Watercolor Illustration - Sweet Dreams
Title : Sweet Dreams
Medium : ink, watercolor, gauche, acrylic paint, and colored pencil on illustration board Size : 14 in x 10 in Date : September 2022 Exhibition Text :
Inspired by horror manga artist Junji Ito, I created this piece to reflect on my relationship with sleep and insomnia. I often find it very difficult to sleep, or even become tired, and this has a huge influence on my day to day life and how well I am able to function and get things done. Much of Ito's work focuses on a lack of control, which is something I feel in situations of sleeplessness, and want to reflect into this mixed media piece.
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Inspiration :
My inspiration for this piece is the artist Junji Ito, who writes and illustrates horror manga. Some of his best known works are titled "Tomie" and "Uzumaki," and focuses on themes of loss of humanity and punishment for unknown reasons. I was originally drawn to his work because of the body horror style, but learning more about Ito's background and reasons for creating his work gave me a new appreciation for it. An example of this would be a page from his book "Uzumaki," shown to the left. In this piece, it is showing a very unnerving scene of a girl whose eye is swirling through a spiral going through her head, until is disappears. Though this is in the context of a larger story, a viewer can still grasp the idea of a fear of the unknown and is just "scary" in general. Though the character is going through something seemingly traumatic and painful, she looks unbothered, especially in comparison to the reaction of the other girl in one of the top panels. In addition to the themes, I really enjoy Ito's style, especially his line work. Given the nature of manga and graphic novels, the majority of Ito's work is black and white and created with only ink and line work as opposed to color and gradient shading. I really like this style of drawing, as it focuses on crosshatching as a means of shading, requiring a higher level of line confidence then you might need for painting or other mediums. In my own piece, I want to replicate this style of art, as well as carry over some of the same themes.
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Planning :
To begin the planning process, I took a few of images of Ito's work and focused on some of the main features that seemed to appear often. Since he creates horror manga, most of it included some extent of body horror and/or "scary" elements that are meant to be off putting and disturbing. I already had somewhat of an idea of what kind of pose I wanted to do, but I needed to find some way to push the horror idea further. My plan was to take a reference photo of myself looking up at the camera, either standing or sitting. I also wanted to add hands in, as that is something Ito uses in some of his work, and it represents a feeling of an unknown force taking something, in this case, sleep. I made some rough sketches, but I wasn't super sure how the perspective actually worked, so I took reference photos to help. From here, I created some sketches of the reference pictures until I found one that I liked, so I expanded on it some more. I inked the sketch similarly to how I planned to for the final piece, only smaller, and blocked in some very general values. I also created a more "zoomed in" version of the face. With this, I inked it again, then did a trial run with some watercolors. I based the colors of off a colored cover of one of Ito's books, and wanted to keep the values and hues as close as possible. This included very saturated blues and purples, with hints of red. I found that it was really difficult to achieve a bright, saturated color with the watercolor paints I was using, but I ended up actually liking the muted version a lot better. I planned to use the muted tones for the figure, representing being tired and calm, and then the hands and other elements would be much brighter, to show it keeping me alert and awake. Once I had my color palette picked out, I also messed around with other things I could add to fill the blank space in the background. I thought it would look really cool to mix the 3d forms with 2d shapes floating around, so I experimented with different things I could add in. I ended up with simple eyes, clocks, and spirals, similar to those in Ito's work. Once I had a plan in place, I was pretty much ready to start on the final piece. Since my pose was picked out, I just wanted to make a clearer, more dynamic version, so I took a video from the angle I wanted and played around with a couple variations. From here, I scrolled through the video and found a frame that I liked and took a screenshot, using this as my main photo reference for the rest of the piece.
