True Magic

I had been toying around for some while with the idea of incorporating quotes into an image, similar to the calligrams I have done in the past for other artworks.

This time however I wanted to make sure that the quote itself was the star, and the image(s) secondary, with the primary focus being the words themselves, and making sure they were legible.

The first such concept that came to mind, was one quote in particular from a movie most dear to my heart, ‘The Craft’.

The quote in question comes from a segment in the film, in which the newly formed coven of high school witches goes to their local magic shop.  While browsing the wares, and shoplifting from the patron Lira, one of the girls inquires about a room with the curtain drawn in the back of the store.  Sarah, the newcomer asks Lira, if she’s hiding the missing children from the neighborhood, or performing black magic in the partitioned area. Lira replies smugly, that there is no such thing as ‘black magic’.  She tells Sarah: 

           

            “True magic is neither black nor white.  It’s both, because nature is both. Loving

            and cruel, all at the same time.”

For some reason I have always perceived this particular moment in the film as a pivotal one, and a very insightful statement which has always resonated with me.

Initially I struggled with creating a layout that captured the essence of the film, and the words themselves.  Eventually I came up with a design I liked and set forth constructing the image.

In order to connect the image/text to the film, I captured the image of the film's title treatment, and then outlined the text in Illustrator, making adjustments to the font in order for it to work within my design. For the pentacle central portion I had decided I would hand letter it later, however I wanted to make sure the spacing was balanced, so I used a rune-text in the program to lay it out initially.  I continued constructing portions of the quote, and its overall layout in Illustrator, then moved it over to Photoshop for adjustments, and editing.  In Photoshop, I substituted the ‘T’ in the word 'True' for the athame from the film which I had originally designed for another piece dedicated to the film. I then utilized the snakes from the original illustration (which was also had a presence in the film), and added them around the dagger, leading into the remaining text to maintain the flow of the image.  In an attempt to balance out the image, I extended the tail end of the 'c' in 'Magic', and entwined  around the pencil.  I then used the spiral motion of the 'c' to imply the motion of the pencil turning (as seen in the film).  I then included the butterflies (from both film & illustration), to fill some of the negative space, and establish symmetry.  Once the quote was entirely laid out, I transferred it to my iPad, and continue to refine some of the details in Pro Create.  There, I used my own hand writing for the portions of the quote wrapping around the pencil, and cleaned up the rune lettering inside the ‘pentacle’.

While the image development wasn’t entirely challenging, the printing process proved to be one of the most aggravating experiences I’ve had to date.  

When I was given the opportunity to participate in Gallery1988’s “Crazy 4 Cult 13 Group Show”, I saw that ‘The Craft’ was available as a selection.  I did have another image I could have submitted, but this one was newly designed, and I hadn’t even had it printed when the invitation was extended by the gallery.  I retooled the image which was originally designed in black & white, and decided it would be more impactful in color.  I ran several test prints, in multiple tones, on different types of paper (photo & glow in the dark), and even attempted to foil print the image.  I did more experimenting with this image than I have with another others in the past. 

Ultimately, I ended up reversing the image, and decided that it had more contrast with a black background when color was introduced.  I eventually ran a gradient behind the polarized image, but ran into difficulty when trying to replicate the vibrancy in print.  After several failed attempts with mutilple printers, a friend of mine with photography experience recommended using a different kind of paper to print the image on. They even offered to help printing the image.  In the end, I used my printer at home with the Moab Sliprock Metallic Silver 300 paper they had recommended.

It took several attempts, but after replacing my ink a few times, I was able to get a couple of prints that were acceptable to frame, and give the gallery to sell on my behalf.  I did however have to note that the image on the Moab paper was VERY delicate.  Fingerprints, and even slight mishandling easily damages the surface.

I was very satisfied with the image's vibrancy, even though the project was incredibly frustrating, and time consuming, I did learn a lot in the process.

The illustration is entirely digital, started in Illustrator, and then adjusted in Photoshop, detailed in Pro Create (iPad), and then refined in Painter/Photoshop.

