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As the Garden Gate takes shape everything else that is in the image also needs to be designed. Textures and foliage are fun to experiment with and invent on the fly with brushes and scribbling and even some photo textures. But all of the more important props, the things that can create a rich story world, they have to come from design and research. I’ve realized that I really love the research part- I get to dig in and read history about the various fleeting ideas that had come into my head in the concept phase. Usually when I have an idea it is vague, sometimes even superficial and just based on how something could look- a shape or visual motif. Research helps to develop why it might look the way it does, to add rich details from life, and then, in a forward-looking way, to imagine how it will function and interact with the story. I added a niche to each side of the gate. I thought this could add visual complexity to an important part of the environment, it creates a visual link to the classical architecture of our world, and it serves as a place that has been touched by our characters- they will light the candles that are in front of each sculpture each night. The sculptures will need to be meaningful to this place, they will need to be beautiful- balanced, interesting, symbolic. So I started with snakes, obviously. I read about the architecture and the encoded symbolism of secret societies. The transformational work of these groups was repeatedly mentioned: members would enter as novices and devote themselves to a practice of transformation, sometimes called the great work, usually about a spiritual transformation towards some idea of higher character. The balanced duality of pairs of opposites found in nature was seen as a philosophical goal: how can we unite opposites? The journey from chaos to balance was symbolized through decorative elements of architecture including wrought iron posts and gates with the caduceus as a symbol for balance or unification of opposites.
This felt like a rich visual language that I could use to design sculptures for my niches. I wanted to create a transformation as well: a mixed pair instead of two of the same. My rough ideas are usually shape based and in the end, I essentially have a scribbled, tangled ball of snakes to represent the before chaos and a caduceus to represent balance- very 19th century. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'd like to share my process including research, designing an image, painting studies, and final painting techniques using both traditional media and digital tools. I am an artist and illustrator with diverse interests including concept art and children's illustration. Archives
March 2020
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