Process :
PAINTING : SKIN/HAIR:
I started the painting process with the skin of the figure. To do this, I mixed a base color, which was a skin tone that I muted and darkened using purple, as I wanted the picture to look as though it was taken in a dark environment. I went over the entire face, body, and hand with a wash of this color, and made sure to let it dry completely before rendering. From here, I created a color for the shadows, which was a mix of watercolor and gauche paint to make a muted purple tone. This would serve as my shading color throughout the entire painting, making sure the shadows and lighting are cohesive throughout. With this color mixed, I started with the rendering process on the face. My reference picture doesn't have nearly as dramatic of lighting as I was hoping the achieve in the painting, but I was a good jumping off point in terms of where values should go, I just had to make them darker and more contrasting. As this point, I thought the face looked dark enough for what I was going for, but realized that the background was still very light, which would impact the way everything looks when it was painted black like I had planned. Because of this, I ended up adding in the background in the beginning as opposed to the end like I normally would. I used a paintbrush and the same ink I was using for line work, and went around the edges of everything, being very careful to not go over into the figure or hands, as the ink would not be able to be lifted once it dried. When I did this, I realized that the colors were not nearly as dark as I thought they were, so I was able to go back in and darken the shadows even further, until it was to a point I was happy with. I did this for each part of the figure, but payed extra attention to the face. In order to achieve the likeness to the photo that I wanted, I couldn't rely completely on line work, and had to make sure I placed the values in the exact spots in order to imply a form that looks a certain way. I made such to give a balance between hard and soft lines so that it was clear when a surface gradually changed versus when it had a very sharp change. This contrast between hard and soft was something I had to focus on in the hands especially as well, since the fingers are all individual parts, but each have their own form and rendering. Once I finished the skin on the body, I moved onto the hands grabbing me, repeating the same process, but with red as a base as opposed to a skin tone. I wanted the "external" elements to have a sharp contrast against the figure, so I did this by making sure they were brighter, warmer values, as opposed to the dark muted values of the figure.
I started the painting process with the skin of the figure. To do this, I mixed a base color, which was a skin tone that I muted and darkened using purple, as I wanted the picture to look as though it was taken in a dark environment. I went over the entire face, body, and hand with a wash of this color, and made sure to let it dry completely before rendering. From here, I created a color for the shadows, which was a mix of watercolor and gauche paint to make a muted purple tone. This would serve as my shading color throughout the entire painting, making sure the shadows and lighting are cohesive throughout. With this color mixed, I started with the rendering process on the face. My reference picture doesn't have nearly as dramatic of lighting as I was hoping the achieve in the painting, but I was a good jumping off point in terms of where values should go, I just had to make them darker and more contrasting. As this point, I thought the face looked dark enough for what I was going for, but realized that the background was still very light, which would impact the way everything looks when it was painted black like I had planned. Because of this, I ended up adding in the background in the beginning as opposed to the end like I normally would. I used a paintbrush and the same ink I was using for line work, and went around the edges of everything, being very careful to not go over into the figure or hands, as the ink would not be able to be lifted once it dried. When I did this, I realized that the colors were not nearly as dark as I thought they were, so I was able to go back in and darken the shadows even further, until it was to a point I was happy with. I did this for each part of the figure, but payed extra attention to the face. In order to achieve the likeness to the photo that I wanted, I couldn't rely completely on line work, and had to make sure I placed the values in the exact spots in order to imply a form that looks a certain way. I made such to give a balance between hard and soft lines so that it was clear when a surface gradually changed versus when it had a very sharp change. This contrast between hard and soft was something I had to focus on in the hands especially as well, since the fingers are all individual parts, but each have their own form and rendering. Once I finished the skin on the body, I moved onto the hands grabbing me, repeating the same process, but with red as a base as opposed to a skin tone. I wanted the "external" elements to have a sharp contrast against the figure, so I did this by making sure they were brighter, warmer values, as opposed to the dark muted values of the figure.
