Freestyle Academy proudly presents

All Nighter: A Junior Narrative Illustration by Mackenzie Bystrom (2018)

My story this character was based off of is about a boy confronting his perfectionism as he realizes his work habits cause him to fall behind. As he’s writing an essay, he realizes how much time he spends on details and small imperfections. In the end, he decides the best option would be to write whatever comes to mind and let his ideas flow instead of interrupting himself over tiny things.

In the process of making this illustration, I started by sketching everything in the illustration, figuring out how I wanted my composition to work, and making sure I have a clear use of linear perspective. I found that when I originally had a simplistic background, there wasn’t a clear use of linear perspective. I decided to add more to the background to make the setting clear. My main subject, the humanoid cat-beaver hybrid, is a displayal of my character’s personality. The cat parts, the ears and whiskers, show the character’s sensitivity to details, as cats have a great sense of sound and use their whiskers to navigate and feel its surroundings when there’s very little light. The beaver part, the teeth and fur color, reflects on how beavers try and stay in their comfort zones rather than making mistakes, as beavers will make perfect dams and hide in them whenever they can. The teeth, as rodent teeth never stop growing and need to be used to break them down, represent his constant income of ideas, and how not letting his ideas flow does more harm than good. This character is sitting in his bedroom at midnight, in front of his computer, writing an essay. The values are contrasting and the colors cool, to show both harshness in working and relaxation in letting go of perfection.
Visitors 1043