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).