project 4
"Horror"
ILLUSTRATION SIZE NOVEMBER, 2018 "Horror" aptly titled is a piece that attempts to illustrate the powerless nature of people within the grand scheme of everything and everyone, and that despite how hard we try, humans are always going to at one time or another, face odds that cannot be comprehended or conceived in any way, and that humans aren't always going to be on top, whether we like it or not. The piece was inspired by narrative elements from stories from author H.P Lovecraft and the story of "Neon Genesis Evangelion".
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planning and inspiration
When planning my piece I started with a basic sketch that I had originally done as just a small sketch on the side for fun, however after finishing the sketch and finding inspiration in the methods of other artists such as Junji Ito I chose to expand on my sketch and work towards making a finalized and complete piece.
I was inspired mostly by the work of Junji Ito when finalizing my piece as many of the elements of body horror I found interesting in his work I expanded on within my final piece. I was really intrigued with how Junji Ito was able to make a figure appear both completely natural (in the medium he works in) along with making their appearance very grotesque and off putting. Many of his artwork and stories opt to never reveal what or where the horrors are and use the sense of mystery and of the unknown in order to build horror around the anomaly the story focuses on. This way of building up a threat was interesting to me as many of my favourite pieces of horror media also follow this model through ambiguity and keeping the very real threats a mystery. Many short horror stories and games I enjoy such as "My dog was lost for three days. What came back wasn't my dog" by u/chewingskin and the video game "Bloodborne" by Fromsoftware both also aided in inspiring my piece; which attempts to raise questions but never truly answer them, and leaving that up to the viewer. Slug Girl, 1997, Junji Ito
I also took inspiration from the distorted and haunting imagery of Francis Bacon especially from his piece "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" in which he uses interesting layering and colours to create disturbing imagery through colour alone. I wanted to imitate this by using watercolours to create an unnatural and interesting palette within my own work. The twisted and deformed figures of Bacon's work were intriguing to me and inspired my chose to include malformed imagery within my piece on the figure.
Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944, Francis Bacon
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process
To begin the process I started with illustrating a rough sketch of my piece on illustration boarding using pencil to establish the base figure and details of the piece. I opted to begin detailing and colouring in order to figure out what I wanted to colour black and what I wanted to leave white to water colour. After the illustration was finished I began to outline and colour in the image using dark black pens and markers. After completing the outlines for the piece I began to work on the water colouring of the image. I chose to start with the figure's colours as opposed to the background and the water. I began with a basic wash of the figure in blues and purples, using more water in some spots to help some of the colouration bleed together and add value and form to parts of the body. When approaching the edges of the holes in the figure I opted to use more reds and purples to define borders between the more cold and still figure and the more active, aggressive and hostile nature of the holes in the figure. When working on the mouths and tongues in the figure I chose to use a combination of reds, very little purple and a lot of water to wash out some colours near the front of the tongue and mouth and to give texture to the rest of the tongue especially when nearing the back of the mouth. After painting the figure and the protrusions in the figure, I began to work on the water in the foreground.
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When painting the water around the figure I wanted to give the figure a look of being stained and wading as if the subject's skin was in the process of being worn away and stained by water similarly to how when clothing is dipped in water the water runs up the clothing a little bit after being wetted. I did this by taking purples and blues and mixing them very lightly with a washed out red to give the appearance of the red running up the torso of the figure.
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After working on the water and figure I was conflicted on what I should do with the background of the character. Originally I planned on keeping the background white as it added to the desolate unknown that I wanted to convey, however, After completing the figure and the water I felt that a solid white background looked incomplete and that even making the background one colour would look better than white. I opted for black as it aided in the desolation I wanted to convey originally. When painting the background I decided I wanted to lighten the background around the figure in order to not lose them within the darkness and provide a sort of natural framing to the piece that emphasizes the figure in the center.
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experimentation
Going about the watercolouring process was a lot of experimentation on my part. More often than not I experimented with using paper towels to collect excess watercolour and experiment with fading colours in order to layer my colours to add the texturing and values that I wanted to get within my piece. I also chose to experiment a lot with layering both when wet and dry in order to achieve many different effects with the paint in the piece, most notably around the protrusions in the figure, and around the base of the figure when interacting with the water.
reflection
After completing my project I felt as if my piece was a good representation of my inspiration and conveyed my themes in an effective manner. There were aspects of my piece that I felt could have been improved like the proportions and techniques used for aspects like the hair of the subject.
act questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
Within the piece many more thematic elements of my inspiration and its effect on my piece are visible. The elements of incomprehension, and unknowing are both incorporated within my piece effectively.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Regarding my inspiration I took thematic elements more from the literary and video inspirations of my piece as opposed to my more traditional inspirations.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While finding inspiration in sources such as "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Bloodborne" I learned that many different authors and directors while each approaching the same thematic elements, can approach these conclusions about humanity in vastly different and conflicting ways.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central theme was the idea that despite knowing the limitations of people, there is no possible way for one person or one species to know everything within the world, and I wanted to focus on the unknown and the potential horrors that mankind can never imagine to grasp.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
When researching for my piece I learned that within stories that depict horrors that mankind cannot fathom, authors pay attention to mental issues even if it's not the primary focus, or with regards to stories like "Neon Genesis Evangelion" the unfathomable issues take a backseat to the focus these unfathomable threats have on people.
Within the piece many more thematic elements of my inspiration and its effect on my piece are visible. The elements of incomprehension, and unknowing are both incorporated within my piece effectively.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Regarding my inspiration I took thematic elements more from the literary and video inspirations of my piece as opposed to my more traditional inspirations.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While finding inspiration in sources such as "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Bloodborne" I learned that many different authors and directors while each approaching the same thematic elements, can approach these conclusions about humanity in vastly different and conflicting ways.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central theme was the idea that despite knowing the limitations of people, there is no possible way for one person or one species to know everything within the world, and I wanted to focus on the unknown and the potential horrors that mankind can never imagine to grasp.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
When researching for my piece I learned that within stories that depict horrors that mankind cannot fathom, authors pay attention to mental issues even if it's not the primary focus, or with regards to stories like "Neon Genesis Evangelion" the unfathomable issues take a backseat to the focus these unfathomable threats have on people.
image sources
“Garden of Eyes.” Bloodborne Wiki, bloodborne.wikia.com/wiki/Garden_of_Eyes.
Ito, Junji. Tomie. Viz, 2017.
Ito, Junji. Slug Girl. 1997.
Tate. “'Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion', Francis Bacon, C.1944.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bacon-three-studies-for-figures-at-the-base-of-a-crucifixion-n06171.
Ito, Junji. Tomie. Viz, 2017.
Ito, Junji. Slug Girl. 1997.
Tate. “'Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion', Francis Bacon, C.1944.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bacon-three-studies-for-figures-at-the-base-of-a-crucifixion-n06171.