The piece was originally on display at Gallery 1988 during their annual Crazy 4 Cult Show (‘Crazy 4 Cult 13’), and ran from September 27^th, -October 19^th 2019.

The image is available from Gallery 1988, and had a limited run of 5 on the Moab Sliprock Silver 300 (1 framed, and 4 prints).

The Neverending Story

This particular piece, dedicated to the 1984 film of the same name (‘The Neverending Story’), had been in development for some time, mostly in sketches, and was originally planned for another showcase entirely.  When that opportunity never came to fruition, I shelved the concept for another time, with the intention to work on it in between other assignments as a passion project.

As luck would have it, I was invited by ‘Gallery1988’ to participate in their annual 'Crazy 4 Cult Group Show', which revolves around artwork dedicated to cult films throughout the decades. The film fit the criteria, and I set about working on my vision.

The film itself holds a special place for me in my adolescence.  I recall seeing the film with my family at the movie theater, and it resonated with me deeply at the time.

For anyone born after VHS, the film takes place during the early 1980’s, and features a rather limited cast of characters including the main protagonist ‘Bastian’ (Barret Oliver), who narrates the adventures of the hero ‘Atreyu’ (Noah Hathaway), and his quest to save the world of  ‘Fantasia’.  The film traverses the two realms of ‘Earth’ and ‘Fantasia’, while connecting them through the persona of ‘Sebastian’.  The film is a tale of adolescence itself, covering many topics, from bullying to death, and touches on the expectations of masculine roles in society.

The plan for this piece was to capture the most memorable, and pertinent moments in the film.  I started by first rewatching the film, and taking reference photos for my design.  Originally I had planned for the piece to be framed by the ‘Mirror Gate’, and flanked by the ‘Southern Oracle’ Sphinxes. I was also going to include ‘Sebastian’ at the base of the image, reading the book from which the film gets its title (pictured above).

Having a layout in mind, I decided I wanted to do a series of layers, much like a shadowbox, with the back most layer being the ‘beginning’ of the film, and the layer closest to the viewer being the ‘end’.  The layers themselves were each individually sketched out, them scanned into Illustrator, and vectored out.  After each layer was vectored and done, I then arranged them into Photoshop, and detailed them in Painter.  The file itself was enormous, and required me to collapse a lot of the layers, as I got closer to finishing it. The color scheme itself was a fluke, but a fortunate one nevertheless, and I feel it really captures the nostalgia for the time as well as the film.   The original tones I planned on were quickly discarded, after I began the detail work. 

I started with the sky, and upon finishing, decided the pastel-like colors were a better fit.  The most challenging part of the piece was two-fold.  The detail, and the size.  There is a plethora of detail that on some level may never be fully appreciated because as I layered the image in Photoshop, adjustments were made and some items became much smaller than originally intended.  I also ended up making the final print much larger (20” x 30”), than anticipated in order to offset the small details.  The only other challenges I had with this piece were how to incorporate both ‘The Nothing’ (the films antagonist I suppose you could say), and ‘G’mork’ (‘The Nothing’s’ envoy of sorts) into the piece.  If you’ve seen the film, you could probably appreciate the challenge.  Without spoiling the film, ‘The Nothing’, has no tangible form, and ‘G’mork’ is a large wolf.  I ended up combining the two, and for those with good eyes, or knowledge of the film, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding them.

As mentioned previously, I was going to end the piece with ‘Bastian’ at the base reading the novel, however, due to time constrains, I ended up choosing to use the book itself to frame the piece.

I truly enjoy working on pieces like this one, because it gives me the opportunity to include so many details, and hidden gems for both true fans, or casual observers.

The illustration is entirely digital, started in Illustrator, arranged in Photoshop, and detailed meticulously by hand in Painter.

The piece was originally on display at Gallery 1988 during their annual Crazy 4 Cult Show (‘Crazy 4 Cult 12’), and ran from December 7^th – 29^th 2018.

The image was available in a limited run, and is no longer available on the gallery's website (sold-out).

I may eventually be adding it to my store.

UPDATE (4/14/19)
I've adding the illustration to my etsy store here.