When painting the hair, it was again a pretty similar process to the rest, as I started with a wash of a base brown color, and added the purple shading after that had dried. When shading, I started with bigger sections to show the movement of the hair and braids. I continued working these sections into smaller and smaller parts, until it eventually looked like hair, and not just a chunk of lines and color. Once the shading was done, I also mixed a lighter value, using white gauche and a tiny amount of the base color, in order to add highlights. I didn't want to go overboard with this, but I used the color to show some individual strands against the black background, as well and highlights in the lighter areas of hair.
PAINTING: CLOTHING:
Painting the clothing was a relatively simple process, as there wasn't a lot of clothing to paint, only the pants and a little bit of the shirt and shoes. I painted each section with various shades of muted purples and blues, and waited for that to dry. Once it did, I started with the pants, using the shadow color to darken where the folds were, layering them darker and darker until it was mostly accurate to the photo. I again had to focus on the balance between hard and soft edges, as the folds and creases have a large amount of both. For the sharper, more "dramatic" folds, hard edges were used, and for the more gradual shifts in value, soft edges were used. After having finished the pants, I repeated the process for the shirt, though it was mostly covered up so there wasn't as much to do. For the shoe that was showing, there weren't any folds, so I just had to render it like I would any other object. I did end up going back with some almost white gauche in order to bring back the white of the shoelaces, as well as add some highlights and dimension to the creases on the pants. |
INKING:
I did the inking and line work in small sections throughout the painting, as opposed to all at once at the beginning or end. I did this because if I had done it all at the beginning, the gauche and watercolors would likely go over top and get rid of the rich, dark color that I was hoping to achieve. Having it there though did help to establish values and shadows, so I worked on it as I completed sections of painting throughout the entire process. After painting a section, the face for example, I would go over the sketch lines in ink with a dip pen. After creating the main outline, I went back with crosshatching in the darkest areas, similar to Ito's work. Doing this also helped me to see the colors in comparison to the darkest value on the page, so I was able to adjust the shading and rendering as I went. After having painted and inked the entire thing, I went back through and added finishing touches. I went over some parts that were painted over, and just added more crosshatching where it seemed necessary.
I did the inking and line work in small sections throughout the painting, as opposed to all at once at the beginning or end. I did this because if I had done it all at the beginning, the gauche and watercolors would likely go over top and get rid of the rich, dark color that I was hoping to achieve. Having it there though did help to establish values and shadows, so I worked on it as I completed sections of painting throughout the entire process. After painting a section, the face for example, I would go over the sketch lines in ink with a dip pen. After creating the main outline, I went back with crosshatching in the darkest areas, similar to Ito's work. Doing this also helped me to see the colors in comparison to the darkest value on the page, so I was able to adjust the shading and rendering as I went. After having painted and inked the entire thing, I went back through and added finishing touches. I went over some parts that were painted over, and just added more crosshatching where it seemed necessary.
COLORED PENCIL:
After finishing all of the painting, I wanted to add a little bit more dimension into the piece, as well as give a little bit more variation into the hues. To do this, I used colored pencils over the watercolor. I picked colors similar to the main color palette, mostly reds, purples, and blues, and deepened the shadows using all three. In adding more then just the purple that was there before, it appeared more dynamic and just more interesting in general, especially in the skin, which will always have shifts in hue depending on where it is. I also added more highlights in the clothes, blending them a little better then the gauche was so that it looked more like fabric that was sitting on a form and less like a solid object. Although I did like the colors on the painting before doing this step, it ended up looking a lot better, even if the change was extremely subtle.
After finishing all of the painting, I wanted to add a little bit more dimension into the piece, as well as give a little bit more variation into the hues. To do this, I used colored pencils over the watercolor. I picked colors similar to the main color palette, mostly reds, purples, and blues, and deepened the shadows using all three. In adding more then just the purple that was there before, it appeared more dynamic and just more interesting in general, especially in the skin, which will always have shifts in hue depending on where it is. I also added more highlights in the clothes, blending them a little better then the gauche was so that it looked more like fabric that was sitting on a form and less like a solid object. Although I did like the colors on the painting before doing this step, it ended up looking a lot better, even if the change was extremely subtle.
