CASTED
I have always been interested in exploring my own seemingly abnormal mental and physical experiences. In this project I capture their essence in the form of characters. My pieces compiled in the portfolio titled "Casted" portray characters who were shaped from methodically writing down a daily journal entry and discerning ideas and patterns of thought from my entries. This portfolio consists of a series of character sheets, GIFs and digital paintings in an attempt to capture the essence of the characters that I made. Though the characters were initially made from my own thought patterns, as I created the final pieces they blossomed into an exploration of the characters themselves and how they are a refraction of my psyche rather than a reflection.
Drafting Process
When first drafting the characters, I would use my diary entries and artists who gave me inspiration, such as Hikari Shimoda and musa (@notmusa), as my starting points. From there I would see where my pencil took me. I would do sketches of general shapes and shadows then go over that with ink. If I found something I liked, I'd fill it out with Copic markers, not minding worrying too much whether it would look nice or not. When I found a particular character I liked, I'd play with them a little more, thinking about angles and personality.
I chose separate characters that I was interested in bringing to life and developing more. These were characters that I felt were starting to grow independent of me. Though they were based on my own thought processes, I began to imagine their distinct personalities.
MAGU
Magu is based on insomnia I experience nearly every night. I envision my own mental space almost like a large cinema screen. When I visualize things, they appear on the screen. Oftentimes, right underneath my eyelids, on the screen, I see these slender, worm-line appendages originate from the center of my "vision" and expand outwardly under they almost completely consume my mind's vision. Other times, the screen is populated by small pixels, building on one another until the image I try to conjure is obscured. And other times, it is simply a mindless scribble. Inspired by these images, I created the olive-skinned, sleep-deprived, messy-haired Magu.
SKETCHES
CHARACTER SHEET
IDEAS OF MOVEMENT
JACKBOB
Inspired by the same static TV imagery that influenced my design of Magu, I started drafting JackBob more on a whim. "What if his head was a TV?" Intrigued by how a person with the head of a TV would navigate through life I started playing with his reactions, reseraching on what model of TV I could base his look on, and how others reacted to him. Tickled by curiosity, a couple of friends and I came together to make a short webcomic of him in which I illustrated.
VIEW THE COMIC HERE!
PORTRAIT
SKETCHES
CHARACTER SHEET AND PORTRAIT
MANIA & DEPRESSION
Inspired by the their namesake, these two characters are for the most part works in progress. Interested in the duality between my highs and lows, Mania and Depression are twins who constantly fight for dominance over one another. Mania takes the traits of the more high-strung hyena while Depression portrays the somber refinement of Doberman Pinchers.
CHARACTER SHEET
SKETCHES
PORTRAIT OF DEPRESSION
