PYGMALION IN PIXELS
SUMMARY:
In my project, I embarked on a narrative journey, using Adobe Illustrator to investigate new creative realms. Through exploration of Illustrator's tools, I learned new innovative techniques to craft a captivating composition. Brainstorming multiple narrative concepts, I wanted to fill my work with interest and originality, pushing the boundaries of storytelling through visual expression.
NARRATIVE:
For this project, I was assigned to depict a sculptor accepting an award. To create a compelling narrative, I wanted to give my sculptor a dark backstory. Originally, he was going to be accepting an award for a sculpture that was not his but his friend's, who he had murdered in artistic envy. This didn’t end up feeling right, so I slightly altered the prompt to instead include a sculptor interacting with his sculpture. When I decided to go this route, I was extremely inspired by mythology. I have always loved and been interested in Greek myths, and the story of Pygmalion and Galatea has been particularly intriguing to me. In the myth, a talented sculptor named Pygmalion crafts the perfect sculpture of a woman. Due to the beauty and intimate connection he has with his creation, whom he names Galatea, he instantly falls in love with her. Taking pity on the miserable and lovesick Pygmalion, the love goddess Aphrodite transforms Galatea into a real woman. Then, Pygmalion and Galatea are able to spend their lives together. For my project, I wanted to take a modern approach to this iconic myth.
PRELIMINARY SKETCHES:
I was initially given the prompt: "sculptor accepting an award." I brainstormed different ways to make that interesting. I wanted to incorporate a compelling backstory, so I added cool elements like a ghost side character whose artwork had been stolen.
Even though I liked some of my ideas, none of them were really resonating. So, I decided to go a different route. When I did this, I had to make new preliminary sketches. My new ideas were centered around the prompt: "sculptor interacting with their sculpture."
FINAL SKETCH:
My final sketch was both my favorite concept and the most successful compositional set up. I liked how it spread across the space, but I also liked it because it is effective in communicating the narrative.
GOALS:
For this project, I obviously hoped to improve my craft in Adobe Illustrator. I wanted to work on using the Brush tool, forming natural looking curves, and overall just having a better grasp of the application. I have struggled with illustration in it thus far, so I hoped to be more comfortable and gain more practice with many of the tools. I also, however, was just very excited to get to tell a story through digital art. I am very into mythology, and one of my favorite things is when myths are retold with interesting twists. So, my project tells the story of Pygmalion and Galatea in a modern context, with a modern sculptor. In this I hoped to give a refreshing take to an already interesting narrative and encourage others to look at mythology in a productive way. I also wanted to communicate that even though some myths feel archaic, they can still be relevant in the modern world.
WORK IN PROGRESS:
Step 1: I opened my Illustrator document and set the height to 8 inches and the width to 10.5 inches, with a landscape page orientation. I also changed the color mode to RGB and set the raster effects to 150 pixels per inch.
Step 2: Then, I opened my layers palette. I added a new layer, accounting for two total layers. I named my layers “Template” and “Subject.” In my Template layer, which I placed on the bottom, I inserted an image of my sketch and scaled it to the page. I then converted it to a template layer through layer settings, effectively locking it and adjusting its opacity.
Step 3: After setting my Template layer, I switched to my Subject layer. I then selected the Brush tool and adjusted my settings to make it the size I wanted. After changing the Stroke to black, I began to trace my sketch.
Step 4: Throughout the tracing process, I started adding new layers for different sections. I did this so that if I made mistakes, there would be more security to protect my entire piece. It also made it less confusing when I was trying to get clean, organized lines and brush strokes.
Step 5: When I began adding background figures, I struggled with the small scale. In order to make more detailed drawings, I inserted reference photos of statues onto two separate template layers and traced them. Then, I deleted the reference photos and was left with only the tracings.
Step 6: Once I had all my tracings complete, I made my main template layer invisible. Then, I was able to visualize all the blank space that I would have to fill with color.
Step 7: To color the piece, it took a lot of trial and error. At first I wanted to use the Live Paint Bucket tool, but it didn’t work. This was because I had hand drawn all of my shapes and lines with the brush tool, so it was not recognizing anything as closed shapes.
Step 8: Since I was not able to Fill my empty spaces with color, I instead had to hand paint them with the Brush tool. In order to make this easier, I made multiple color layers and placed them under my outline layers. This meant that I didn’t have to worry about covering up my outlines.
Step 9: Filling in the white spaces was a tedious process of trial and error, but it got easier and faster as I got used to it. Even though I did not have to worry about covering my outlines, my strokes would bleed into other figures. I had to exercise a lot of patience in order to get the outcome I wanted.
Step 10: After I had all the base colors filled, I decided I wanted to add dimension, because it looked very flat. So, I went in and added shading to each part of the illustration. In order to get the most believable shade colors, I used the Color Dropper tool and selected my desired color. Then, I altered the darkness of it to give it the effect of shading. Once I had my shade colors, I went in by hand again and added brush strokes where I felt they were needed.
Step 11: Finally, I wanted to add shadows to the objects on the table in order for it to read as more realistic. To do this, I selected my gray shade color with the Color Dropper tool and altered the opacity to 50%. This gave a good shadow effect. Once I had this color, I again drew each shadow by hand using the Brush tool.
Step 12: Once I had everything done, I wanted to check the vector lines. To view them, I used the Control Y shortcut. What it showed me was definitely interesting. After exclusively hand painting everything, I had used many, many lines.
FINAL WORK:
My final work is titled Pygmalion in Pixels. It illustrates the mythical Pygmalion in a modern context. This can be understood by his contemporary clothes and appearance, which certainly suggest that he is not part of the ancient world. Despite the fact that he is a modern sculptor, he has still fallen trap to the entrancing nature of his beautiful creation, just like in the original myth. My composition showcases Pygmalion working on a new sculpture, which depicts a man proposing to a woman on one knee, surrounded by hearts. Though the piece's message may not at first be obvious, it becomes clearer when the background and the sculptor's artwork are more meticulously surveyed. Pygmalion's sculpture is not that of two random lovers but is instead made in the likeness of him and his initial creation, which can be seen standing serenely in the background of his workshop. Some of these identifying factors that help to establish this are the statue's pearl necklace or the sculptor's apron, both of which appear in two separate areas. This is meant to portray how the modern Pygmalion has fallen in love with his sculpture, just like in the original myth. This also somewhat serves as a reminder of how history often repeats itself, and sometimes events are just meant to happen by fate, even when they are separated by culture and time.
KNOWLEDGE GAINED:
In this project, I learned not only about how to more effectively use Adobe Illustrator, but I also learned not to dismiss myself and my abilities so quickly. I really had trouble with Illustrator when we first started using it, and I felt as though I would never improve. Since most of what we had done in class up until this project was with the Pen tool, which I really struggled with, I felt very discouraged. Now, I have definitely improved my craft with the Pen tool, but I have also been allowed to really explore other tools. This has undoubtedly helped improve my mindset, because I have been able to see that I am capable of making good illustrations on Illustrator. For the work, I mainly used the Brush tool, and that presented unique challenges of its own. I had to adapt very quickly to be able to control my strokes with a mouse, which was difficult at first. I also had to learn to practice patience and grace, as doing everything by hand was a very tedious process. I did eventually learn how to do it effectively, though. Overall, I end this project feeling much more competent in Illustrator and substantially more confident in my abilities to create digital illustrations.
