I had been toying around for some time with the loose concept of a tribute piece to this childhood favorite. Much like my Neverending Story illustration, The Dark Crystal was a project close to my heart based on the 1982 film, written/directed by the late great Jim Henson, brought to light by Frank Oz, and the visionary team of Brian & WendyFroud. There were so many amazingly talented people who worked on this feature. Unfortunately, like most movies during this time period, it didn’t achieve critical acclaim, or a following until much later.
As luck would have it, I was invited by Gallery 1988, to participate in their annual flagship show, Crazy 4Cult (14). Since the status of this film had been elevated to ‘cult’, over the last few decades, I decided it was time to pull the trigger on this piece. I was reluctant at first to even pursue this work, partly over the fact that my ‘vision’ was a bit grand, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to execute it properly. I also wanted to do the film justice, as I have seen many very talented artists of my generation create works based on the beloved film. I wanted to do something bold, and possibly different. I even had the perfect frame in mind for the main piece that was going to be shown in the gallery.
I immediately went into research mode, watched the film multiple times, and gathered all the necessary reference material I was going to need. Once that was done, and I had decided on a rough layout/concept, I took on the arduous task of replicating the titular crystal from the movie. This was possibly the most frustrating part of the entire piece. I first designed the crystals outline in illustrator, as I wanted clean edges for how the image was going to look. I was able to capture the shape pretty quickly, but it was the segments that alluded me. I spent weeks trying to get them to look realistic by painting them digitally on both my iPad in Procreate, and my computer in Corel Painter.
Since I didn’t have much practice in painting fractal images, so eventually I decided a better (less maddening) strategy was to make the whole image more graphic including the crystal. I did however tell myself, that in my free time I need practice painting fractal object digitally. Some of the images I came across online were absolutely stunning digital masterpieces of rocks, stone, and gems. It was all very inspiring, and a bit sobering.
Stylistically, since I had decided to go in a more graphic direction, I would need to find a vehicle to separate the illustrations in the crystal’s interior, and provide smaller vignettes. I determined the best course of action would be to use the crystal’s segments. Since the image was going to be mostly graphic in nature, I took my drawings into Adobe Illustrator, and retraced them using the pen tool. I then set to work on the segments of the interior. This helped give me a better idea of where to place my images, for the final piece. Upon complete the vector work (on my Mac in Adobe Illustrator, and iPad in the Graphic App), I transferred the image into Photoshop, and then played with some gradients. I made several passes, and adjustments until I finally had something I was (somewhat) satisfied with. I also decided that at this point, it was no longer productive to continue working on this part of the image, as I had several other illustrations to still do for the interior, so it was time to move on.
I already settled on the interior images, but was struggling with their placement, as I wanted them to be placed in order of the film’s progression (much like my Neverending Story illustration). I spent some time organizing my layout, and once I found one I liked, I was able to start the illustration process. I then proceeded to the interior portions of the images, and began illustrating all the notable moments, characters, items, and other various icons from the film that I had selected. This took me a while, but nothing nearly as long as the weeks involved in the initial crystal design. Given the direction I took with overall style of the image this process was a bit tedious as well, but much more enjoyable.
Once I completed the entire illustration, it was time to proof it. I should mention here (which you can probably already determine by the image provided), that I had a very specific (purple), monochromatic color scheme that I was working with. The problem was that due to the (self induced) size constrictions of the frame I was going to be using, the overall piece was smaller than I had intended for the level of detail included. I made several adjustments to the contrast, brightness, even the hue and color saturation. It was to no avail. The most frustrating aspect of this was, these color choices were not even my first selection for the image. My original intent was to use the colors from the film, which had cooler (purple/blue) tones at the top, and very warm (yellow/orange/pink) at the bottom. The crystal in movie is after all hovering over a rather steamy volcanic looking bottomless pit. I had failed in my many previous attempts when designing the initial crystal shape/segments to capture this likeness, but fortunately for me, this set back would give me another opportunity.
The process was monotonous, and had I not been so far into the project, I may have abandoned the whole thing for something much less elaborate. I was however, at this point, determined to finish the piece, no matter how distressed I was over how the entire image was getting away from my original vision. I wanted to challenge myself on multiple levels. For me this was about trying to let go and embrace what was happening organically. It was also about trying to do something different, and more ambitious. If I do something I know I can execute easily, how am I challenging myself to grow as an artist?
Resolved to make this work, I decided the best strategy was to simply take the illustration, and convert it to a grey scale. My plan here was to attempt to run a gradient over the entire image using brighter colors to see if I could get the smaller vignettes to be more legible. This also afforded me another chance to utilize my original color scheme that I had initially planned on using. I manipulated the image a few times in Photoshop like a chemist creating a new compound, and somehow through pure sorcery I was able to get the image color corrected. It printed out beautifully, and I couldn’t have been any happier with the image.
I was however, not yet finished. The frame I picked out for this particular show was an oval shape. It echoed the design of the chamber floor (link), from the film where the crystal rises. I had a hard time finding reference for the glyphs that littered the inlay of the floor in the movie. Eventually I came across multiple sources that allowed me to piece together the design, which I could then cross-reference with the film. I then located a textured paint to use that was perfect for mimicking the porous floors in the castle. I also utilized some paint to replicate the runes around the main ring adorning the floor, which houses the crystal.
The final illustration is entirely digital, started in Graphic/Illustrator, detailed meticulously by hand in Painter, and edited painstakingly in Photoshop. The frame, and runes were done by hand in traditional methods stated above.
The piece was originally due to be featured at Gallery 1988 during their annual Crazy 4 Cult Show ('Crazy 4 Cult 14', which was scheduled to run from August 7th, through August 29th.
Unfortunately, due to the current pandemic, there would be no official public opening, and thankfully my work sold, so it is no longer available for viewing on their site. Feel free however to check out the works of many of the other fine talented artists who contributed to the show here.
To purchase this image, or to see a catalog of my other work, please visit my online store here.
You can also find me on various social media platforms below doing a multitude of other artistic things that include hand lettering, and the occasional sculpting/crafting
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