This post is a continuation of the task I assigned myself in the last section, so in some ways it’s just more of the same. I illustrated the last four parts of the “trailer” section of the project presentation/visual development portfolio. The main thing I did differently was using more perspective tools, which definitely improved the results. I’m also refining the rendering approach for this project.

Intro Image

Original mock up note

First sketch

The second sketch, which I actually end up using later

Flats

The title image is fairly important, since it’s the first impression one gets of the project, so I wanted something dramatic but simple. I really leaned into the “rule of cool” concept I was thinking about in the last section. So, forcing myself not to overthink things, I went with Verner standing in a dramatic pose with his wing on full display. I was extremely tempted t0 try out something more complex, but knew that both time and the “rule of cool” thing I’m trying out would favor this approach. I felt strangely embarrassed about it when I was drawing. I was enjoying myself a lot, and I enjoy the end result, but I think there’s still a small, pretentious snob somewhere at the back of my mind who wants to never go the stereotypical route. Which this drawing definitely does. And I think it’s great! As well as effective. So there’s really no reason to overcomplicate things.

Rendering (1)

Rendering (2)

Small note on the title: This is a stand in. In the next section, I will be adjusting the cover and make title that looks more in harmony with the drawing style by hand-lettering the words and see if I like it.

The Queen of Flowers and Her Court

I had been dreading and really anticipating this one, because of the number of characters and complexity of the environment and costumes. I have surprisingly little to say about it though. I used a bunch of reference for the late 18th-early 19th century style clothing (the younger characters are wearing clothing from later on while the older characters still wear the older styles). And I sort of made up the design of the throne on the spot, influenced by Art Nouveau only in spirit rather than directly, mostly because of the plant motifs and natural lines. It seemed a logical choice for a throne for a “flower queen”.

Mock-up sketch

First real sketch

Color key. I was mostly focusing on atmosphere. The emotion is supposed to be grand and well-lit, but the characters have to come off as stately and kind of shadowed. I wanted there to be an explosion of color, but the grandeur still seem somewhat cold. I’m not sure if I quite got it.

Employing the perspective tools!

One can really see the improvement here. Not having to draw the lines myself and/or think about perspective a whole lot was a huge help. It looks more dramatic for the throne and queen and less so for the foreground characters. I think having the foreground ones be full-bodied might have been a mistake. It makes them look less tall and imposing.

The rendering on this one still needs work. I’d like to modify the background and the throne. Really make it grow from behind the queen like a tree with limbs reaching to the ends of the canvas. And the highlights are as dramatic as I wanted them, but they could use some refining, making them all at the same level is taking away from the effect.

This time…

Thought it might be nice to incorporate text in the last image, instead of underneath it. And I liked the sketch from up top well enough that I decided to recycle it instead of letting it go to waste. I realized that isn’t something I do very often and it’s a shame to not use some of the stuff I genuinely like, especially if it functions in context.

Sketch, with text

Lineart. I decided line this one instead of going straight in with the overpainting. Unlike the very first drawing, some of the details are smaller and unlike the Court one there’s only one character, so I thought lining it would be a good way to get in detail quickly, especially since there’s no background to worry about lining too.

Color. I kind of like this version too. It feels like it could work as a coloring approach for the comic.

Overpainting. I still needed it to blend in with the rest of the images, so I painted over the lined layer here.

Cederbjerg in Drought

This drawing also really benefitted from a grid. I’m certain I could have used it even better, but I think can tell that the city is better situated in space than it would have been otherwise. It’s a pretty concept-arty piece and I think I got atmosphere down pat, but it’s a bit lacking design-wise. The trees are dried cedars of various types. It’s a tree specifically mentioned in The Wild Swans, so I used it as a worldbuilding element and even called the kingdom itself after them. The story also mentions that one can see the city’s “domes” from afar. But that is most of the detail we have about it outside the fact that it’s a small kingdom in the middle of the woods, possibly on an island with lots of mountains.

Mock up

Sketch and perspective lines

Monochrome painting layer

Color

Updated Mock Up

This is what the project looks like so far!

I’m pleased with the images for the first bit. The first section, what I like to call the “trailer” section because I treated it like a movie trailer, looks pretty great. There are some things that need adjusting in almost every image. A little refining here and there, but it still all adds up to quite a bit of work.

I had hoped to get some more color character sketches done this week, but I did not, so that will have to be left for the next sections, as well as some “close ups” of props like weapons and some elements from the story like the evil creatures and a particularly troublesome rosebush.

I’m not adding all of these just to have more work on paper, they are genuinely important visual motifs for the story. I’ll sit down and brainstorm what some of these visual motifs are and use them as decorative elements in the future. Verner has his feathers, Ida is a polar bear, Morten a tin soldier, Maia has flowers and books, Runa her knives and pistols… But on a broader scale the problem of the drought will be visually represented by a rose bush, and the creatures attacking the kingdom are corrupted versions of local forest animals, the main villain himself used to be a bishop, though himself corrupted. There’s all sorts of imagery I haven’t gotten around to exploring because I’ve gotten a bit hyper focused on details. This is something I need to be aware of when I’m doing projects like this. It’s already happened with the comic. I was so focused on putting words on paper that I ended up using only the first section of the first chapter, because things were getting too long to draw and write. Therefore, the comic itself cannot be representative of the story, because it’s barely an introduction. This is why I had to do this “trailer”/visual development thing. I need to zoom out more often and really ask myself what the main goal is/what it is I need to convey to my audience and what the best imagery for that is.

I sort of regret how I did the planning for the “trailer” section. I simply wrote the words and then illustrated them. It’s fine the way it is, but I think it would have been better if I had used more keywords that I think are important for the overall aesthetic that I had in mind instead of just going with the flow and illustrating exactly the things that I wrote about. As it is, the “trailer” mostly introduces us to Verner, and that’s not a bad thing, but it looks a little limited. I could have incorporated more elements from the actual story like a fight scene or a dramatic meeting between characters. Something to think about more later. For now, I’ll just supplement with some sketches.