My work illustrates a short story about a young woman named Candice who recently moved to New York City from her small hometown in Utah. As the story develops we learn that Candice is an aspiring artist, but doesn’t quite have the confidence to put her work out there. She works in a small bookstore just a short bike ride away from her apartment where she meets Graham, an ambitious poet who came looking for inspiration. After Graham helps Candice win the Art Show, she found herself feeling more fearless and excited for what was to come. This particular scene is of the quaint snug bookstore where Candice works. I thought this was the perfect place to have my representation of Candice as she could be compared to this bookstore in the middle of a big city, a quiet masterpiece hidden in the buzz and energy of the people. This is also where Candice first meets Graham, who becomes important in her journey of finding her self confidence.
I used Adobe Illustrator to create my hybrid animal and background. I used a lot of layers, starting with a polar bear body for the hopefulness Candice has, using effects to make the fur look real. The toucan nose represents her vibrant creativity, the cat ears alluded to her aura of simplicity, and lizard arms that represent her intelligence. I struggled with perspective and placing these parts in retrospect to the animals position. The fish tail shows peacefulness and butterfly wings showcase her artisticness. I paid specific attention to color and desaturated colors of objects that were behind others, adding highlights and shadows to create more dimension and movement. I used one-point linear perspective in my background scene of the bookstore. In my inspiration the back of the store looked different, but due to some light source complications, I changed it to a simple wall with straight facing windows. Overall, I think I could have chosen a better color palette. I did take necessary extra time on my animal since I was absent, which then made me nervous to finish my background on time, but I ended up working really hard and am pleased with my final production.
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