime shows I’ve already mentioned. It also draws from older legends, like Robin Hood and Little John, and one of the earliest known works of literary writing: The Epic of Gilgamesh. In this poem from ancient Mesopotamia, Gilgamesh goes to the very doors of death in an attempt to bring his friend Enkidu back to life. My main character, Taine, is lucky in the fact that his dearest friend Falcon is not actually dead. Thanks to some cross-dimensional shenanigans, Falcon appears, alive, to save Taine from his grief-stricken madness and keep the Universe intact.

While creating this piece I focused on craft. I am engaged in a constant journey to improve my artwork and develop my style, and I wanted this project to represent a major step along the way. To achieve this, I planned the piece beforehand and took extensive reference photos. I then traced over the reference photos first in Photoshop, and then Corel Painter. Though tracing felt like cheating, the photographs were mine, and I used nothing didn’t create myself. Molding the characters from my reference proved challenge enough, as my characters have different builds and hairstyles than my models. I also had to adapt for gender, since one of my models was female. Corel Painter is a computer program that boasts an overwhelming array of brushes and media meant to simulate working traditionally. I chose a sponge tool for the background, and to block in foreground colors. This tool is messy and forgiving, qualities that I find very appealing in the beginning stages of a piece. While my style is heading towards a more realistic portrayal of anatomy and expressions, I chose to reference anime art with the heavy black line-art, and tried mimic the effect achieved with a traditional brush-pen. I then went back into the figures with digital paint to define brightness and add clarity.

All Images enlarge when clicked on.