2D ELEMENTS
My last step of this process was to add the 2D elements that I wanted to have floating around the piece. I had experimented a little with what would work best to do this, and found that acrylic paint showed up the best and the more vibrantly. I started by mapping out some starting points using a white colored pencil just to get an idea of placement since it would be easier to cover up. Once I was sure I knew what to draw, I went in with the paint. I chose brighter variations of the colors on the figure, mostly blues, purples, and reds, and interchanged these as I worked. This was a relatively quick process, as it just consisted of a bunch of repeating patterns. As I finished, I made sure everything was the way I wanted it to be, and then sealed it with a fixative spray. Then I was done!
My last step of this process was to add the 2D elements that I wanted to have floating around the piece. I had experimented a little with what would work best to do this, and found that acrylic paint showed up the best and the more vibrantly. I started by mapping out some starting points using a white colored pencil just to get an idea of placement since it would be easier to cover up. Once I was sure I knew what to draw, I went in with the paint. I chose brighter variations of the colors on the figure, mostly blues, purples, and reds, and interchanged these as I worked. This was a relatively quick process, as it just consisted of a bunch of repeating patterns. As I finished, I made sure everything was the way I wanted it to be, and then sealed it with a fixative spray. Then I was done!
Experimentation :
Although I have used each of these mediums individually at least a few times, I have never used them together, combined in this way before. To start, I did some warm ups and practices with each medium individually. For the ink, I was using a dip pen, so I practiced getting consistent line weight and drew some hands for me to practice painting with. I painted the hand sketches with watercolor, and played around with adding gauche and how it would effect the consistency and drying time. I also practiced with the colored pencils, mostly just experimenting with blending and how the different colors look next to each other. The acrylic paint didn't take too much practice, as I would only really be using it to draw in the 2D elements at the very end, but I made sure to try out different things to draw and what colors to use. Once I had practiced with them all on their own, I decided to make a mock-up version of the final piece, something much smaller then it would be but something that would still help me get a hang of the combination of mediums. To do this, I took a scrap piece of illustration board that I had left over from cutting down for the final piece, and drew out a rectangle so that it was to scale with what would eventually become the bigger version. I used the grid method to create a less detailed sketch of my reference, mostly focusing on the bigger shapes as opposed to the smaller details. From here, I added line work to the piece using the dip pen and ink. I mixed some base colors based off of the color palette I created during the planning process, and used these to block in the main sections of color. I also created a shadow shade, mixing watercolor and gauche to experiment with opacity and how they would work together. I used this color to render the piece, and then added highlights with white gauche mixed with a tiny bit of the base color. I liked the way the gauche and watercolor worked together, because I was able to be very specific about what colors would show through more then other simply by changing the ratio of one to the other. Once this was done, I realized the gauche and layering of watercolor over top the ink got rid of some of the darkness of it, so I took note of that and went over some of the spots that were hit the hardest. I then went in with colored pencils, deepening some of the shadows and lightening the highlights. I found this also allowed me to achieve richer colors without necessarily sacrificing the muted or saturated values, which I really liked. Once the coloring was done, I added in some of the 2D shapes with acrylic paint. I really liked these as opposed to the colored pencils, as they were much brighter and more opaque against the black background. Once this was finished, I was pretty confident in my abilities to mix the medias successfully, so I got started on the final piece. I did, however, continue experimenting throughout, making sure all the techniques were equally applicable on a larger scale.
Critique :
Similarities May Include :
- In both pieces, ink is used to line the piece and utilize crosshatching to show shading and form. Since Ito is a manga artist, most of his work is in ink, and without color. Because of the lack of color, he has to rely on crosshatching to show form, and I mimicked his techniques. Though my piece did contain color, I wanted a lot of the shading to be shown through line work, so I payed attention to how Ito did so in his work, and copied these techniques to the best of my abilities.
