THEME
Personal Fears that are seemingly rational (or are they really)
Tailored to an individual’s personality and disposition
Lines –
Fear from the point of view of a casanova is to fall in love/lose his heart
Fear from the point of view of a performer is stage fright/to be eaten alive by his audience
Fear from the point of view of a kind is to be rendered powerless/just a figure head
Fear from the point of view of a free spirit is to be weight down by responsibilities
Fear from the point of view of an optimist is to be in despair
Fear from the point of view of a hunter is to hunted
Fear from the point of view of a fame monster is his hubris
Visual concept:
A narrative approach; illustrative
*Click on the gifs for smoother animation.
PROCESS
Composition 1: Fear from the POV of a free spirit is to be weight down by responsibilities
With free-spirited referring to non-conformists or individuals who diverge from worldly concerns, the visual concept I had in mind was to mock their individualistic thought of what responsibility means to them.
So I painted a picture in my head; to be tied down by constraints and expectations would be an experience similar to drowning, as if bounded by the ankles and dragged to the inescapable depths of an ocean. To exaggerate this thought, wouldn’t it be sillier to illustrate the anchor as something small and frail in contrast to a human’s capacity for strength?
ELEMENTS:
References
Plant graphic
Character that embodies free-spirited sensibilities
Goldfish to act as the anchor that weighs down the character
FINAL:
Final composition
Composition 2: Fear from the point of view of a performer is stage fright/to be eaten alive by his audience
My original idea was to illustrate a performer being eaten alive by his audience, but I struggled to think of what (and how) to animate in the sketch. So playing with perception (again), I decided to why not distort the audience image. With that, this artwork soon took form of ‘a magician’s trick gone wrong’.
ELEMENTS:
References Decided to add noise grain to the bulb’s aureole to make the glow look more natural from its scale
Performer/magician
The audience as large ravens Added subtle texture of feathers to crow as well as the head’s glow from hanging lights above to make it seem more realistic
FINAL:
Final composition
Composition 3: Fear from the point of view of an optimist is to be in despair
Taking the concept of the candle and how it represented hope in darkness, it seemed as the most effective communicative element to use. Also, it fit with what I had envisioned this artwork to take place – in the snowy wilderness.
Different lantern designs
Various poses
References, changes made over time
Alternate background for final composition
Final composition
Dropped:
For Fear from the point of view of a casanova is to fall in love/lose his heart and
Fear from the point of view of a kind is to be rendered powerless/just a figure head
Illustration of a heart
Puppeteer’s hand
A puppet