Differences May Include :
- Though some of Ito's pieces include color, it is used very differently then how I chose to. Being a manga artist, the majority of Ito's work is black and white line work, with the exceptions of book covers and the occasional illustration. The colored work that he does have still focuses more on the line work to get the idea across. In my own piece, I wanted the line work and coloring to be equally as impactful, as the contrast between the muted and bright colors was very important to the message.
Reflection :
Going into this piece, I wasn't exactly sure how I would feel about the outcome. I don't typically work in these mediums, especially all together, and I wasn't sure how the theme and message would come across. Though there is definitely room for improvement, I'm a lot happier with the outcome then I was expecting. I was inspired my the horror manga artist Junji Ito, whose style has always been captivating to me. Though I haven't had the opportunity to read any of the books, the artwork is one of my favorite styles, even though I don't typically reflect it in my work. I usually stick to more semi-realism styles as opposed to more cartoon-like, but working with Ito's art as the inspiration pushed me really hard to create something out of my comfort zone. Since I've found his work, Ito's themes have been something that pulled me in. I had always stuck to manga and graphic novels that were lighthearted without much sadness, but this really changed my perspective on that front. I found I could relate to his pieces and characters struggling with a lack of control, and wanted to make sure this feeling was reflected into my piece. One thing I struggled with though, was how I was going to add this theme into the work. I've always had a hard time dealing with the things in my life that I don't have control over, and when sleeping slowly started to become one of those things, I had a really hard time functioning. I've never been able to really explain how it feels, but I had to finally put it in words and turn it into something visual in this piece. Once I found a way to do this successfully, though, I was very pleased with the outcome.
I was able to tie this in with a lot of skills that I had slowly improved in the past, and put them together to create this one piece. In the past, I've done a couple watercolor pieces, one being my illustration project from junior year, used ink, gauche, and made a lot of acrylic paintings. Because of the experimentation I did, I was able to figure out how all of these mediums worked together and how to utilize the qualities that stood out about each of them. Mixing mediums was one of my favorite parts of the process, as I was able to test out new techniques that I could use in future projects.
I was able to tie this in with a lot of skills that I had slowly improved in the past, and put them together to create this one piece. In the past, I've done a couple watercolor pieces, one being my illustration project from junior year, used ink, gauche, and made a lot of acrylic paintings. Because of the experimentation I did, I was able to figure out how all of these mediums worked together and how to utilize the qualities that stood out about each of them. Mixing mediums was one of my favorite parts of the process, as I was able to test out new techniques that I could use in future projects.
ACT Questions :
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I was inspired by Junji Ito, and wanted to focus on his use of detailed line work and crosshatching to create an array of values.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
While my experiences with insomnia are not nearly as extreme as the experiences depicted in Ito's books, he reflects a lot on the idea of being "punished" by an unknown force, without any way to prevent it.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Many people seek out solutions for issues that seem to come out of nowhere, for no reason. Even if there isn't anything that can be done about it, it feels like some unknown force is trying to cause these problems
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Ito's work focused on body horror to portray a lose of humanity and fear of unknown punishment.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Precise line art and crosshatching can be used to create an uneasy, horror-like feeling that reflect upon the idea of fear.
I was inspired by Junji Ito, and wanted to focus on his use of detailed line work and crosshatching to create an array of values.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
While my experiences with insomnia are not nearly as extreme as the experiences depicted in Ito's books, he reflects a lot on the idea of being "punished" by an unknown force, without any way to prevent it.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Many people seek out solutions for issues that seem to come out of nowhere, for no reason. Even if there isn't anything that can be done about it, it feels like some unknown force is trying to cause these problems
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Ito's work focused on body horror to portray a lose of humanity and fear of unknown punishment.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Precise line art and crosshatching can be used to create an uneasy, horror-like feeling that reflect upon the idea of fear.
Citations (in MLA Format)
Ito, Junji. Uzumaki. Big Comic Spirits, 1998.